Taiwanese parking garages, or: drive in theatres for motorcycles
Parking garages can be sinister, uncomfortable places. Especially in the night – when it’s desolated and there’s both hard lights and scary black spots make you want to leave the building as soon as possible. In Taiwan however, empty parking garages are sometimes used differently. They often form the stage for a local variation on the drive-in cinema – not for cars but for motorcycles, since it is one of the main ways of transport at the island.
During the traditional ‘ghost-festival’ in August many happenings can be observed along the road, from food-offerings and paper-burning to traditional acts and performances. People celebrate with their family or their religious groups, but also many neighborhood communities organize activities for the festival; they arrange food and tables, and singers and actors for entertainment.
Half opened parking garages appear to be a great location as a set for the festival; Garages are shadowy, there’s a breeze because the lack of walls and they offer lots of space. One motorcycle after another arrives to see the colorful, shiny puppets interact in the enormous glimmering theatre in the middle of the grey hall. Children stare from the seatings of the scooters while their parents hang over the steering wheel – being quiet, caught by the play.
The concrete resounds the sounds of the performances. Not in an ominous way however – the presence of so many scooters and even more people takes away the echo. It shows that even usually such grey environments can become cheerful – if you look around well you can see everything actually is colored – even when it’s grey at first sight.
SayTaiwan experience for Placemakers
To celebrate the centennial founding of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Council for Culture Affairs Republic of China (Taiwan) organized the International Youth Week, ‘SayTaiwan‘ for which international guests were invited to Taiwan to experience the local lifestyles – to know more about Taiwan and its influence on the world.
As a Placemaker and urban researcher I was selected to stay two weeks in Taiwan. Here I observed people’s influence urban rhythms and local initiatives. At the SayTaiwan blogI share my experiences and at the Placemakers blog I write about Taiwanese neighbourhoods, interactions and places for youth in the urban environment.
