Across the continents, oceans connect the world—yet water has always stirred complex emotions.
Amniotic fluid is our first home; the ocean, the origin of all life. Water marks both the beginning of existence and the place where culture and belief intertwine.
When shapeless water takes form—as shifting rivers, unfathomable lakes, or immeasurable seas—it becomes an “otherworld,” set apart from land. We fear its depth, yet imbue it with boundless imagination.
In Taiwan’s diverse water beliefs, Indigenous myths describe ancestors emerging from the ocean or migrating to the mountains after great floods. On the plains, tales speak of the “blind serpent” that swells rivers and reshapes their course. Communities have dug wells, built irrigation channels, and held rituals to honor water spirits. The Siraya people offered ancestral rites with jars of water; coastal villagers send divine boats across the sea to ward off disease.
The Spirit of Water gathers these memories and beliefs into an abstract model of Taiwan’s landscape. The terrain flows from mountain streams to river mouths. Visitors first glimpse the highlands, then descend into an underworld river, weaving through gods and mortals, past rivers, canals, and estuaries—before returning to the source. Amid rising and falling terrain, one encounters the rituals, crafts, and stories of Taiwan’s many communities, and journeys through a realm quietly guided by the spirits of water.
