Through Prehistoric Times (weaving images through time): The special exhibition of weaving craft in daily life among Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples
A Weaving Craft is everywhere in daily life
From recent archeological finds, we know that Neolithic peoples in Taiwan Island were capable of weaving containers, for example, mats or baskets. Besides, weaving craft was widely used for fixing tools, ranging from small tools, such as arrows, bows and stone axes, to big ones, such as houses and boats. It is fair to say that weaving craft is an important daily technology. As the environment and livelihood is ever changing, techniques and materials of weaving craft among Taiwanese indigenous peoples are undergoing innovation to meet various needs of different times.
The National Museum of Prehistory (NMP) has organized two projects related to “weaving” since 2016. The first one is an experimental navigation for exploring possible marine migration of the prehistorical peoples, with the bamboo rafts made by traditional techniques of the Amis. The second one is a scientific and systematic fieldwork study of weaving collections in the NMP, so as to interpret the meaning of artifacts by understanding their contexts in tribes.
This special exhibition is an overview of weaving craft from prehistoric times to today by examining fragments of cultural phenomena and survivals. Through the effort of science and imagination, we try to figure out past memory and knowledge by recovering typical weaving artifacts. Meanwhile, we try to represent the features and meanings of beautiful and fashionable artifacts made of contemporary materials and traditional skills.
- Date: April 17 – Sept. 22, 2019
- Venue: 2nd Temporary Exhibition Room (Main Museum)
- Address: No. 1 Museum Road, Taitung City, Taitung County, Taiwan (ROC)
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