Source:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/20...centre-taiwan/
Lonely Planet: The world’s largest performing arts centre under one roof is set to open in Taiwan
ANDREA SMITH
Lonely Planet Writer
18 SEPTEMBER 2018
The world’s largest performing arts centre under one roof is set to open in Taiwan on October 13, and up to 50,000 people are expected to attend the grand opening concert and party. The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will have five performance spaces, including a 2236-seat opera house, a 1981-seat concert hall, a 1210-seat playhouse, a 434-seat recital hall and an outdoor theatre.
The world’s largest performing arts centre under one roof is set to open in Taiwan on 13 October. Image: Iwan Baan
It’s Taiwan’s most significant cultural investment in a generation, and the centre covers a surface area of 35 acres and is set in the spectacular 116-acre subtropical park in the heart of Kaohsiung. Conductor and Weiwuying’s artistic director and conductor, Chien Wen-Pin, will inaugurate the concert hall and Asia’s largest pipe organ in a programme of Beethoven, Liszt and Taiwanese composers, featuring the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra as well as ensembles and soloists from Taiwan and abroad.
Paradise Interrupted is part of the inaugural season at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan. Image: Julia Lynn Photography
Designed by Dutch architects, Mecanoo, the architecture of the centre is inspired by the sinuous canopy created by clusters of banyan trees commonly found in the region. The outdoor ‘Arts for the People’ party will incorporate aboriginal dance, traditional theatre, opera, music, puppetry and street culture. “Something that overseas visitors to Weiwuying will encounter is the passion for theatre, dance, spectacle and music that is everywhere in Taiwan,” says Chien Wen-Pin. “Weiwuying, with its extraordinary facilities, gives us the opportunity to experiment – to be bold and innovative, and to try [something] different.”
The new centre, Weiwuying, occupies a site that was formerly a military training base in Taiwan. Image: Iwan Baan
Kaohsiung is located in the south of Taiwan, and the new centre occupies a site that was formerly a military training base, symbolising the developing outlook for the city of Kaohsiung and Taiwan, It’s mission is to connect local and global talent through arts and culture. Details of its inaugural season programme can be found on its website here.
Kaohsiung 高雄 가오슝 เกาสง
Taiwan 台湾 대만 ไต้หวัน