Stretching from Hualien down to Taitung, the East Coast—nestled between the Coastal Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean—forms one of Taiwan’s most pristine natural galleries. Since 2015, the East Coast Land Art Festival hosted by the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration has transformed raw landscapes into stages for creation. Entering its 11th year in 2025, the festival opens each summer solstice, inviting local and international artists to take residence at the Duli Visitor Center and various scenic sites, where waves, reefs, sea breezes, and shifting light become inseparable elements of their work.
(Photo credit: South Link Arts Festival )
(Photo credit: South Link Arts Festival)
(Photo credit: South Link Arts Festival)
Art at the Turn of the Road
Traveling along Highway 11 and the South-Link Highway, visitors encounter art where they least expect it. At the Daniao Recreation Area stands Hamaleng, made from recycled surfboards. Along the Dawu Coastal Park, The First Light of Dawn reaches skyward. Farther along, in Taimali Dawn Park, Shangwu Coastal Park, and beside small village bus stops, pieces inspired by Paiwan mythology, local beliefs, and everyday commuting rhythms blend seamlessly into the landscape.
These artworks require no tickets; rather than “tourist spots,” they have become an extension of daily life. Commuters on their morning drive and children walking home from school look up to find international-level land art woven into the scenery.
(Photo credit: South Link Arts Festival)
‘Stray Birds’ Among the Rice Fields
Heading inland toward the East Rift Valley, the Stray Birds 197 Land Art Festival turns the entire length of Highway 197 into an open gallery. Recent editions center on themes such as “Classics Reimagined,” “Playful Life,” and “Ecological Sustainability,” with 12 artist groups from Germany, the United States, France, South Korea, South Africa and more installing their works from Luye through Guanshan, Chishang, Fuli, and Yuli.
Some creations rise from vast rice paddies; others hide at the bend of terraced fields or at the entrance to small settlements. Curators weave lines from Tagore’s Stray Birds into artwork narratives, so travelers reading, photographing, and exploring naturally enter the cultural layers of the Rift Valley.
(Photo credit: East Rift Valley Land Art Festival)
(Photo credit:
East Rift Valley Land Art Festival)
From Artist Residencies to Walking Classrooms
Whether through the residency program of the East Coast Land Art Festival or the five cultural walking routes of the South Link Arts Festival, art in Taitung is never a brief stop—it is a long-term process of living with local communities.
Artists stay in villages, working alongside elders, youth, and children. From beach cleanups and forest walks to woodcarving and glass-bead crafts, everyday experiences become creative material. Meanwhile, participants on walk-and-learn journeys gain deeper understanding of place names, tribal memory, and local ecology through guided storytelling and meals highlighting regional flavors, creating a learning network that connects mountains and ocean.
(Photo credit: South Link Arts Festival)
A Cultural Laboratory: The Greater Taitung Art Museum
Through collaboration between the Tourism Administration, local communities, and the county government, Taitung proposes the concept of a “Greater Taitung Art Museum”—not a single building, but a network of landscapes and cultural programs. Linking the East Coast Land Art Festival, South Link Arts Festival, and the Stray Birds 197 in the East Rift Valley, together with Slow Food festivals, creative markets, and art platforms, Taitung integrates lodging packages and shuttle routes to turn art festivals into a year-round way of life. Without walls or physical boundaries, from coastlines to rice fields, from villages to the city center, all of Taitung becomes a continuously evolving, ever-open museum.
(Photo credit:
East Rift Valley Land Art Festival)
For more details about the festivals, please visit:
East Coast Land Art Festival
East Rift Valley Land Art Festival
