The Cabinet's Council for Cultural Affairs yesterday launched a cultural exhibition of works by 921 earthquake victims that highlights post-disaster reconstruction efforts through the revitalization of local arts industries.
The exhibition, Love & Hope in the Floral Spring, features the arts and crafts of people from 69 communities heavily affected by the earthquake and highlights reconstruction efforts made in the areas of aboriginal culture, tourism and community welfare.
A major attraction to the three-day exhibition is a fashion show by local residents featuring a variety of aboriginal styles and ethnic concepts being integrated in the design of the garments.
The clothing, which reflects a deep sense of native Taiwanese aesthetics, could potentially become representative of Taiwanese fashion, council chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) said at a press conference yesterday.
"By the end of this year, we hope to use a poll to choose the clothing that is representative of Taiwan fashion," Tchen said.
"It's time that we harvest the reconstruction efforts of the earthquake victims who have experienced so many hardships during the process. Now with the exhibition, it's time for them to walk out of the shadow of the trauma," Tchen said.
Tchen pointed out that the garments made by the disaster-hit communities are all hand-made. Everything from obtaining the linen to the dyeing and weaving to the final tailoring was done by the local residents. The garments present a number of aboriginal characteristics, including tribal totems and colorful prints.
The director of the Cabinet's 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission, Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), said yesterday that the exhibition demonstrates the cultural diversity of the aboriginal communities and shows that post-earthquake reconstruction has come into full bloom."
The exhibition will feature poetry, tea drinking, rice-straw weaving techniques and aboriginal dancing.
The show will be staged at Taipei's Core Pacific City Mall (京華城) from Feb. 21 to Feb. 23.
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