The Ministry of Culture announced today (June 16) the official theme and key visual for the 2025 Creative Expo Taiwan (CET). This year’s edition, themed “Water Scapes,” will take place from August 2 to 11 across two main venues: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall1.
“Water Scapes” draws inspiration from the diverse forms and symbolism of water, using its fluid, ever-shifting nature as a metaphor for the dynamic, inclusive, and richly layered identity of Taiwanese culture. The theme highlights how cultural expression—like water—crosses boundaries and continuously reshapes itself through movement and transformation.
As Taiwan’s most iconic cultural and creative exhibition, Creative Expo Taiwan has, since its founding in 2010, served as a dual-platform event—part cultural showcase, part commercial trade fair. Over more than a decade, it has become the country’s largest and most internationally recognized cultural expo, offering a platform for global buyers and domestic consumers alike. The Ministry of Culture remains committed to this dual positioning by fostering both international exchange and market development for Taiwan’s creative industries.
The 2025 theme, “Water Scapes,” uses the ecological richness of Taiwan’s waters to reflect the multifaceted nature of its cultural landscape. From high-mountain misty forests and mid-altitude hot springs to cascading waterfalls and ocean tides, the exhibition explores how Taiwan’s unique island geography has nurtured an abundance of cultural forms. Through four major exhibition themes—The Island of Seascapes, The Realm of Mist, The Spirit of Waters, and Taiwan as Endless Strams—the Expo will explore water’s symbolic meanings: its resilience and inclusiveness, its boundless energy, its healing presence, and its ever-changing forms. Together, they convey the vitality of a culture shaped by multiple species, forms, and influences. “Water Scapes” captures the essence of a culture that flows, adapts, and transforms—just like water.
The key visual for this year’s Expo is designed by Yang Shi-Ching, a celebrated designer and recipient of both the Golden Melody Award and the Golden Pin Design Award. Drawing inspiration from Bruce Lee’s famous words—"Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup..."—Yang captures the philosophical duality of water: free-flowing yet capable of wearing down stone.
The visual centers on ripples—symbols of cultural exchange and new ideas taking shape. Layered blue-green tones, from ocean to mist, suggest depth and the flow of creative energy.
A dynamic motion version of the visual takes viewers on a journey of flow, pressure, and confluence. Beginning with interwoven water tones representing the birth of creativity, the sequence evolves into tectonic textures that suggest cultural formation under pressure. In the final scene, diverse cultural elements merge and converge to form the silhouette of Taiwan—an island continually reshaped over time by history, memory, and innovation.
The Cultural Curation Pavilion will open on August 2 at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, featuring a brand-new Waterscape Select area curated from regional creative goods recommended by local governments, as well as a craft-themed boutique curated by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute. The Business & Licensing Pavilion will follow on August 5 at Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1, boasting the largest number of participating IP licensors and creative brands to date. A special feature this year is the IP-STAR POP PARK, offering an imaginative, immersive experience.
For more information and ongoing updates, please visit the official Creative Expo Taiwan website. The Ministry of Culture invites both domestic and international visitors and buyers to explore the latest currents shaping Taiwan’s vibrant cultural and creative scene.
2025 Creative Expo Taiwan Official Website:
https://creativexpo.tw/
2025 Creative Expo Taiwan Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/creativexpo.tw/
Press Contact:
Lo Shih-Hung, Media Relations Division, Ministry of Culture
Tel: 02-8512-6077 / Mobile: 0919-596-134
Event Coordinator:
Lan Ya-Chi, Department of Cultural and Creative Development, Ministry of Culture
Tel: 02-8512-6558