by Zhan Jie-min, Hou Wei-chia, Gregory Laslo
Established on October 17th, 1921, the Taiwan Cultural Association was an important intellectual spearhead for local Taiwan education, awareness, and identity during the Japanese colonial period, promoting contemporary modern ideas through mass-media avenues such as newspapers, lectures, plays, and movies. NMTL opened for the first time on October 17th, 2003, and the Ministry of Culture recently designated October 17th as Taiwan Culture Day.
In the same spirit as the Taiwan Cultural Association, NMTL organizes museum celebrations every October in order to promote literature in the daily lives of individuals and the broader public. NMTL celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and is launching the all-new Autumn Literature Market, where the public can spend a crisp fall day exploring literature in many diverse forms.
The market, to be held on October 14th and 15th, will include nearly 90 booths from literature circles, independent publishers, art charities, and lifestyle and food brands, all gathered together to interpret Taiwan’s rich literary landscape and spark the public’s literary imagination. This celebration features a variety of programs and topics both inside and outside the museum. Each booth is devoted to a specific brand of artist, where visitors can explore the artists’ literary heritage and buy limited-edition literary works.
Activities include:
Literary Banquet: Calligrapher and poet Ho Ching-chwang, multi-disciplinary creative artist Pan Chia-hsin, and winner of the 2022 Taiwan Literature Awards Golden Book Award He Wen-chin will be hosting a roundtable discussion where they bring out and share each of their creations with the public.
Literary Surfing and Workshop:
Browse among diverse art and culture booths, showcasing the rich landscape of Taiwan literature alongside literature museums from across Taiwan, including the Lin Yutang House and the Liang Shih-Chiu House.
Pochoir Engraving and Bookplate Workshop: Print limited-edition bookplate stamps, specially produced for this occasion – bring back a unique souvenir celebrating NMTL’s 20th anniversary!
Writing Lab Workshop: Write postcards by hand with magical invisible ink and bake them to reveal heartwarming messages!
Literary Picnic: Stroll around outside the museum to enjoy creative takes on literature by various booth operators in the form of crafts, cooking, lifestyle products, book exchanges, and reading discussions. Environmentally-friendly utensils and bamboo shopping baskets will be available for rent in the outdoor picnic area.
Literary Electronic Music Party: In a new aesthetic combining sound, light, and architecture, local Tainan DJ 44 Bit Records translates Taiwan author Hsu Bing-Ding’s supernatural novel Hsiao Fêng Shên (小封神) into electronic music, alongside light art projected onto the NMTL building. Street performers Havefun Circus will launch their first literature-based street performance.
The Literature Lecture series sees creators from various fields perform readings of their works and share their process of literary creation. Local Taiwan rappers will also perform freestyle improv rap interpretations in Taiwanese.