The “Civil Beauty Train,” sponsored by Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan, and organized by Tamkang University has been initiated on December 27, 2005 at Huashan Cultural Park, Taipei. The opening ceremony was hosted by Chen Chi-nan, Chairperson of Council for Cultural Affairs, and Kao Po-yuan, Vice President of Administrative Affairs, TKU. In the mean time, a short film for the civil beauty movement, “Reinhabitation,” is premiered.

From now on, starting from TKU, the “Civil Beauty Train” will tour the towns, cities, and schools around Taiwan for one year. The idea is to engage the citizen in “creating civil beauty for the community.” Professor Jeng Hang-ell will invite alumni of Dept. of Architecture to give lectures for this cause. Professor Jeng indicates that “this is the first Civil Beauty Train, consisting of three cargos, to stage mobile exhibitions to the communities of the citizens around the country.” The movement is to promote environmental aesthetic by locating it in the habitation of everyday life.

The program is originated from the graduate project of Dept. of Architecture, “Mobile Country Fair,” in which three cargos are rearranged as a mobile exhibition hall. The contents of the civil beauty exhibition encompass Civil Consciousness, Aesthetic Perception, Community Casebook 101, Story-telling, Mobile Garden, Bookshelf, Living Movie, Aesthetic Learning Zone, and Leisure Zone.

Every section of the exhibition are stages with multi-media demonstration to initiate the audience’s sensual experiences, including exhibition boards, comics, story-telling board, mobile poster, and lego-building. In addition, some memorable old movies will be screening at the “mosquito theatre” set on the cargo. During the exhibition, visitors are invited to exchange “blessing cards,” by drawing and writing about their own community and blessing for that of the others. The blessing cards will be sent to visitors from another community or town, who in turn will hand in their own blessing drawing and writing. The above-mentioned activities are to create the circulation the civil beauty among diverse communities around the country. (~ Chen Chi-szu )