Written by Nancy Guy. Garbage, or rather, thoughts of garbage, are part of daily life in Taiwan. This is illustrated in the practices of individuals and households as they manage the material byproducts of everyday living. It is also reflected in all manner of creative practice. This post introduces the music of garbage trucks, the ‘Maiden’s Prayer’, not only on the music, but to social context with the music and Taiwan’s ‘throwing garbage’ culture.
Written by Hsin-Wen Hsu. Since the 2000s, Taiwan’s Hakka popular music has moved beyond themes of rural nostalgia and ethnic affirmation to engage the complexities of post-global conditions. Musicians respond to ecological precarity, translocal migration, shifting borders, and digitally mediated relationships while experimenting with new linguistic and collaborative forms. Hsu traces how Hakka communities navigate socioeconomic changes and evolving identities. In doing so, Hakka popular music becomes a crucial way of hearing Taiwan’s contemporary entanglements and imagining new modes of communal life.
Written by Laila Chin-Hui Fan. Taiwan joined the global initiative “Listening to Quiet,” reaffirming its leadership in soundscape conservation. From misty wetlands to the celebrated Quiet Trail, citizens practised deep listening as an ecological and philosophical act. These quiet walks are rooted in years of civic advocacy and reveal an emergent environmental ethic in Taiwan, where attentive listening becomes a form of humility, coexistence, and more-than-human care.
Written by Kuo Ta-Hsin. This piece introduces the Vietnamese presence in Taiwan, through different sonic performances, to link Vietnamese students and/or migrants closer to their home. It is just for instance, In the karaoke rooms and Vietnamese eateries of Taichung, memory meets reality. Voices turn into acts of belonging, and to sing is to remain Vietnamese, even far from home.
Taiwan Insight 