The IN TRANSIT exhibition UNDER THE CONCEPT OF BIT ZERO, CREATIVE EXPO TAIWAN 2026 ANSWERED THE QUESTION OF THE ROLE OF HUMANS IN THE AI ERA THROUGH DESIGN, FROM THE KEY VISUAL TO THE EXHIBITION SPACE, TRANSFORMING HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE INTO A CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE
TEXT: SARUNKORN ARTHAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE EXPO TAIWAN
(For Thai, press here)
Amid the overwhelming surge of artificial intelligence, a crucial question arises: ‘How can design created by humans, for humans, endure?’ Creative Expo Taiwan 2026 anchors itself to this very question as the core theme of this year’s event under the concept ‘Bit Zero’. As a flagship milestone for the creative economy since 2010, this year’s expo invites audiences to step back to the point of origin, the split second before a human concept is encoded into binary code, reclaiming aesthetics, emotional resonance, and pure intent that no algorithm can replicate.
Under the concept ‘To Spell a World,’ crafted by JoeFang Studio in collaboration with Out Of Office. The key visual revolves around three symbolic objects—an apple, a key, and a human portrait—representing the three major dimensions of the expo: cultural curation, creative brands, and IP licensing. Adam’s apple, like the first fruit of inspiration, serves as a catalyst for reflection and exploration, seeking the organic body of cultural narratives. The key represents the tool that unlocks business opportunities, opening pathways to markets and audiences while generating limitless commercial possibilities. The human portrait embodies soul and vitality, expressing the richness of life at a time when the boundary between the virtual and the real is increasingly blurred. The visual palette of white, blue, and green is derived respectively from the gray-white background of digital interfaces, the iconic blue screen associated with computer system failures, and the green screen commonly used in film and television compositing, together forming an aesthetic rooted in the underlying systems of digital technology.
No Rush. You’re Doing Really Well
For the Cultural Curation section, the event takes over a historic site: C-LAB (Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab), the newly restored former Air Force Command Headquarters in central Taipei. Serving as the primary venue throughout August, creative director Agi Chen, alongside a cross-disciplinary curatorial team, decodes the ‘Bit Zero’ theme into six core concepts: time, land, action, transition, body, and healing, leading visitors on an immersive journey that seamlessly blends classic architecture with contemporary art.
The spatial narrative within C-LAB unfolds across five sensory zones. It begins at Political Warfare Square with ‘No Rush. You’re Doing Really Well,’ an outdoor installation using landscape design and botanical tile motifs to transform Cultural IPs into a tactile map.
The IN TRANSIT exhibition
The Orange Story in the Blue World
Step inside the restored building’s first floor to enter ‘IN TRANSIT,’ which reimagines a coastal journey through futuristic check-in counters and an environment evoking memories of the sea. Moving up to the second floor, ‘The Orange Story in the Blue World’ challenges human values amidst the seamless convenience of the digital era.
Wake Up! Awaken Your Senses
Tomorrow Shop
Next, the exhibition guides visitors into ‘Wake Up! Awaken Your Senses,’ is designed to reawaken senses often muted by technology. The flow leads down to the ‘Tomorrow Shop,’ a curated retail experience featuring offerings from 22 cities across Taiwan, presented through the concept of a cultural airport.
The Flowing Forms: Living in Formation exhibition
This is complemented by ‘Flowing Forms: Living in Formation,’ presented by the National Taiwan Crafts Research and Development Institute (NTCRI). Featuring over 150 contemporary craft brands set within modular living environments, the showcase demonstrates how traditional craft seamlessly merges into modern everyday living.
The MANGA IN THE HOUSE Pavilion
Beyond Cultural Curation at C-LAB, Creative Expo Taiwan 2026 hosts another major pillar: the Trade Exhibition at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1. This commercial showcase spans two main zones: Creative Brands, curated under the sub-theme ‘Future Everyday’ by Delphine Peng, which uses house-shaped structures to illustrate five future living trends; and the IP Licensing Market, accounting for over 64% of the event. A major highlight is TAICCA’s ‘MANGA IN THE HOUSE’ pavilion, centering on the trope of reincarnation and showcasing cross-media adaptations of Taiwanese manga into theater, series, AI games, and collectibles, effectively bridging creative vision with global business opportunities.
What makes the 2026 edition particularly compelling is its powerful balance between historical heritage and the future. By transforming the historic C-LAB into a month-long cultural exhibition space, visitors experience a direct dialogue between heritage architecture and contemporary design. At the same time, by daring to question human existence in the AI era while propelling local comics and character IPs into cross-media industries, Creative Expo Taiwan clearly evolves from a trade fair into a global platform that translates cultural identity into economic momentum.
Creative Expo Taiwan 2026 will take place this August. The Cultural Curation section will be hosted at C-LAB (Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab), while the Trade Exhibition featuring creative brands and IP markets will be held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. For event schedules and further details, please visit: https://creativexpo.tw/en or Facebook: www.facebook.com/creativexpo.tw