Lantern Festival, Burn Painting, Jolin Concerts

In today's news, with Nancy and Paz: Glowing lanterns, burning art, and the beginning of the end. All that and more, coming up next. ________________________________ 2023台灣燈會重返台北 Taiwan Lantern Festival Returning to Taipei Every year in February, a part of Taiwan lights up for a special festival. The Lantern Festival is a traditional holiday that happens on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar (農曆). During the festival, people go out carrying lanterns. They also play games and solve riddles (猜謎). The Lantern Festival is celebrated in many places across Taiwan. And one of the biggest events is the Taiwan Lantern Festival. The event is held in a different city each year. And next year, the festival will be held in Taipei. The Tourism Bureau says the event next year will be the biggest it's ever been. There will be four exhibition areas (展示區). The main area will be at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Xinyi District. The main lantern will be there, along with three other major lanterns. Part of the festival will also be in the East District. For that area, officials say lanterns will be put up in alleyways and along streets. The "Innovation Exhibition Area" will be in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Officials say that area will mix old and new parts of Taipei culture. And the "Future Exhibition Area" will be in the Xinyi business district. This area will bring together fashionable culture and technology. The bureau says many buildings in the area will be turned into works of art (藝術品). 「2023台灣燈會」會是一個城市型的燈會，在4大展區用高樓建築和市區巷弄呈現出300多件作品。 The festival will light up Taipei from February 5th to the 19th. ________________________________ 英國藝術家燒毀畫作 Artist Burns His Own Art People make art in many different ways. Some people paint. Some take photos. Well, how about burning it? Damian Hirst is an artist in the U.K. He makes all types of art, from drawings, to artwork using animals that have died. One type of art Damian is famous for, is "spot painting". He paints circles on a white canvas (畫布). The circles are all the same distance apart (距離). And every spot is a different color. He started making spot paintings in 1988. And he has made around 1,400 of them! Some of these sell for a lot of money. One of the spot paintings sold for about $950,000 NT. But now, Damian is going one step further. Last week, the artist burned 1,000 of his spot paintings! He put them, one-by-one, into an incinerator (焚化爐). Damian says it looks like he's burning millions of dollars of art. But he says he's not. Damian says he has made an NFT (非同質化代幣) of each painting. He says the value of each painting will transferred to its NFT. Damian說，【很多人覺得我是在燒毀數百萬元的藝術品，但其實是讓這些畫作的價值從實體版本轉化成NFT。】 And Damian says all this, the paintings, the burning, the NFTs, is art. ________________________________ 蔡依林再開UGLY BEAUTY巡演 Jolin Tsai Announces Concert Tour Taiwan singer Jolin Tsai is going on tour again. The artist says she will have six concerts in Taipei. The concerts will start on December 31st this year, and continue until January 8th next year. They will happen at the Taipei Arena. Jolin says the concerts are the ending of her "UGLY BEAUTY" world tour. She hopes her fans will get strength and courage from her music. 蔡依林希望歌迷可以從這次演唱會和音樂中獲得勇氣跟力量。 ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites… The Taiwan Lantern Festival will be held in Taipei next year. The Tourism Bureau says the event next year will be the biggest it's ever been. The festival will light up Taipei from February 5th to the 19th. ________________________________ U.K. artist Damian Hirst is famous for "spot painting". Last week, the artist burned 1,000 of his spot paintings! He says the value of each painting will transferred to its NFT And Damian says all this, the paintings, the burning, the NFTs, is art. ________________________________ And, Taiwan singer Jolin Tsai will have six concerts in Taipei. The concerts will start on December 31st this year, and continue until January 8th next year. Jolin hopes her fans will get strength and courage from her music. ________________________________ And that's today's episode of News Bites!