Department of Cultural Affairs

By Psyche Cho
Staff Reporter

The 5^th Digital Art Festival, Taipei opens today in four venues in downtown Taipei, highlighting Taiwan’s connections with the rest of the world in the field of digi-art, and incorporating the renowned 404 Festival, which begins its Asia tour here in Taipei.

Designed under the umbrella theme of ‘cluster’, the 2010 festival seeks to avoid being trapped in a restricted area by expanding the scale of the system, pouring more energy and new ideas into the nature of digital art, and then creating connections with one another.

The concept is fulfilled through the five major parts of the festival: an international invitational exhibition, digital art awards, a creation forum, digital art performances, and a digital art platform. “It’s the first time we have publicly solicited works and curators,” said Hsieh Hsiao-yun, Commissioner of Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government, in a November 25 press conference.

She went on to say that the old buildings of Bopiliao Historic Block, one of the major venues for the program, are a perfect representation of the meaning of the word ‘cluster’. “This historic area can be re-defined and re-employed through the effects of light and voices generated by digital art. As a result, visitors can experience a new magical feeling here.”

The Argentina-based 404 Festival, which was founded by several cultural institutes in Europe and Latin-America in 2004, sets off on its first Asia tour this year. Setting up in Taipei as its first stop on the tour, the festival will feature 17 creations and hold an open conference under the theme of ‘Error is Creation’.

Meanwhile this year’s invitation exhibition is named ‘Absolute Sense of Illusion’. Six artists have been invited, including Ryoichi Kurokawa from Japan; Cyrille Brissot, Cyril Hernandez and Guillaume Paris from France; and Jean-Francois Laporte from Canada.

Over 150 artists from Taiwan and abroad will showcase more than 120 artistic creations during the ten-day festival in Bopiliao Historic Block, Digital Art Center Taipei, the Red House and the Goethe-Institut until December 5.