A creative pottery association in Chiayi County has been running a persimmon dye and varnish program designed by community planner Wang Chang-i, using thinned-out and fallen fruit from Fanlu Township’s biggest farm crop — persimmons — to teach people how to do persimmon dying and varnishing. Wang says that in the old days persimmon varnish was widely applied on everyday objects, but nowadays hardly anyone in Taiwan makes or uses such materials. Last year Wang started delving into how to make persimmon resin, hoping to pass on this ancient skill and develop a persimmon-based cultural industry.
Wang Chang-i and her husband Chen Sheng-hui, who is involved in creative crafts, have for several years been promoting rural regeneration and rural craft micro-enterprise empowerment projects in Fanlu Township’s Siakeng neighborhood. This year they have launched this persimmon dye and varnish program, which has been nominated for Chiayi County Government’s second gold medal community program contest.
Wang says that Fanlu produces 80 percent of Taiwan’s total persimmon harvest, and persimmon trees and fruit can produce an excellent natural dye. Persimmon resin, which is made by natural fermentation, has various properties such as mold-proofing, worm-proofing, waterproofing and odor prevention. In Japan, persimmon dying and varnishing developed into important industries long ago. For example, persimmon resin is daubed onto the exterior of Japanese fishmongers’ overalls to make them waterproof and keep out fishy smells. Paper windows are also treated with persimmon resin. In the old days, persimmon resin coatings were also widely used in Taiwanese rural communities, but because it takes two to three years’ fermentation to make persimmon resin, later on people turned to using convenient chemical coatings instead.
Photo: Yu Hsueh-lan, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者余雪蘭
In this age of environmentalism, natural resin is the in thing, says Wang. She explains that this program was set up to teach local people how to collect the pulp from fruit thinned out from persimmon trees in April and May, or fruit that has fallen to the ground because of typhoons, and make it into persimmon dye and varnish. They then work with students from university design departments to research and develop creative applications.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
嘉義縣陶藝鄉土創意協會由社區規劃師王常憶提出「柿染人漆」計畫,運用番路鄉最大宗農產品柿子的疏、落果,教作柿染與柿漆。她表示,柿漆早年廣泛使用在生活器物上,目前在台灣幾乎無人生產使用;去年開始摸索柿漆的製作,希望傳承古法,發展柿子文創產業。
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者歐素美
王常憶與從事工藝創作的丈夫陳聖輝連續多年在番路鄉下坑社區推動農村再生、農村微型工藝產業培力計畫,今年提出「柿染人漆」計畫,入選嘉義縣政府第二屆金牌社區計畫。
王常憶說,番路柿子產量佔全國八成,柿子全樹及果實是最佳天然染料;以自然發酵製作而成的柿漆,具抗霉、防蟲、防水、除臭等作用。在日本柿染與柿漆早已發展成為重要產業,例如日本魚販的工作服外層會塗上柿漆,防水又除臭;紙門窗也使用柿漆。台灣早年農村社會也廣泛使用柿漆塗料,但因柿漆的製作要經過二到三年的發酵,以致後來被便利的化學塗料取代。
「環保時代,天然漆當道。」王常憶表示,這項計畫預定教導居民收集四、五月間柿子疏果的果青,或颱風造成的落果,製作柿染與柿漆,並結合大學設計系學生進行文創研發。
(自由時報記者余雪蘭)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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