Organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau and the Yilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau, and executed by the Taiwan Design Center, the 2015 Taiwan Design Expo will take place from November 21 to December 6 at the Chung Hsing Cultural and Creative Park in Yilan. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Yilan County jointly hosted the opening ceremony at the park. With a live performance of this year’s theme song, “Suddenly Seeing Light Again,” by Maffine, the event officially returned to Yilan after an eleven-year absence.
This year marks the thirteenth anniversary of the Taiwan Design Expo. The expo features five pavilions, with nearly 2,645 square meters of floor area. The Theme Pavilion and the Yilan Lifestyle Pavilion are the very manifestation of this year’s theme “Makers Boom!” and are curated by CEO Grace Wang of the VVG Group. The Theme Pavilion creates an ambience of exquisite craftsmanship by having stores at the front and studios in the back, using creative design and thinking to explore new possibilities. By combining crafts and contemporary design, designers refocus on the most original needs to develop products that are the most suitable to modern life. They make products, and they also make life. The concept of the Yilan Lifestyle Pavilion is “Forest Aesthetics, Shared Innocence,” featuring Yilan chairs, children’s furniture, toys, stationary, picture books, and outstanding works by Yilan artisans and designers.
This year’s Taiwan Design Expo not only features outstanding local designers and artisans, but also invites professionals from Finland, France, Australia, and Japan to showcase their products. From Japan, with the assistance of the Toyama New Industry Organization, ten companies have been invited to exhibit copperware, metal products, lacquerware, silk weaving, and Washi paper from Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture; with the assistance of the Tourism Division of the City of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, nine companies have been invited to participate in the expo, including Asahikawa’s leading wooden furniture, stationary, and household goods companies; with the help of the Industry and Tourism Department of Tokyo’s Sumida District, twenty companies have been invited, featuring products by the Sumida Modern brands authenticated by the district such as leather, metal products, glass, lacquerware, and handmade balloons. Also, the expo features the brand SIWA created by Fukusawa Naoto; the famed industrial designer who combines the textures of paper and paint, and introduces new patterns to give traditional handicrafts a brand-new look.
Furthermore, the “AIC Yilan Maker Space” combines the resources and technology of the American Innovation Center and trendsetting makers to showcase their rich innovative and creative energy; “Boom Brand,” invites Taiwanese furniture brands Macromaison and Xcellent, who integrate practicality and cultural lifestyle, and Dayeh, which focuses on green operations, to tell respective brand stories using own exhibition vocabularies. “Trendy Green Dyehouse” showcases the ever-changing natural dyeing craft through three aspects of environmental protection, health, and culture. The five pavilions feature exciting exhibits, and through this event, we hope to build the Chung Hsing Cultural and Creative Park into the incubation center of Yilan’s cultural and creative industry, giving local industry a wonderful jumpstart full of energy.