IN THE EXHIBITION “Texture Art”, continuing all this month in Bangkok, the Taiwan Ministry of Culture is presenting the work of Yuma Taru, a keen champion of indigenous culture, alongside that of Thailand’s Namfon Laistrooglai.

Yuma recounts the story of the Atayal hilltribe, whose heritage the Taiwanese government is committed to preserving. For centuries the Atayal men have hunted while the women wove glorious fabrics that are only now being fully appreciated.

They wove cloth from a tough nettle plant called ramie and, after years of research, Taru has been able to revive all the wisdom involved, from planting the ramie to extracting and dyeing the fibres to weaving the thread on a traditional Atayal loom.

She explained at the exhibition’s opening that the people of Taiwan endured regular invasions from China and Japan that disrupted the indigenous culture. Atayal weaving practice was actually banned under foreign overlords and “disappeared” for more than 80 years.

“I had to learn how to plant and weave ramie from my grandmother,” she said. “I had to track down the type of loom. But I’m delighted that my efforts have revived interest among the younger generation in indigenous weaving as a way of life.”

Taru’s fascination with the weaving technique stems from the extraordinary patterns, including a diamond motif that symbolises the eyes of ancestors looking to younger generations to carry on tribal customs.

Five years ago she and other people who shared her interest organised a fashion show featuring the indigenous textiles in a village called Xiangbi. Younger Taiwanese, and young Atayal in particular, were intrigued at this glimpse of their cultural roots, and indigenous fabrics became fashionable. The Culture Ministry began promoting Xiangbi as a domestic tourist destination.

Taru noted that most people outside Taiwan regard it as a hi-tech powerhouse, “and I think that exemplifies our role as a ‘sharer’ – we created those things to share for the good of everyone. “It’s the same with culture. We pass it on to the younger generations. I’m happy that younger Atayal people are interested and more aware of where we came from. These days the sounds of weaving and singing are being heard again in the village, just like they were a hundred years ago.”

Taru runs classes for children of all ages to learn the craft and has staged fashion shows as far away as Canada and Europe. She has her own business, Lihang Weaving Studio, in Xiangbi.

The other artist in the exhibition, Namfon Laistrooglai, is well known in Thailand for her textile creations. With degrees in decorative art from Silpakorn University and from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in England, she is now an assistant professor and head of the fashion design at her old Silpakorn faculty.

“My passion in textile arts began when I saw the hem of my cloth |unravel, and on a closer look I found the texture to be absolutely exquisite. All the degrees I have may seem |unrelated.

“My first degree is in printmaking and then I got my master’s in visual arts and a doctorate in fashion design, but they’re all really about the same thing, and it happened that way for a reason,” Namfon said.

“You can say the same thing about a piece of cloth. It might look red, but as you disentangle the thread you start to see other colours that make it appear red. I love the kinds of art that alter structural properties.”

Namfon’s use of vivid hues derives from her perceptions of the weather in Taiwan, which varies from coast to mountains. She observed rarely seen colours and captured them in the mood of her fabrics that form footwear. The structural changes in the fibres that she spoke about are clear as two different textures combine to present a separate new “character”, much as old and new combine for a richer hybrid.

“Culture really is about combinations,” she said. “It’s between the old and the new. Every kind of beauty has its own origin and so do textile patterns. When you look deeper into the makeup, there’s always an inherent beauty.”

United as a single thread

– The exhibition “Texture Art” is at the Suan Pakkad Palace Museum on Sri Ayudhya Road through September 30.