The Taipei Cultural Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York was formerly known as the Cultural Center, one of the two major components of the Chinese Information and Culture Center (CICC) of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.  The CICC was co-established by the Council for Cultural Affairs, the Government Information Office and the Ministry of Education in 1991, and the CICC was organized into two major components, the Information Center and the Cultural Center.  Moreover, the Cultural Center also consisted of two cultural institutes, Taipei Gallery and Taipei Theater.

The Cultural Center is primarily responsible for planning, promoting, and implementing a variety of arts activities, as well as supervising the operation of Taipei Gallery and Taipei Theater.  The Cultural Center has played a significant role in enhancing Taiwan’s cultural image and promoting international cultural exchanges.  To cope with the new trend of global cultural competition, the Taipei Cultural Center, breaking the regional boundary of New York City, has been actively bringing Taiwan’s cultures to North America and has strengthened cultural promotion considerably since July, 2002.  Since then, the Cultural Center officially has changed its name to the Taipei Cultural Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.

The Taipei Cultural Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York is headed by a director, who is assisted by two officers, three specialists and one clerk.

Goals and Mission: Since the reorganization in July, 2002, in order to cope with the new trend of global cultural competition, the Taipei Cultural Center has adjusted its goals and mission to, using its office in New York as an outpost, promoting understanding of Taiwan’s culture and arts in North America continuously and systematically.  By using culture and arts as communication channels, Taiwan is able to enhance mutual understanding and appreciation in culture and arts, as well as to strengthen the friendship with the United States and Canada.

To achieve the aforementioned goals and mission, the strategic plans of the Taipei Cultural Center are to cooperate with the important performance organizations in New York and North America, to invite Taiwan’s performance and visual arts groups or artists to New York and North America to perform, exhibit, or conduct artist residency, to actively participate in arts festivals of North America, to promote Taiwan’s artists onto international stages, and to increase international visibility of Taiwan’s culture and arts.  In addition, the Taipei Cultural Center will invite important performance agents and visual arts curators in North America to Taiwan to visit performance groups and artists in order to promote better understanding of Taiwan’s arts groups and artists.  Moreover, in accordance with Taiwan’s artist residency programs in North America supported by the Council for Culture Affairs on Taiwan, the Taipei Culture Center will also provide assistance to resident artists to present their art achievements.

Vision: To actively promote international cultural exchanges and present the rich diversity of Taiwan’s culture and arts, the future work plans of the Taipei Cultural Center are as follows: 

1.  Strengthening the cooperation relationships with arts organizations in North America

The Taipei Cultural Center, using New York as a base, currently dedicates to promoting Taiwan’s culture and arts to North America and has built up cooperation relationships with certain important arts organizations in the United States and Canada.   Looking forward to exploring more international stages for Taiwan’s performance groups and artists, the Taipei Cultural Center works actively to strengthen the cooperation relationships with other arts organizations in North America. 

2.  Actively participating in the important arts-related festivals in North America

The Taipei Cultural Center has actively participated in arts festivals, such as performing arts activities organized by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, International Society for the Performing Arts, and Western Arts Alliance, as well as visual arts activities organized by Contemporary Asian Fair.  In the future, the Taipei Cultural Center will continuously participate in the arts-related festivals, and it is looking forward to increasing the international visibility of Taiwan’s culture and arts. 

3.  Building long-term partnerships with agencies of artist residency in North America

To help cultivate outstanding artists and outstanding performance groups, the Council for Cultural Affairs on Taiwan selects and sends individual artists of potentiality to participate in artist residency programs in North America.  Under the instruction of great masters and through observation and communication with other artists, Taiwan artists are able to expand their horizons and maybe able to create artworks as a joint effort.  In accordance with this artist residency programs supported by the Council for Cultural Affairs, the Taipei Culture Center assists the artists-in-residence in adapting to new environments and in presenting their achievements.  In addition, the Taipei Culture Center also actively builds up long-term partnerships with agencies of artist residency in North America and develops residency programs for performance groups in order to expand their horizons and to enhance professional competency of the entire group.  For example, in the end of July, 2007, U-Theatre and the famous Chinese Opera diva, Wei Hai-ming, participated in the International Summer Arts Program at the Watermill Center established by Mr. Robert Wilson.  During the period of residency, they participated in a series of seminars, master classes and workshops; they also demonstrated meditation, drum techniques, and martial art; moreover, they communicated with hundreds of artists and presented their achievements.  Their participation achieved productive results.

4. Enhancing exchanges of arts professionals between Taiwan and North America

In order to promote Taiwan’s arts groups, every year the Taipei Culture Center invites important agents of performing arts and curators of visual arts in North America to Taiwan to attend art exhibitions and performing activities and to visit performance groups in order to better understand the development of Taiwan’s culture and arts.  Moreover, the Taipei Culture Center also invites Taiwan’s performance groups and artists to North America.  The Taipei Culture Center has made outstanding achievements in these matters.  Furthermore, in order to enhance exchanges of arts professionals between Taiwan and North America, the Taipei Culture Center will endeavor to arrange visits to North America for Taiwan’s curators of visual arts and agents of performing arts to help expand their horizons and to build communication channels of exchanges.  

5. Strengthening international exchanges with museums and the associated culture and arts agencies in North America

Due to the limitation of staff, the Taipei Culture Center currently only engages in the exchanges of visual arts and performing arts.  In the future, however, it will overcome this problem and will also actively promote exchanges and cooperation with museums and the associated culture and arts agencies in North America, including visits, internships, exchange exhibitions, and other cooperation programs, such as co-curator of Taiwan’s art exhibitions, in order to promote Taiwan’s culture and arts. 

6. Increasing internship opportunities for Taiwan students studying abroad in the field of arts

Because New York is an important art city of the world, many Taiwan students go to New York to study arts; therefore, the Taipei Culture Center cooperates with many art departments of the Universities in New York to provide Taiwan students with internship programs.  Depending on their fields of arts expertise, Taiwan students can make use of what they learn and enhance their expertise through the assistance of the Taipei Culture Center and through their participation in a variety of arts activities.  In addition to continuing cooperation with the universities in New York, the Taipei Culture Center will search for cooperation with the universities in other areas of North America to provide Taiwan students studying abroad with more internship opportunities.