[Life] Suming Curates East Expo Indigenous Exhibition, Boldly Declares All of Taitung is a Branch Museum

Musician Suming, nominated for 3 awards at this year's Golden Melody Awards, is stepping into a new role as the curator for the "2026 Taitung Expo (East Expo)" Indigenous Special Exhibition. He has named the exhibition "Oh! You've Got It," creating a cultural space that can be touched, played with, and laughed in, inviting the public to rediscover Taitung's culture. When discussing the position of Indigenous peoples at the East Expo, he boldly declared with a laugh, "All of Taitung is my branch museum!" #Reported by Radio Taiwan International (RTI) correspondent Chiang Chao-lun# The "2026 Taitung Expo" will be grandly held from July 3rd to August 20th. Among them, the curator for the Indigenous Power exhibition area is musician Suming, who proposed the imaginative exhibition theme: "Oh! You've Got It." In an exclusive interview with Radio Taiwan International (RTI), Suming explained that Indigenous peoples, under various cultural impacts, often translate Chinese with humor and wit. "Oh! You've Got It" translated into Chinese is "Ao, ni shi you de!" meaning "You've got substance!" Suming frankly stated that he doesn't want the exhibition to be filled with a lot of information, but rather emphasizes that "experience is king" and hopes to show the "present" appearance of Indigenous peoples. Therefore, in the exhibition hall, visitors can play the Indigenous Herbal Monopoly game, learning about tribal plants and their medicinal effects through card flipping. They can also experience interactive vinyl music installations, feeling the new sounds woven from old folk songs and contemporary creations. It turns out that the Taitung County Indigenous Affairs Department purchased 229 precious Indigenous vinyl master tapes from the 1960s from a vinyl collector as early as 2022. Suming and his team selected 8 works with the most complete field data from these tapes. Through AI technology, they re-arranged the music, creating a cylindrical interactive installation. Visitors can mix and match different instruments and rhythms by pressing different areas, allowing the songs from 70 years ago to transcend time and space, creating a brand-new listening experience. In addition to sound, there is an outdoor space equivalent to two basketball courts outside the exhibition hall. Suming, along with tribal elders and young people, used agricultural waste materials to collaboratively create large-scale installations. The team even specially created the exhibition's theme song "You've Got It" and its MV. Suming laughed, saying this is a unique feature of the entire East Expo exhibition area. This free, slow-paced, and creative "Taitung frequency" also extends to the East Expo opening concert. Ko Chih-hao, invited as the music director, revealed to Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reporters that the opening concert will bring together 16 townships and feature 18 performers, including Suming, Sangpuy, and Chen Chien-nien, with musicians representing almost every township taking the stage, and the music will be re-arranged by the team. Ko Chih-hao believes that Taitung has long existed in the imagination of many Taiwanese people. Everyone knows they can go to Taitung to watch the sunrise, enjoy the slow pace, go surfing, or temporarily escape urban life. However, he also said that the real Taitung must be experienced firsthand. Through the East Expo, they hope to give people a push to truly feel the charm of Taitung with their bodies. When discussing the position of Indigenous peoples at the East Expo, Suming said with a smile that although he is only curating the Indigenous exhibition area, the other 22 exhibition halls are like his branch museums. He also believes that Taitung has indeed become more confident. Suming: "(Original sound) Everyone must mention Indigenous peoples. All of Taitung is my branch museum, yes. We maintain our tone, and we slowly, slowly walk step by step to this point. Then, the slowness of Taitung people seems to carry a bit of confidence." While busy curating and making music, Suming was also nominated for 3 awards at this year's Golden Melody Awards. He emphasized that he hasn't forgotten this annual event in the Chinese music scene and humorously appealed to the judges at the end: "I hope to contribute a Golden Melody Award to the Taitung Expo."(Editor: Liao Yi-ting)