This April 20 to November 24, the Taiwan Pavilion will be at the Palazzo delle Prigioni at the 2024 Venice Biennale, which is often referred to as one of the most important contemporary visual art exhibitions in the world. What can we expect from Taiwan this year? Why is it at this location? What’s the curatorial approach? Artist Goang-Ming Yuan (袁廣鳴) and curator Abby Chen (陳暢) will be putting on a great show for you. Get yourself ready!

Stay tuned for part 2 of this interview coming up next Monday on Come Along! Also, check out @rtienglish on Instagram for video highlights. See you there!

Read more on the 2024 Taiwan Pavilion here.

Today, we’re heading to Bombay, India, through the exhibit Lines Between the City by artist Amol K. Patil, and curator Han-Fang Wang. Lines Between the City will be on at TKG+ gallery in Taipei till January 27. Check out their website for more information.

This exhibit is informed by a demolished wall from a gentrified chawl in Bombay, and charts a daily route which the dwellers travel to navigate the city. And through this path, visitors are invited to ponder on issues of caste, class, and labor conditions in current day India and also, places they call home now. This interview was recorded remotely, with Amol calling in from Amsterdam, where he’s currently doing a residency. Let’s get started.

Hey you, it’s Sharon. Welcome back to my show Come Along, or if you’re new here, welcome. Also, welcome to a new year! I'm pretty sure we'd all like to see a strong, beautiful start to a new year. I got you. For today, I'm bringing you part 2 of my interview with Nader Ihmoud and Tariq Suboh of the Palestine National Baseball Team! They were here in Taiwan for the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship from December 3- December 10. Make sure to listen to the previous episode if you haven't. This interview is filled with warmth, laughter, solidarity, and important stories you have to know of.

Stay tuned on our YouTube channel, click Podcast-Come Along for a video of this full interview! And checkout our Instagram @rtienglish for more highlights.

Today's episode, we are picking up where we left off. We wrapped up our conversation for part 1, talking about the game between Team Palestine and Team Taiwan on December 5 where Team Taiwan won the game at 19-0 (well, Team Taiwan is pretty good). Yet, it's more than just about the scores. What Team Palestine demonstrated in that game, I think, is the very definition of not only sportsmanship but also the beauty of humanity. And in that game against Team Taiwan, there were many unforgettable highlights from Team Palestine as well! Today, we're picking up our chat with the outstanding performance of their starting pitcher Yunis Halim! You remember that brilliant catch at the top of the 5th inning? That's him! That's our guy!

Also, we have to talk about what the baseball scene is like in Palestine, under the oppressive occupation of the state of Israel, and many important connotations that come with this.

This is just the beginning for the Palestine National Baseball Team. Their story will continue.

Without further ado,hit play, and let's get back to our chat!

Welcome back to Come Along, or if you’re new here, welcome. It’s Monday and we’re starting off the week strong and beautiful, just like what my 2 wonderful guests and their team embody. Let’s give a warm welcome to Nader Ihmoud and Tariq Suboh of the Palestine National Baseball Team! They were here in Taiwan for the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship from December 3-10, 2023.

In this episode, Nader and Tariq shares with us how the Palestine National Baseball Team came about, who the coolest guy on the team is, the first ever home run of the team in an international game by Tariq Suboh, their first win against Team Hong Kong, and of course, the game against Team Taiwan. Stay tuned for part 2 coming out next Monday, and trust me, you wouldn’t want to miss it. Also, head to our Instagram @rtienglish for video highlights.

Listen till the end and head to this episode's page on Radio Taiwan International's website for a special music broadcast. The soundscape you’ll hear is from Radio Alhara of Palestine, titled Christmas In Mourning, which was broadcasted on Christmas eve at 8pm Bethlehem time. Click here for more information.

Stay warm, and I’ll see you next week for part 2 of my interview with Nader and Tariq.

Today we're bringing you part 2 of my interview with Alice Sheu and Iris Bouman. We are once again diving into the world of European early music with our 2 guests, harpsichordist Alice Sheu from Taiwan and mezzo-soprano Iris Bouman from the Netherlands. Make sure to listen to part 1 “Early music during Shakespeare's time, in Taiwan!” if you haven’t.

In this episode, we'll have a peek into what daily life is like as early musicians. What takes up most of their time? What sorts of sources would they go look for? Old text? Museum collections? And how to, for example, rearrange a piece of 17th century music into modern scores? What is it like maintaining a harpsichord so it's fit and ready to be played?

Alice and Iris are here to share with us. Guess what, there will be exciting early music performances to look forward to in 2024 in Taiwan, in light of the 400 year anniversary of Fort Zeelandia in Tainan, southern Taiwan. It was built in the Dutch Formosa period in Taiwan. Without further ado, hit play and let's continue to nerd out together.

Follow Alice’s work here, and Iris’ work here. Stay tuned for their upcoming performances!

Today, December 11, is a day of global strike for solidarity with the people of Gaza, of Palestine and to pressure government officials, especially ones of the US, to call for a permanent ceasefire. This global strike was started by 2 journalists from Gaza, Bisan and Motaz. I’ve been following their work for some time now, and have deep respect for their work, and what they’ve demonstrated for our humanity.

This is an episode I’m making in solidarity with the people of Palestine on this global strike day. I thought what I would say to wrap up today’s episode would be something like, “next week we will continue with our regular programming with this and that…” But I think no, this is exactly why I started my show Come Along. Through talking about historic sites, culture, and topics under the arts and humanities, I hope we could hear stories from all walks of life, of people we’ve never thought we’d meet, from places we didn’t know existed. Hope you feel all the warmth and love I’m sending out via this episode.

Huge shoutout to all the brave journalists of Gaza, especially Bisan, Motaz, and Plestia.

And thank you, listener, for tuning in. See you next week.

On today’s Come Along, we are diving into the world of European early music (once again!) with our 2 guests, harpsichordist Alice Sheu from Taiwan and mezzo-soprano Iris Bouman from the Netherlands.

I highly recommend you to also check out previous episodes on Come Along with Dutch harpsichordist Pieter-Jan Belder, and the one with the Gleam Ensemble, to get to know more of the European early music scene in Taiwan.

In this episode, Alice and Iris talk about the beautiful concert in October in Taipei, Lachrimae, featuring music from the time of Elizabeth I and Shakespeare, especially the composer John Dowland, with Alice on the Virginal, Iris singing (mezzo-soprano), and Chun-Yuan Yang on the viola da gamba. They also share behind-the-scenes work as early music musicians, like Iris’ Baroque gesture workshop in Taipei, collaborating with the Gleam Ensemble, and Alice’s work on harpsichord conservation at the National Music Museum in South Dakota in the U.S. We nerd out a lot during our chat, and hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview next Monday where they tease us about exciting programs in Taiwan in 2024 for the 400th anniversary of Fort Zeelandia in Tainan City, during the Dutch Colonial period in Taiwan.

Alice Sheu is a harpsichordist, historical organist, and pianist from Taiwan, currently based in the Netherlands. Alice holds a Masters in harpsichord performance from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands and a Ph.D. in (computational/physical) chemistry from the University of Chicago. Alice is the organizer of the Fitzwilliam Festival Taiwan earlier this year in January. Follow Alice’s work here.

Iris Bouman is a mezzo-soprano from the Netherlands. Iris has a masters diploma in early singing from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She sings with the Netherlands Bach Society and Amsterdam Baroque Choir and she’s also a soloist of The Hague baroque ensemble Musica Poetica. Follow Iris’ work here.

Today, we will continue our chat with the powerful, wonderful, Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, who was here in Taipei for the 2023 Taipei Biennial. At the end of the previous episode, we touched on the Nakba in 1948. Today we will follow Samia’s memories of the effects of the Nakba on Palestinians, and more. In this episode we will talk about Samia’s documentary drawings of the 1956 Kafr Qasim massacre, and her olive trees series in light of the long term oppression on Palestinians by the state of Israel, and the current situation in Gaza, and her kinetic paintings using computer programing, her beautiful insights on being an optimist, and so much more. I choked up many times during this conversation. This is a rich interview and there are also videos of this conversation on RTI's YouTube and Instagram @rtienglish. Make sure to check them out.

If you’re in Taiwan, do not miss out on the 2023 Taipei Biennial. It’ll be on till March 24 of 2024. It's brilliant! See you there!

Samia, thank you again.

On today’s Come Along, I’m joined by the legend, the one and only, Samia Halaby, who is turning 87 very soon! Halaby is a pioneer of abstract art, and seriously, just go look her up. She’s from Palestine and is currently based in New York City. You can find Halaby’s work in museums and galleries all around the world including the Guggenheim Museum (New York City), the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), and of course the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, Palestine. 

In this episode we’ll talk about Halaby at this year’s Taipei Biennial, her beginnings and journey so far in abstract art, her beautiful childhood in Palestine, and the Nakba in 1948. A full video of the interview is also available on RTI’s Youtube. Make sure to check out the video and stay tuned for part 2 as we will continue our conversation next Monday. Alright, without further ado, hit play and let’s welcome, Samia Halaby.

Hey you, welcome back to my show, Come Along. Today we’re bringing you part 2 of my interview with 2 curators of this year’s Taipei Biennial, Reem Shadid and Brian Kuan Wood. Make sure to check out the previous episode if you haven’t! This year, the Taipei Biennial will be from November 18, 2023-March 24, 2024 at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Make sure to check out the 2023 Taipei Biennial official website and their welcoming page to stay up to date.

In today’s episode, we will be sharing some artists of this year that we’re excited about. Including Samia Halaby (Palestine/New York), Li Yi-Fan (李亦凡) (Taiwan), Hsu Tsun-Hsu (許村旭)(Taiwan), Ting Shuo Hear Say (Taiwan) and many more! And there’s even an installation in the museum’s bathroom to look forward to?! Hit play and join our chat. See you at this year’s Taipei Biennial!