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By
Doug Habecker
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Although Taichung
is well-known around the island for its label of Taiwan's
"culture city", that moniker has taken a beating
in recent years as residents and outsiders have frequently
joked that it is anything but cultural.
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However, there are reasons to hope that Taichung will once
again live up to its reputation. Unexpectedly, one of these
reasons stands within meters of the Taichung railroad station
and, indeed, is actually part of the station complex. Just
a few meters away from arriving and departing trains, behind
the Japanese colonial-era terminal, is Warehouse 20.
Until a few months ago, the large decades-old building, containing
about 500 pings of space, was an unused Taiwan Railroad Administration
warehouse, one of many in the station's rail yard. Thanks
to a new initiative launched by the Cabinet-level Council
of Cultural Planning and Development, the warehouse has been
handed to an art consulting company for conversion into an
attractive new art gallery, complete with attached cafe and
artist studio.
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Warehouse 20 was officially opened to the public just
last month and has already been successful in drawing
large numbers of visitors, young and old alike. The
building, now completely revamped, makes a perfect venue
for the experimental art exhibits that organizers say
will frequently occur there. The opening exhibition,
appropriately titled "Rebirth", featured a
range of creative, sometimes bizarre, displays by a
group of 10 local artists and two artist groups.
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"We hope to give this gallery a new, unique
image as a place where people can touch and interact with
displays. In Taiwan, there are many good "seeds"
that need to be watered and allowed to grow up. We hope that
Number 20 Warehouse will bring artists and art lovers together,"
said Rose Hsu, project manager for L'Orangerie International
Art Consultant Company, which is managing the gallery.
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The attractive Achilles Cafe, part of the building,
is a good place to hang out over a cup of coffee and
watch the trains through the long windows. Sketch artists
and others are sometimes invited to do demonstrations
and drawings at the cafe. At the back of the gallery
is a studio, provided to a chosen artist who only pays
for utilities.
Part of the overall development is similar renovations
to the adjacent warehouses 21 through 26. Warehouse
21 is now a performance studio where Acme Physical Theatre
will be performing each vacation weekend Sunday at 2:30
p.m. for the next three months. Numbers 22 through 26
are individual artists' studios which are often open
to the public.
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Warehouse 20, free and open to the public, is the first
of what is hoped will be similar railroad warehouse
make-overs in other cities. Residents and visitors alike
will no doubt continue to discover this exciting new
Taichung addition which will hopefully help the "cultural
city" once again live up to its name.
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GETTING THERE: Finding Warehouse 20 is not the easiest task.
It is accessed via the alley running up the left side of the
Taiwan Motor Transport Bus Company [the "kuo kuang hao"
greyhound buses] Taichung South Station on Fuhsing Road, where
one catches buses to Kaohsiung and points south. The easiest
way to get there is to go to the train station and take the
pedestrian underpass under the train tracks and behind the
station, bearing left and following the small yellow gallery
signs. The gallery is near the underpass exit on the south
side of the tracks. The gallery is open daily from 11 a.m.
to 8 p.m. and may be contacted at 220-9972.
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