Supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles is collaborating with UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, and Chapman University to host the second series of touring lectures from March 9 to 12. This special event features Director Singing Chen, whose work The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up won the Venice Immersive Grand Prize in 2025, and Wu Ming-Yi, the recipient of Taiwan’s National Award for Arts in literature. Together, they will present Taiwan's latest breakthroughs in ecological literature and visual translation to the Southern California academic community.
This theme will explore the journey from texts to experience: Professor Wu Ming-Yi will share his literary creation, while Director Singing Chen will discuss utilizing technology to translate text into immersive imagery. This process allows audiences to literally "walk into the writing" and experience the poetic and emotional world of the authors’ work. Adapted from Wu’s short story, The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up, transcending linguistic borders, tells a journey through mountains where memory, reality, and myth intersect on a path toward healing.
Director Chen’s body of work spans feature films, documentaries, TV series, and VR works. Her storytelling focuses on the human condition and spirituality, blending keen observation with poetic expression. In 2022, she received her first Venice Immersive Grand Prize with the work The Man Who Couldn't Leave. Professor Wu, who teaches at National Dong Hwa University, has a writer’s career spanning nearly 30 years across various genres. His works reflect deeply on humanistic visions and environmental ecology, expanding the horizons of Taiwanese literature. His translated works, such as The Man with the Compound Eyes and The Stolen Bicycle, have garnered numerous international literary awards.
Taiwan had been leading the world in the development of tech-art. The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up is not only a masterpiece of VR technology and aesthetics, but also a testament to the core value that "literature is the foundation of art." In addition to the campus tour, Director Chen will visit the Los Angeles Music Center and the SXSW festival in Austin to explore global opportunities, aiming to showcase the soft power of Taiwan’s cultural content through profound narratives and innovative creative methods.
Tour Schedule & Event Information
• University of California, Los Angeles
Time: March 9, 2026, (Mon) 13:00–14:30
Location: Bunche Hall 10383
Event Link: https://www.international.ucla.edu/ccs/event/17582
• Chapman University
Time: March 10, 2026, (Tue) 13:00–14:30
Location: Beckman Hall 404 - George Bush Conference Center
Event Link: https://events.chapman.edu/wilkinson/index.php?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D1358429781
• University of California, Irvine
Time: March 10, 2026, (Tue) 16:00–18:00
Location: Humanities Gateway (HG) 1010
Event Link: https://sites.uci.edu/globalasias/wumingyi-singingchen/
• University of California, Santa Barbara
Time: March 11, 2026, (Wed) 14:00–15:15
Location: McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB
Event Link: https://taiwancenter.eastasian.ucsb.edu/taiwan-talks/
• University of California, San Diego
Time: March 12, 2026, (Thu) 13:00–15:00
Location: Taiwanese American Community Center (7838 Wilkerson Ct, San Diego, CA 92111)
Event Link: https://taiwan.ucsd.edu/events/forthcoming-events.html