MOC unveils winners of National Cultural Award

2016/01/06

Recipients of the 35th Executive Yuan National Cultural Award were unveiled Jan. 4 by the Ministry of Culture, recognizing lifelong contributions to enriching the local artistic and creative landscape.

Novelist Chung Chao-cheng, movie director Li Hsing, and historical architecture preserver and academic Li Chien-lang will each receive a certificate, medallion and cash prize of NT$1 million (US$33,236) at a presentation ceremony March 24 in Taipei City.

MOC Minister Hung Meng-chi said the three winners left indelible marks on the nation’s cultural tapestry and are worthy additions to the list. “Their work and influence reach far and wide, inspiring more young talents to take up the torch.”

Chung, 91, a Hakka educated during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945), only started learning Chinese after World War II. He devoted himself to promoting writing with local identity and is acclaimed as trailblazer of Taiwan literature.

Winning widespread praise for his novel “The Dull Ice Flower,” Chung went on to complete a trilogy depicting the resistance of farmers and intellectuals to Japanese rule. “Sinking Down,” “To the Sea” and “The Song of Chatian Mountain” also mirror his past life experiences and help document the development of local society.

Li Hsing, 85, commenced his 60-year career by directing Holo-language movies. A three-time Golden Horse Award winner for best director, he is revered as a pioneer of the healthy realism genre and fostering collaboration among the film industries of Greater China.

Most of Li’s famous works feature pastoral scenes and characters as seen in “Beautiful Ducking” and “Oyster Girl,” the first color movie in Taiwan. He also specialized in various themes such as a romance and history, captured with aplomb respectively in “Four Loves” and “The Autumn Execution.”

Li Chien-lang, 67, a professor of art management and culture policy at New Taipei City-based National Taiwan University of Arts, is the second awardee in the field after Lin Heng-dao 22 years ago. His passion for architecture is represented by an unrelenting drive to discover the origins of Taiwan’s many distinctive and unique structures spanning different eras.

This dedication is also demonstrated via an exhibition underway at National Taiwan Museum of his architectural drawings on NTM and surrounding structures like Land Bank Exhibition Hall, Red House, Taiwan Railways Administration’s former headquarters and White Palace of Nanmen Park.

Established in 1980, the NCA is considered the highest honor for members of Taiwan’s cultural and arts sector.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=240926&ctNode=2194&mp=9)