Department of Cultural Affairs

Text and images: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park

 Play One awaits you to join us and become a top-level player.

After a decade of chasing our dreams, Songyan is launching a brand-new chasing contest. 

Over the past two years, rapid changes in the external environment have meant new forms of cross-field collaboration have become contemporary trends. In Xinyi District, located in the center of Taipei City, construction of the Taipei Dome is nearing completion. Newly transformed from its former identity as the Songshan Tobacco Factory, the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park will soon usher in the Taipei Cultural and Sporting Complex. 

This year, the Creative Base Festival is based on the concept of the Ecomuseum, opening up the heritage site of Songyan and transforming it into a game arena where visitors are players. The festival theme “Play One” explores the relationship between games and art, delving into social relationships and the fun of defending a role. 

Over the 10 days of the exhibition, 12 contemporary visual artists will create works on the spot, with 16 art works and two weekend game platforms. All participants are enrolled in player missions, entering into the game world with player strategies and exploring questions such as “What is game play?” in both light-hearted and serious ways through reflection, intervention, projection, and comparison. Through this work, they will attempt to deal with the metaphysics of game play, enabling the public to better understand the role played by games in everyday life, the visual perspectives it generates, and what kinds of emotional connections are being restaged.

 Shimmering Production. Photo By: Yanfu Photography

As visitors enter the Songyan game world and are transformed into top-rated players, in addition to having 10 days to walk the paths of art, they can visit the over 70 Taiwan cultural and creative brands that will come together for the second edition of the Songyan Style Artisan Market Fair. 

The first edition, held in 2020, centered on the theme of Artisan Style and was well-received. The second edition, centered on the theme of Quality Essentialism, is soon to be launched. This edition is planned around the idea of curation by type, emphasizing the pursuit of quality, attention to material, and development of potential. The fair will bring together cross-field artisans and showcase their professionalism, quality, expert skills, and lifestyles, while building exquisite boutique stores in the hope of opening up more varied sales channels, creating collaboration opportunities, and showcasing brand value, all to provide visitors with experiences that will enrich their creative life and to support Taiwanese brand development through experiential consumption behaviors.

 Participating Brands of the Second Songyan Style Artisan Market Fair: Quality Essentialism

This 10-day event of food and play will show off the creative base’s explosive energy, bringing top-rated players from all fields to Play One through the combination of art and game theory, dynamic visual art, and thrilling cross-field sports. Let’s all begin from a new starting point for game play and open up a new competition arena. 

For more event information, see the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park website.

 2022 Creative Base Festival “Play One” Visual Identity Designer: Sung Cheng Chieh (宋政傑)

▍2022 Creative Base Festival Play One and Songyan Artisan Market Fair Quality Essentialism

Date | October 21 to 30 

Venue | Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (No. 133, Guangfu South Road, Taipei City)