Oct 21, 2026
Bubble Beats: From Taiwanese Tea Culture to DIY Instruments
Keywords: Sound · Bodily Memory · Movement · Signal · Suona · Abudara
This immersive workshop explores sound, movement, and taste as interconnected carriers of cultural memory. Drawing from Taiwanese musical traditions and the everyday rituals of bubble tea culture, it invites participants to discover how the body stores, transmits, and reactivates cultural and sonic Knowledge.
The session begins with an introduction to traditional Taiwanese double-reed Instruments such as the Suona and Abudara. Through demonstrations and embodied practice, participants explore how breath, vibration, posture, and coordination shape sound production and musical expression. Sound is approached not only as something we hear, but as something we physically generate and feel.
Everyday gestures—chewing tapioca pearls, sipping, biting straws, and playful interactions with bubble tea—are reimagined as sources of sonic memory and creative material. Through hands-on straw instrument making and collective improvisation, these familiar actions transform into tools for nonverbal communication, rhythmic exploration, and shared play.
By weaving together sound, movement, taste, and social interaction, the workshop highlights how culture travels beyond language—through signals, bodily habits, and shared sensory experiences. Sound emerges as both a physical vibration and a powerful carrier of identity, memory, and emotion.
Let’s turn tea time into a sound party!
About her: Huang Ya-Nung is a Taiwanese interdisciplinary artist and musician whose expertise spans visual art, sound, objects, and physical performance. She plays the suona and various traditional reed
instruments, and is known for breaking formal boundaries by blending theatrical improvisation with experimental sound. Her work transforms traditional music into a contemporary vocabulary."
In 2024, she launched the long-term project "The Way Back", tracing the historical and cultural routes of the suona along the Silk Road. Integrating regional histories and local perspectives, the Project sets the stage for ongoing intercultural dialogue˒expanding the expressive possibilities of instruments, bodies, and languages.
Time: Nov 9, 2026, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Place: SE-1, Room 217, Zellescher Weg 22, Dresden
Registration: Please sign in here.