Return to Innocence
Amis Kakeng

Amis KaKeng Musical Group flies across the Pacific Ocean and lands in the land of maple trees, bringing with it the music of the aboriginal Amis people of Taiwan.

Founded by Sawtoy in May of 1999, Amis KaKeng aims to use the percussion music to showcase the beauty of the Amis traditions and use singing to ignite people’s passion for the aboriginal cultures in Taiwan. “Kakeng” is the bamboo bell used at Amis weddings. The name of the group symbolizes the group’s intention to carry on the native traditions.

Amis KaKeng consists of fifty-some members, covering all age levels, with percussion players mainly school students. The group specializes in improvised performances. Using the talents found in their genes, these dancers and singers simply follow the rhythms in their hearts and release beautiful melodies and movements.

Another accomplishment of the group is how they revived the almost lost art of the making of their traditional bamboo instruments after spending five years going through numerous documents in Academia Sinica.