By KHT Staff – Photos courtesy of Weiwuying. Cover, from left: John Lin, General Manager of Rolex Taiwan; Maxim Lamarre, CEO of Rolex Greater China; CHIEN Wen-pin, General and Artistic Director of Weiwuying; and Raymond WONG, Deputy General Director of Weiwuying.
KAOHSIUNG — The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) announced in late January that it has entered into a new institutional partnership with Swiss watchmaker Rolex, under which Rolex will serve as Weiwuying’s official timepiece partner.
The agreement represents Rolex’s first partnership with a performing arts center in Taiwan and places Weiwuying alongside a small group of international cultural institutions that maintain formal relationships with the company. Weiwuying officials said the partnership is intended to support long-term artistic programming and international exchange, rather than individual commercial sponsorships.
According to Weiwuying, the collaboration will focus on opera, music, dance, and traditional performance, with an emphasis on presenting internationally recognized artists while continuing to develop local productions within a contemporary framework.
Weiwuying General and Artistic Director Chien Wen-pin said the partnership aligns with the center’s mission since opening in 2018 to balance preservation of traditional art forms with new interpretations and global engagement.
The first major performance linked to the partnership is scheduled for March 21, when Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński (pictured below) will appear at Weiwuying with the ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro.
Weiwuying, Taiwan’s largest performing arts complex, hosts more than 600 performances annually and draws over 1.5 million visitors each year. Officials said the new partnership reflects Kaohsiung’s growing role as a hub for international cultural exchange rather than a shift in the center’s public mission or programming priorities.
