ARUWAI KAUMAKAN
b. 1971, TaiwanComing from a Paiwan tribe in southern Taiwan, Aruwai Kaumakan creates sculptures with wool, cotton, copper, silk, and glass beads, weaving organic or vegetal forms. She uses ‘Lemikalik’—a Paiwan technique that consists in weaving in concentric circles—intertwining life memories of tribal nobility to form a place for constant conversation and connection. Her practice is inspired by her tradition and at the same time is not ‘frozen’ in the past, as it responds to current issues she and her tribe face today. Indeed, her village was hit by a particularly violent typhoon in 2009, forcing them to relocate in Rinari tribe.
One might be tempted to use the term ‘resilience’ to characterise her practice but it implies a certain degree of immobilism and conservatism, accepting a situation rather than mobilising against the causes of the problem, and this is not her case.
The installation The Axis of Life (2018), included in the Taipei Biennial 2020, consists of red organic forms woven from organic cotton and recycled fabric. In using her work as a way to connect members of her displaced community, Kaumakan offers one of the many possibilities for moving towards the planet TERRESTRIAL, a theme of the Biennial that seeks to reconcile development and sustainability.
Text courtesy Taipei Fine Arts Museum
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