Dr. Emile Chihjen Sheng, minister of the Council
for Cultural Affairs (CCA), talked about the government’s
cultural policies and how they could be implemented
in a speech he delivered at TNUA’s “AIM
2020” forum on March 3.
TNUA President Prof. Ju, Tzong-Ching, hosting
the forum, said the University, as a cradle for training
talented arts professionals and as a core for
the research and development of cultural resources
and arts management, has always paid close attention
to the country’s cultural policies.
TNUA hosted the “AIM 2020” in order to engage
the country’s top cultural official in a dialogue
through the forum, as well as gathering all those
who care about arts and culture in a brainstorming event to better understand the country’s cultural
policies for the next 10 years, Prof. Ju said.
Prof. Ju noted that Dr. Sheng has succeeded in
having legislators adopt the Cultural and Creative
Industries Development Act, and he is now preparing
to turn the CCA into a ministry of culture in
2012, which will be a significant development in
the history of Taiwan’s cultural policies.
Ministry of Culture to be set up in 2012
Dr. Sheng revealed that the CCA is making preparations
for the birth of the Ministry of Culture in
2012. All relevant plans and proposals will soon be
ready for screening.
He said the ministry will be a pilot for all cultural
policies, governing all cultural resources and
facilities, the cultural and creative industries, the
publishing sector, the TV broadcast and film industries,
cultural exchange and international promotional
activities.
It will strengthen communication and collaboration
with other government offices, such as the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education,
the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the
Tourism Bureau.
It will also play the role as a platform for the collaboration
between the arts circle and enterprises,
so as to improve the country’s cultural power.
Cultural and creative industries
Most of the CCA’s cultural hardware construction
projects have been completed or are currently being
implemented, Dr. Sheng said. But the software
side – such as the plans for running these hardware
facilities, training for arts and performance groups and increasing the number of participants –
is lagging.
In order to boost the software side, a portion of
the cultural budget must be allocated for the training
of talented people, so that the hardware facilities
can be fully utilized.
Connecting to the international
community
The minister pointed out that whenever New York
is mentioned, people would think of the Broadway
musicals. Taiwan, with so many unique arts and
cultural groups, can also create its own repertoire,
he said. The government will assist performing
groups to stage regular productions at regular venues,
so that Taiwan can build up its own repertoire.
The CCA will try to concentrate its resources to
fund local arts festivals, with an aim to eventually
create a “Formosa Arts Festival” to give foreign
tourists an opportunity to experience Taiwan’s arts
and culture.
It will also package visual and performing arts
activities into programs for cultural tourism, he
said.
The Cultural and Creative Industries
Development Act
The Cultural and Creative Industries Development
Act has passed, formally recognizing that culture
and creativity are valuable, the minister noted.
The new law is expected to help spread such an
idea widely and to help fully utilize and develop
cultural and creative assets, Dr. Sheng said, adding
bylaws are expected to be in place by July this
year.