Baseball, once an Olympic sport, is immensely popular in North America, Latin America, and East Asia. The World Baseball Classic (WBC) even gathers top teams from five continents. But have you ever wondered why some teams can’t choose their own name? Beyond athletic performance, what else defines a team?

This exhibition explores these questions through the stories of the iconic Vancouver Asahi in Canada and Taiwan’s historic Kano baseball team, examining how ethnicity has shaped Major League Baseball (MLB). It asks: what does team and player identity mean to a nation’s people? And are we truly aware of the historical ties across diverse ethnic backgrounds in sports?

By tracing the evolution of baseball in Taiwan—including the vital contributions of Indigenous players—and unpacking the political complexities behind “Chinese Taipei” versus “Team Taiwan,” the exhibition invites audiences to reflect: does “Chinese Taipei” truly represent Taiwanese athletes? While sports celebrate pride and glory, do they sometimes also reinforce misrepresentation?

*Exhibition curated by Unu (Atayal, Amis) and Gordon Low