From May 8 to May 14, "2023 London Craft Week" will take place at "Cromwell Place" in London. Among them, the Taiwan Pavilion will display more than 30 sets of Taiwanese artworks under the subject "Weaving Taiwan." Weaving involves ethnic groups like the Fujian-Kait, new immigrants, and indigenous people that exhibit traits of multi-cultural integration.
To highlight the cultural characteristics of Taiwan's diverse ethnic groups, Taiwanese weaving art featured in London Craft Week.Photo provided by Ministry of Culture
Every year in May, the global craft community celebrates "London Craft Week." This year's exhibits at the Taiwan Pavilion, organized by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, focus on "weaving" and "braiding" and emphasize showcasing Taiwan's multicultural appearance through the use of common weaving materials like moon peach, banana silk, yellow rattan, etc., as well as Indonesian coconut weaving, Hakka ribbons, and indigenous weaving.
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To highlight the cultural characteristics of Taiwan's diverse ethnic groups, Taiwanese weaving art featured in London Craft Week.Photo provided by Ministry of Culture
At this year's Taiwan Pavilion, one of the exhibitors is Ma Yue-e (馬月娥), a new Indonesian immigrant artisan. She weaves textiles with Indonesian traditional elements and produced such as coconut braided ribbons, fruit baskets, purses, charms, caps, fans, and other multipurpose objects and decorations. Ma said that she had been weaving bamboo baskets with her family since she was 6 years old in order to boost the family's income. She tried using Taiwanese coconut leaves to make various craft weaving goods after moving here and hoped to promote the weaving culture worldwide.
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To highlight the cultural characteristics of Taiwan's diverse ethnic groups, Taiwanese weaving art featured in London Craft Week.Photo provided by Ministry of Culture
Numerous endangered Hakka and indigenous handicrafts are also present in this year's Taiwanese displays. The director (張仁吉) of National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, expressed his desire to help Taiwanese artisans get recognition abroad by emulating the spirit of the country's green crafts via intercultural and interethnic cooperation.
To highlight the cultural characteristics of Taiwan's diverse ethnic groups, Taiwanese weaving art featured in London Craft Week.Photo provided by Ministry of Culture
