Freak Out Beast (吵年獸), a music festival featuring a huge line up of Taiwan indie bands, took place on Saturday and Sunday in the space around the Red Theatre in Ximending. I attended both days last year but this year I was only able to attend for one day on Sunday.

The event took place on multiple stages around the Red Theatre. At the entrance there were turntables and mixing decks set up for DJs to perform. I had seen this crew performing in Ximending a couple of months earlier. In the evening Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) performed their Taiwan-style hip hop.

On the south side of the Red Theatre there was a small performance area for acoustic bands. The band playing in the photo is Xiasheng (夏生).

Plover were performing only their third live show. They were a well practiced outfit though and put on a good performance.

I have seen The Peppermints (薄荷葉) play several times in the past few weeks including at the Sanying Community. After their performance I bought a copy of their recently released CD “Banished”.

The last time I saw The White Eyes (白目樂隊) perform was at Freak Out Beast a year ago. They put on an awesome performance that had the crowd jumping. Gao Xiao Gao (高小糕) is incredibly energetic on stage and provided non-stop entertainment for the crowd. She even jumped into it at one point!

Someone broke out a bunch of sparklers while The White Eyes were performing. Freak Out Beast is based on a tradition related to the new year and scaring away the beast. With a lot of loud music and plenty of screaming from the crowd I am sure the beast was well and truly scared.

*More photos in the Freak Out Beast 2010 set at flickr.

Update: Check out Joshua Samuel Brown’s blog with some great videos of Kou Chou Ching and The White Eyes.

• Freak Out Beast in Ximending
• Freestyle motocross at Freedom Square
• Photo in Sky Couch magazine
• Another Lonely Planet
• Taiwan still free but problems with judicial rights: Freedom House report

On Saturday the Amis community of Sanying (三鶯部落) in Sanxia held its end of year celebration. The event attracted a crowd of about 500 people which was more than last year’s event. The community had also undergone a lot rebuilding after its demolition in February 2008.

The afternoon began with dancing by members of Sanying and also the nearby riverside community of Saowac. As the evening approached the dancing ended and there was a generously catered meal enjoyed by everyone in attendance.

After the meal there was a great line up of musicians beginning with Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤). They performed a new song “Taipei covers Dulan” (台北蓋都蘭) with Suming (pictured above). The other bands performing were The Peppermints (薄荷葉), Black Hand Nakasi (黑手那卡西) and The Village Armed Youth (農村武裝青年). There were also several well known people from the world of music and movies in the audience including Deserts Chang (張懸) and Lou Yi-an (樓一安), director of A Place of One’s Own (一席之地), which includes several scenes shot in Sanying.

*More photos in the Sanying Community end of year celebration set at flickr.

• Sanying Community end of year party
• Freak Out Beast 2010 edition
• Kou Chou Ching win awards
• New media in Taiwan
• Rock and roll movie

The Taipei International Book Exhibition opened yesterday. I visited the exhibition today at the Taipei World Trade Centre to see what was new this year. This year’s special guest exhibitor is France. Francophones will be sure to enjoy the large range of French literature on display. There is also a selection of French films screening every day.

One of the new things on display this year is e-readers. I was curious to have a look at them and get some idea of how they look and operate. The one pictured above is the BenQ nReader K60 which was on sale for NT$8,990. It is operated via buttons and also a touchscreen. Books can be downloaded via wi-fi. Several other e-readers were on display including Greenbook, the Amazon Kindle and iRex.

Publishers are also looking at new ways to deliver e-books. One interesting system I saw used 7-11’s ibon system to deliver mini books to mobile phones. BenQ has partnered with eBookTaiwan to sell e-books. Greenbook also has an online bookstore.

The Far East Book Company has a good selection of dictionaries and Chinese-language learning materials. The best selection of English-language books are available from B.K. Norton and Bookman whose displays are next door to each other in TWTC Hall One.

The book exhibition continues until Monday 1 February at the Taipei World Trade Centre. Entry is NT$100 and half-price after 6:00pm during the extended opening hours over the weekend.

• 2009 Taipei Book Exhibition
• At the book fair
• Some books about Taiwan
• 2008 Taipei Book Fair
• Taipei Book Fair

I saw the short film Msgamil: Once Upon a Time (泰雅千年) while visiting Smangus in August last year. I then saw Through Thousands Years* (走過千年) at the Ethnographic Film Festival. Msgamil is a short film produced by Chen Wen-bin (陳文彬) about the historical migration of the Atayal. Through Thousands Years, by the Atayal director Pilin Yabu, documents the process of the making of Msgamil.

I recently visited Taichung to talk with Dr Lin Yih-ren (林益仁) at Providence University (靜宜大學). Dr Lin very kindly gave me DVDs of both films and also two books about the production of the films. The books, titled Words from Yaba (Chinese: Yaba的訪; Atayal: Kay na yaba), are both bi-lingual with one edition in Chinese and Atayal and the other in English and Atayal. The text is beautifully illustrated by Wang Yong-cheng (王永成) and also includes photos from the making of the films.

The book takes the form of a series of letters written by Pilin Yabu to his children while in the process of making the documentary. The letters convey lessons about the gaga, the moral code of the Atayal that is inherited from the elders. These lessons teach about many important aspects of Atayal culture such as weaving, hunting and the meaning of facial tattoos.

The most important lessons though come from placing these lessons in a contemporary context surrounding the making of a film in an Atayal community. By placing the wisdom of the gaga within the context of contemporary events it shows how the culture adapts to changing circumstances. The letters from a father to his children also shows how the gaga is actively transmitted to the next generation.

The documentary reveals that there was a lot of conflict in the film making process. This is discussed in some more detail in the book. The book ends with contributions from six experts discussing Pilin Yabu’s documentary and the controversy involved in the production of the film. There is an emphasis on learning lessons from this rather than placing the blame on any individual.

Words from Yaba is a unique window into the contemporary world of the Atayal. Its multi-lingual format and two related films combine to make an important and accessible body of work for multiple audiences.

The books and DVDs are published by the Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園). They are available from the Government Publications Bookstore (國家書 松江門市) in Taipei and Wu-nan Culture Enterprise (五南文化廣場) in Taichung. They can also be purchased online at www.govbooks.com.tw.

*This is the English title that was used in the film festival. The English title on the DVD is The Moment Run Through.

• On reading Chinese
• Taiwan romance novel
• Book review: ABC Chinese-English Dictionary
• Some books about Taiwan
• The little red book

Freedom Square hosted an exhibition of freestyle motocross riding yesterday afternoon. It was part of the Red Bull X-Fighters exhibition tour.

The riders pulled off extreme mid-air maneuvers in the space between the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. Despite having only a short run up to the launching ramp they gained some serious air time.

The riders performed a range of stunts including the “Superman seat grab” (shown above) and building up to backflips.

The riders paused to enjoy the applause from the crowd. The large crowd sitting on the steps of the National Concert Hall can be seen in the background.

There was a team of young ladies on the scene promoting Red Bull.

The bikes on display after the event.

*More photos of the event at flickr and Demotix.

• Freedom at last
• Wild Berry House opening
• 49 hour hunger strike for Tibet
• Don’t forget Tibet
• Music without borders

Taiwan has maintained its status as free in Freedom House’s 2010 report released yesterday. Taiwan received the same score as last year but its score for civil liberties decreased from 1 to 2 while its score for political rights increased from 2 to 1. Taiwan’s score put it equal with Japan and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region.

Freedom House wrote that, “In Taiwan,  increased  government  efforts  to enforce anticorruption  laws were marred by flaws  in  the  protection  of  criminal defendants’  rights,  and  new  legislation restricted  the  political  expression  of academics.”

Freedom House said the improvement in Taiwan’s score for political rights  was “due  to enforcement of anticorruption  laws that  led to the prosecution of former high-ranking officials,  the annulment of several legislators’ elections  owing  to  vote-buying,  and  the  investigation  of  over  200  candidates  for  alleged  vote-buying in local elections.”

The decline in Taiwan’s  civil  liberties  rating  was  “due  to  flaws  in  the  protection  of  criminal defendants’ rights that were exposed during anticorruption prosecutions and a high-profile murder case, as well as a law that infringes on academic freedom by barring staff and scholars at public  educational facilities from participating in certain political activities.”

In January 2009 Freedom House released its annual report in Taipei. Back then there was considerable concern about problems with freedom of assembly as well as problems in the judicial process, particularly in Chen Shui-bian’s case.  At that time Freedom House’s Christopher Walker stated the events of the last part of 2008 were part of a larger process. Freedom House needed to have a comprehensive understanding of the whole process and the trial was still unfinished. The totality of the process would define how it was evaluated so 2009 will be a critical year. An informed judgment woud be made based on what happens in 2009.

I think that Freedom House has provided a good assessment of Taiwan’s situation. Taiwan’s electoral system is working well as evidenced by recent by-election results and my own observations of the referendum on Penghu. The areas were Taiwan needs to improve are reform of the judicial system, abolishing the Parade and Assembly Law and dealing with the KMT party assets. Unfortunately there has merely been some talk but very little action on these issues.

*Further details of the Freedom in the World 2010 report are available on the  Freedom House website at http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=505.

• Freedom House sounds a warning
• Taiwan press freedom declines: report
• Wild Berry House opening
• Freestyle motocross at Freedom Square
• Green House

The decision to develop Shezi Island (社子島) in Taipei as a “new Manhattan” is an example of short-sighted decision making (CEPD passes Shezidao development plan, Taipei Times, 6 January 2010). It shows that governments in Taiwan are not aware of, or planning for, the future impacts of climate change.

The Fourth IPCC Report released in 2007 predicted that sea levels will rise 18 to 59 centimetres by 2100. However, in recent years increased rates of melting in Greenland have led many scientists to believe these estimates are conservative.

Whatever the case rising sea levels pose a significant threat to Taipei and other coastal areas in Taiwan in coming decades. It is essential governments begin planning for this now.

It may be necessary to construct a barrier at the mouth of the Danshui River soon to reduce flood risks. There is already a flood control barrier on the Thames in London.

Beefing up infrastructure is essential to reduce the risk of flooding. However, it is also necessary to halt further development in coastal areas that could be subject to inundation and flooding in coming decades.

Massive development of one of Taipei’s most low lying and flood prone areas is a ridiculous idea. The only thing that Shezi Island may share in common with Manhattan in the future is that it has also been inundated by rising sea levels as a result of climate change.

As an addendum I’d also like to add some information about rising sea levels. The Earth Policy Institute reports that the increasing loss of ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers around the world is an alarming indicator of climate change. Of particular concern is increased rate of melting of the Greenland ice sheet. The average annual melting in Greenland between 2002 and 2005 was triple that of the period from 1997 to 2003. There are also concerns about increased melting observed in the Antarctic in recent years.

Svetlana Jevrejeva of the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, UK, predicts that sea levels could rise 0.8-1.5 metres by next century. This is much greater than the IPCC’s estimates. This is backed up by research which shows sea levels have risen at such rapid rates in the past. Anders Carlson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues found the Laurentide ice sheet, which covered most of North America between 95,000 and 7000 years ago, rapidly disintegrated. Their model predicted that sea levels would have risen at 1.3 metres per century.

To understand what areas would be  affected by rising sea levels check this map showing areas inundated with sea level rises of one metre, which is a quite likely scenario by the end of the century. You can also select larger sea level rises via the drop-down menu in the top left hand corner. The areas of Taiwan most affected are the coastal regions extending from Pingdong to Yunlin Counties and the Taipei Basin.

This only tells part of the story though. Construction of barriers or raising the level of the land could help to mitigate rising sea levels to some extent. What is of more concern is much greater flood risks and increased difficulties of managing these risks. Something similar to what happened to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina could also happen in Taipei in the future.

• Taiwan’s disappearing coastline
• Links 14 April 2008
• Hiking in Wulai
• Between democracy and authoritarianism
• Photo in Sky Couch magazine

The Supreme Court last month ruled on the Smangus Beech Tree case sending the case back to the High Court for a reexamination. The news seems to have been almost ignored by Taiwan’s media, but Taiwan Indigenous Television provided some good reporting. In addition to embedding a video of the English news report from TITV Weekly, I have also translated a report (中文) from Taiwan Indigenous Television which provides more details.

On 7 December the Supreme Court repealed the verdict of the second hearing in the Smangus Beech Tree Case. The original verdict in the second hearing found the three Atayal men who moved a wind fallen beech tree back to their village were guilty. In addition the Supreme Court emphasised that there should be respect for indigenous peoples’ traditional customs. It was the first time since the beginning of the Smangus beech tree case that the judge’s verdict had included the wording of “indigenous peoples’ traditional territory”. It affirmed indigenous peoples’ right to use their traditional territory. It also raised the spirits of the Smangus community.

…the Supreme Court repealed the original verdict and sent the entire case back to the High Court for reexamination.

The Supreme Court’s verdict especially emphasised that indigenous peoples’ traditional customs possess historical origins and distinct cultural features. In order to promote equality and good relations between ethnic groups and sustainable development there needs to be consideration of pluralism and different cultures. Especially within “indigenous peoples’ traditional territory” activities conducted according to traditional customs should be given suitable respect, within a reasonable limit, to guarantee indigenous peoples’ basic rights. This was the first time the wording “indigenous peoples’ traditional territory” had been used to emphasize that indigenous peoples lifestyle and customs must be respected. The members of Smangus believe that although the entire case has still not overturned the guilty verdict, after more than three years of efforts there has been some result.

In addition the judge’s verdict stated that according to Article 15, Section 4 of the Forestry Act that in forest areas in indigenous peoples traditional territory, indigenous people could take forest products for the requirements of their lifestyle and customs. The area, type, time should be in accordance with the management regulations decided by the central government in conjunction with the central authority of the indigenous peoples. The verdict also cited the Article 19, Section 1 of the Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Law that indigenous people in indigenous areas could collect wild plants and fungus according to the law.

The important point is that the judge has recognised that the previous court hearings didn’t give proper consideration to the existing laws which recognise the rights of indigenous people to collect forest products on their traditional territory. The verdict stated that the Forestry Bureau and Council of Indigenous Peoples had not had not set down regulations to specify the rights of indigenous peoples in Article 15 of the Forestry Act and Article 19 of the Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Law. This is a major step towards the recognition of indigenous rights in Taiwan’s courts.

• Indigenous rights and the Smangus case
• Smangus and the tree stump
• The right to live in the forest
• Journey to Smangus
• Second trip to Smangus

After a resurgence in 2008 on the back of the success of Cape No. 7 (海角七號), Taiwanese cinema quietly consolidated in 2009. While there were no great successes at the box office there were a number of quality films released.

The Taiwanese films I saw and reviewed in 2009 were Detours to Paradise (歧路天堂), Beautiful Crazy (亂青春), A Place of One’s Own (一席之地), Yang Yang (陽陽), No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (不能沒有你), Tears (眼淚) and Miss Kicki (霓虹心). Among these I think Yang Yang, No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti and A Place of One’s Own stood out.

A key point is that many directors struck a good balance between artistic merit and commercial value. However, this still hasn’t translated into success at the box office. While the government has provided financial support to the film industry, there is perhaps a need for more intervention by mandating the screening of more local content in cinemas.

Taiwanese directors also continued to make their mark internationally. Tsai Ming-liang’s Face, set in the Louvre Museum in Paris, continued his work as an auteur. Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock looked back to the momentous rock festival at Woodstock in 1969. Dan Bloom mused about what Ang Lee’s film meant for Taiwan.

There were a number of other interesting movies that I didn’t get the chance to see or review. Prince of Tears (淚王子) was a drama by Hong Kong director Yonfan set in the White Terror period, Hear Me (聽說) a romance with a deaf character released around the time of the Deaflympics and  Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (帶我去遠方), a coming of age story set in small town Taiwan.

The Taipei Film Festival and Golden Horse Film Festival continued as the major festivals with large and diverse programs. There was also a wide range of smaller film festivals. I enjoyed the biennial Ethnographic Film Festival especially for the two documentaries about the Atayal by Pilin Nabu. Urban Nomad continued to develop as a festival for alternative short films and documentaries.

2010 will see the release of Formosa Betrayed which has got positive reviews from its screenings in North American film festivals. Although it is a little ironic that this highly anticipated film about Taiwan was produced in the USA and Thailand. Production on Wei Te-wen’s Seediq Bale is now underway with a planned release date of mid-2011.

• Article at culture.tw
• All about Ang Lee
• Taiwanese cinema resurgent in 2008
• 2009 Taipei Film Festival
• Spider Lilies kissing scene

The winners of the 2009 Taiwan blog awards have been announced at Taiwanderful. Special congratulations to A Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei for winning the peer-judged award for overall best blog. shu flies won the online vote for the overall best blog.

Thanks to Ben, Portnoy, Carrie, Todd and DJ Marcus for judging the blogs in the peer-judged awards. Special thanks to Fili for managing all the technical stuff.

I know some people might be disappointed not to have won an award, but the awards highlight that there are many great Taiwan blogs out there. Hopefully all the blogs entered in the awards gained a few extra readers and people have been able to discover some new Taiwan blogs.

• And the winners are…
• Vote for the best blogs
• Interview with the Bushman
• Links 10 December 2007
• Register for the 2009 blog awards