The newly-opened Kaohsiung Music Center (KMC) will host the 2022 Golden Melody Awards, marking a return to the city for the first time in 17 years.
The Ministry of Culture made the announcement at the opening ceremony on Sunday for KMC, whose 5,500-capacity indoor venue will also play host to this weekend’s Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMAs).
During the ceremony, Culture Minister Lee Yung-te (???) said KMC, inaugurated on Oct. 31 as the first state-funded pop music venue in southern Taiwan, would open up greater potential for the music industry in the region and across the country.
He also announced that 2022’s Golden Melody Awards would follow in the footsteps of this year’s GIMAs by taking place at the new music center.
The upcoming GIMAs ceremony is the first event held at the venue by the government.
The Golden Melody Awards were last held in Kaohsiung in 2005 at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center, which also played host to the awards in 2001 and 2002.
Since then, the awards have been held exclusively in Taipei, first at Taipei Arena and for the last two years the Taipei Music Center.
President Tsai Ing-wen (???) said during KMC’s opening ceremony that Taiwan’s music industry was filled with vibrant creativity, cultivated in the soil of democracy.
KMC would help Taiwan’s music performance scene reach important milestones and allow more local young artists to be seen by more audiences, she said.
Jointly conceived by a Spanish-Taiwan architectural team, KMC cost more than NT$7 billion (US$251.23 million) to build, with facilities including Wave Tower, Coral Zone, Whale Bridge, Dolphin Walk and Live Warehouse spread out across 11 hectares.
KMC said the unique design of the honeycomb-shaped Wave Tower, the site’s main building, was meant to showcase the building as an international landmark signifying harmony between the port and city.
The white-coated Wave Tower’s design has already won it a Gold Award at this year’s FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards in the Public Infrastructure/Amenities category.
KMC’s indoor performance space “Hai-Ing Hall” can accommodate 5,500 people, while the outdoor “Hi-Breeze Square” has space for 8,000 concertgoers.
The site also features a talent cultivation space, pop music exhibition space, and several smaller music venues.
Approved by the Cabinet in 2009, the construction of KMC has been through five premiers and three Kaohsiung mayors. It was planned, designed and built by the Kaohsiung City government as part of the nation’s “New Ten Major Construction Projects.”
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel