Boasting dance shows, physical theatre performances, virtual reality experiences and visual art, London’s first major festival of Taiwanese culture, which launches this Friday, is promising to be a real humdinger.
Playing out across 16 days, over 30 contemporary Taiwanese artists, musicians and creative will showcase their work for UK audiences – in many cases for the first time ever.
With so many exciting events taking place, here we’ve picked some of our top acts not to miss.
Anarchy Dance Theatre: Second Body, April 12-13
The inaugural festival is opening with this stellar act which premiered in Taiwan and was recently performed at Chroniques – Biennale of Digital Imagination in France. Award-winning dance collective Anarchy Dance Theatre use eye-boggling projection techniques to explore what it means to have and be a human body.
Cheng-Tsung Feng exhibition, April 12-27
Multi award-winning artist Cheng-Tsung Feng draws on traditional Taiwanese craft techniques, such as those used to make handmade bamboo fish traps, to build incredible large-scale installations. To celebrate London’s first Taiwanese culture festival, he is encasing the façade of the theatre with a specially commissioned work, which continues on inside.
All that Remains, April 12-27
This 360 VR experience from award-winning experimental company Riverbed Theatre premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2022. It asks questions about the micro and macro moments that make up the universe. By designing the piece to be watched through a VR headset, immersing viewers in their world, Riverbed playfully test the boundaries between what’s real and unreal.
Yujun Wang, April 16-17
Multidisciplinary musician Yujun Wang launches her new album, æ Dawn to Dawn, with two nights of exciting performances. Wang, who was resident artist at the Treasure Hills Artists Village in Taipei, has collaborated with a number of artists over the years including Nick Cave. Her songs, a blend of various genres, incorporate field recordings and poetry.
Hung Dance: Birdy, April 19-20
This fantastic duet won the Audience Award for Best Choreography at Swiss international dance festival Tanzplattform Bern. Emotional and intense, performers Cheng I-han and Lee Kuan-lin explore ideas around metaphorical and physical cages using a pheasant tail feather. The object, which was often worn on helmets in traditional Chinese opera, transforms throughout the dance, becoming a sword, a headpiece, and an animate object.
Chou Kuan-Jou – Tomato, April 23-24
Dancer-choreographer Chou Kuan-Jou’s Tomato was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it was described by one reviewer as “a feast of thoughts, movement, and provocative action”, and by another as “very clever”. Using live performance and video, Chou Kuan-Jou explores sexuality, feminism and gender.
