Nicknamed as Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards or Olympics in the fine arts realm, the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition has entered its 17th anniversary this year. The highly anticipated five winners of Dadun Award will be announced in the gala Award Ceremony held at Chung Shan Hall at 16:00, Saturday, October 20. Who will win the “Oscar Award” and score the NT$240,000 cash prize? Meanwhile, all the 11 categories of winning entries will be showcased in Dadun Cultural Center from October 20 until November 8. All are cordially invited to appreciate the masterpieces in the golden autumn.
A press conference was held on October 15, in which Deputy Mayor Tsai and Culture Affairs Bureau Director-general Stella Yeh announced the prelude for the 17th Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition and its Award Ceremony. Present at the scene were also three preparation committee members and adjudicators for this Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition, including Hou Shou-feng (侯壽峰), Xue Bao-xia (薛保瑕), and Yen Ming-hong (顏名宏), who delivered words of encouragement to the winners. In addition, four winners, including Mr. Wu Ming-chang (吳明錩) of crafts category, Ms. Guo Xin-yi (郭心漪) of watercolor painting category, Ms. Chen Yi-jia (陳誼嘉) of glue color painting category, and Mr. Shi Cheng-you (施承佑) of calligraphy category, were also present to share their experience in creating their own masterpieces.
During the press conference, Deputy Mayor Tsai mentioned that Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition may be not so qualified to call itself Academy Awards for the fine-art world but it should be equivalent to the Golden Horse Awards in the fine-art realm. Stella Yeh went on to say that thanks to your companionship and encouragement, the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition has grown into an international artistic showcase because many outstanding artists from the five continents of the world send in their masterpieces every year to compete and exchange their ideas and techniques and enhance the depth and breadth of cultural development. “We vow to upgrade and move toward the level of Oscar Awards,” added Director-general Yeh.
A total of 1,592 entries was received for this 17th Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition. Among them, 101 artworks came from 33 countries and regions, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Lithuania, Romania, Israel, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Belgium, Belize, Italy, Moldova, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, and Ireland. Compared to last year's 80 works from 27 countries and regions, the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition has again made progress in internationalization and received better reverberations from around the world.
After two elimination rounds, the judges have selected 212 outstanding art pieces, including 12 works by foreign artists, such as Mr. Kitagawa Yuuji (北川太郎) of Japan, who won the first place in the sculpture category; Mikolaj Jackiewicz of Poland, whose mirror-reflection artwork won the second place in the digital art category; and other artists from the United States and mainland China also grasped the excellence awards in the categories of printmaking, photography and seal engraving. Of course, the local Taiwanese artists have also had excellent performances. They have made great progress in the presentations of "themes" and "techniques" when compared with previous years.
Culture Affairs Bureau said that among all the fine arts exhibitions organized by local governments in Taiwan, the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition has taken the lead in transforming itself into a major international art event and it is also well known for its most extensive contest categories, the largest number of entries, and the highest total award money. It is hoped that the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition can give every participant a feeling of respect, gratitude, and warmth and it can also help to spread the shiny art atmosphere of Taichung City to every corner of the world.
The most watched "Dadun Award” winners will be chosen from the 11 first-prize winners of each category. They are Wu Ming-chang (吳明錩) in the crafts category, Kitagawa Yuuji in the sculpture category, Zhuo Jie-wei (卓桀緯) in the digital art category, Xu Gui-yi (許桂益) in the photography category, Gao Chun-ying (高春英) in the printmaking category, Guo Xin-yi (郭心漪) in the watercolor category, He Hui-zhi (賀惠芝) in the oil painting category, Chen Yi-jia (陳誼嘉) in the glue color painting category, Gu Yao-hua (古耀華) in the seal engraving category, Shi Cheng-you (施承佑) in the calligraphy category, and Wu Ri-xian (吳日仙) in the ink wash painting category. The final result will be announced on the Award Ceremony to be held on October 20. To encourage people to take part in this grand ceremony, Culture Affairs Bureau has ingeniously designed a facebook page called "Dadun King of Popularity", in which anyone who presses a “Like” to his or her favorite art pieces is eligible to participate in the lucky draws and possibly win a gift.
Award Ceremony for the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition will be held at the Chungshan Hall. Culture Affairs Bureau will arrange a red carpet to welcome all the quests. Two well-known art groups, namely Amubwiypuing Culture Arts Groups (傳源文化藝術團) and Toffee Band (太妃堂), will perform on the scene. Everyone who participates in the Award Ceremony from the beginning to the end will be given an exquisite album. All the 212 winning entries will be showcased on Dadun Cultural Center from October 20 until November 8. All are welcomed to attend the ceremony and exhibition and be inspired by this variety of outstanding art.

Exhibition Date: October 20 to November 8, 2012 (9:00 to 21:00 except Mondays)
Venue: Taichung City Dadun Cultural Center (No. 600, Yingcai Road, West District, Taichung City)

Award Ceremony: 16:00, October 20 (Sat), 2012
Venue: Chung Shan Hall (No. 98, Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City)