Paiwan artist Aruwai Kaumakan said she was inspired to revive the art of Paiwan traditional weaving after receiving a dream vision from her ancestors following Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
Aruwai, who last year won the Pulima Art Festival’s grand award in the visual arts, on Monday opened an exhibition at Pintung University of Science Technology, where she studies fashion design and business management.
Utilizing traditional totems and elaborate scrollwork, her woven creations tell the stories of home and the lives of women, with her award-winning series of work. Pulse (脈動), prominently featuring the motifs of swirling river water and black slate tiles of Paiwan houses.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jo, Taipei Times
Daughter of the chieftain of Dashe (大社) village in Pintung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) — one of the three communities devastated by the typhoon — Aruwai said she grew up immersed in the rituals and symbols that designated a woman’s social status in Paiwan society.
Her mother and grandmother, who she said were her first artistic mentors, taught her how to wear ceremonial headgear and clothes, as well as the meaning of each item, she said.
Her mother is particularly adept at taking apart traditional textiles and reassembling them into new creations, which inspired her to weave her creations using recycled cloth and other everyday fabrics, Aruwai said.
The scrollwork that appears in her creations as veins, butterflies and women’s ornamental hair pins is a technique she learned from jewelry designer Lee Fang-yu (黎芳瑜), she added.
“An artist needs to know where she comes from and where she is going to for her creations to soar,” Aruwai said. “More than a scion to an aristocratic line, I see myself as a torchbearer of my culture, which I embrace through creativity.”
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting
RSS