Taiwan-France Cultural Award winners honored in Paris

2024/09/26

Taiwan’s Chen Yi-fen and France’s Gwennaël Gaffric and Elizabeth Zeitoun were honored with a joint cultural award Sept. 23 in Paris for their efforts to promote cultural exchanges between the two sides, according to the Ministry of Culture.
 
An associate professor at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, Gaffric has played a key role in introducing Taiwan’s literary works to French audiences. He studied Holo, also known as Taiwanese, in university, where he developed an appreciation for the language’s richness and diverse cultural influences.
 
Zeitoun focuses on Austronesian languages as a linguistic research fellow at Academia Sinica. She was awarded for her long-term contributions to the collection, documentation, preservation and teaching of the country’s Indigenous languages.
 
Chen, who is a flutist and a founder of the Formosa Baroque Orchestra, serves as a bridge between Taiwan and Europe in the classical music field. She is pleased to see more young people from Taiwan studying music in European countries and promoting baroque music upon returning home, she said, adding that she believes the genre will continue flourishing in the country.
 
During the award ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture Sue Wang emphasized that the prize promotes dialogue between Taiwan and the global community by fostering artistic, cultural and academic exchanges, thereby enhancing understanding and appreciation of Taiwan.
 
Established in 1996 by the MOC and the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, the annual award is presented to distinguished individuals or groups that have helped raise awareness of Taiwan in Europe or facilitated cultural exchanges. It has honored a total of 50 laureates from Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.K.
 
According to the MOC, following the event, Wang visited the Chaillot National Theater of Dance to promote the theater’s Taiwan-themed Chaillot Experience running Oct. 10-12. He also called at artistic institutions including the Orsay Museum to share views on topics spanning the promotion of national art museums and utilization of cultural venues, the ministry added.


Source:  Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)