Art’s festival or construction site? Layer upon layer of problems

This year’s Taipei Arts Festival, which is being held at the Songshan Tobacco Factory, has put on a fantastic bill of foreign plays and performances as well as a fine collection of art exhibitions, however, as indicated by volunteers at the festival, there has been a marked decrease in visitors this year. In preparation for this September’s 2011 Taipei World Design Exhibition, Songshan Tobacco Factory has been fenced off and the area surrounding it became a building site.

The resultant dust from building works has meant that the signs for billed activities are obscured from visitor’s eyes. Festival visitors have been forced to navigate through countless obstacles and to rely on following the advertising signs running alongside the makeshift pedestrian walkway and directions from building site workers to find their way to the festival. While traversing the makeshift walkway, which is a ramshackle mud-caked plywood walkway, visitors must endure the clamor of building works and occasionally dodge vehicles on site, leaving a real question mark hanging over the safety of the area. Festival workers informed us that the said construction site’s foreman changed the commencement date for construction at the last minute, leaving them no option but to simply improvise with the makeshift walkway – however couldn’t a more suitable and safer option be found?

This obvious clash of Taipei Arts Festival and the 2011 Taipei World Design Exhibition, both held by Taipei City Government, has resulted in an even wider gap between people and art. The citizen journalist covering the story sincerely hopes that before the curtain comes down on Taipei Arts Festival, a safer walkway option will be found, allowing visitors to fully enjoy the space and carry away happy memories.

Art’s festival or construction site? Layer upon layer of problems (by CJ chio24)
URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/83463

(以下是中文對照)
「工地」藝術節？困難重重 ( chio24 )

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今年的台北藝術節，在松山菸廠文化園區舉辦了許多來自國外的戲劇表演、洪通藝術家的作品展覽，但志工表示，前來參觀的人數有明顯下降。位於台北市松山區的 松山菸廠文化創意園區，在藝術節剛開幕時，已經被許多鐵皮層層圍住，成為九月底即將到來的「2011台北世界設計大展」的工程地。塵土飛揚，完全看不見園 區裡所舉辦的任何活動。行人只能跟著路旁一支又一支的宣傳旗幟，以及工作人員的引導，前往藝術節展場。進場民眾必須通過多層障礙。先是撲鼻的塵土、臨時搭 建的木板橋梁、泥濘不堪的凝土道路，以及喧囂的機械聲嗡嗡作響，有時還要閃避工程用車，顧及自身安全。藝術節工作人員表示，工地工頭臨時改變施工日期，令 他們措手不及。雙方在經過協商之後，以臨時搭建的木板，作為此次事件的句點。但是，對於民眾而言，真的沒有其他更加安全的方式嗎？

 「台北藝術節」與「台北世界設計大展」，同樣是台北市政府舉辦的活動，卻互相衝突，將民眾與藝術的距離，拉得更加遙遠。公民記者期望在藝術節落幕之前，能有安全的替代道路，讓前往欣賞藝術的市民們，能夠擁有愉快、放鬆的欣賞空間。

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