Taipei National University of the Arts - Higher Education SPROUT Project
2022 Achievements and Highlights Report (English version)
The principal concepts of Taipei National University of the Arts’ (TNUA) Higher Education SPROUT Project are "integration of the arts and sciences for innovation in teaching" and "performance-driven social practices". With a focus on enhancing the quality of professional teaching and learning achievements across our seven colleges, the university's development plan takes into account the self-other relationship in a global context, and carefully evaluates social trends and pulses while implementing changes in the school's overall administration and teaching system. Internally, the school applies forward-thinking teaching innovation models to cultivate students' basic skills, employability, interdisciplinary knowledge, and international mobility with the goal of enhancing educational diversity, teaching quality, and student autonomy through innovation. Externally, the school focuses on empowering teachers and students to take the curriculum and learning outcomes beyond the campus to real-life social practice across different regions, ethnic communities, and events. This public display of knowledge production transforms individual work into a collective energy, enabling students to perceive the relationships among art, the self, and others, achieving the ultimate goal of changing "Me" (teachers and students) and "Us" (impacting local communities, Taiwan, and the world).
I. Implementing Teaching Innovation and Improving Teaching Quality
1. Developing Innovative Teaching Models to Improve Pedagogical Research and Education Quality
The school has achieved remarkable achievements over the years by introducing top training systems along with domestic and international teachers, promoting "cross-cultural" and "two-way" courses that serve as benchmarks for global collaboration, enhancing capabilities for professional innovation and interdisciplinary cooperation, encouraging teachers to engage the community, and helping them develop diversified curriculum materials and teaching methods.
In recent years, many teachers have developed innovative teaching models through the implementation of the MOE Teaching Practice Research Program. For example, the "Teaching Research on NFT Arts using Generative Design" led by Professor Der-Lor Way from the Department of New Media Art was granted a subsidy from the MOE Teaching Practice Research Program in 2022. The goal of the program is for students to learn the derivative design process, develop a mindset for programming, integrate hands-on learning and art industry analyses, and enhance professional skills in practical applications and their ability to enter the NFT art industry. Director Kuo-Hua Yu of the Graduate Institute of Arts Administration presided over "The name of Luzhunan: From Depression to Blessing", which received the 2021 subsidy from the Ministry of Education’s Teaching Practice Research Program and is now in the second year of the program. Co-teaching with Professor Liu Huei-Ling, Director Yu arranged for students to visit the community, study local culture, review interview records, and assist the community in preserving cultural and historical materials. Director Yu also trained students to use artistic media (documentary) as an interdisciplinary tool to raise public awareness about the Luzhunan Community.
[Highlights] Promoting Innovative Curriculum Mechanisms through School-level Integration: Centralized Experimental Curriculum
To raise teachers' willingness to invest in curriculum development and practical innovative teaching methods, the school promoted the innovative curriculum mechanism through school-level integration in 2019, and formally implemented the centralized experimental curriculum trial method. Owing to the remarkable results in 2021, two new courses have been launched in 2022, adding to a total of 12 centralized experimental courses with 334 enrolled students. Centralized experimental courses encourage departments to implement flexible and diversified starting times, break out of old curriculum frameworks to open up new possibilities of diversified interdisciplinary teaching, and partially subsidize guest lectures by domestic and international experts and scholars. This reduced the workload for the school's full-time teachers while enhancing educational outcomes. In 2022, a total of seven departments applied for approval to launch 12 centralized experimental courses. These courses are as follows: "Shao-Chia Lü Music Lecture Series I, II" (2021-2, 2022-1) and “Orchestra” from the Department of Music; “Art without Border” from the Graduate Institute of Trans-disciplinary Arts; “Workshop on Theatre Improvisation Techniques” from the Graduate Institute of Theatre Arts and Playwriting; “Master Class: Film Production Design & Costume Design” and “Introduction to Scene Painting for Film”from the Department of Theatrical Design & Technology; “Performance Workshop for Contemporary Dance Works” and “Master Seminar” from the School of Dance; “Arts, Creativity and Leadership” from the Graduate Institute of Arts Administration and Management; “"Speak the truth": Creative Writing Workshop” and “Magazine Editing Workshop” from the Graduate Institute of Transdisciplinary Study on Creative Writing and Literature. 334 total students were enrolled in these courses.
2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Course Opens New Horizons for Students' Artistic Careers
From 2017 to 2022, innovation and entrepreneurship courses were mainly offered by the Center for General Education, the Graduate Institute of Art Administration and Management, and the Arts Entrepreneurship Micro-Program. Diversified learning opportunities stimulate students' innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets and abilities. We conducted an audit to understand the entire school curriculum, held project meetings, and examined more courses that help students directly integrate with industrial innovation after graduation. These courses include the Department of Fine Arts' "Exhibition and Curating", the Department of Music's "Orchestra Management", the Department of Dance Focus Dance Group's "Dance Administration" and "Dance Production Practicum", and the School of Film and New Media's "Film Festival Practicum". In 2020, 37 courses were offered with 771 enrollments; in 2021, there were 50 courses with a total of 1,076 enrollments; in 2022, there were 59 courses with 1,253 enrollments.
The school's art entrepreneurship education empowers students to transform creativity into entrepreneurship and enhance the campus' entrepreneurial atmosphere. The Office of Research and Development has established an innovative counseling mechanism to encourage students to form their proposals in teams to seek more external resources. The mechanism provides consultation and guidance services for student teams interested in starting their own businesses,assisting them in applying for off-campus scholarship programs/competitions/loans or introducing them to other resources (i.e., marketing channels, venues, etc.) In 2022, we assisted 4 teams to apply for the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) EC-SOS program, (as in Fig. 1) (3 teams received subsidies), 2 teams for the MOE’s 2022 U-start Plan for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1 team received a subsidy), and 3 teams for the 17th Innovative Entrepreneurs' Competition. The school will continue to introduce teams with entrepreneurial potential for the incubation and counseling of talents, driving them forward on the path of artistic creativity.
Fig. 1 One of the team who received a subsidy from the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) EC-SOS program
3. Accumulate Students’ Professional and Interdisciplinary Knowledge and Experiences, and Improve Learning Outcomes
Emphasizing the combining of theory with practice, the school's art curriculum provides students with opportunities to publish, present, and exchange their learnings, and enhance employability through hands-on learning and the accumulation of practical experiences in the field. By employing professional teachers and artists from Taiwan and abroad, the school cultivates students' foundational skills and critical discussion abilities through general education, reading and writing, programming, innovation and entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary courses and activity programs. Students receive systematic arts training from different perspectives in transnational, cross-cultural and professional fields.
Over the years, the school has provided students with multiple interdisciplinary learning channels, enriching the interdisciplinary learning environment and offering students greater diversification and autonomy in their studies, including intramural and intercollegiate study of minors and double majors, intramural credit courses, education courses, etc. In recent two years, a total of 180 students were enrolled in the school's intercollegiate courses, minors programs, double majors and education courses.
Over the past nine years, through the General and Interdisciplinary Art Appreciation course module offered by the Center for General Education, approximately eight art appreciation courses were offered each semester. A new art appreciation course (Music and Film) was also added in 2022. The School of Film and New Media's college-based compulsory foundational courses and interdisciplinary courses offer an average of about 60 courses each year with around 1,600 total enrollments. In addition, the school promotes interdisciplinary college cooperative teaching programs, Arts Matching Service - Learning, the BEN Awards - Artistic Innovation and Practice Competition, and other varied types of environments for interdisciplinary creation and exhibition.
[Highlights] School of Dance’s International Collaborative Teaching - Body Walk - Dancing Exercises for the Generations
The School of Dance is often engaged in leading international flagship programs, introducing professional training systems by world-class masters and authorized reperformances rights of classical works to enhance the vision of the school of the faculty and cultivate students' skills in dancing. For example, "Minor Crescendo" curated by professor Yi-San Wu from new to classic, ballet to contemporary, performed at the Guandu Arts Festival; “The Sorrowful Song”, by Xiao-Xiong Zhang, Chairman of the School of Dance; “STICKS” by internationally-renowned Tibetan choreographer Sang Jijia reconstructed by Yuan-Li Wang; “13+1”, tailor-made for the graduate students by Yi-Ling Liu, who is an experienced dancer formerly with the Bill T. Jones Company. “Transient Pleasures” is a classic 1990 work by Leigh Warren, past Artistic Director of the Australian Dance Theatre, reconstructed by Chiu-O Chiang and Jian-Wei Wu for the students (as in Fig. 2). The dance was led by live music of Chopin, and it was also taught by a live video broadcast with Leigh Warren. After months of intensive rehearsals, the teachers and students performed at the "2021 Guandu Arts Festival," with a total of 5 performances, 9 artists, 30 students, and nearly 1,500 audiences, breaking the pandemic and geographical restrictions and bringing up the lively energy of international teaching. This year, as the pandemic has gradually eased, the students and teachers of Conservatorire National Superius of Musique et Danse Lyon (CNSMD Lyon) and the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP) were invited to perform in the "40 as 400" series of events to join the school of dance’s anniversary celebration. With the theme of "Taiwan X France : Mixed Bill", the program has started a cross-country exchange through dance workshops, teachers' meetings and performances. The CNSMD Lyon’s “My way,” CNSMDP’s “Set and Reset/Reset,” Jin-Zhang Ye’s “Winds and Clouds II,” and Hui Chen Tsaii’s “Forking Paths II” were performed together to start a cross-country exchange through dance workshops, teachers' meetings and performances. Dance students of the same generation were able to cross the language barrier and use their bodies as a channel for dialogues, and in the overlap and divergence of dance, they were able to see the unique aesthetics and fluidity of dance between different cultures in the flow of time (Fig. 3).
Fig. 2 Teaching, Costume Setting and Rehearsals by a Live Video Broadcast of “Transient Pleasures”
Fig. 3 School of Dance’s “Taiwan X France : Mixed Bill”
II. Developing the School’s Characteristics
The school-level key development plan will enable the school to jointly develop unique intercollegiate collaborative courses with multiple advantages, demonstrate exceptional innovative teaching achievements, and establish trademark programs like the “Kuan Du Light Art Festival,” “Technology and Music Transdisciplinary Experimental Theater,” “Light Weight - Crossing Universities Work Camp,” and “Kuandu International Animation Festival” as brand models of higher education in the arts. With its long-term and strategic approach to training and encouragement of independent learning, this interdisciplinary collaborative learning model plays a unique and irreplaceable educational function in Taiwan.
1. Interdisciplinary Innovation Courses: Curriculum-Driven Interdisciplinary Artistic Experimentation, Creating an International Art Festival With Industry, Government and Academia
[Highlights] Kuan Du Light Art Festival : Tsē Tsē
Kuan Du Light Art Festival is planned and organized by TNUA Department of New Media Art. It is the product of the department's continuous inquiry and exploration into the question, "What is interdisciplinary art?", experimentation of large-scale new media theater is conducted that subverts physical space and the artistic experience. The exhibitions "High Swimming" (2018) and "Moving Badly" (2019) were exhibited in the TNUA swimming pool, while 2020's "Quantum Entanglement" created possibilities for brand-new exhibition spaces in both the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts and local community. In 2021, the DaVinci's Kitchen on campus was invited to have a cross-disciplinary collaboration to hold the exhibition “E.A.T. Da Vinci.” For the first time, Kuan Du Light Art Festival: Tsē Tsē (Fig. 4) was held outside the campus and exhibited at the Guandu Zhong-Gang River Wharf for two weeks, with a total of 11,252 visitors. It is the first time that the Department of New Media Art TNUA has worked with the Guandu Culture and Arts Foundation to collect and compile the historical memory of the Kuandu area as well as the future outlook and the relationship between art and public to promote urban culture and creativity and continuously expand the features of new media art in public art.
Fig. 4 Students Create New Media Installation Art at Kuan du Light Art Festival: Tsē Tsē
Related links｜Kuan Du Light Art Festival Facebook Official Fan Page
2022 Kuan Du Light Art Festival: Tsē Tsē Project Overview
2022 Kuan Du Light Art Festival: Tsē Tsē Promo Video
[Highlights] Kuan Du Light Art Festival: Post-Garden III : Wonderland
Since 2017, the TNUA Department of Music and Department of New Media Art have been working closely with the GRAME Centre National de Création Musicale in Lyon, France. The school invited renowned percussionist Jean Geoffroy to serve as artistic director in launching a series of international interdisciplinary innovative experimental education and performance programs for contemporary music, science, and art. Following "Incarnating Sounds" (2017), "Looking Sounds" (2018) and "Energy Transfigured" (2019), "Post Garden" (2020-21) is based on previous years' experience .
in interdepartmental and international cooperation, and the global network of cooperation has been further extended to include the Conservatoires Nationaux Supérieurs de Musique et de Danse de Paris et de Lyon (CNSMDL) and the LiSiLoG. In 2022, the new work “Post-Garden III” was launched under the three IT and STEAM-related inter-disciplinary courses which were co-taught by teachers from the Department of New Media Art and the Department of Music in a co-creation teaching mode. Through technical demonstrations, practical exercises, and group work, 30 students had been guided to use what they had learned with their artistic creativity to present a work at the end of the courses. Moreover, the students’ presentations were tied up together as the “Post-Garden III : Wonderland.” The three ticketed performances were held at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center and open to the public, with a total of 210 audience members. For the three ticketed performances held at the Guandu Arts Festival, there were a total of 1,538 live viewers. The box office results were remarkable and the performances received high praise from professionals from various sectors (Fig. 5).。
Fig. 5 Photo and Poster of “Post-Garden III : Wonderland”
Related link｜2022 “Post-Garden III : Wonderland” Promo Video
2. Doctoral Experimental Course “Incompatible Thought: Legacy and its Recursivity” Visiting Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Yuk HUI’s Lectures
TNUA's motto is "Looking outwards to the world with a foundation in Kuandu.” TNUA offers doctoral programs in five major colleges, including music, fine arts, drama, dance, and cultural resources. To cultivate high-level talents for independent research and thinking, promote the practice of creativity and multidisciplinary thinking, and enhance dialogue between teachers and students from different fields, the school seeks to establish a more diversified interdisciplinary academic exchange platform for doctoral students. Thus, two series of lectures are planned for each semester. There are six series in total from the past three years. In 2021, there were a total of 10 lectures held under the themes of "Kiang" and "_Between_", in which renowned scholars from Taiwan and abroad had been invited to present their theories and research themes. In these lectures, young scholars were also invited to share their research and experiences in job hunting, as well as relevant research attitudes and observations to improve the overall quality of research of teachers and students at TNUA. In the first semester of the 2021 academic year, the school invited scholars on key art and culture topics to offer interdisciplinary experimental elective courses for doctoral classes—"Hero's Journey: Topics of Interdisciplinarity Studies in Arts." In the 2022 academic year, TaipeiArts Doctoral Research Lab’s Lecture Series invited Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Yuk HUI to share with us his three developing research topics: "Bernard Stiegler, The Magic Skin; or, The Franco-European Accident of Philosophy after Jacques Derrida. Edmund Husserl, Philosophy and the Crisis of European Man," "Gilbert Simondon, Introduction of Individuation in Light of Notions of Form and Information," and "Henri Bergson, Mechanics and Mysticism." These three topics not only continue Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Yuk HUI's past research interests, but also refer to the intellectual legacy that made these questions feasible. We can take Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Yuk HUI's lecture as a demonstration and implication of how to be an inheritor and thinker of ideas, which then related to how to add serendipity to regression, and how to critically select from the legacy of ideas. (Fig. 6)
Fig. 6 Doctoral Experimental Course “Incompatible Thought: Legacy and its Recursivity” Visiting Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Yuk HUI’s Lectures
Related links｜TaipeiArts Doctoral Research Lab Facebook Official Fan Page
Previous Achievements of TAD Research Lab and TNUA
TAD Research Lab and TNUA Achievement - Past research results (film)
III. Making HigherEducation More Accessible
1. Improving School Assistance Mechanisms to Promote Social Mobility
The school will introduce measures in accordance with Appendix 1 in the MOE's Higher Education Sprout Project, "Improving the Accessibility of Higher Education: Improving Assistance Mechanisms for Vulnerable Groups and Effectively Promoting Social Mobility" and with the campus enrollment and university specialization development plan. These measures will improve the school's assistance mechanisms for students belonging to culturally deprived groups or lacking sufficient educational resources.
To facilitate the recruitment of economically or culturally disadvantaged students with distinctive artistic talent, the school established diverse admission channels, including "Multi Star Project", "Independent Admission", "Individual Application", "Four Skills and Two Majors" and "Special Admission for Distinguished Students". The school also provides tuition relief, subsidies, and entrance examination assistance services to help disadvantaged students reduce the burden of examinations. Through assistance mechanisms, the number of student enrollments increased: the enrollment rate of first-year bachelor's classes was 7.18% in 2018 and 9.21% in 2019. In 2020, the admission rate of students in this category dropped to 6.8% due to a 27.6% drop in the total number of applicants, then rose to 8.89% in 2021. However, in 2022, it rose to 9.23%. The admission rate of culturally disadvantaged students ranged from 0.25% to 0.27% in 2018-2020 and increased to 0.48% in 2021, but in 2022, it dropped to 0.25%.
To raise awareness of school admission options and academic counseling services among economically or culturally disadvantaged students, the school organized diverse engagement and promotion activities, such as "Art Experience Activities" and "Campus Visit Day" to expand student sources. However, some activities in the first half of the year were canceled or postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second half of the year, after the pandemic had stabilized, the school and various departments cooperated with targeted secondary schools to conduct master classes, art experience activities, student recruitment seminars and other activities onsite or online. Feedback and statistics show that 6.9% of the students who participated in the school's engagement and promotion activities were from economically disadvantaged families, 4.7% were from outlying islands and remote areas, 2.5% were indigenous, and 2.7% were new residents and their children. This shows that approximately 20% of the students who participated in the school's enrollment activities are economically or culturally disadvantaged (Fig. 7).
Fig. 7 Analysis of special identity students who participated in school engagement activities in 2022
[Highlights] Implementing the Special Admission for Distinguished Students Plan
1. Distinctive achievements, talents, performance, or potential with limited learning resources due to economic or cultural disadvantages
Through the establishment of qualification conditions by the department, students are no longer limited by academic achievement requirements. The school offers educational opportunities, counseling, and resources for outstanding candidates with economic or cultural disadvantages and different educational qualifications (such as overseas Taiwanese students, new residents and their children, experimental education students, students with overseas academic qualifications who apply and hold credible foreign entrance examination results, etc.), and distinctive talents. For the 2022 academic year, 199 candidates passed the Special Admission for Distinctive Students examination, of whom 32 were economically disadvantaged (compared to 40 in the 2021 academic year). Among these, culturally disadvantaged individuals included 15 who are the children of new residents (compared to 14 in the 2021 academic year), nine indigenous students (five in the 2021 academic year), one student from a family with special circumstances, two students with physical and mental disabilities, and 44 students in experimental education (22 in the 2021 academic year). Among the above 32 economically disadvantaged candidates, 24 applied to the drama department, which only offers entrance examinations to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These preliminary results show that this enrollment channel may help the department to unlock and spot potential talents. In the future, the school will analyze data in the student learning effectiveness platform to track the academic performance and graduation rates of the students enrolled through this channel and evaluate its effectiveness as a talent recruitment mechanism.
2. Indigenous Student Resource Center Student Counseling Effectiveness and Creating an Ethnically Inclusive Campus
The Indigenous Student Resource Center was established on July 1, 2020, and its inauguration ceremony was held on October 22. The Center provides comprehensive counseling services to help indigenous students fully engage in their studies, create an inclusive environment, and advance the diversification of TNUA's talents and campus culture. Through cooperation with the Academic Affairs Office, the Computer Center, and the Student Consultation Center, we have gathered basic background knowledge about the indigenous student population, including their languages, hometowns, and other relevant information.
(1) In 2022, we continued to hold the "Gathering for Indigenous Students" seminars for new and returning students, encouraging those who dropped out of school to return and participate in a series of activities. The school invited experts, scholars, practitioners and alumni familiar with indigenous issues to deliver keynote speeches on career exploration and share their own personal experiences in pursuit of higher education and work. Meanwhile, the school also used these outreach activities to promote relevant scholarships and tuition reductions and exemptions, introduce the Indigenous Student Resource Center's facilities and services for providing various forms of assistance. The information system co-created by the Academic Affairs Office and Computer Center integrates basic student information with data gathered from the alumni post-graduation survey. In the future, the school will continue to hold seminars on various topics based on student needs. In addition, in August, the Dalan club went to the Seediq tribe in Nantou to conduct field research. Through deep and extensive exchanges with the Taiwan Indigenous Association Of 3S3T Youths on the themes of “food, clothing, housing, industry, culture, beliefs, music, and dance,” the Dalan club documented the results of the field research and held forums and music and dance events to share on campus. Moreover, the Dalan club presented the results of the field research with the beautiful and fruitful culture of the Seediq people in the 27th Northern Region College Students' Indigenous Singing Competition, and won the first place in the group category (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 Indigenous Club-Dalan's Music and Dance Performance of Seediq
3. TNUA Resource Sharing and School Performance Transparency
TNUA accumulates many achievements every year in teaching, creation, exhibition, promotion of art education, and community and industry events. In addition to the Center for Art Resources and Educational Outreach, TNUA engages all departments to host the "Summer School'' (art, dance, animation, drama, and traditional music). The program invites students from eighth grade to sophomore year to experience TNUA's art education through hands-on learning, artistic creation, and teamwork with classmates from different backgrounds and age groups. In addition to uploading various school information to the MOE's school affairs information portal, building a school affairs information app, and publishing exhibitions and academic activities on the school's official website, the website of the Higher Education Sprout Project digitally preserves implementation results over the years. The school's information is also published through social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The 2022 Higher Education Intensive Cultivation Plan achievements exhibition was held online. For the exhibition, 21 short films documenting the achievements of each plan were uploaded, and a one-month period lucky draw was held, engaging approximately 2500 participants. Relevant information is provided to all stakeholders, and information disclosure items are revised year by year in the form of rolling review.
Related links｜TNUA Art Promotion Education Plan
The School Implements the Moe’s Medium-Term Aesthetic Education Development Plan
School Affairs Information Portal
Website of the University's Higher Education Sprout Project
IV. Fulfilling Social Responsibility
TNUA established “University Social Responsibility (USR) Hub”. Starting from the school's professional fields, the USR Hub fulfills social responsibilities by forming partnerships within the local community, defining the cultural connotations of "local studies", and focusing on the transformation and reproduction of local cultural content through creative performance and exhibition Between 2020-2022, the Ministry of Education approved four projects. In terms of school-level assistance mechanisms, the master plan should pay about NTD 1.97 million for one full-time staff post and site operations, including the establishment of "2021 When Home Becomes a Museum" teaching and exhibition project in the school. According to the principle of flexible salary for recruiting and retaining distinctive talents, teachers participating in social practice courses and programs are encouraged to lead the team through flexible salaries and incentives for English-language instruction.
Related links｜USR Hub of TNUA Facebook Official Fan Page
USR Hub: Achievements of the Sprout Project Over the Years
Hi-Five Plus: Hi-Five Plus: International Art Dialogue from the Pingpu Ethnic Group in Beitou to the Indigenous People in Pingtung
Achievements of the Arts Matching Service- Learning
1. Taipei City, Beitou, Guandu: Fun Guandu Festival Transformed to the Local for Independent Operation
In 2015, "Fun Guandu,” a festival organized by TNUA and connected with schools in Guandu, village offices, communities, social organizations, Taipei City Government, etc. Through the perspective of humanistic innovation and local care, the festival has engaged different fields and empowered the community through art education workshops. Through the medium of art, the dialogue from co-creation and art with the local people in Kuandu has been transforming "personal" professionalism into a "public" energy. In 2019, Guandu Culture and Art Foundation was founded by TNUA and communities. In 2020, the Foundation transformed Fun Guandu from a local festival to a foundation-supported independent event, substantially promoting the development of Beitou. In 2021, the Foundation successfully held a month-long series of diverse events, such as cultural walk reading, co-creating song of Guandu and music videos, etc. In 2022, the theme of the Fun Guandu Festival is the "Light Night Market," the festival has created the only water market in Taiwan (Fig. 9), linking the history, ecology and humanity of the harbor life of Guandu Zhong-Gang River Wharf with local vendors, harbor-cleansing activities, the pillow fight parade, and other art and cultural activities. In addition, the Festival also cooperates with the Kuan Du Light Art Festival: Tsē Tsē to echo the rich natural landscape, ecological environment, humanistic characteristics and historical changes of Guandu through the art of light.
Fig. 9 Participants of the Busy Fun Guandu - Water Market
2. Taitung County, Guanshan, Kaadaadaan: Drama Creation Project for Guanshan Old Story Art Festival in Taitung
With an emphasis on "cultural sustainability" (preservation of the culture of indigenous peoples and transmission of traditional arts and crafts), TNUA has been promoting the arts in the local community for a long time. After many discussions and art exchange activities with the Kaadaadaan Village, a consensus was established for annual work with the village on the large-scale theatre, the story of Kaadaadaan, in the breathtaking scenery composed of the rift valley and paddy fields of Guanshan. In 2022, we will continue to collaborate with departments to promote practical courses on various topics. The students can get involved in community preservation and development through field research, interviews, off-campus courses, and the practical process of creating. Moreover, with the performance of the story of Kaadaadaan, other drama shows, markets and roadside banquets are planned under the theme of "Tayra i Kaadaadaan" to help the community develop cultural experiences and tours with local characteristics and to realize the concept of "placemaking through art." Through the workshops of arts management course, we assisted the community in developing cultural experiences and tours (e.g. traditional jiuqu making, Amis weaving experience, etc.) and introduced crafts with local characteristics (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10 TNUA x the Kaadaadaan Village “Craft and Food Culture Exchange Workshop”
3. Nantou County, Yuchi: Yuchi Festival
The Yuchi Festival comes from the field studies led by alumni of the local folklore, issues, and people of Yuchi Township. Many local texts and theatrical performances were created and designed to bring theatrical inspiration to the local community with interesting and heartwarming plays. Some of the plays were even performed through improvisation, allowing the audience to view a different performance every day. In 2020, the Festival was nominated for the Taishin Arts Award. Due to the pandemic in 2021, it switched to performances online. With the support and participation of people across counties, cities, fields and sectors, it managed to overcome many challenges. The "Kids Play Arts and Drama" art camp team offered over 100 teaching kits and online art classes videos that have been distributed and watched throughout Taiwan. In 2022, the school collaborated with Yuchi Elementary School and Sincheng Elementary School to organize "Kids Play Arts and Drama." Nearly 6 years since it launched, this summer camp activity was led by alumni of the Department of Drama, who designed diverse art courses and led students and seniors to watch the performance of "2022 Yuchi Festival: Siā-Sîn" (Fig. 11). The school's arts social practice actively cultivates students' connection with society, designs educational and promotional activities to supplement the lack of arts resources in remote areas, and reinforces TNUA to fulfillment of social responsibility.
Fig. 11 2022 Yuchi Festival: Siā-Sîn (Photo credit by Yuchi Festival/Photographer, Hua-Wei Chen )
Related link｜Behind the Scenes of the Kids Play Arts and Drama Camp
4. National Human Rights Museum, Human Rights Memorial Art Transformation Project: Historical Sites of Injustice "1+1" Artistic Practice Project
Over a semester of coursework and studying, through readings on memory politics and seminars on art-based social engagement by teachers from different colleges, students gradually develop their own perspectives and ideas about various social issues. This project explores the relationship between Taiwan's contemporary society and its historical journey to democracy, transforming it into artistic creation via different artistic media. As a collaboration with the National Museum of Human Rights, this project offers issue-based intercollegiate innovation courses coupled with interdisciplinary experimental art proposals. This project hopes to use the penetrating power of field studies and cultural performance and exhibition to reproduce, in a contemporary and site-specific way, the diverse and complex historical traumatic memories that have been excluded from public discourse. This project also hopes to elevate Green Island Human Rights Art Festival beyond a simple commemoration and transform it into an art festival that can lead the conversation, raise awareness about this topic, and promote transformation and justice to provoke reflection and social discussion. In 2022, TNUA continued its longstanding collaboration with the National Museum of Human Rights. This year, the school launched an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on "humanities and social issues", and is planning a touring program for junior high schools with educational theater workshops, lesson plan design workshops, and discussion courses on historical and human rights events to implement interdisciplinary teaching and practice. In addition, the "Historical Sites of Injustice "1+1" Artistic Practice Project" were also launched (Fig. 12) with the educational theater tour. Historical human rights events (Keelung Senior High School Incident and July 13 Penghu Incident) were taught at the very sites they occurred in Keelung and Penghu. Through immersive learning experience and custom-made lesson plans provided by educational theater, junior high school students are able to learn and reflect on the issue of the White Terror period, which can be linked to the contemporary issue of democracy.
Fig. 12 Workshop of Historical Sites of Injustice “1+1” for Opening up a Diverse Experience of History
Related links｜2022 “Remembrance & Marginalization: A Human Rights Memorial Art Transformation Project “Historical Sites of Injustice ‘1+1’ ”