In order to reverse the impression that the general public has on seniors, Taichung City Government promotes “Old-School Fashion Galaxy” Trilogy events, hosting “Super Limited Lifetime Exhibition,” “Old-School Fashion Week,” and “Senior Diva: Young65³” events in Tungshih Hakka Museum, LiLo Center, and National Taichung Theater receptively from August 15 to October 26. Through street snapshots of seniors, image exhibition, and old-school runway, and hip-pop dance, the events invite people to think about the style and charm of being “old.”

Taichung City’s Cultural Affairs Bureau today (13th) hosted a public press conference to promote “Old-School Fashion Galaxy” Trilogy events in National Taichung Theater. In the press conference, 5 seniors, with their average age being 78 years old, were invited to be models and walked the runway. Also, a street dance group composed of the most senior dancers battled with young students, which amazed the audience. Deputy Mayor, Yi-Ying Lin, Deputy Director General, Chunfu Shi, Senior Specialist of Health Bureau, Shu-Fen Chen, Tong-Shi District Executive, Pei-Ling Hsu, Member of the Legislative Yuan, Hsiu-Yan Lu, and City Council Member, Mei-Chun Weng were present to pay respect to the seniors.

Deputy Mayor Lin said that last year there were more than 700 seniors from more than 20 communities to walk in the runway, which caught the attention of Deputy Mayor of Komane City in Japan’s Nagano Agata, Hideo Horiuchi, to watch the full performance. Because Japan’s aging population is more serious than Taiwan, it never comes to his mind that Taiwan can provide such a creative and energetic stage for senior to show themselves.

Deputy Mayor Lin also shared her experience of visiting British senior artists this year. What impressed her the most was to see hunchbacked and grey-haired seniors performing modern dance lively, and she was very moved. She felt that the British also has an aging society, but the British seniors can participate in diverse activities, which makes Taichung City more determined to promote “Old-School Fashion Galaxy” events.

Therefore, this year Taichung City Government expands the events from hosting “Old-School Fashion Week” to promoting ““Old-School Fashion Galaxy” Trilogy events. The events will start in Tungshih District where most seniors reside in Taichung and be presented as a satellite exhibition in 2018 Taiwan Design Expo. It is hoped that people can relate the seniors not only with social workers and medical care but also with art and culture to develop a new perspective on “oldness.”

Deputy Mayor Lin explained that the first of the Trilogy, “Super Limited Lifetime Exhibition” will take place in Tungshih Hakka Museum from August 15 to September 16. With the theme of “Dementia,” the exhibition has a super large memory capsule that is 10-meter long and uses unexpected materials to create surreal scenes and interactive games in the Museum. The setup is to compare the behavior of people with dementia to surreal arts and expects to catch more people’s attention to reflection on issues of dementia from different perspectives.

The second of the Trilogy, “Old-School Fashion Week,” will take place in LiLo Center (Mini Egg) from October 6 to 14. The event will include practical experiences of long-term care seminar, Energetic Hakka show, old-school runway, Golden Care Medal, old-school weddings and other activities. Seniors are invited to be models, and after receiving training of walking on the runway, putting on make-up, and styling outfits, they will walk on the runway to show the unique old-school fashion and seniors’ confidence.

The third of the Trilogy, “Senior Diva: Young65³,” will be hosted in National Taichung Theater on October 26. 65 seniors over 65 years old will have singing and dancing performance for 65 minutes. The performance is divided into 4 parts to let seniors walk in a fashion show, perform hip-pop dance, sing, and perform original song and dance as a way to show their self-esteem and express the spirit of old-school fashion. For more information about the events, please visit the Facebook fan page of “Old-School Fashion in Taichung” .