How do music, performance spaces, and cultural memory shape the identities of Indigenous communities in a rapidly modernizing world?

Between Concert Hall and Museum: Musics and Identities of Taiwanese Indigenous People by Chun-bin Chen explores the dynamic relationship between Indigenous musical traditions and contemporary cultural institutions in Taiwan.

Through vivid musical stories set in Taiwan's National Concert Hall, Indigenous villages, and the National Museum of Prehistory, the book examines how Indigenous musicians navigate spaces that symbolize modernity, heritage, and cultural preservation. Drawing on performances, village rituals, museum exhibitions, and the Festival of Austronesian Cultures, Chen reveals how music becomes a powerful medium through which Taiwanese Indigenous people reconnect with their past while negotiating their place in the present.

The book also reflects on the idea of a uniquely Indigenous form of diaspora, where feelings of displacement can occur even within one's homeland. By highlighting musical performance as a pathway to cultural continuity and belonging, this work offers a compelling perspective on indigeneity, identity, and cultural resilience in contemporary society.

Ideal for students and scholars in Asian studies, ethnomusicology, world music, anthropology, and cultural studies interested in Indigenous identities and musical traditions.

Chun-bin Chen PhD is Professor of Musicology at the Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. He has published several articles and books on Taiwanese Indigenous music.