Taiwan Today

Indigenous artists are employing contemporary approaches to promote and preserve tribal traditions.

The arresting artworks of Taiwan’s Etan Pavavalung straddle a line between tradition and modernity. His painted woodcarvings depict centuries-old legends and motifs of the Paiwan indigenous people from which he hails. Yet the presentation of this imagery is far from conventional. The artist incorporates a variety of innovative symbols and techniques with the aim of attracting wider interest in the rich tribal culture.

This commitment to merging old and new unites the pieces on display at Taipei Indigenous Contemporary Art Gallery (TICA). In addition to Etan’s woodcarvings, the venue currently showcases mixed-media creations and sculptures by Paiwan artists Kulele Ruladen and Chilan Pahaolan, respectively, as well as digital prints by Eleng Luluan of the Rukai tribe. According to TICA chief executive Elise Tseng (曾珮貞), the diverse traditions of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples provide fertile ground for artistic expression. “Creative works can bolster awareness of aboriginal cultures and raise the nation’s profile around the world,” she said.

Talent Promotion

Established in 2016, TICA is operated by Taipei City-headquartered social enterprise Chen Mei Arts and Culture. Its goal is to promote indigenous artists at home and abroad by fostering relationships with key players in local and international markets. The gallery evolved out of the Taiwanese Indigenous Art Residency Program launched in 2008 by today’s Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County. The center, formerly known as the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park Bureau, operates under the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples.

Tseng, former secretary-general of Taipei-based Taiwan Art Gallery Association, led the residency program from 2012-2014. During this time, she visited dozens of creative talents across the country spanning virtually every artistic field. Her role was to facilitate the inclusion of aboriginal artworks in local and overseas exhibitions such as Art Taipei, Art Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, Citizen Art Shanghai and Asia Hotel Art Fair. “Our aim was to build indigenous art brands by showcasing pieces that emphasize distinct ethnic and cultural identities,” she said.

Results of these measures included the addition of an aboriginal section at Art Taipei for the first time in 2012. The same year, the government-supported Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation launched the biennial Pulima Art Festival to honor and promote exceptional creations by aboriginal talents. “Pulima” refers to a person with subtle handcrafting skills in the Paiwan language. Among the most recent winners was current TICA resident Eleng, who claimed one of three first-place prizes in 2016 for the installation work “Last Sigh Before Disappearance” combining digital prints and sculptures.

Rising Tide

These promotional efforts are bringing national recognition to a growing number of indigenous artists, many of whom had previously focused on selling works at tourist sites. “Such talents deserved to be written about, discussed and interpreted in the artistic discourse,” TICA curator Chuang Yi-lang (莊毅朗) said. Long-warranted academic analysis by experts and researchers in such areas as art history, cultural anthropology and marketing can help attract international buyers and collectors to the field, he added.

Recent years have seen a significant uptick in aboriginal exhibitions, with TICA leading the charge. Its inaugural show running March to May 2016, “Meeting of Mountains and Seas,” featured works by 11 artists including Etan and his older brother Sakuliu Pavavalung. The gallery has since staged a further three shows—solo events for Etan as well as painters Lahok Oding and Eval Malinjinnan of the Amis and Bunun tribes, respectively—in addition to arranging installations at other venues.

The artistic talent in Taiwan’s indigenous communities was again highlighted at 2017 Art Taipei in a special section featuring creations by current TICA residents Chilan, Eleng, Etan and Kulele. This portion of the nation’s leading gallery exposition examined how works in such fields as painting and sculpture serve as a “subconscious writing tool for artists to depict the contours of their own culture and identity.” It also spotlighted creative processes unique to aboriginals while promoting self-reflection among mainstream audiences on the relationship between tribal communities and contemporary society.

International Awareness

Widening interest in indigenous expression also extends to the performing arts, where groups such as Tjimur Dance Theatre are making a mark at home and abroad. The troupe, founded in 2006, is the first professional dance company dedicated exclusively to Paiwan culture. Its latest offering “Varhung—Heart to Heart,” titled for the Paiwan word for “heart,” seeks to convey the inner emotional processes of joy, anger and sadness through the unique body language and chanting of the indigenous tribe, choreographer Baru Madiljin said. The show premiered November 2017 in Taipei and is scheduled to run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland and Festival Off d’Avignon in France in July and August, respectively. This exposure results from being included in a Ministry of Culture program promoting the local arts scene overseas.

The troupe has been a frequent participant in international events in recent years. Tjimur’s previous show “As Four Step,” an interpretation of a traditional tribal dance, appeared at last year’s Festival Off d’Avignon. It also earned rave reviews at the 2016 Festival Internacional Cervantino in Mexico, one of the biggest arts events in Latin America, where local newspaper Zocalo Saltillo praised the sophisticated, subtle imagery created through lighting, sound effects and the dancers’ graceful performances.

Tjimur founder and artistic director Ljuzem Madiljin, older sister of Baru, said the process of reimagining ancient customs is fraught, but also necessary to ensure cultural continuation. Ljuzem recalled that for one of the troupe’s earlier works, she set out to learn the traditional Paiwan warrior dance. Tribal elders initially attempted to dissuade her from studying the male ritual, but “eventually I convinced them that passing on the custom took precedence,” she said. The dance ultimately formed the core of Tjimur’s 2010 show “Mananigai,” or warrior.

Propagating Paiwan customs is one of the troupe’s primary objectives. Tjimur works to pass down key aspects of tribal culture and develop new dancers by offering weekend classes to local youths at its studio in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township. “Nowadays, younger members of the tribe are more willing to stay in their hometowns and support community development,” Ljuzem said.

Tribal Inspirations

Like Tjimur’s choreography, the exploration of indigenous identity and its modern context is at the heart of Etan’s recent works combining woodcarving and painting techniques. The versatile artist said he was inspired to develop a new way of carving and adding colors to wood to “help light the road to tribal reconstruction and spiritual rebirth” following the destruction of his hometown in 2009. In summer that year, Typhoon Morakot struck central and southern Taiwan, causing hundreds of deaths and forcing the relocation of Etan’s and many other indigenous families from devastated mountain villages.

After Morakot, Etan said he wanted to convey in a contemporary vernacular ancient tribal principles of honoring the land and using resources sustainably. He directed a documentary released in 2016 by government-supported Taiwan Indigenous Television examining the aboriginal origins of his carved paintings, an ancient Paiwan concept called “vecik.” This refers to the patterns of forests, mountains, rocks, streams and all other natural objects as well as their representations in embroidery, engravings and writings.

In the documentary, titled “Mountain Tribe, Sea Tribe,” Etan also explored his career as well as that of Iyo Kacaw, a driftwood artist from an Amis coastal community in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County. For the film, he returned home to record the bedtime stories of tribal myths and legends that his grandmother told him during childhood. Prominent images from the tales, such as lilies and pangolins, make frequent appearances in his artworks.

Among those interviewed in the documentary is elder brother Sakuliu. In 2017, the painter, potter and sculptor became the first indigenous talent to receive the National Award for Arts in the fine arts category. To Sakuliu, re-examination of tribal customs is an essential step in the evolution of aboriginal art. “We must connect with our heritage before we can consider the contemporary, so the dividing line between traditional and modern indigenous artists is rather blurred,” he said in the film.

Etan similarly encourages young indigenous talents to delve into their communities’ unique aesthetics and the embedded philosophical perspectives on human civilization and ecology. “Tribal insights are a cultural asset not only for indigenous peoples but for all of Taiwan and the world.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw