Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari by Kaohsiung City Government

Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari by Kaohsiung City Government is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award Koura in Hoahoa Toi Whakaari, Atamira, Āhua me te Tirohanga Competition Category.

KouraToi Whakaari· 2023

Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari

by Kaohsiung City Government

Client: Bureau of Cultural Affairs

A' Design Award Koura Winner in Toi Whakaari Category

1,065,045
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #142226

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari

He whakaaturanga toi whakaari nui a Maritime Glow i waho, i hangaia mō tētahi ahurei rama i Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Ko te Awa o Love te atamira, ko te rangi tuwhera te ārai. Mā te hangarau whakaata e huri ai te atamira hei waka, ā, e 400 ngā rama e whakaatu ana i ngā whakaahua ataata e 381 mita te roa. Ka whakakotahihia te whakaari ā-rohe, te toka Taiwanese, te puoro Hakka, ngā waiata a te iwi taketake, te whakaari waiata, ngā mahi whawhai tuku iho me te kanikani ki roto i te whakaaturanga kotahi. Neke atu i te 600 ngā kaiwhakaari mai i ngā rōpū tekau mā tahi me ngā kura e rua e whai wāhi ana. Ka whakaatu te kōrero i te wā o mua, te wā o nāianei me te anamata o Kaohsiung.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Koura

Ko Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari te toa o te A' Design Award Koura, he whakaaetanga tino whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa kōeke tuatahi, whakamīharo me te hiranga. Ko ngā toa Koura he mahi tino auaha, he tirohanga mamao, he kanapa ahi, e whakaatu ana i te pūmanawa, te mātauranga me te tohungatanga o ā rātou kaihoahoa. E tūmanakohia ana ko Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari he hanganga tūnga e whakatū ana i ngā ia, he whakanuia rawa, e kawe mai ana i te uara kāore anō kia kitea. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Koura he kaupapa whakamīharo, whakahonoretia e whakawhānui ana i ngā rohe o te toi, te pūtaiao, te hoahoa me te hangarau. Ka whakaara a Maritime Glow Whakaaturanga Toi Whakaari i te hiahia nui, ka whakaoho i te kaingākau, ka whakatenatena i te auaha, ā, ka whakamīharo i a tātou.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: In this project, local opera, Taiwanese rock, Hakka, Yu opera, indigenous ancient songs, a go-go, Taiwanese opera, musical theatre, traditional kung fu, pop dance, and other content are in place at once. As for the music, the team adopted a musical theatre approach to transform the same melody and integrate it into the performance forms, which played repeatedly to impress the audience. With the sky as the curtain and the world-class Weiwuying Theater as the stage, 'Maritime Glow' broke the boundary of performance. The design team used projection technology to transform the stage into a boat, creating the largest performing arts scale in Taiwan and combining it with Kaohsiung traditional opera.
Dimensions & Packaging: 20 sets of 30,000 lumens and 70,000 sets of 20,000 lumens projection equipment linked with 400 dazzling lights presented 381 meters of visual images, creating the largest scale of performing arts in Taiwan. When the audience was in the venue, the L-shaped gigantic stage surrounding them and the trees behind them also changed their lights as the play progressed, so they were enjoying a fully immersive experience. The spirit of the play, Cihou Lighthouse, was a replica of the original building, and even its lighting frequency was identical. The live streaming was filmed with four camera drones, and the total number of YouTube video views has exceeded one million as of March 2022.
Tags: Maritime Glow, Kaohsiung, Weiwuying, Taiwanese Opera, Lantern Festival.
Production Technology: The 'boat' in the play refers to the carrier of great history, which implies the idea of moving forward at all times. On the other hand, 'love' refers to the temperature of the performance and the expectation for the next generation. In this play, the performance team presented the past, present, and future of Kaohsiung in a detailed and sophisticated way. People across the world have come to trade around the seas of Taiwan for 400 years. The river is still the same, it is time to raise the sails and head for the future, based on Taiwan and moving forward internationally.
Design Challenge: The performance involved 11 groups and 2 schools, with over 600 performers. The most challenging part of such a large performance was the rehearsals. Especially during the epidemic and the Lunar New Year holiday, many projects had to be discussed online, which greatly compressed the rehearsal time. In addition, the final rehearsal time on site was also critical. To ensure the smooth operation of the entire lantern festival, the team of 600 people can only take four times late at night to grasp the rehearsal opportunities.
Research: This project was the first time in Taiwan that involves 11 groups and 2 schools, with over 600 performers in front of and behind the scenes. In the overture performance, each group sings its parts. The first generation of the troupe sings the first line while holding the oar in their hands, and the second generation takes over the oar from their hands when the second line was sung, symbolizing that 'Maritime Glow' was not only about Kaohsiung's past and future but also represents the inheritance of the performers. The design team has always been committed to promoting the culture of Taiwanese opera.
Inspiration: During the 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung event, the seven year incubation of Maritime Glow adopted the landmark of Kaohsiung city, the Love River, which is a river shared in everyone's memory, as the stage for the festival. The design team extended the story to the local culture and history, describing the prosperity, cultural conflicts, and industrial development of the island for a century. In this project, the design team linked the relationship between Kaohsiung and the sea, ships, and people with the imagery of ships and touching performances.
Project Duration: The project started in May 2020 in Taiwan and finished in December 2021 in Taiwan.
Operation Flow: The design team transformed the main lantern of the Taiwan Lantern Festival into a play with virtual projection technology. The story of 'Boat Love' told the story of this land from 400 years ago to nowadays. The events in the story were all related to ships and the sea while the ships and harbors represent Kaohsiung's industry, culture, and history. The design team integrated the spirit and emotion of the island and ships into the story to describe the development of Kaohsiung. The brilliance of the play was not only to describe the history of Kaohsiung but also to make many breakthroughs in the performance format.
Team Members: Shih Che, Dennis Che, Yichun Hsu, Hui Chen, Yi-Chien Chou
Image Credits: Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government