Community-based crafts that bring together people to cherish natural materials and upcycle waste products will take the center stage of this exhibition running from Sept. 8 through Dec. 9 at the Nantou-based National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Center.
NTCRI, Taiwan's premier crafts agency, cultivates community organizations that seek to reconnect with their regional heritage and surroundings. A master artisan is paired with a community once renowned for a certain area of craftsmanship, and the NTCRI offers support through new advancements in technology, materials engineering, and marketing.
Many of the products featured in this exhibition utilize ancestral knowledge passed down for generations. Take natural dyes for example. Blue is milked from the Mayflower gloryberry, green from Jasmine orange, and red and purple from the lac bug. A stunning shade of citrus orange is conceived through a mixture of saptree and heartwood sap.
Watersource Cultural and Educational Foundation, one of the featured community-based initiatives active in Taichung City, aims to revitalize the region's traditional Hakka roots through indigo dye, which in turn boosts the local crafts industry and cultural tourism.
Baolai Cultural Association, based in Kaohsiung City, was founded to reinvent the region's tourism and ecology following widespread devastation from Typhoon Morakot in 2008. Its new and hard-earned reputation for crafty eco-tourism provides a breath of new hope for its once-battered residents.
Qiaotou Community Development Association, nestled among the thick layers of loam and clay of Changhua County, is preserving ties to the region's historic position as cradle of Taiwan's brick production by re-positioning itself as a modern village of brick art.
"The Transformation of Community Craftsmanship 2018" will run through Dec. 9 at the NTCRI's Taiwan Crafts Park in Nantou. Come by to learn more about how 17 community organizations have utilized crafts to lower waste, upcycle resources, and strengthen regional heritage.
‘The Transformation of Community Craftsmanship 2018’
- Date: Sept. 8 – Dec. 9, 2018
- Venue: National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute
- Address: No. 573 Zhongzheng Rd., Caotun Township, Nantou County, Taiwan (ROC)
- Site: https://en.ntcri.gov.tw/content_57.html