TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The five winners of the 10th Presidential Cultural Awards were unveiled at Taipei’s Songshan Cultural Park on Friday (Oct. 18).
The biennial Presidential Cultural Awards are organized by the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC) (中華文化總會) and the winners were announced on Sept. 4. The Arts and Cultural Award was given to sculptor Ju Ming (朱銘), founder of Ju Ming Museum, and creator of the “Taichi” (太極) series of works.
Ju Ming wins Arts and Cultural Award (GACC photo)
“Without my staff and partners, I would not have been able to win the award,” Ju said.
The recipient of the Creativity and Innovation Award was the art and technology team LuxuryLogico (豪華朗機工). Their signature work is “Sound of Blooming,” a large-scale mechanical flower that was exhibited at Taichung World Flora Expo 2018.
On receiving its award, LuxuryLogico commented that it liked to think outside the box and be creative. Furthermore, according to GACC, LuxuryLogico believes a new generation will further elevate the country’s cultural scene.
Winners of the Humanitarian Dedication Award, Public Advocacy Award, and Community Building Award, were, respectively, the Taiwan Mennonite New Dawn Educare Center (財團法人台灣基督教門諾會黎明機構), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會), and the village chief in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District, Fang He-sheng (方荷生).
The awards included NT$1 million (US$31,969) in prize money each and the honorees were selected from a 137-strong field, judged by a 52-member panel over three rounds, reported Taiwan Today.
The five winners and more than 30 cultural professionals were invited to give speeches at the forum “Next 20 Festival,” which had themes such as Selfless Love and Care, Society, Media Reform, and Taiwan Values, Arts and Creativity Cross-disciplinary. The forum took place Oct. 19-20.
