Since signing the initial cooperation agreement in 2019, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB) and IRCAM have collaborated through numerous sound field creations and sound festivals, hosting the C-LAB Sound Festival: Diversonics events and advancing the field of Ambisonics through technological demonstrations and practical applications. To deepen the ties between Taiwan and France, a group led by Kevin PENG, former Deputy Minister of Culture and current Chairperson of the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation, and HSIEH Tsui-Yu, Executive Director at the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation and C-LAB, will travel to Paris, France in June to participate in ManiFeste-2023 at IRCAM. Their visit sets the stage for the second international co-creation project between the parties.
The group includes three artists from the CREATORS International Exchange Program, selected by a panel spanning Taiwan and France to undergo training at IRCAM in France. They are curator LAI Tsung-Yun of the audiovisual art collective Lacking Sound Festival, cross-disciplinary artist CHENG Nai-Chuan, and contemporary composer HUANG Chi-Yen.
Chairperson Kevin PENG expresses thanks for the continued support and professional guidance IRCAM provides. The delegation from Taiwan will be received by the Director of IRCAM - Centre Pompidou Frank Madlener in June. In addition to a tour of IRCAM's facilities and operations, the visit sets off the second Taiwan-France co-production, which will be the second collaborative music and choreography project between LIN Mei-Fang, LIN Yu-Ju, and TIEN Hsiao-Tzu. LIN Mei-Fang, a contemporary music composer based in Taiwan, plans to visit France this summer to collaborate on her project with the sound engineering team at IRCAM. The work will be previewed at the upcoming 2023 C-LAB Sound Festival: Diversonics, and officially unveiled in Paris in 2024. Through cross-disciplinary collaborations and innovations, both sides will continue to strengthen their ties, working to extend Taiwan’s visibility and soft power in cultural and innovative new fields.
This March saw the launch of The Insomnia Sketchbook, the first international co-production between C-LAB and IRCAM. Taking place at IRCAM’s Espace de projection over 3 consecutive days, the performance opened to a full house and has garnered widespread critical acclaim.
Besides the launch of The Insomnia Sketchbook, C-LAB also participated in the forums of the IRCAM Workshop in March, seizing this opportunity to introduce Taiwan Sound Lab VR co-productions via the international platform to practitioners across all fields. Works presented include the VR visual theater project Chroma: A Derek Jarman Project, the Official Selection of the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival VR Works category Blackhole Museum + Body Browser, and the Ambisonics-VR production Throbbing Sonic. Hugues Vinet, Director of Innovation and Research Means at IRCAM, offers words of congratulations following the C-LAB presentations: “Since first meeting the Taiwanese teams in 2019, working through the challenges of the pandemic, we see a marked increase in the quality of work they have delivered. It’s quite remarkable and beyond dispute that Taiwan has evolved so much in such a short timeframe.” Professor LIAO Lin-Ni, a veteran practitioner of contemporary music in France, also expressed her excitement at witnessing the historic moment in Taiwan-France music co-creation, seeing the pieces performed at the pioneering hall of modern music of IRCAM. All in all, the extravaganza has attracted an attendance of 1500 guests including museum directors, curators, and innovative startup founders.