2012 Mazu International Academic Workshop will be held at Taichung Tun District Art Center on May 26 and 27. To highlight the "cultural and creative" theme of the Workshop, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government held a special Mazu Cultural and Creative Goods Design Competition, whose results were announced on the press conference held today (May 23). Meanwhile, the artworks of top winners, including those of First Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize, and Merit Awards of the student group and the community group, respectively, were exhibited at the scene. In addition, students of Sports Dance Department of National Taiwan College of Physical Education were invited to perform a modern dance named as "Remembrance" (思憶起), which was adapted from the legend of Mazu rescuing her father and ascending to the heaven.
The Mazu Cultural and Creative Goods Design Competition began to accept artworks in early April. A total of 57 entries was recruited from colleges, high-schools, and the cultural and creative industry. The first prize winner of the student group will be awarded with NT$ 5000 while NT$ 8000 to the first prize winner in the community group. Not only were all the winning artworks exhibited today in the press conference but they will be also showcased at the 2012 Mazu International Academic Workshop simultaneously on May 26 and 27.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau pointed out that most of the entries are daily-life products, including protective shells for mobile phones, molded pens, compass, memo clip, clocks, chandeliers, note paper, cups, T-shirts, flash drives, pacifiers, piggy banks, mouse pads, jewelry, facial masks, bags ... and so on. They are so diverse and creative that the judges have had heated discussion among themselves before making final selections. For the student group, the first prize is awarded to "Blessing of the Chandelier (庇祐吊燈)", an artwork by Qiu Yu-qi (邱郁祺), a student of the Department of Visual Arts of the National Chiayi University. Her paper-cut artwork presents how Mazu protects the fishermen in a way that shows the beauty of paper-cut art with a deep and rich cultural connotation. Her design is both modern and practical. The second prize is awarded to the "Good God Mazu C.P.U.” (好神媽祖C.P.U.) by Zhang Xuan-zhi (張軒芷), a student of the Department of Cultural Business and Development of National Chin-Yi University of Technology (國立勤益科技大學). Her artwork ingeniously combines Mazu with computer peripheral products. It is a product designed with high practical value and quite in line with the trend that computers are closely related to the daily life of young people. The third place prize is awarded to “Mazu is guiding you on the paths forward" (媽祖指引你前方道路) by Xu Hui-yu (許惠喻), a student of Advertising Design Section of the Er-xin Senior High School (二信高中). Her artwork is a lovely and creative design, combining the imagery of Mazu with the “low-carbon” vision of Taichung City. It is a practical product design conveying the environmentally friendly notion. In addition, there are 7 merit award winners selected from the student group.

In the community group, the first prize is awarded to "Mazu Fashion Lifestyle” (媽祖時尚生活) series works by Liu Cai-feng (劉彩鳳) and company of Ome Creative Design (歐米創意設計). Their artworks successfully integrate the topics of younger generation and have the connotation of animation art. Their lively style and innovative design on the Mazu brand should be able to attract the young population. The second prize is awarded to “Mazu design for cell phone protective shells" (天上聖母 － 手機保護殼圖案設計) by Bai Hong-yi (白弘毅), who skillfully blends fashion with tradition in his design for mobile phones. It is expected that his artwork will cause a resonance in the market. The third prize is awarded to "Harvest – A tea set to bring peace to heart” (豐收－心海平安奉茶組) by Wang Xin-yun (王信允) of Tea and Rice Store Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd. (茶米店文化創意有限公司). This series of artworks reflects the image of Mazu pretty well and can bring peace to people. The design is considered very mature.

On the press conference today, students of Sports Dance Department of National Taiwan College of Physical Education were invited to perform a modern dance named as "Remembrance", which was adapted from the legend of Mazu rescuing her father and ascending to the heaven. Gentle movements of the dancers delicately interpreted the Mazu culture, bringing the faith in Mazu into the art palace and giving the tradition a modern meaning. It was believed that people at the scene should be very much impressed in a new way. Every guest was also given a commemorative school bag designed with the concept of Mazu’s magic charm, symbolic of the cultural and creative theme of the Workshop this year.

The Workshop to be held on May 26 to 27 is based on the theme “Plant Root in Greater Taichung and Explore the World" (著根大臺中‧探索全世界). Invited are 36 experts and scholars from home and abroad to explore contemporary Mazu religious culture and assets in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Meanwhile, two keynote speeches and one forum will be also held.

The Workshop is rich in contents. It should provide a more diverse look and narrow down the distance between traditional culture and contemporary culture. For more information, please visit our campaign website: http://tcmazu2012.pu.edu.tw/index/ or the website of 2012 Taichung International Mazu Festival at http://www1.culture.taichung.gov.tw/mazu/2012/index, or call Miss Chen at Tel: 26328001 ext 17038.