Taiwan's Soft Power: Citizen Group OPTOGO Crowdfunds Its Way to the Milan Expo Snack Exhibition Despite Our Official Absence

What kind of sparks fly when the seven daily necessities of ordinary people in Taiwan - firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea - meet the produce and solar terms of Milan, Italy? When a tea cart carrying illustrated recipe cards of Taiwanese snacks drives onto the country lanes of Milan, what kind of sparks will it strike?

OPTOGO Heads to Milan: A First for Taiwan's Civil Society

In the more than 160 years since the World Expo began, Taiwan has for the first time taken part independently as a citizen group. Echoing this year's Milan Expo theme, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," the team behind the "Expo Takeout Taiwan Pavilion Project," OPTOGO (One Pavilion to go), vows to use food for people-to-people diplomacy and to inject new inspiration into Taiwan's food industry.

Opening in Early September: Still 4 Million Short for the Trip to Milan

The "Takeout Taiwan Pavilion" will open in downtown Milan on September 5 and run for eight weeks, until October 31. Before that, OPTOGO will hold a one-day food forum next Saturday at the Expo Dream Hall. In addition, during the event OPTOGO will simultaneously relay the activities held in Milan back to the base at the Expo Dream Hall for broadcast.

Because the OPTOGO team is heading to Milan as a civil society initiative for this "Takeout Taiwan Pavilion" project, the cost of the eight-week event is estimated at about 14 million, and with the team's fundraising efforts, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te, Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng, and the Pu-Yuan Architects team and others have joined in sponsoring it. However, it is still 4 million short of the target amount.

To this end, the OPTOGO team is also holding a fundraising campaign on its official website (http://www.optogo.tw/#!about-us/c17bj). Those interested can support the team by ordering peripheral merchandise, or they can donate directly to sponsor "Cooperative Bank Minsheng Branch, account number 0936 765 39818, account name Chinese Society of Urban Design."