TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s history and folk legends have taken center stage at South by Southwest (SXSW) in the United States, which started Friday (March 8) and will continue until March 16.
The world's largest innovative creative content exhibition is taking place as usual in Austin, Texas. Taiwan’s entries in the “XR Expo” section of the festival are backed by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and feature mostly virtual XR (extended reality) technology works.
Shortlisted in the XR Experience Competition is “Madame Pirate: Code of Conduct” (女海盜:生存守則) by Huang Dan-chi (黃丹琪) and Morgan Ommer. It is set during a Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) pirate battle when an interpreter is taken captive.
Another work for which there are high hopes in competition is “Na Tau Tsi A (Sister Lin-Tou VR)” by Ho Hsiao-mei (何曉玫), the artistic director of MeimageDance. This was inspired by Taiwanese folklore and is about the ability of our bodies to recall past traumas — "returning as a ghost to the landscape of your/her body."
According to a TAICCA press release, the Taiwan Pavilion will introduce 11 other “immersive” works plus trailers in addition to the two shortlisted works. Founded in 2019 by the Ministry of Culture, TAICCA supports the development of Taiwan’s creative content industry.