The Gezaixi Time Machine

This Taiwanese proverb might be translated as “Even after the show ends, the audience still wants more.” This saying illuminates the influence of Gezaixi (a popular style of Taiwanese opera) on the people of Taiwan. It is an important source of entertainment in their daily life .

The history of Gezaixi is more than one hundred years long. It fully embodies the local and omnivorous qualities of Taiwanese people. It is the pre-eminent form of Taiwanese opera. It has nourished itself on the nimble, improvisatory attitudes embodied in Taiwanese life. Gezaixi manifests the life of Taiwanese people through ages.

This exhibition has chosen “The Gezaixi Time Machine—Staging Improvised Opera” as its theme. It will present Gezaixi's birth amongst the island's tall trees, Gezaixi's roots in the stages erected outside of Taiwan's temples, Gezaixi's entrance into Taiwan's municipal theaters, and Gezaixi's passage through Taiwanese radio, film and television. Over the course of its history, Gezaixi has absorbed a multitude of different influences. In order to attract the audience as much as possible, Gezaixi developed from its original, rather simple form to a more complex experience with many layers of charms. Throughout the years, in many different situations, Gezaixi has demonstrated its capacity to incorporate new ideas and styles. This is how Gezaixi has “lived” in and through our lives, how it has “lived” in and through contemporary Taiwanese culture.

During the course of the exhibition there will be “Classrooms of the Masters”, “Site-Specific Tours, and opportunities for school field-trips duling weekdaysIt is The purpose of this exhibition is to demonstrate that traditional opera did not evolve in an orderly procession. Rather, many distinct streams of energy and ideas flowed into it over the course of decades. The exhibition space will simulate the three main forms of Gezaixi: outdoor opera, indoor opera, and broadcast opera. Quick changes of scenes can grant the viewers a sense of “presence and absence”. Films and sounds can heighten the feeling of actually “being there”. The goal is to instill in exhibition-goers a renewed appreciation for Gezaixi's richness and appeal.

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