“Passport Thursdays: Outdoor International Dance, Music & Film Series,” a cultural season hosted by the Queens Museum in New York, featured an evening of Taiwan culture on Aug. 18.
Co-hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, the Taiwan-themed evening kicked off with a screening of Taiwanese film “Go Grandriders (不老騎士)” and concluded with a performance by the Yuhan Su Jazz Band.
Directed by Hua Tian-hao (華天灝), “Go Grandriders” tells the story of seventeen elders aged around 81 who embark on their life-long dream of a motorbike journey. The 2013 documentary captures the seniors’ unusual adventure of a thirteen-day tour around the island of Taiwan.
Vibraphonist Su Yu-han (蘇郁涵) and her New York-based Yuhan Su Jazz Band then presented music that reflect Taiwan’s diverse ethnic heritage, including ancient Taiwu ballads, traditional Hakka songs, Taiwanese folk songs, and jazz versions of the late maestro Tyzen Hsiao’s (蕭泰然) compositions.
Additional free printmaking workshops were offered as family-oriented activities. The workshops were led by Huang Zi-huang (黃子鐶), a printmaker of Hakka descendant who specializes sharing Hakka culture through art.
“Passport Thursdays” is an annual program hosted by the Queens Museum every July through August. Each year, it unfolds a series of events featuring cultures from different countries. The 2016 season from July 28 to Aug. 18 presented a wide range of performances by participants from Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, and Taiwan.
‘Passport Thursdays: Taiwan’
Date: Aug. 18, 2016Time: 7pm – 10pmVenue: Queens Museum of ArtsAddress: Flushing Meadows Corona ParkSite: www.queensmuseum.org
