Graduate Institute of Architecture and Cultural Heritage & IMCCI visited Sandimen

Plant and weaving culture of the Paiwan people

Course: Heritage: From Tradition to the Future

Course Instructors: I-Wen Chang、Min-Chin Chiang

TA: Elliott Cheung

Date: 4/1 (Thu.) – 4/5 (Mon.)

Participating Students: Graduate Institute of Architecture and Cultural Heritage & IMCCI

The trip to Sandimen and Kuljauljau is very meaningful and memorable because of its immersive nature. Despite being an outsider, we were able to understand the culture of the indigenous people because of the prior knowledge that was taught to us by our professors. Aside from this, we were also given the opportunity to mingle with the community and attend the workshops organized by them. During the first day, we spent our afternoon at Linali.

Accordingly, we were taught how to make bracelets using the glass beads and the meaning behind the design. Afterwards, we were given a tour around the vicinity, and the tour guide explained the history of the structures and the concept of the installation artworks. The next day, we headed to Tjimur Dance Theatre; where we were given an opportunity to learn under the famous dance group. Afterwards, we headed to the Gulou community where we stayed for the rest of the trip. It was a pleasure to learn about Paiwan culture and weaving from Teacher Ljumiyang (Hsu Chun-mei), who is considered a National Treasure in Taiwan, Teacher Kedrekedr Maljaljaves (Lin Hsiu-hui), and the rest of the women who were generous enough to give us their time. During our three day stay at the Laiyi village, we were taught how to harvest and turn the ramie into thread.

Afterwards, we were given an overview about weaving and learned how to warp the threads with a Paiwan warping song. We were then taught how to weave. During the last day, we were given the chance to present our ideas on how to preserve and promote Paiwan culture. Seeing how much they appreciate it, and how it made Teacher Chun-mei teary eyed was such a heartwarming experience.

#IMCCI at Taipei National University of the Arts)