2026 Vol 04 Taitung Times

The 2026 Taitung Expo takes "SLOW FOR LIFE" as its curatorial core, insisting that slowness is not simply a matter of speed but a collective practice of depth in living, environmental sustainability, and local value. In Taitung, time flows at an unhurried rhythm, and that slowness becomes a way of thinking that walks with nature and builds deep connection with the land: a value choice born of this place that speaks to the world. The curatorial narrative begins with a seed of the slow economy fallen on Taitung's soil, vusam in the language of the Paiwan people. The seed symbolizes the origin and continuity of life and culture, carrying inclusiveness, diversity, and hope in fertile ground. As it roots downward and grows upward, the story unfolds through Air, Water, Natural Power, Sound, Drift, Life, Slow Economy, and The Taitung Brand, finally sketching Taitung's own blueprint for a slow economy imagination.

The Expo is not merely a milestone showcase of slow economy practice; it is a transformation in the present tense, translating abstract governance language into cultural experience that can be understood and felt. The Taitung County Government, local industries, and every corner of society are working together to plant the ideal of sustainable development deep in the land, letting this spirit shine through the region's character while standing as the city's most sincere promise to the next generation.  

SUSTAINABLE ISLAND: ENVIRONMENTAL

The Expo's main venue, The Living School, is set in the Taitung County Gymnasium, transformed by the curatorial team into a vast space without walls, built for immersion. Its core idea is to break the traditional frame of learning and treat all of Taitung as a school brimming with life, inviting every visitor to practice anew how to live, breathe, think, and let the mind wander, while coming to know Taitung's efforts toward social and economic sustainability.

The "Art of Slow Living" zone brings together local brands and grassroots practice, using objects and spatial storytelling to show how Taitung folds its distinctive values into local industry. On the social side, the venue offers an open public ground: visitors pick up a practice workbook and throw themselves into everyday exercises such as weaving, swinging a bat, or simply spacing out, recovering the rhythm of life and building cultural identity. This shared learning strengthens community ties and gathers a collective imagination for the city's future. Through this people-centered participation, the Expo aims to build a recognizable city brand, so that Taitung's values can be understood and cherished by more people, advancing a vision of local development that is both inclusive and sustainable.

Housed in The Ark of Tomorrow, the Environmental Protection Bureau's sustainability pavilion, Sustainable Island translates the complexities of environmental governance into a sensory journey in dialogue with nature. The first floor centers on the flow of energy: interactive displays on water resource governance, geothermal power, and micro hydropower invite visitors to observe how human activity can find balance with nature's pulse.

More than a presentation of energy technology, it helps participants understand that drawing on natural resources means following the land's innate cycles, laying the groundwork for an understanding of environmental restoration. The view then turns to the life cycle of materials, redefining how society judges the value of what it discards. By tracing the "second life" of objects after use, the exhibition shows how resources are transformed through sorting, reduction, and remanufacture, letting once-overlooked materials be reborn in circulation and easing the burden of development on the natural world. This gaze upon the rebirth of all things embodies a deep care for finite resources. Finally, the exhibition brings environmental questions back to personal, everyday choices. A low-carbon route, a waste-reduction habit in public life: each is practice in bringing the ideal of ecological stewardship into every facet of living. Through scenario-based design, visitors are encouraged to savor the land's abundance while reflecting on the deeper connection between behavior and environment, seeking to coexist lastingly with the natural world.

The Taitung Go Sun project turns Taitung's old town into an open field of memory. Whether wandering on foot or drifting by bicycle in low-carbon fashion, visitors follow the historical textures that link the old railway station, the Tianhou Temple, and the surrounding lanes, exploring long-forgotten street stories at the scale closest to the land.

To keep this heritage pulsing in modern life, Taitung Go Sun uses digital tools to connect thirty memory coordinates, letting travelers unlock the life stories of local shops at any moment and piece together their own cultural map of the city. The project reaches further still, into the richly lived-in fabric of Baosang Road and the Central Market, where immersive performances born of narrative translation stitch the old district's memories back into the settings of contemporary life, reawakening a cultural vitality long dormant. By pouring the value of time into space, historical assets are given new life, and the dialogue between generations honors a long-term promise to protect local value, ensuring the city's cultural depth continues to be passed down and renewed through changing times.

Set in the Taitung Tree House, Taiwan's largest timber structure, Super Taitung: Back to the Nature transforms the everyday supermarket into a gateway for rediscovering the elements of the land. The exhibition carries through the curatorial spirit that the future is nature, presenting Taitung's food culture as a way of living already ahead of its time: the future is not a race of technology but a return to learning from nature, recovering the resilience that comes from living in accord with all things. Local foods and ingredients, from Indigenous wild greens, millet, and tana (prickly ash) to Amis silaw (salt-cured pork), become physical exhibits across five terroir-themed zones. Visitors move through them as gatherers, and limited "A Bite of Taitung" tastings offer local flavors such as roselle and Red Oolong.

At the end of the experience, a barcode station prints out a "terroir receipt" recording seed-saving stories and home recipes to serve as a cooking guide. To ground social and economic sustainability within a large-scale event, the exhibition invites visitors to scan the QR code on the receipt to reach the GoGo Taitung platform, purchasing selected products directly from the growers and makers on site, with contact details provided for future orders. In this model where the supermarket becomes the source, the act of viewing turns into tangible support for local industry, planting the spirit of sustainability into daily life, one terroir-driven purchase at a time.

The 2026 Taitung Expo is a transformation in the present tense, a testament to the sustainable momentum that Taitung, under its slow economy framework, has woven together from county governance to grassroots community. Through The Living School, Sustainable Island, Taitung Go Sun, and Super Taitung: Back to the Nature, Taitung has turned the stiff language of governance into experiences the public can feel and join, letting the spirit of sustainability take root in the landscape of everyday life. This energy rising from the land sketches a blueprint for local development that is inclusive and environmentally responsible, while building a globally recognizable Taitung brand, so that Taitung's values may be seen, understood, and cherished by the world. Even when the Expo draws to a close, these practices will endure as the momentum that carries the city forward, guiding Taitung toward a sustainable future of coexistence with nature and enduring resilience.