Department of Cultural Affairs

Soil is home to countless forms of life: bacteria, fungi, algae, insects in the ground, and creatures on its surface such as snails, as well as larger beings like elephants, trees, and humans. Millions of species across the world are connected to soil. It exists all around us, not only clinging to the soles of our shoes and the roots of vegetables, but also forming cities and supporting entire ecosystems. 

Yet, today, soil is often hidden beneath concrete and buildings, and our connection to it is gradually being forgotten. 

The 2026 Taipei Literature Festival Special Exhibition “Walking the Soil—What Are Your Memories of Soil?” will be held from April 18 to May 17 in the Bopiliao Historical Block. Visitors are invited to set out step by step, with Taipei as the point of reference, on a journey to rediscover soil.

Eight Creators Walking Toward the Soil

In the exhibition project “Walking the Soil,” creators Apyang Imiq, Liko, Li-ching Lin, Chen-fu Hsu, Hao-jen Chen, Joanne Deng, and Yi-shan Lo each travel to their own field sites: Daan Park, Catayo in Neihu, Wanhua, the Guandu Plain, Guizikeng, Wenshan, and Yangmingshan. Through firsthand experience, observation, and inquiry, they explore questions about soil and uncover the stories embedded within it. Beyond Taipei’s geography, Chung-hsien Yen also leads visitors into a more mysterious spiritual dimension, exploring an unseen form of soil. This act of walking brings us closer to the ground beneath us and clarifies the subtle, intimate connections between soil and human life.

The exhibition is divided into two sections. “Soil Matters” (土之事) presents analytical readings of seven soil sites alongside written works by the creators, each shaped by personal experience and perspective. The texts range from argument to lyricism, from inquiry to speculation, forming multiple layers of discussion that open pathways toward understanding soil. 

This section also features Golden Bell Awards host and sustainability practitioner Patty Lee as the voice of soil. Speaking from a first-person perspective as soil itself, she engages visitors in reflection on the role soil plays in everyday life. 

The second section, “Works of Soil” (土之作), presents reflections created after the field journeys, each responding to the prompt: “Soil is ______.” These works express how each creator comes to understand and feel a connection with soil.

The exhibition handbook collates the works of all eight creators on the theme of soil and also serves as a “field notebook” that visitors can write in while moving through the exhibition. During their visit, visitors are invited to record their observations and impressions of the seven soil sites presented in Section I and to collect the writings produced at the “soil table” in Section II. Every line written in the field notebook becomes a small but tangible step in rebuilding one’s connection with the soil.

Digital Publication: Walking the Soil—On Fieldwork

How do creators understand the essence of soil? What do they encounter in the field, and how do they reflect along the way? To extend ideas not fully presented in the exhibition, this digital publication invites creators to document their experiences and thoughts during the process, drawing readers into their evolving perspectives throughout “Walking the Soil” (土步行). 

Fieldwork is the act of revealing the unusual within the ordinary. The eight essays show how creators re-examine soil from multiple perspectives. Yet some questions remain unanswered, and further questions are generated in turn. Perhaps it is precisely this absence of a final answer that gives meaning to the project as an ongoing process of recognition and inquiry into soil’s unknown. The digital publication is available for download on the Taipei Literature Festival official website.

Many stories begin with a single speck of soil. Visitors are warmly invited to join in tracing the connections between people and the earth. For more information, visit the Taipei Literature Festival Facebook, Instagram, or official website.

2026 Taipei Literature Festival Special Exhibition

“Walking the Soil—What Are Your Memories of Soil?”

Dates | Saturday, April 18–Sunday, May 17

Time: 10:00–17:30, Tue–Sun (closed Mondays)

Location: Bopiliao Historical Block (Nos. 9, 11, 13, 15, Ln. 173, Kangding Rd., Wanhua District, Taipei City)