The nation's premier destination for crafts arts
The National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) in Nantou County's Caotun Township is the nation's only national-level institute for craft arts. Its primary mission is to display, collect, study, and promote the country's craft arts and to make crafts educational and entertaining by showcasing local and international artwork.
Visitors can learn about the different aspects of craft arts by touring the five main centers in the park - the Craft Culture Center, the Craft Information Center, the Living Craft Center, the Craft Design Hall, and the Craft Hub. Workshops are also available at the Institute's metalwork, pottery, bamboo, and indigo dye studios.
In addition to helping the public learn more about craft arts, the Institute's other major missions are to preserve traditional craft skills, to refine research techniques, and to develop new products. Some of the studios regularly organize workshops to cultivate new generations of skilled craftspeople.
The Institute also runs the Craft Innovation Incubation Center to provide consultation, branding and marketing assistance, subsidies, and corporate planning for artisans and crafts companies.
The Institute currently has four branches in Taipei City, Miaoli County, Nantou County, and the Yingge District of New Taipei City.
Its Taipei Exhibition Center was launched as an exchange platform for contemporary crafts and design. The center hosts the country's top crafts honors - the National Crafts Awards and the National Crafts Achievement Awards - as well as the Taiwan Craft Competition.
The Yingge Craft Multi-Material Center, which is near a community renowned for ceramic production, focuses on developing works of art that fuse multiple craft mediums.
Out of the two branches in central Taiwan, the Miaoli Craft Industrial Park supports resident craftsmen who teach at its workshops, whereas the Jiujiu Peaks Ecology and Art Park focuses on eco-art and environmental rehabilitation.
In recent years, the NTCRI has invested considerable effort in the making of a "Taiwan Crafts Map” for tourists who wish to look up crafts studios in the vicinity of their travel destination. The bilingual map is available online here.
Jiu Jiu Peaks
The Jiu Jiu Peaks Ecology and Art Park is a national art park in central Taiwan that was established to preserve the region's nature and ecology while bringing together artists from the surrounding areas. Managed by the Nantou-based NTCRI, the park aims to develop into a unique site integrating art with ecology … (read more)
NTCRI Taipei Branch
As a branch office in the capital city, the NTCRI Taipei Branch serves as a marketing platform for craft artists and a cultural venue for the general public, introducing and promoting craft arts by hosting creative bazaars, cultural festivals, and exhibitions … (read more)