A National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) graduate student has received multiple awards for his portable Aboriginal-style loom, complete with designs for teaching people how to weave Aboriginal designs.
Tsai Wei-chun (蔡偉群), who studies in the university’s architecture department, won awards at this year’s Taipei International Design Award and Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award, as well as at the Communication Arts Design and Advertising Competition in the US.
Tsai said that he designed the loom as a fold-out book, titled Xiu — Taiwanese Aborigines Weaving Book (咻台灣原的編織術), and that it contains all of the needed tools, a compartment for yarn, a warp separator, a weaving wand, a heddle rod, a beat-up bar, a shuttle and a holder.
Photo courtesy of NTUST
With the book designed to open into a loom, people find it easier to appreciate the craft, because they do not need to buy a loom and all of the tools, Tsai added.
The kit includes information on Aboriginal culture and what totem symbols mean, he added.
Tsai said that the idea came to him while he was volunteering at Wushe (霧社) in Nantou County.
Photo courtesy of NTUST
Seeing how Aboriginal children learned to weave, Tsai said he wanted to introduce their weaving to the public.
Aboriginal men do not weave, so he got odd looks when he searched for a teacher, he said, adding that some refused to teach him because of cultural taboos.
“One can only discover the joy of weaving by practicing the craft,” Tsai said, adding that he hopes his design helps more people to appreciate weaving.
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