Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) Located in the heart of Taipei City, the long-awaited Huashan Culture Park will begin operations next June, the Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA) announced in a press conference Wednesday.
The culture park, which went through four years of planning and the tenure of three CCA chairmen, includes an experimental film zone, an area to host a variety of creative cultural activities and exhibitions and a building as a "flagship base" for Taiwan's creative industry, said CCA chairman Chiu Kun-liang.
Public expectations are high for the project. Looking back, it's been a long and winding road since 1998, when a group of cultural workers urged the government to turn the old brewery dating back to 1916 into a culture park, Chiu said.
In 2002, the massive property -- located on Zhongxiao East Road, one of Taipei's busiest streets -- was designated as one of Taiwan's five culture parks. However, little progress has been made since then as public debate has heated up on the park's planning.
Starting June 2007, the culture park is expected to be "a showroom" for all kinds of exhibitions and activities and cross-over artforms, and for all ages, Chiu said, adding that the park will benefit creative and cultural industries as well as non-profit organizations.
The park is an ideal place to host cultural and artistic events because of its location and historical setting, said Liu Wei-gong, a Soochow University professor who was responsible for Huashan Culture Park's research plan.
Taiwan's cultural and creative industry has been rich in producing content while lacking an integrated platform and collective efforts. The industry is currently in fierce competition with China, which has been catching up, Chiu said.
"It's time for Taiwan to move forward and speed up," he said. "Hopefully, with the operation of the Huashan Culture Park and similar projects, Taiwan can establish a network for the cultural and creative industry and increase its global competitiveness," said Chiu.
The culture park, which went through four years of planning and the tenure of three CCA chairmen, includes an experimental film zone, an area to host a variety of creative cultural activities and exhibitions and a building as a "flagship base" for Taiwan's creative industry, said CCA chairman Chiu Kun-liang.
Public expectations are high for the project. Looking back, it's been a long and winding road since 1998, when a group of cultural workers urged the government to turn the old brewery dating back to 1916 into a culture park, Chiu said.
In 2002, the massive property -- located on Zhongxiao East Road, one of Taipei's busiest streets -- was designated as one of Taiwan's five culture parks. However, little progress has been made since then as public debate has heated up on the park's planning.
Starting June 2007, the culture park is expected to be "a showroom" for all kinds of exhibitions and activities and cross-over artforms, and for all ages, Chiu said, adding that the park will benefit creative and cultural industries as well as non-profit organizations.
The park is an ideal place to host cultural and artistic events because of its location and historical setting, said Liu Wei-gong, a Soochow University professor who was responsible for Huashan Culture Park's research plan.
Taiwan's cultural and creative industry has been rich in producing content while lacking an integrated platform and collective efforts. The industry is currently in fierce competition with China, which has been catching up, Chiu said.
"It's time for Taiwan to move forward and speed up," he said. "Hopefully, with the operation of the Huashan Culture Park and similar projects, Taiwan can establish a network for the cultural and creative industry and increase its global competitiveness," said Chiu.