NoNuke Cultural Activism Group ("諾努客文化行動團隊" ) was set up in 2009 to protest Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant. In the following interview, Yang Zixuan and Pei Linong introduce some NoNuke cultural actions:
The development of NoNukes could be split into 3 different stages. To see the full tale of NoNuke in images click here.
stage 1：(2009)
The first year, 2009, comprised of a music concert, local farm market and a film festival held by youth activists.
stage 2：(2010)
By 2010, Yang Zixuan, only 21 at the time, and other friends at G.Straight Café (直走咖啡) made a transformation into a loose, informal band, the NoNuke Street Band(諾努客走唱隊). They attempted to use music to communicate with the local communities in Gongliao Township (only 10km from the fourth Nuclear Power Plant) and encouraged locals to take up their cause again in 2010, after an eight year absence.
Following that, they also hijacked the HoHaiYan Rock Festival website, leading people to unexpected information about nuclear issues. It also got attention from the government who stated that they were replying to a "fake official website".
Their next stunt was to simulate a nuclear waste accident on the streets of downtown Taipei using fake barrels of nuclear waste, and see how the people reacted to this performance. In fact, they once got stopped trying to bring the barrel on the train from Gongliao to Taipei. Eventually after the police arrived on the scene and determined it wasn't dangerous, they were allowed to bring the barrel back - so long as it was covered to be invisible to other passengers and so long as he was escorted by a rail staff all the way back.
In August, Nonuke worked with Green Citizen Action Alliance to organize a music concert and demonstration in front of the fourth nuclear power plant, including a symbolic human chain around the power plant.
stage 3: (2011)
In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in March, NoNuke and the nuclear issue got so much more attention, that they planned a host of different actions in April and May. They organized bands and DJs to distribute NoNuke flyers and info during their own performances. For their part in the 4/30 anti-nuclear demonstrations", they did something unprecedented in the history of Taiwanese social movements, organizing a sound-demonstration inspired by Japanese activists Shiroto no Ran (素人之亂). Green Citizen Action Alliance and other NGOs organized this demonstration, here is their website.
From gritty Punk to technotronic Rave music; media savvy hoaxes to terrifying performance art; relaxing in activist cafes to energetic street parades; this months Focus we give you snapshots of innovation and creativity in Taiwan's social movements and in doing so a peek at the state of civil society in Taiwan. With local activist Zijie Yang as my trusted guide, I explored the recent history and the most dynamic of current social movement activity in Taiwan, choosing the increasingly active anti-nuclear power movement as a main focal point.
Having made the conversion to democracy from within the system rather than through outside powers, Taiwan can be an inspiring example for the aspirations of other democratic movements in Asia. Furthermore, Taiwan's advanced level of openness to outside ideas is unprecedented in Asia; the ideas they have brought in from outside have been modified and Taiwan-ised and may have a lot to offer the development of civil society in Asia, the Pacific and in China. The continuation of a robust civil society and social movements in Taiwan is all the more important due to the danger of relapses into more authoritarian governance that we are seeing in much of Asia, already known for being among the tightest regions in the world. Furthermore Taiwan itself is after all, still in a period of transitional justice; whether legally, systemically or in the collective psyche, traces of past terrors still remain, thus social movement aims can have a high relative value.
Before we can truly understand the current movement setting, we must first introduce the historical context and understand the background to activism in Taiwan. We therefore begin by abstracting Professor Ho Ming-sho's papers on environmental movement history in Taiwan. We also ask why much of Taiwan's youth seem so apathetic to social change. Is freedom no more than the 'right' to buy a Gucci bag. And yet we nonetheless witnessed many examples of highly motivated activists becoming ever more confident. What motivates these young activists to get involved in social movements nowadays? When looking at developments over the past few years it is impossible to sidestep the Wild Strawberries student movement which erupted in November 2008. We analyse two of the most comprehensive evaluations of these movements from two very different participants, to try and understand why the Wild Strawberries went mouldy, by looking at the organisational phenomenon and problems of new social movements in the post-modern era.
From there we can begin to question, what are the factors that will dictate future movements and what new energy is needed in social movements? One of the legacies of the Wild Strawberry student movement and its perceived failures, is what Sean Hsieh called "the opening of new spaces" for increased dialogue and stronger intra-organisational links. He introduces us to one of these spaces, Café Philo, in particular its 'Philosophy Friday' which, far less abstract than it sounds, focus on concrete social, political and judicial issues, cultivating much deeper and mature understanding in the socially active citizens that attend. A balancing act between knowledge, and practice.
Another 'space' which is fermenting stronger, more informed activists is Go Straight Café,which inherited the legacy of the WildBerry House but rapidly reinvented themselves and is now home to the most innovative of movement activity, in particular the No Nuke Cultural Action Group. They use music, art exhibitions and event organisation to open a dialogue with the wider public. Gong-li She use the medium of punk and rave, to channel the anger and frustration of the youth into action and activism, supporting social movements with music events. The communal fruits of these various groups can be seen with the 4/30 manifestation against nuclear energy in Taiwan, sparked partly in reaction to the Fukushima Nuclear disaster in March and in the exhibition 'Don't brush off what you see' where Esther Lu brought together 10 artistic works concerned with nuclear power and energy resources. In a tribute to the Yes Men, theInterference academy, printed 10 000 fake copies of Taiwan's major newspapers declaring, as a hoax, that the proposal for the controversial KuoKuang Petrochemicals factory had been rejected by the government. The stunt achieved its desired media attention and eventually the government removed its support for the project which could have endangered the survival of the last remaining Chinese White Dolphins. Another group concerned above all with nature and their natural rights are the Langyan Action Group, who every year since 2007 have lit pyres, setting off smoke signals that call for all indigenous peoples to unite and fight for what they see as incomplete transitional justice. This year they collaborated with No Nukes calling for a non-nuclear homeland.
In academic theory, its accepted that the development of social movements, the consciousness that group organisations can affect social change arose with education and the freedom and dissemination of information. Mainstream education and media in Taiwan is often criticised for being too didactic, and foreign teachers lambaste that rote-learning is the norm. Indeed, eRenlai is also a 'space' - our mission is to train people to truly reflect, question and form their own opinions rather than recycle the morning editorials that tend to polarise opinions, fashion a culture of blame and rarely present constructive dialogue. In this spirit we invite you to peruse our selection of the spiciest activism in the Taiwanese social hotpot...
Activism isn't all about movement. Individuals need a constant flow of information, group debate and thus reflection on their actions and ideas. A culture can be born of the fusion of the ideas from a dynamic group of people and with constant interactions and a 'space' they can remain dynamic, constantly regenerating themselves to meet with oscillating circumstances.
Here eRenlai introduces you two bases of innovation, discussion and reflection. An activist factory and a platform for Socratean debate. Both serve coffee...
Go Straight Café (直走咖啡)
Go Straight Café was borne of the legacy of the Wild Strawberries student movement. After the movement was unsuccessful in its demands, they realized they needed a permanent space which would create the right environment to give birth to new ideas, relationships and energy. Two years later, Go Straight is not only the home of No Nuke Cultural Activism Group at the centre of the anti-nuclear movement, but has become a base and indeed the birthplace for many smaller social movements who may not have had the funds or the human resources to set up their own places.
As Yang Zixuan told me, "activists can't spend all their time on the streets protesting". There has to be something in between that. In between days of protest, whether successful or not, there are constantly new laws, new injustices, new attempts to circumvent the regulations of democracy, the public must thus always remain vigilant. While this vigilance has become easier with the internet and the spread of social media it has also encountered new problems - for example it is easy to be extremely active on the internet, all the while being extremely inactive in the real physical world. This is somewhere Go Straight Café can help to translate vocal or blogger support into a more real activism. Here, hardened cafe activists, Yang Zixuan and Stef Pei discuss how Go Straight has aided activism since it was established over a year ago and how they themselves have developed along with it.
Go Straight Café can be founda five minute walk away from Taipower Building MRT at the following address: No.18, Alley 27, Section 3, Tingzhou Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei
Café Philo (慕哲咖啡館)
Although French philosophers, like Sartre spent hours a day frequenting a selection of café’s turning and perfecting their ideas, it wasn't until 1992 that Marc Sautet set up the first of the cafés-philos in Paris. Although Taiwan's Cafe Philo is a space of debate above all, it has also become a gathering point for activists and NGO's, especially the Philosophy Friday held by the Youth Synergy Taiwan foundation (青平台 Qingpingtai). While other social enterprises directly manage social movements, Youth Synergy takes a more strategic role, providing a space (the Chinese translation is platform) and support to other movements. eRenlai interviewed Youth Synergy's Sean Hsieh, to find out more about what they were doing.
Their Philosophy Friday is a platform that touches on vary facets of society, a public think tank of sorts, where they provide the space and access to the information and involvement in debate to promote open data, open government and transparency in Taiwan. While they sometimes attack abstract philosophical questions, they more often take on current issues inviting NGO's and social movement organisations and various legal and political experts. One of the main aims is to be able to communicate with the masses, so during these talks one of the organisers is always on site to rephrase any overcomplicated talk. Two Friday sessions that I attended were full of lively debate. Sean, told me that one of the things he was most pleased with was the participation of many older people in the debates, enjoying the chance to interact and share opinions with youth. To push for real societal change one cannot rely solely on one age group, nor can you rely simply on the more radical activists, that may be more present at places like Go Straight, who are directly involved in managing social movements. Thus opinions that are more radical than the society they are in, need a less radical platform in which they can communicate ideas. This is the challeange that Sean and the Cafe Philo team are trying to balance.
Café Philo can be found at No 20, Alley 60, Taishun Street (off Shida Road), Da an, Taipei
Both of these two 'spaces' have a different role to play in civil society in Taiwan. Over the last year they have both showed development into forces for social change. One thing for sure is that sometimes it's OK to take a seat, sit back and have a sip of coffee with your social enlightenment.
We will create the new world after the revolution!
In 2005, Tokyo, a shop named “Amateur Riot” appeared on a withering bazaar. Amateur Riot is an antique shop, the keeper of the 5th shop – Matsumoto Hajime – who is the leader of “Amateur Riot”. During his college years, he once held hot-pot party in the student’s restaurant in order to protest the 20 dollars price-hike in student’s restaurant.
Amateur Riot supports self-governed community and community independent by holding all kinds of interesting events. The events they held are all highly connected with the life of us. Their protests are parties; they turned the street into some kind of playing field.
To fight against “the upper people” ceaselessly!
By holding parties and interesting events to overthrow the rigid poor lifestyle!
“Leisured Poor” could own a happy and dignified life!
These unique movement concepts are highly recommended in the mass group of youths, no one had ever imagine that Amateur Riot could convene more than 10 thousand people onto the street after the nuclear disaster of Fukushima.
This documentary introduces the events they held, such as “Three men demonstration”, “Free house rent demonstration”, “Koenji Revolution”.
In simple words, this is a very anarchic, emotion surging and comic-like documentary which takes down “The World after the Revolution”.
"Amateur Riot"
Filmed / Edited / Directed by : Yuki Nakamura
Starring : 松本哉 山下陽光 二木信 小笠原瓊太
Subtitle : Traditional Chinese
Total Playing Time : 80 minutes
"Amateur Riot" Cultural Jamming Documentary & "Chainging the Style of Protesting" Workshop
5/27 (Fri)
The Connection between Taiwan and Japan's Anti Nuclear Movements
7:00pm @ Go Straight Cafe' (Tingzhou Road, Section 3, Lane 27, No. 18)
Hosted by : Yang Tzi-Jie (No Nuke)
Participant : Matsumoto Hajime, Higuti Takurou (Amateur Riot), 崔愫欣 (Green Citizens' Action Alliance)
5/28 (Sat)
"Another Way of Protesting?" / Video & Workshop
1:30pm @ TCAC (Yanping South Road, No. 160-6)
Hosted by : President of No Nuke & TCAC 徐文瑞
Participant : Matsumoto Hajime (Amateur Riot), Yang Tzi-Shuan(Go Stragith Cafe'), 張馨文 (樂生青年), 黃姿華 (高科技冷血青年), Gong-Li She
New Friend Hair Salon - "Dear Friend" Opening Show
8:00pm @ House of County Magistrate (Weimin Street, No. 1, Tainan City)
5/29 (Sun)
Life of Youth - Culture - Action Groups / Video & Workshop
3:00pm @ Wire (Minsheng Road, Tainan No. 5, Lane 132, Section 1)
Hosted by : 陳伯義 (海馬迴光畫館)
Participant : Matsumoto Hajime, Higuti Takurou (Amateur Riot),
搗蛋藝術基地經營團隊&高師大跨藝所助理教授黃孫權, 府城舊冊店潘靜竹, Yang Tzi-Shuan(Go Stragith Cafe')
7月6日，2011貢寮海洋音樂祭開跑，綠色公民行動聯盟與諾努克文化行動團隊的「比基尼辣妹」在福隆沙灘告訴來參與音樂祭「核四就在那裡！」（攝影：孫窮理）
樂團讓諾努客成員上台，一同表達「反核四」的訴求，結合核電廠現場與音樂，成為反核最佳的宣傳。（攝影：孫窮理） 
核電廠的安全就像「菩薩坐在蓮花座上」，不過有的時候，菩薩是用沙雕的，菩薩的後面就是「海祭」的主舞台，遠方的煙囪處就是澳底的核四廠。（攝影：孫窮理） 
核四廠就在那裡！（攝影：孫窮理） 
「海祭」成為反核的舞台，諾努客團隊拿出看家本領向遊客宣傳反核四的理念。（攝影：孫窮理） 
觀眾與樂團台上台下互動熱烈。（攝影：孫窮理） 
除了音樂之外，福隆沙灘外灘也因大型活動，而造就一個臨時性的夜市。（攝影：孫窮理） 
這樣的山、河、海、沙灘美景，距離核四廠卻只有3公里之遙。（攝影：孫窮理）
福島核災之後，由於距離東京僅200多公里，普遍讓東京居民感到不安，因此素人之亂發起的幾次遊行，都引起很大的迴響。松本哉表示，相較於傳統的社會運動，他們希望從一般人的生活出發，提出對大家而言都是切身相關的議題，並且「以有趣的方式創造社會參與」，降低加入的門檻，讓每個人都願意站出來。
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