2023 FACP Kaohsiung Conference:
Program of Asian Gems in the Arts (AGA)
Time: November 25. (Sat)19:00-21:30 Performance - Asian Gems in the Arts (AGA)
Venue: Kaohsiung Experimental Theatre
Music
Whisper of Trees
Hsuan-Hung Chou Music Studio
Trees endure time and memories. The environment and living beings revolve around trees, forming a collective life community.
Composer CHOU Hsuan-hung and Film director WEI Zhao-yi’s cross-collaboration, co-creation project focuses on trees and consists of the conducting of recording, filming, soundscaping, and music writing in Kaohsiung.
Through this project and performance, the perspective of trees is used to view the appearance of trees within the environment of human activity and further observe humans’ state of mind within this environment
Music
Philippine Hero, Hymns, and Heritage: A Tribute to Julio Nakpil
1. Recuerdos De Capiz
2. Ecos De Ilocos
3. Biak Na Bato
Vien Kirksten Pia IGNACIO
“Philippines: Hero, Hymns, and Heritage on Harp” aims to celebrate and made known the life, works and significant contributions of Julio Nakpil, the Filipino Revolutionary, Patriot and Musician, to Philippine History, Heritage, and Culture by performing two of his most notable compositions on the Harp by 11 year old Filipino Harpist, Vien Ignacio.
Nakpil served as a General of the ‘Katipunan’ in the battlefield and at the same time immortalized the heroism and memoirs of the Philippine
Revolution through his nationalistic compositions.
Music
Timecode
Go Go Machine Orchestra
Go Go Machine Orchestra voyages to the universe, exploring unknown time and space. Such a spaceship might get lost with even the slightest negligence. Through music, we will interpret the perception of time and the messages conveyed by various symbols in life.
Composed of piano, percussion, guitar, electronic noise and module synthesizer, Go Go Machine Orchestra breaks and reassembles all these different musical elements to create new sensory experiences through stereo imaging, as if all the instruments are piloting a space capsule to pioneering boundaries of art with technology.
Intermission
Dance
Excerpt of Hell Door Breaking
Labora Terry Arts
Taoist funeral ritual 'hell-door-breaking' unrolls the memory lane for Terry Tsang: People have always feared certain traditional Chinese rituals. However, "Coming full circle, one might realise the Other Shore is not elsewhere but right here and now".
In the past four years (2019-2023), Terry shared the research of "Po Di Yu" at various performing arts venues and dance festivals in Hong Kong. Terry thinks that the traditional canton funeral ritual, "Hell-door-breaking," breaks through the boundary of life and death and connects the living with the memories of the dead.
An in-depth exploration and development: "Hell Door Breaking" - A healing between living and death.
The work will explore the possibility of combining costumes and simple props in terms of visual concepts, presenting the stage imagination and aesthetics to audiences. Terry hopes this is a humanity tradition research and dance presentation for everyone worldwide, also simultaneously engaging in cooperation with different nations and races of dancers.
Music
Durvun Oirdiin Uria and Altain Magtaal
Yu Cheng HUANG
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Yu Cheng Huan is a nomadic music practitioner and educator. He is graduated from the Department of Drama at National Taiwan University of Arts. He learnt throat singing technique from Inner Mongolian and Mongolian professional throat singing teachers. He also plays with morin khuur, Mongolian traditional string instrument.
Dance
Birdy
Hung Dance
In "Birdy,” LAI probes freedom and oppression’s complex interplay, intertwining societal dynamics and Taiwan's communities. He examines how seemingly minor occurrences like emotions and history's echoes subtly breed fear, strife, or harmony in society. Employing a cage and dreamer metaphor, LAI bridges personal sentiments, relationship dynamics, and the broader societal context.
Incorporating "Ling Zi" pheasant feathers, emblematic of warrior might in traditional Chinese opera, Lai reshapes their significance. In his work “Birdy,” symbols of weapons that change history—pens and knives—empower wielders to reshape consciousness. This visual also evokes images of a bird, a cage, and dreams, subtly suggesting life's delicate balance.
Musical
Tropical Angels
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In 1940s
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History Will Never Change My Name
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Salty and Sweet
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The Day the War Ended
Storytellers Musical Lab (SML)
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Tropical Angels is a carefully crafted musical adaptation by Meng-Huan LIN during his two-year artist residency at the National Taichung Theater.
The story follows LIN Yi-Ping, a young Taiwanese civilian conscripted by the Imperial Japanese Army and sent to the Southeast Asian battlefield. There he meets Salin, a comfort woman who happens to speak the same language as him. Despite their status differences, they bond over peanut bars from home and develop deep feelings for one another. Amidst the escalating war, they pledge to survive and struggle to reconcile identity, hope, and humanity. As they tearfully sing under the Southern Cross, their story becomes an elegy for fate, salvation, and commitment amidst the harsh realities of war.
Music
Nam Yam: Eastern blue tunes surfing the waves
New Wave of Nam Yam
Nam Yam is a traditional sing-speak performance in Canton Province and is comparable to the Blues in Western Music Culture. Moreover, Nam Yam was often performed by blind people and female sex workers, ie people from the lower social classes. Therefore the sadness tone is one of the prominent features of Nam Yam.
Nam Yam New Wave is a group dedicated to adapting the traditional Nam Yam into the contemporary setting and exploring the new wave of Nam Yam with a hint of contemporary taste and characteristics. The performance of New Wave Nam Yam will demonstrate the latest exploration of the hybridity of Nam Yam and contemporary music of Hong Kong.