Webinar 4: Indigenous Artist Development - A Global Context

©ABAO

Moderated by Cheng-Hua Chiang, Head of Programming and Production of Pulima Art Festival and Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation, this final session examines the vital creative expression of indigenous art in Taiwan and internationally – how it interacts with and impacts upon the mainstream art world, the nurturing of emerging talent, and the strengthening of existing support systems alongside the creation of new ones. Whether government-initiated, community or municipality-based, university-orientated or artist-run, the sheer range of indigenous cultural activities in Taiwan (where there are sixteen officially-recognised indigenous ethnic groups) and abroad underlines the importance of this topic and the need to address the communication gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Please note: all webinars will be conducted in English with access to captions via the online translation service Wordly,ai or BSL interpreters.

Cheng-Hua Chiang
Head of Programming and Production of Pulima Art Festival

Cheng-Hua Chiang has been working in theatre, festivals and documentary fields with over 17 years of experience in production, administration, and management. Since 2013 she has been responsible for Pulima Art Festival and, additionally, serves as a cross-cultural connector at the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation. Responsibilities across various Pulima projects include presenting local and international Indigenous works, scouting for new talents and cultivating indigenous curators. Alie is currently a member of the international committee for Bibu, the Swedish Performing Arts Biennial for Children and Youth 2022.

ABAO
Taiwanese neo-soul and R&B singer of Paiwan indigenous descent

Although Abao initially broke into the Chinese-speaking pop world in 2003, this music artist of indigenous descent gained mainstream recognition for her 2020 album ‘Kinkaian’ (Mother Tongue). Sung mostly in Abao's native Paiwan language, and mixing soul, R&B, hip hop and electronic music with traditional Paiwan folk music, the album went on to win best album and best song – a remarkable feat for Taiwanese indigenous music given the dominance of Mandopop. In 2015 Abao started Nanquaq, an organization devoted to collecting and recording traditional indigenous music across Taiwan. She now oversees the production of ‘new wave; projects by young indigenous musicians. Abao has also performed at events such as Glastonsbury, CMW Canada, Taiwan Plus in Tokyo and Taiwanese Waves in New York's Central Park. Abao, who used to work as a nurse, is devoted to preserving the traditional music of her ancestors.

Fred Chuang
Associate Producer of Arts Centre Melbourne

Fred is a Taiwanese First Nations Amis man and has contributed to the successes of arts organisations in Australia and Taiwan in contemporary dance, theatre, festival, and First Nations arts fields including, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Taipei Arts Festival, Taipei Fringe Festival and Taipei Children's Arts Festival. He relocated to Melbourne in 2016, then drew on his diverse experiences and commitment to adapt to the local arts community's needs. He has served as Associate Producer of Arts Centre Melbourne, Creative Producer of Fringe Focus Taiwan of Melbourne Fringe, Marketing Coordinator of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, and International Collaboration Producer of YIRRAMBOI Festival - Melbourne's premier biennial First Peoples festival.

Michael Walling
Artistic Director of Border Crossings Origins festival

Michael Walling is Artistic Director of Border Crossings (www.bordercrossings.org.uk) and Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College. He has directed numerous productions across four continents, most recently The Great Experiment in London and the film Magnetic North for the British Museum. Michael is also director of the Origins Festival (www.originsfestival.com), of which Border Crossings is producer. He has worked with First Nations artists from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA, as well as the Sámi of Northern Europe, and Indigenous people from Latin America, Melanesia, the Pacific and Taiwan.