Written by Zuzule Demalalade & Tien-Li Schneider. When we believe that there is power behind every object, it signifies our departure from mundane perspectives and a return to the cosmic space we share with our ancestors. As Indigenous cultural curators based in Taiwan, our involvement with the Kuroshio Odyssey: Maritime Memories, Culture, and Landscapes (hereafter KO) exhibition project began on an ordinary workday when KO’s curator, Jiun-Yu, returned from the United States to Taiwan and visited our office one afternoon. He mentioned that the Burke Museum had some collections from Taiwan’s Indigenous tribes. Together with Nikal (Margaret), a law doctoral student at the University of Washington with Amis Indigenous roots in Taiwan, they were planning an exhibition on Taiwanese Indigenous artefacts. This sparks the idea of collaboratively establishing an online platform, a digital bridge across the 14-hour time difference between Taiwan’s Indigenous artefacts and the Burke Museum’s exhibits.
Taiwan Insight 