We Are Seediq opens on 22 April at the Museum of Ethnography

The Museum of Ethnography's new exhibition is a collaboration with Seediq, an indigenous people of Taiwan. We Are Seediq was created as part of the decolonization of the museum and in line with the development of how ethnographic museums can work with indigenous peoples and objects in the collections. As the title implies, it is the Seediq themselves that are behind the narrative. With the help of modern visualisation technology and creative exhibition design they tell their history about a rediscovered cultural heritage. The exhibition hall is designed by the architectural office Olsson Lyckefors, winners of the Kasper Salin Prize. The exhibition opens on 22 April at the Museum of Ethnography.

Seediq means human being and is the name of a Taiwanese indigenous people as well as their language. Their ancestors have lived in Taiwan for thousands of years. During the centuries they have been affected by external influences from different powers. Despite this, their culture has survived.

The new exhibition We Are Seediq was developed through a unique co-creative project together with our Seediq partners. Through their own words, historical artefacts and interviews from modern day Taiwan, the Seediq tell their own story. Historical artefacts from the museum's collection are shown side-by-side with a contemporary 360-degree film. The modern exhibition hall is designed by the architectural office Olsson Lyckefors who won this year's Kasper Salin prize.

"We Are Seediq shows how museum collections can have an extremely important relevance for reconnecting, recreating and reclaiming knowledge that would otherwise risk being lost," says Ann Follin, Director General at the National Museums of World Culture. "To have access to your own cultural heritage and therefore the possibility to interpret and represent your history is the central theme for the exhibition. This is their story, not ours."

The unique collaboration started in connection with questions that arose regarding a collection from Taiwan found in the archives. Research showed that the objects had been wrongly classified since the early 20th Century and they were in fact Seediq. The museum's curators contacted different institutions in Taiwan, and the rest is history. Since the artefacts were added to the museum's collection early in the 20th Century, much of the Seediq's traditional culture has been lost. The exhibition is part of the Seediq's efforts to revive the knowledge of previous generations hidden in the artefacts.

"The point is not for the objects to be buried and forgotten, rather that we will revitalise them again and inspire our people and our youth to feel a sense of pride about their heritage. Our existence is interconnected with our ancestors and the traditional Seediq culture," says Walis Pering, chairperson of the Seediq National Assembly.

Representatives for the Seediq community are currently working with the collection that the National Museums of World Culture manages to help breathe new life into their culture. In May 2022 a delegation visited the Museum of Ethnography to study the objects more closely. Amongst other things, the women in the delegation studied the textiles in the collection and made sketches of the patterns seen. These were taken back to Taiwan and used to recreate the textiles. For the Seediq this is a way to reconcile with previous generations.

We Are Seediq is a part of the EU-funded project Taking Care. The exhibition has been created through a collaboration between the National Museums of World Culture, the Seediq National Assembly in Taiwan and Seediq Master's Program at the Providence University in Taiwan. The collaboration is in line with the National Museums of World Culture's work with the decolonization of the museum, activating the collections and collaborating with source communities around the world.

Fact box:

• In 2008 the Seediq were recognised as an indigenous people in Taiwan. Before this they were, as with the objects in the exhibition, classified as Atayal.
• The Seediq consist of three groups with their own dialects.
• Population: 10,485 (as of 2020)
• The exhibition displays 28 historical artefacts from the National Museums of World Culture's collection.
• Up until this collaborative project, the objects had been wrongly classified by the Japanese administration at the time when they where collected. Thanks to the collaborative project the obbjects have now got their true history back.

Design:

• The visual identity for the exhibition is created by Gabor Palotai Design.
• In the newly build, flexible exhibition hall the visitors and objects are surrounded by a 360-degree film projection. Here, visitors meet representatives from the Seediq who describe in their own words their culture, history and future.
• In the other part of the exhibition, located in the annex, Taiwan's characteristic cloud-draped tropical mountains are materialised in the interior design. In green display cases, the historical objects are shown alongside text and film where the Seediq describe the objects cultural significance. From the ceiling hangs a cloud created from 480 square meters of material.

For further information, please contact:
Sandra Rathsman, Communications Officer, +46 (0)10 456 12 87
sandra.rathsman@varldskulturmuseerna.se