The 3rd Summer in Twatutia Public Art Festival presented the seasonal characteristics of the summer solstice through contemporary art, extending cultural and artistic activities in the Dihua Street district from the Lunar New Year through the end of the year. This edition of the festival focused particularly on “Nighttime Twatutia”, illuminating the historic district after dark. Under the theme “Night Patrol in Twatutia”, twelve art installations were presented, guiding visitors into areas that usually see little nighttime activity and allowing them to experience the quiet beauty of Dihua Street after sunset.
A key focus of this year’s festival was engaging young people with Dihua Street’s history and culture. Students and faculty from the Department of Architecture at Ming Chuan University were invited to participate, alongside young artists exhibiting in Dihua Street for the first time. Workshops were also held to introduce participants to local food ingredients, traditional Chinese medicine, and more. Artists such as Tsai Fu-Chun, Chou Tsai-Wei, and Tsai Tung-Lin exhibited works for the first time in Dihua Street. Tsai Fu-Chun remarked that exhibiting in Dihua Street was a rare and valuable experience, as it allowed her to appreciate the neighborhood’s atmosphere, discover new creative stores, and rethink her impressions of the area’s traditional fabrics and Lunar New Year markets.
The festival also featured the “Cooking Feast” workshop, where participants of all ages used local ingredients to learn about traditional New Year dishes and experience the authentic flavors of Taiwanese cuisine. For the first time, the festival collaborated with a university, enabling Ming Chuan University architecture students to conduct environmental and spatial surveys of the Dihua Street district. Their research was transformed into architectural design proposals, with outcomes exhibited at the URS127 Play & Art Workshop, fostering dialogue among local industry, schools, and residents. This approach brought youth creativity into Dihua Street while helping to preserve and transmit the district’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Continuing the approach of previous editions, the festival integrated seasonal life with local traditional industries. Participating shops recommended seasonal products, and workshops introduced young visitors to local tea shops and Dihua Street merchants. Artworks included both indoor and outdoor installations, allowing visitors to explore historic houses and alleyways by day, and encouraging nighttime strolls in Twatutia as a new leisure activity during the summer. The festival aimed to establish an “open-air city museum”, where interaction between emerging artists and local residents would generate creative sparks and revitalize the district.
Dihua Street’s historic district is rich in culture and open to innovation. The festival invited young artists to observe, experience, and reflect on the neighborhood, creating works that integrate with historic streets and local shops. By fostering a dialogue between tradition and modernity, the festival continued to invigorate the area and bring art into daily life.
Since the organizers established the URS127 Play & Art Workshop in Dihua Street, this year’s festival also collaborated with various local URS bases. Each base contributed its expertise in food, history, media, and community engagement, creating a coordinated network for displaying artworks. Fifty-nine shops and spaces in the district participated, and the three weekends of themed activities were distributed across northern, central, and southern Dihua Street. Most installations were located in the north and central areas to encourage visitors to explore quieter, less crowded sections of the historic street.
As in previous years, the festival featured a stamp-collection activity via an event booklet. Visitors could walk to each installation, collect stamps, and redeem them for festival-produced Twatutia postcards. These postcards combined images of Dihua Street’s iconic architecture and landmarks, helping visitors preserve and pass on the district’s historical memory through tangible keepsakes.
