Why does beloved a-We have a bump on its head? Designer’s answer earns praise: “So Taiwanese”

After a year of winning fans abroad, Taiwan’s bouncy, shape-shifting character a-We is finally coming home. Created by the Ministry of Culture for last year’s Osaka Expo, the character will appear in the exhibition “a-We Taiwan Theme Exhibition: a～～～Wemoji!” at the Air Force Command’s National Culture Base from September 4.

The character has earned a reputation as a kind of cultural diplomacy ambassador. It became popular in Japan and spent the following year appearing across the United States and Europe. At a press conference for the “We TAIWAN Back to Taiwan” series, a giant a-We appeared as a surprise guest and opened with a Carmen-inspired performance, prompting delighted reactions from the media and exhibition teams.

But the question attracting particular attention concerns the small bump on a-We’s head. Designer Fang Hsu-Chung said people often ask whether it means the character was hit and left swollen. His original idea was gentler: the bump represents the trace left when two people, or two bubbles, cling together and are reluctant to separate.

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This is how different generations, facing Taiwanese culture, can feel differently.

Fang compared it to a soap bubble that grows and produces another bubble. At the moment of separation, both bubbles retain a small bump. He said the image also resembles Taiwan’s flexibility and its reluctance to leave after meeting new friends.

Culture Minister Li Yuan had a different first impression. He thought the bump looked like something rising when anger was about to explode. Li said that difference reflected how different generations experience Taiwanese culture. Having grown up during the period of martial law, he said he often viewed Taiwan’s history and culture through heaviness and sorrow. Seeing a-We led him to conclude that this weight could be transformed into a lighter attitude, allowing people to feel freer and more at ease when they looked at it from another angle.

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When we look at these weights from another angle, we can also become freer and lighter.