Yuma TARU, a Taiwanese aborigines Atayal artist, was born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1963 and graduated from the MA, Textiles and Clothing, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan in 1998. In 2016, she was given the title by the Ministry of Culture as one of the preservers of important heritage of traditional arts and cultures in Taiwan. Through solid research, investigation and analysis, she reconstructed the depth and breadth of traditional Atayal weaving. Based on this foundation, Yuma has gradually moved forward towards creation of modern art, and in recent years, Yuma tried to take the expectations of daughters who have inherited the culture, and transform them into textures that are possessing heart-to-heart exchanges on the weaving loom. The chitter-chatter of the loom speaks of the cultural innovation for Atayal weaved products and the future of the tribal youths. Her art is based on traditional indigenous cultures, starting from her research of traditional Atayal textiles with a focus on the characteristics of threads made of traditional and contemporary materials.
Read MoreShe spent 30 years conducting field trips to over 100 Atayal villages. She also went to museums abroad to study traditional indigenous attires, trying to revive already lost handicraft techniques and memories. She attempts to continue and pass down the indigenous tradition by systematically categorizing her research findings; promoting the growing of fiber plants used for indigenous textile production; reviving the art of traditional indigenous textiles; and studying and reproducing the textiles in museums. She is dedicated to combining education of indigenous peoples and contemporary fiber art, planting the seeds of future hopes for the indigenous dyeing and weaving art in Taiwan.
