Like I mentioned in the previous blog entry, in recent years, Kaohsiung’s city government has been investing a lot of money and effort aiming to turn Kaohsiung into a more competitive and livable city, and one of the city’s biggest project was the development of an old pier full of abandoned warehouses.
Similar to many former factories or warehouses in Taipei, these warehouses have been converted into art and cultural space to host temporary art/ design exhibitions, and the area is now known as The Pier-2 art center.
Although the area is still being developed, I was very impressed by its outdoor communal area, i.e. turning old railway tracks into cycling lanes and installing large outdoor art pieces for the public to enjoy. Most of the temporary exhibitions are also free, and currently there is a wonderful exhibition, “The delight of Chinese character festival” ( until 14th April) which showcases work by local Taiwanese artists and designers.
Temporary exhibitions including The delight of Chinese character festival
Another reason for my visit was because I have been invited by Ashley ( who I have emailed many times but never met in person) from 25Togo to attend a forum featuring several up-and-coming Taiwanese illustrators at their shop in the area. This flagship shop not only sells their own designs but also products by other local designers and some foreign brands. Besides the shop on the first floor, there is also an ice cream parlour on the ground floor as well as an exhibition space on the top floor.
I was greeted by Ashley upon arrival who kindly showed me around the shop and gave me a coupon for two scoops of ice cream at the parlour. All the ice cream is freshly made and changes daily with unusual flavours such as peanut butter and Yakult ( yes, the ice cream was yummy and much appreciated on a hot spring afternoon).
25Togo Bright! ice cream parlour and shop
While I was in the area, I noticed several tourist coaches arriving, which means this area has become a major tourist attraction. However, after wandering around for several hours, I did not come across many tourists, most people looked like locals ( or perhaps they were Taiwanese from other areas), so it did not feel like a tourist trap.
It will be interesting to see how this area continues to develop in the future, but I am pretty certain that Kaohsiung will change rapidly in the coming years and may become a key creative hub in Taiwan/ Asia one day.
