Taiwan 2011 / Part 3 / IDA Night Three

the skies dark and gloomy again. the mood is sombre, the ambiance is less than cheery.

but that's not really an issue.

the IDA has finally come to an end. with a simple ceremony, we had reached the end of the congress here in Taipei and like all things that come to an end, a little celebrtaion is in order. for the past 3 nights its been one festive communion after another, and tonite, the party is meant to be the grandest of the lot. 

i couldnt help but feel a little down at the moment though, knowing this was going to be the last night i would be in taiwan before i left for korea tomorrow. sure, i was excited to fly to seoul tomorrow, but i couldnt help but feel a tinge of the blues, realising that this part of my holidays was coming to an end. 

but this was no time for a frown. the best things are always saved for the last, so tonight should be a blast. at least, that's the feeling i got.  

so in the drizzle of the night, cold and dark, overcast and wet, we were off.

and another fantastic venue greets us. 

this humongous exhibition hall, dynamic and striking all at once, was the venue for the Taipei International Flora Exposition held on the island in 2011, and this venue specfically was the Expo Dome. 

this huge structure was used to house and exhibit multiple variety of flora for an international audience when the expo took place, but tonite, it was transformed to accommodate the final event of the IDA.

and so here i was. 

it was undeniably evident that the commissioning of the floral expo previously had clearly influenced the architectural vernacular of the building. gigantic embossed motifs of sunken in white "petal - like" patterns were designed into the exterior membrane of the hall, and the lighting system, like strings of luminescent pearls at various locations, were perfectly employed to enhance the overall surreal and dreamy ambiance of the locale.

and while waiting for the doors of the hall to open, i continue to take shots of these enormous visually bewitching "petals" that inexplicably remind me of lotuses, perhaps, because subconsciously, i was reminded of something beautiful that possessed a sense of stark cleanliness and geometrical purity.

just outside the hall,masses of people were waiting to go in and enjoy the events planned for the night. dinner was clearly on everyone's minds, but patience was needed at the moment before we could actually proceed. 

so i just walked around looking at all the night had to offer, just waiting for the right moment.

and the manga/anime influence pops up every now and then.  

yes, every now and then.

and as i walk around, i get closer to the stage and realize a live performance was going on. talented and lovely, we were being serenaded by a skillful musical duo stringing out haunting tunes for us to enjoy. and a deejay at the back adds in a little "house" and "electronica" every once in a while. mixing it up, so to speak.

soon, after this performance, the doors finally open, and we walk in.

and the second we enter, we were completely bombarded in every corner, by a dramatically hypnotic ambiance, aquatically-themed, in deep, deep sensuous blue! 

yes ... blue, blue and more blue!

after soaking in this visual assault, we sat down at our respective tables, waiting for the night to begin, and soon it did. 

and what better way to begin the night with a traditional performance of strings?

and soon, traditional dances followed.

elegant, graceful and demure, dressed adoringly in shades of maroon, purple and violet, these porcelain skin ladies with seemingly translucent paper fans in their fragile hands were clearly charming us audience members, simply through their presence on stage, enthralling us completely. 

 i wasn't complaining,that's for sure! 

after the first performance, a speech ensued which i can only guess lead to the summarizing of events these past 3 days, and how everyone had a great time. 

im sure there was more, but i do remember the acoustics not being too good so i couldn't really make out what was being said. whatever.

soon, the shows would start again. 

starting with this fantastic display of acrobatics! 

jumping high in the sky in perfect geometric synchronicity!

and bursts of light in cyan, blue and turquoise add to the tantalizing visual and kinetic magic on stage!

soon they bring out illuminated gravity -defying handheld orbs on stage and start throwing it back and forth to each other!

and a cacophony of sparkling twinkling colours flashes against the backdrop behind the performers! 

streaks of white light dashingly swift and soar through mid - air!

 

over and over again, forming momentary ghostly luminous arches, disappearing as quickly as they appear! 

 

and when that energetic display of body and light ended, we were treated to something a little less flashy and a lot more heartwarming.

the choir had taken to stage, and it was filled with school going children meant to represent the youth of the island, all on the verge of an exciting future for the country. everything was in mandarin however, so again, it was something i had to failed to appreciate entirely, but the performance was inspiring nonetheless.

 

once the performance had ended, it was clear the night was coming to an end. soon we had all gotten up and started shaking each others hands in saying goodbye to one another

and once the crowd had started dispersing, i took the sudden opportunity to stand on the empty stage to take a shot to commemorate this amazing night, but all that emerged was a dark. statue-like silhouette of me, in a deep and dark blue cloaked atmosphere.

once we started leaving, i had quickly made my way outside, to walk back to the bus to take us back to our respective guesthouses and a few shots here and there before i left for good.

as i was walking back, i was once again approached by some locals who had graciously asked me to take a shot with them. feeling flattered again, i obliged. happily so.

and the last shot of the night was taken with these guys, before finally leaving for the guesthouse, and the green aura that bathed our presence was eye - catching indeed!

as mentioned earlier this was my last night here on the island, before i leave for seoul in the morning. it truly has been an amazing 6 days here in taiwan. from the day i first got here, to meeting old friends i hadn't seen in years, to visiting one of the most mesmerising musems i had ever been to, to the visiting of vibrant art festivals and exploring chaotic urban jungles that eventually culminated in my attendance of the IDA, its been a superbly memorable affair to say the least. 


its moments like these that make me deeply appreciative of the blessings that i've received in my life, and on "simple" things like just being healthy and alive and being in the here in now, and in being a living, breathing human being to enjoy all this, and most importantly perhaps, being totally in love with art and design that has taken me so very far and so very wide all over the planet.


i will deeply miss being the midst of all this excitement and i can only wait patiently for the next major design conference to take place to attend in the near future, and i hope and pray that such meaningful experiences and encounters will be something i will be privileged to enjoy for the rest of my existence on this lovely orbiting blue marble called earth. 


goodbye taipei. i hope we meet again. 
 and seoul, see you soon, sweetheart. see you real soon.

Taiwan 2011 / Part 3 / IDA Day Three

 

why do good things end so quickly?

isnt this a valid question? 

and as i got up on the eve of the third day of the IDA, that was the first question that crossed my mind. my last day here in taipei.

the party last night was quite something, and getting caught in rain and everything else that took place only served to make the experience only more memorable that it already was and today i realise that pretty soon, this was all going to come and end. damn. which brings me back to my first question.

why?

but i move on, and pretty soon, quickly dismissing any sense of wallowing in self pity, i get ready and attend one of the last few lectures of the IDA. and it began with a pretty interesting topic.

we started off with one of my favorite topics in the whole wide world...urbanism and the kinda stuff that relevant to its development .. you know, web-like links and pathways of access points forming immediate connecting infrastructural points, structural division of public and private spaces and its implications, allowance for the kind of development suited within a specific context and the likes.

you know, cool architectural stuff. cool to me, specfically. 

the next presentation was quite a captivating topic. 

it was about creating a vibrant, captivating visual identity for the Olympic Games to be held in Brazil in 2016, and that's the man in charge of the whole super creative venture. it was presented like a full marketing and promotions campaign, the kinda thing you would see when a million dollar advertising agency pitches a major campaign concept to an even bigger million dollar client with deep deep pockets to propagate their commercial agenda.

everything was so well thought of, so well conceptualized and so comprehensive, covering every possible aspect when it came to getting the word out for the Games in 2016, all with a tinge of radiant Latin energy emanating from the presentation visuals. 

the logo created for the games in particular was a clever concoction of ideas relating to cooperation and connectivity, and even had an intriguing well conceptualized 3D feel to its design, and was truly something that i had never seen before in graphic design.

essentially, an exciting 2D  dimensionally  flat - based curvaceous logo, becomes an even more uniquely fluidic 3D sculptural insignia.

and of course, once the presentations ended, a quick follow up session, with the usual banter of questions and answers were in the air. the panelists were well prepared to handle the situation.

those previous sessions were the last to be presented, and not just for the day, but for the entire IDA 2011 as well. the last hours in the afternoon was scheduled to be symbolic and forward looking at this part of the conference.

at this juncture, as the IDA was coming to an end here in Taipei, a ritual of sorts was underway where the passing of responsibilities of the organizing committee here in Taiwan would soon be transferred to the next committee in line  in charge of making the next conference happen.

and i was absoluetly thrilled to find out that the next city shosen to host the IDA in 2013 would be Instanbul. 

exotic and thrilling, in a james-bond-ish-kinda-way, Istanbul.

"whoa," i thought and immeidately i told myself that ive got to be there when it happens. 

i just gotta. 

one of the members of the Turkish delegation then took the stage to explain all the exciting things planned in November 2013 for the IDA, but truthfully, the very notion of visiting one of the most glamorous super cities in the world was thrilling enough, and the idea of having the next IDA in the heart of this magnificent ancient metropolis was a mindblowing thought. 

oh yes, i gotta be there. 

ill worry about language and logistics later.

after the presentation, and the handing over of the proverbial torch from taiwan to turkey, the ceremony continued events leading to the close of the conference.

esteemed speakers and guests on stage, discussing the various issues that were spoken of during the past 3 days. a summary if you may. 

 a little bit of the past to remind us of our journey.

 

and a little bit of the future showing us where to look.

specifially, where the next World Design Capital will be held. now, this is an event that i am kinda familiar with. the World Design Capital ( WDC ) was actually held in Seoul last year, and in 2012, the proud hosts of this event would be Helsinki, in Finland.

The WDC, by the way, is an amazing collection and display of design - centric events where various field of art and design converge in one urban centralized vicinity and locale to showcase the best the country has to offer to everyone on the planet. exhibitions can range as wide as something as diverse and as fluidic as fashion, to something as dynamic and as arresting as graphics and multimedia. 

it was then made clear, that the next WDC host would be announced here at this very moment. undoubtedly, delegates from the 3 major candidate cities were biting their nails anxioulsy waiting to celebrate a possible victory in hosting the event, but of course there would only be one winner and out of the three, which were Dublin, Bilbao and Cape Town, inevitably only one emerged victorious. 

and the prize goes to South Africa! 

whoa!  

of course the delegates go wild with unbridled,unresticted enthusiasm and understandably so, for this was the first time an African nation would get the chance to host a design event of this significance and magnitude, and shouts of joy burst through the air as loud as those annoying vuvuzelas that were heard during the last world cup. 

but of course, the joy was expected.
so good luck south africa. good luck. 

 

and after the spontaneous bursts of euphoria had died down, we started proceeding to the final part of the conference, which of course was the all important closing ceremony. 

it was a clean and simple dignified affair.

all the important and prominent members of the conference were invited on stage, they gathered in a straight line to collectively say goodbye and signal the end of the events of the past 3 days, that were enlightening and wonderful through and through. 

my thoughts were now centered on how electrifying the next IDA was going to be, and how possibly wonderful the experiences that that particular conference will be able to offer in about 2 years. it was absolutely thrilling to just whimsically imagine, in the nearby not to distant future, i would once again be able to experience this astounding collection of design affairs all over again in a completely new perspective in a completely new landscape, but this time, right in the heart of the crossroads of east and west, sauntering by the Bosporus river in downtown Istanbul. 

thats' a spectacular proposition.

spectacular!

and just before i left the convention centre once and for all that night, silently i bade farewell to the venue of the conference. we were leaving quickly for the final party of the night, that would be the creme de la creme of all the 3 parties that were part of each evening's festivities. 

this was going to be one hell of an ending, and wasnt going to miss for the world. 

on to the night!