"Original Sound is So Popular" exhibition chronicles indigenous music trajectory, opens in Pingtung

The "Original Sound is So Popular – From Mountain Folk Songs to Pop Golden Hits" exhibition, co-hosted by the Indigenous Cultural Development Center and the Taiwan Music Institute, has opened in Pingtung. It traces the trajectory of indigenous music from a pop music perspective, with a touring exhibition also planned for Chiayi.
イベントNQ 0/100出典:PR Times

📋 Article Processing Timeline

  • 📰 Published: May 9, 2026 at 09:06
  • 🔍 Collected: May 9, 2026 at 09:31 (24 min after Published)
  • 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 9, 2026 at 10:46 (1h 14m after Collected)
(Central News Agency reporter Zhao Jing-yu, Taipei, 9th) The "Original Sound is So Popular – From Mountain Folk Songs to Pop Golden Hits" special exhibition, co-hosted by the Indigenous Cultural Development Center and the Taiwan Music Institute, opened today at the Ecological Museum of the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park in Pingtung, tracing the trajectory of indigenous music from a pop music perspective.

According to news from the National Center for Traditional Arts' Taiwan Music Institute, this exhibition not only fully presents the content of the six major exhibition areas planned by the institute last year but also specially incorporates the long-term efforts of the Indigenous Cultural Development Center in promoting multi-ethnic creative music and dance, inter-ethnic cooperation, and youth cultivation, showcasing the rich energy of continuous innovation in indigenous music culture.

Curator Yeh Tsung-che stated that the team started from indigenous music and traced the development trajectory from historical contexts to contemporary pop golden hits. He is very pleased to cooperate with the Indigenous Cultural Development Center to add important content on the recent history of indigenous pop music, making the exhibition more complete.

Chen Yue-yi, Director of the National Center for Traditional Arts, stated her gratitude to Chiu Huang Chao-chung, Director of the Indigenous Cultural Development Center, for proposing the idea of a touring exhibition. The National Center for Traditional Arts fully supports it and further facilitated the Chiayi touring exhibition. "The special exhibition is not just a music exhibition; it is a cultural dialogue about understanding and respect."

Chiu Huang Chao-chung stated that through the systematic sorting and presentation of the development process of indigenous music by the National Center for Traditional Arts, everyone can imagine the situations of indigenous ancestors working in the mountains, fishing in distant seas, and living in cities and tribes, and deeply feel the cultural memories and life experiences through music.

The exhibition entrance is designed with images of indigenous singers and musicians from various eras, like passing through a time tunnel, leading the audience into the era of flowing songs. The exhibition hall creates a slate house space to play videos, creating an atmosphere as if walking into a tribal home.

The exhibition content starts from the collection and research of post-war folk songs, showing how indigenous folk songs protected ethnic memories under assimilation pressure; then enters the popular era of LPs and cassette tapes, reliving the golden age when record companies and mountain singers made melodies popular everywhere; the exhibition also shows that before and after the lifting of martial law, music became an important voice in social movements, closely linked to issues such as land rights and anti-nuclear waste.

The "Original Sound is So Popular – From Mountain Folk Songs to Pop Golden Hits" special exhibition will run from now until September 30th at the Ecological Museum of the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park; it will be moved to Building Q of the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park from July 24th to August 23rd. (Editor: Li Heng-shan) 1150509