NMP exhibitions, performance arts tours on tap in 'Taiwan Cultural Year'

Taipei, July 15 (CNA) A joint initiative between Taiwan's foreign and culture ministries to promote Taiwan's soft power in 2025 will end with National Palace Museum (NPM) exhibitions and performance arts troupes touring Europe, a Taiwanese diplomat said Tuesday.

The 2025 "Taiwan Cultural Year in Europe" launched by the two ministries earlier this year has so far seen the government set up Taiwan pavilions and help Taiwanese artists and writers take part in the Venice Biennale, Bologna Children's Book Fair, and Napoli COMICON.

Also, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Vox Nativa Children's Choir have completed their respective tours in Austria, Lithuania, and in the Vatican, Germany, and Austria, according to Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' European Affairs Department.

In the second half of 2025, collections from the Taipei-based National Palace Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of priceless Chinese art treasures, will be exhibited in the Czech Republic and France, Huang said.

Some world-renowned Taiwanese performing arts groups, including U-Theatre, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan, and Ju Percussion Group, will be touring Europe in the coming months too, he said.

All year round, Huang said Taiwan's 30 representative offices in Europe will hold more than 70 culture-related events in 26 European countries.

"Through a series of cultural activities, Europe can gain a better understanding of Taiwan's rich culture, and allow more Europeans to see the richness of Taiwan through prisms other than technology, economic activity, and security," Huang said at a weekly MOFA briefing.

The joint initiative was launched following a meeting between Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Culture Minister Lee Yuan (李遠) on Feb. 11 in Taipei to discuss inter-ministerial cultural collaboration.

Both agreed to do so as part of cultural diplomacy to raise Taiwan's international profile, according to both ministries.