Partnered with the Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles on the Spotlight Taiwan Project, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Asian Studies launches eight virtual events titled "Indigenous Taiwan: Transpacific Connections” from October 14th to November 4th, 2021. Taiwanese indigenous novelist Badai is invited to be the speaker for the first two lectures, “Indigenous Literary Practices in Postcolonial Taiwan” and “Indigenous Culture in Modern Society.” Writer Ahronglong Sakinu and directors Wei Te-sheng and Laha Mebow will attend the following sessions. For registration and more information, please visit: https://asia.ubc.ca/events/event/indigenous-literary-practices-in-postcolonial-taiwan/.
"Indigenous Taiwan: Transpacific Connections,” online series which focuses on two major themes, literature and movie, and represents various aspects of Taiwanese indigenous tribes, will teach the audiences more about their history, culture and current development. Badai’s novel “Sorceress Diguwan,” the first roman-fleuve ever produced by Puyuma writers, was the winner of the Taiwanese Literature Golden Award. Some of his works were collected in the book “Indigenous Writers of Taiwan.” Ahronglong Sakinu, who founded a hunter school, devoted himself to inheriting the Paiwan culture of living with nature. His famous works include “The Sage Hunter,” “The Man Who Walks with the Wind ― My Hunter Father” and “Hunter School.” Director Wei Te-sheng’s well-known epic film, “Seediq Bale,” portrays the Wushe Incident in 1930 which Mona Rudao led the Seediq tribe to fight against the long-term oppression by the Japanese authorities. The movie “Hang in There, Kids!” by director Laha Mebow follows 3 young boys from the Taiwanese Atayal tribe to discuss the issues of children’s education, environmental change and cultural heritage. In her documentary “Ça Fait Si Longtemps,” Taiwanese aboriginal musicians Suming Rupi and Baobu Badulu were invited to visit New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific Ocean. During this voyage, they had cultural exchanges with local Kanak musicians.
Initiated by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture in 2013, the Spotlight Taiwan Project seeks to establish long-term partnerships with global professional art, cultural organizations, and leading universities to host diverse events of Taiwan’s culture. Being the project partner this year, the UBC Department of Asian Studies is one of the leading Asian Studies programs in Canada as well as one of the largest Asian Studies institutes in Northern America. It provides programs about Sinology, Japan, Korea, East Asia, Buddhism, the Chinese language, and Taiwan-related courses such as “Fiction and Film from Modern Taiwan” and “History and Culture of Taiwan.” For further information about the series, please follow the UBC Department of Asian Studies’ website: https://asia.ubc.ca/news/a-virtual-speaker-series-indigenous-taiwan-transpacific-connections/.
Filmmaker: Wei Te-sheng 魏德聖
Thursday October 21 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Professor Renrenyang
Friday October 22 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Professor Aynur Kadir
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Writer: Ahronglong Sakinu 亞榮隆 · 撒可努
Thursday October 28 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Professor Christopher Rea
Friday October 29 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Professor Alison Bailey
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Filmmaker: Laha Mebow 陳潔瑤
Wednesday November 3 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Yuqing Liu
Thursday November 4 (4:00pm PDT; Online), in conversation with Professor Aynur Kadir
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