Taipei: A joint initiative by Taiwan, France, and Austria aims to preserve and publish a collection of ancient songs recorded on Orchid Island by the Tao people, an Indigenous Taiwanese community, as announced by the Taiwan Music Institute (TMI) on Wednesday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the project unites TMI with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Artistic Research Center (ARC) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. This collaboration will culminate in the publication of a book in 2026 and represents the first significant effort among the three countries to safeguard Indigenous cultural heritage.
The project is centered on a 50-year archive compiled by French anthropologist V©ronique Arnaud, who carried out extensive fieldwork among the Tao people on Orchid Island, located off Taiwan’s southeastern coast. Arnaud, a prominent scholar of Southeast Asia, lived for many years in Langdao (Iraraley) Village, and in 2013, donated over 500 hours of recordings to CNRS, according to TMI.
TMI highlighted that Arnaud passed away in 2022, leaving some of her recordings untranslated and unexamined, which has prompted this new collaboration. With authorization from CNRS, the audio files will be uploaded to TMI’s online platform, while ARC will assist in the translation of the recordings.
The institute added that the team will also integrate handwritten song manuscripts collected by ethnomusicologist Chien Shan-hua and cultural worker Syaman Vengayen.
During a press conference held on Wednesday, Tao elder Syapen Meylamney performed a traditional song, followed by other community members showcasing the traditional “Hair Dance,” characterized by Tao women elegantly swinging their long hair.
Syaman Vengayen, speaking at the event, described Arnaud as “a member of the tribe” and emphasized the importance of preserving Tao culture. Chen Yue-yi, director of the National Center for Traditional Arts (NCTA), which oversees the institute, remarked that the songs encapsulate the Tao people’s wisdom and collective memory.
Christian Helbig, head of the Austrian Office Taipei, expressed Austria’s commitment to preserving musical culture and viewed the collaboration as a valuable opportunity for international exchange and innovation. Cl©a Le Cardeur, deputy director of the French Office in Taipei, acknowledged Arnaud’s lifelong dedication to Orchid Island as crucial to the project’s inception and thanked all involved parties.
Lin Wei-ya, leading the project, outlined that the research will be conducted in three phases: building a song database and keyword system, analyzing the music, and developing a classification framework based on Indigenous perspectives, along with publication and platform development to support knowledge sharing and cultural preservation.