The different patterns and colors of traditional Indonesian batik clothing express different meanings. The photo shows traditional Balinese attire. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)

The opening performance at Asia-Pacific Culture Day was a uniquely Taiwanese dance work by T.S.D. Dance Crew, which set an energetic tone for the event. It was followed by the traditional Te Mwaie dance of the Republic of Kiribati; Barong dance from Bali, Indonesia, as well as the Indonesian Penabalan (Tabal) dance; a performance on tradi­tional instruments by Korea’s Hanayeon musical group; and two types of dance performed by the Tuvalu Students Associ­ation in Taiwan—the fatele and the siva. The performances were very exciting, attracting people to crowd around the stage, and allowing them to feast their eyes on the art and culture of numerous countries in only two days.

Colorful South Pacific island countries

Although ­Nauru, a diplomatic partner of Taiwan in the South Pacific, did not put on a performance, they did set up a “parroting” language game at the venue. People received on-the-spot instruction, and if they could correctly pronounce commonly used terms like ta­ra­wong (“goodbye”), ­tubwa kor (“thank you”), andnga ­ebonw (“I love you”), they would receive a bilingual sticker to com­memor­ate the event. The pronunciation of Na­uruan is different from that of the Taiwanese and Mandarin normally spoken in ­Taiwan, so people had to practice numerous times to produce the correct sounds. The instruction provided by the young teachers was earnest and kind, and they never got impatient or frustrated.

Papua New Guinea provided one of the most dazzling highlights of this year’s culture day. Using the painted-on designs of the Mt. Hagen Cultural Show as the theme, more than ten Papua New Guinean students studying in Taiwan, as well as officials stationed in Taiwan and their families—adults and infants alike—all painted their faces with colorful greasepaint. The contrast with their dark skin brought out the brilliance of the colors, arousing people’s curiosity to approach for an up-close look.

Several Asia-Pacific countries including Ki­ri­bati, Tu­valu, and Papua New Guinea displayed natural tropical products such as coffee, seashells, and coconut as their “special local products.” All of them displayed handi­crafts made from shells or woven from grass, such as necklaces, baskets, and rugs.

Two tracks: Culture and business

Besides Taiwan’s diplomatic partners in the South Pacific, Southeast-Asian countries also provided many highlights on Asia-Pacific Culture Day. The Taiwan office of the Malaysia External Trade Development Cor­pora­tion (­MATRADE Taipei), the official Malaysian organ­iza­tion for trade promotion in Taiwan, each year has invited authentic Malaysian restaurants in Taiwan to act as gustatory ambassadors, giving visitors memor­ies of the flavors of Malaysia.

The Indian booth, surrounded by visitors, gave out travel maps of India, and also sold well-known Indian brands of cosmetics products. They also invited two Indian scientists doing postdoctoral research in Taiwan, Ravinder Singh and Samir Mehndiratte, to act as ambas­sadors for their culture by demonstrating how to wind turbans in accordance with Sikh religious traditions. People gathered round to watch as turn by turn, Ravinder Singh steadily and methodically wound a strip of cotton cloth more than ten meters long around the head of a visitor, to create a firm conical turban. It was a real eye-opener for those looking on.

Taiwan cities also shine

For the past few years the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has also invited several cities with close ties to Asia-Pacific countries, such as New Taipei City, Tainan, and Tao­yuan, to join in the cultural exchanges of Asia-Pacific Culture Day. MOFA has invited these cities, which have sister city or friendship agreements with cities in partner countries for Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, to set up booths at the event to let more people appreciate Taiwan’s cultural power.

There is a passage in the book Our Struggle by the Indo­nesian writer Yohanes Arif Wibowo that reads: “Let us continually be aware of and remember our hopes and goals wherever we are, from Brunei to Taiwan / In order to achieve our myriad dreams / It is certainly very arduous / But everything must start from here.” This quotation comes from a collection of bookmarks, compiled by the Tai­pei City Foreign and Disabled Labor Office, featuring selections drawn from works that have won the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants over the years. The bookmarks were available free of charge at the booth of the Taipei City Government, adding a rich literary tone to Asia-Pacific Culture Day.

The theme adopted by the New Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department was even more unique. They used the slogan “mobile museums” to attract families to their booth next to the main stage. Activities on the first day were led by the Shih­san­hang Museum of Archeology. They allowed children to reassemble broken pottery to get a feel for cultural restoration work, and even adults joined in the fun. The second day it was the turn of the Yingge Ceramics Museum, which entertained children enormously with its specially made mosaic puzzles.

Tainan, which greatly values exchanges with other cities, appeared at Asia-Pacific Culture Day for the third year running. Each year it has taken an important historic building in Tai­nan as its theme, from the Chi­kan Tower in 2016 and the Ha­ya­shi Department Store in 2017 to the An­ping Tree House in 2018 (with a model of the house as installa­tion art). The city’s booth introduced Tai­nan’s history, culture, and major tourist attractions in several languages including English and Japanese. There was also an activity on both afternoons in which people could get prizes for correctly answering questions about special features of Tai­nan. They could win such things as ­Cheng Gong potato chips, Tainan-­themed wang­zai­biao (round printed cards similar to those used in the milk caps game), and pencil cases in the shape of milk­fish. There was great excitement at the scene, attracting not only large numbers of foreign tourists, but many Taiwanese as well.

Cultural outreach

In the last 15 years, besides economic and trade inter­actions, Taiwan has been gradually expanding cultural exchanges with Asia-Pacific countries. For example, since its founding the National Center for Traditional Culture, located in Yi­lan County, has held the Asia-Pacific Traditional Arts Festival annually. The area covered by this cultural exchange event has expanded from the Asia-Pacific region to include Northeast Asia, North Asia, and, in 2018, the international community as a whole.

But while the Asia-Pacific Traditional Arts Festival brings in artists and performers from outside Taiwan, MOFA’s Asia-Pacific Culture Day draws on the talents of people already located here. Held in late summer or early autumn every year since 2012, it is seen as a major event by foreign embassies and representative offices in Taiwan. It mobilizes officials posted to Taiwan, their families, and overseas students studying in Taiwan, to sing or dance on stage or to set up booths selling authentic cuisine from back home, handicrafts and local specialties. These activities give visitors a chance to experience the rich cultures of Asia-Pacific countries using all of the five senses, including vision, hearing, and taste. Cultural exchange is by no means a one-way process of exporting culture outward, nor is it passive acceptance of outside cultural information. Rather, inter­action provided by in-the-moment participation in activities is an even better way for people to experience the splendor and richness of Asia-Pacific cultures.