NGA Shi Yeu

Collections of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin

11 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Shao-Ji Yao. This article explores the provenance and 150-year history of Taiwan’s Indigenous ethnographic collections at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. Shaped by director Adolf Bastian’s universal archival ambitions, these artefacts span the period from late nineteenth-century colonial encounters to post-WWII acquisitions. The author details ongoing collaborative efforts to bring these historic items back to Taipei for a landmark transnational exhibition at the National Taiwan Museum in 2027.

Threads in Entangled Worlds: Indigenous Knowledge and Weaving Heritage in Taiwan

10 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Ipiq Matay. This article explores the tension between embodied Indigenous knowledge and rigid institutional heritage frameworks in Taiwan. Through tminun (weaving), how cultural heritage is a lived, relational practice passed down through muscle memory, rhythm, and ancestral law (gaya), rather than static museum displays. The author calls on cultural institutions to look beyond simple representation and embrace dynamic Indigenous epistemologies on their own terms.

Orchids Across Realms: Transnational Museum Collaboration and Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in Taiwan

9 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Yian Chen. This article describes the 2025 exhibition Formosa Orchids Blossom, a collaborative project between Taipei’s National Museum of History and the University of Tokyo. It explores how the orchid transcends its role as a simple flower to serve as a complex cultural lens in Taiwan. By weaving together Japanese botanical science, traditional Chinese literati art, and the sacred indigenous cosmology of the Tsou people, the interdisciplinary exhibition deconstructs rigid national narratives, modelling a decolonised, transnational approach to modern museum practice.

Bridging the Gap: How Walking, Healing, and Gardening Connect Universities with Migrants

15 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Tzu-Chi Ou. Traditional migration studies in Taiwan often treat migrants as mere statistics, leaving students feeling socially disconnected. To bridge this gap, a professor moved beyond the classroom through three hands-on experiments: student-led walking tours, art therapy to process emotional guilt, and a communal “immigrating garden.” These initiatives transform “the other” into a neighbour, fostering genuine empathy and mutual worth.

More than Education, Not Quite Foreign: The Politics of Taiwan’s Overseas Chinese Students

14 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Chiao-Yuan Jo Ko. Taiwan’s category of ‘overseas Chinese student’ may appear administrative, but it reflects a much longer political history. Tracing the system from the Cold War era to Taiwan’s democratisation, this article explores how education became tied to the ROC’s nation-building project, US geopolitical strategy, and shifting ideas of Chinese identity.

Learning Otherwise: Indigenous Experimental Education and Plural Pathways in Taiwan

13 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Tuyuq Rabay. This article examines Indigenous Experimental Education in Taiwan through an ethnographic vignette of an Atayal school’s pslkotas ritual. It argues that such programmes re-centre indigenous epistemologies through embodied, place-based, and spiritual pedagogy, while also revealing ongoing tensions with state curricula, structural inequalities, and settler-colonial legacies that shape education and identity.

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