ABOUT
The Taiwan Creative Content Expo (CET) was launched by the Ministry of Culture in 2010. After undergoing several major strategic transformations over the years, both the scale and scope of the event have continued to expand, gradually establishing it as one of Taiwan’s most important platforms for showcasing cultural and creative content, facilitating industry exchange, and connecting businesses with market opportunities. In 2025, the Expo attracted a total of 650,000 visits, including more than 28,000 professional visitors and buyers, while setting new records in exhibition area, number of participating exhibitors, booth usage, and international participation. These achievements demonstrate Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries advancing toward a national-level cultural and creative trade hub, where cultural value serves as a driving force for market and economic growth.
The 2026 Taiwan Creative Expo will respond to the renewed reflection on the nature of human creativity amidst the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and explore the relationship between cultural heritage, technological innovation, and visions of the future. The Cultural Curation will be held at Kong Zong Cultural Base. By integrating the achievements of historic building restoration with the energy of contemporary cultural exhibition, CET showcases exemplary practices in the revitalization and innovative application of cultural heritage, while leveraging the influence of the Taiwan Creative Expo as a national cultural brand to further support Kong Zong Cultural Base’s development as a leading national cultural base.
The Creative Brands and IP Licensors will take place at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1, focusing on cultural and creative brands as well as IP licensing. Implemented with a balanced emphasis on international B2B matchmaking and consumer markets, it assists businesses in expanding into both domestic and overseas markets. The event aims to construct a complete industry chain from creative conceptualization to market application, facilitating cultural content transactions, licensing cooperation, and cross-domain matchmaking to showcase the contemporary value and future potential of Taiwan's cultural creativity.
In 2026, human civilization is accelerating into the digital torrent. As AI generation systems can translate prompts and produce thousands of dazzling images and texts within microseconds, humanity is confronted with an unprecedented question: in an era of infinite algorithmic replication, what truly constitutes our irreplaceable "originality"? When everything can be encoded, what kind of content can be endowed with a soul, elevating it into a "cultural IP" capable of transcending generations?
We have come to realize that while the digital world is built upon bits, its most compelling essence often exists in the blank space before computation begins. The concept of “Bit Zero,” the theme of this year’s Taiwan Creative Expo, steps beyond the conventions of digital processing to explore a phantom coordinate that exists outside the logic of computers. It represents the very first “thought” that flashes through the cerebral cortex just before the creator flips the switch. It is the primordial vibration, the original spell that sets all things into motion; it is the primal memory of this land, hidden within the folds of time before it is transformed into data.
(2026
(RESULT:
CREANECT.ISLAND_VIBE(); / 萬物編碼
CAST.SPELL("OPEN_SESAME"); 咒語造物
TANERATE.CET_2026(); // 產出:2026臺灣文博會
// --- AWAKENING BIT ZERO ---
…ONGOING
..LOADING 100%
The Cultural Curation of the 2026 Taiwan Creative Expo is jointly curated by a cross-disciplinary team comprising AGI CHEN STUDIO, Ellen Yalun Peng Culture and Artist Atelier, Midroom Lab, S.SELECT LAB, CONCENTRIC PRODUCTION, and AABT, atelier a better tomorrow bringing together diverse curatorial perspectives to explore the creative potential of cultural IP. If a successful cultural IP can be likened to a towering tree with flourishing branches and abundant foliage, then “Bit Zero” is the first seed that is silent but contains explosive life force within. It is the genesis of creation, an instinct beyond the reach of simulation. "An thought becoming a spell" unveils the sacredness of cultural formation—intent itself is a code, steering creators to find their locus within the chaos. In the vision of "Bit Zero," cultural IPs are no longer commercialized labels, but the sensory assembly extracted from the pulses of this land. When we rediscover this initial spiritual core, digital tools will not mark the end of creation, but are merely the vessels of aura.
To pursue this sensory exploration, the Cultural Curation of the 2026 Taiwan Creative Expo is set within the Kong Zong Cultural Base Heritage Building. More than a historical landmark in the geographical sense, this century-old structure is itself a vast, living cultural IP. The weathered textures of its walls, the dust suspended in the air, and the shifting interplay of light and shadow along its corridors embody a tangible sense “on-site-ness”—an expression of “Bit Zero” that can never be backed up by digital technology.
The exhibition site brings the historical imprints of the architecture into resonance with contemporary digital installations. We believe that the heart of a story that truly moves people is often hidden within the gaps "where the digital cannot reach." Through contemporary curation inside this ancient space, we allow participants to step into a venue where the past and present intertwine, microscopically observing the overlooked values of humanity.
Within the curatorial framework of “Bit Zero,” these six thematic strands are not isolated exhibition sections but an interconnected ecosystem, illustrating how cultural IP emerges from Bit Zero and ultimately grows into a cultural force capable of shaping the world. Visitors are no longer passive recipients of information. From the moment you step into Kong Zong Cultural Base, your every breath, your every startled glance backward, and every path you trace are writing a real-time code of life—one that even the most powerful computational engines could never predict.
You are that living code.
Through this exhibition, the curatorial team hopes to reconnect cultural IP with the land from which it arises and to restore its genuine connection with the warmth of people. In an age when everything is reduced to code, to 0s and 1s, let us safeguard the power of that “moment of inspiration.” For only by returning to “Bit Zero” can culture continue to radiate a warm, vivid glow within this cold world of bits and bytes.
Contemporary technology should not be an engine that replaces the human soul, but rather a precision microscope. Jointly curated by a cross-disciplinary collective—including AGI CHEN STUDIO, Ellen Yalun Peng Culture and Artist Atelier, Midroom Lab, S.SELECT LAB, CONCENTRIC PRODUCTION, and AABT, atelier a better tomorrow—this exhibition deconstructs "Bit Zero" into six analytical dimensions, inviting the audience to embark on a rich journey along the viewing route:
Within the curatorial vision of “Bit Zero,” cultural IP is understood as a dynamic code that transcends time and space. We focus on creations that have endured the test of time and embody the spirit and significance of Taiwan, spanning popular music, film and television, publishing, performing and visual arts, cultural heritage, and creative products. Through processes of reproduction and re-creation, cultural IP translates accumulated histories into the future, generating new meanings within the present. This is not only a tribute to the past, but also an effort to capture the spirit of the times, enabling creative products and diverse artistic forms to evolve alongside contemporary society. Through these successive layers of translation and transformation, cultural IP ceases to be a static asset. Instead, it becomes a dynamic incantation—one that continually resonates with society and evolves through time. In doing so, it demonstrates the limitless potential of Taiwan’s original cultural content to reshape worldviews across generations.
Situated on Command Square at Kong Zong Cultural Base, this land artwork transforms the land from a passive backdrop into a speaking subject. Drawing upon the “aesthetics of traditional decorative tiles” and “botanical symbolism,” it reinterprets historical traces and translates Taiwan‘s cultural IP into an accessible sensory map. Visitors are invited to begin with the point of contact beneath their feet, uncovering the primordial motifs embedded deep within the soil. The visual language weaves together Kong Zong Cultural Base ‘s military iconography and the botanical landscapes of the city, shifting the site from the hardness of institutional control toward the warmth of cultural memory. This is a spatial experience that must be read through the body: through each step, visitors connect with the ground, sensing the unhurried life rhythm of a land that is in no rush to complete itself. When looking down, the earth is no longer a silent support; instead, through the interwoven textures of history and plants, it invites people, through the act of movement, to participate in a deep resonance between the present and the past.
“IN TRANSIT” takes a coastal journey as a means of perception, initiating an imaginative action across time. Visitors become travelers in motion, setting off from the "Future Arrival Check-in" to awaken their consciousness of action. Through the "Sea Condition Tuning Cabin," climate data is translated, gradually calibrating their perception to the frequency of travel. Entering the "The Blue Passage," visuals and sounds guide the travelers' sensory actions. Moving beyond the visual flow, the "Sea-Flavour Transfer Station" restructures the scenes of marine IPs, fulfilling the concept of "bringing the sea back into life." Ultimately, visitors respond to the perceptions accumulated along the way with a postcard sent to the future, completing this traveler’s action. Yet, this journey does not truly end; instead, it returns to time in another form, waiting to be received once again.
In a cold era of AI expansion, this is a collective action shifting from rational data to emotional survival. When civilization leans too heavily toward the blue of rationality, we must launch an inward excavation and retrieval within a future archives room stacked with "data boxes." This is not merely about viewing, but about turning our gaze from inorganic computation to the depth of life, within a visual rhythm where blue technology and warm orange humanity intersect. The contemporary creations on display celebrate the irreplaceability of experience, emotion, and belief. We attempt to prompt the visitors: rather than a flawless AI, please truly love your flawed and unique self. This shift will ultimately transform into a cultural prescription, bringing the heat source of humanity back into life.
In an era where AI intervenes in our understanding of the world, this is a physical action to reclaim the "original settings of perception." We should not passively allow algorithms to define us; instead, we must reset ourselves from sensory overload to rediscover our creative instincts. Through the "Reboot" and the "Exploring Within," the exhibition guides visitors to dig deep into the intertwined emotional currents of the five senses. This is not merely an amplification of perception, but a "Soul Depot" that turns our focus toward observing historical landscapes and natural details overlooked by technology. Through cross-sensory association experiments, we calibrate our states within the confluence of emotions, understanding that creativity always stems from a profound self-awareness. This awakening of perception is not a logging out of the world, but a return to the starting point of "self," taking an active stance to re-choose how we perceive and connect with the world.
The exit of the exhibition is a "cultural airport" leading to the inner self. As we pass through the flow of the coastline and the reclamation of humanity, what is offered here is no longer just objects, but a "healing of body and mind" that dwells in daily life. From the footprints of "Walks through the 22 Counties and Cities," we harvest the soul of "island terroir" and the texture of "bountiful mountains and seas," blending them into “selected products" that carry the warmth of life. Every selected item is a "life supply," bearing the tranquility of the land and the instinct of creation. When you choose and take home these Taiwan cultural IPs, you are also translating the sensory awakening from the exhibition site into the gentlest presence in your daily life. This journey never ends; instead, between every touch and use, it continues to warm your independent and free soul.