SHEN CHAO-LIANG

STAGES

He was born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1968. He graduated in Applied Media Arts at the National University of Taiwan. Among the awards he has won there are the Asia Award in Japan in 2004 and the Award for Best Photographer in South Korea in 2006. Nowadays he works as a freelancer and teaches Photography at several universities in Taiwan.

The Taiwanese cabaret culture goes back to the decade of the 70s. In that time, actors were invited to all kinds of leisure activities, often to sing and dance. They acted in weddings, funerals or political campaigns. To make easier their travels around the country, they transformed trucks and vans into little travelling theatres. A tradition that is still kept incorporating decoration motives and sophisticated new technology instruments. Today singers and actors do not only wear luxurious dresses, but the programming has also incorporated “new and modern” performances that include dance, drag-queen shows, jugglers or humorists. The design of the more than 600 travelling stages there is in the whole country reflects the new fashion and popular trends, and the motives represent from famous cartoon characters to evocations of discos or cinema movies.