Life

MOC forum addresses performing arts subsidies

Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai (right) solicits opinions on promoting performing arts as former Culture Minister Tchen Yu-chiou (left) and Lin Gu-fang, director of Fo Guang University's Graduate Institute of Art Studies, look on July 26. (Courtesy of MOC)

• Publication Date：07/27/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

Taiwan educators and artists called on the ROC government July 26 to devote more funding to the support of performing arts groups and cultivation of related talent.

“Both cultural policy and financial investment are important in the education and management of talented individuals, as well as in keeping them at home,” Lin Gu-fang, director of the Graduate Institute of Art Studies at Yilan-based Fo Guang University, said at a Ministry of Culture forum in Taipei City.

While performing arts have become important cultural assets for countries around the world, Taiwan has invested comparatively little in the field, with an annual budget of just NT$190 million (US$6.31 million) for subsidies to performing groups, participants noted.

Chu Tzong-ching, president of Taipei National University of the Arts, said, “It’s not unusual for performers in Taiwan to be plagued by financial pressures throughout their careers, so that they have to spend more time making money than making art.”

Yu Kuo-hua, secretary general of the Performing Arts Alliance, said the current government subsidy policies are in need of an overhaul. “They fail to encourage creativity and diversity, and make it harder for smaller groups or solo artists to apply for assistance.”

He argued that the MOC should establish a sponsorship mechanism that allows for groups with different purposes, and help artists and groups seek funds from different sources.

“Grant standards should be diversified to encourage all types of groups—whether they promote art preservation, education or international exchanges,” he said.

Participants also urged the government to make art a major part of Taiwan’s education. “Artists must be cultivated from a young age if we want the performing arts to survive in Taiwan,” Lin said.

Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai responded that the MOC budget is indeed only a tiny slice of the total national budget, but the ministry will do its utmost to corner resources to help with the creation, production and distribution of performing arts. (THN)