From Monday 25th until Thursday 28th November, the TRC hosts a series of activitiAtayal weavers from Taiwanes about textiles and textile dyeing in Taiwan. The programme is organised by Taipei National University of the Arts, the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS, Leiden) and the TRC. It is sponsored by the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture. The activities include an exhibition, a series of lectures, and workshops at which the participants are introduced to the ancient Taiwanese craft of dyeing textiles with indogo. Most of the activities take place at the TRC, but there is also a brief morning programme on Tuesday 26th, at the Gravensteen in the centre of Leiden. For this part of the programme and registration, please see the website of the IIAS, www.iias.nl

Exhibition: Textiles in Transition:

The Spinning of Life

among the Atayal of Taiwan 

TRC, 25^th November – 28^th November 2013 (4 days only!!)

The Atayal people, one of the 14 indigenous communities in Taiwan, believe that the lifetime of a human being is woven by god. A woven product made by Atayal woman forms a circle when it is finished. This exhibition, ‘The Spinning of Life,’ adopts the form of a circle, allowing engagement with many other circles. It shows the interaction between people, and emphasizes that the opening of each circle sends out welcoming messages for more people to join. This installation piece is surrounded by Atayal traditional dresses belonging to different life stages. This temporary exhibition celebrates various types of Atayal woven forms and includes individual textiles and various outfits.his (very) temporary exhibition celebrates various types of Atayal woven forms and includes individual textiles and various outfits.

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26 November, 15.30, TRC: Lecture and demonstration

Atayal Traditional Weaving

and Its Contemporary

Transformation (Ms. Yuma Taru)

Ms. Yuma Taru, having a Han Chinese father and an Atayal mother, is the founder of the Lihang Studio in the Atayal Xiangbi (象鼻) community in central Taiwan. She started to learn traditional Atayal weaving skills from grandmother and her sisters after she returned to the tribe from her teaching and civil official position in urban and mainstream society. Ms. Yuma Taru decided to record and rebuild the traditional techniques through the founding of the Lihang Studio. In the first decade of running the studio, she revived the traditional Atayal classification system of textiles and rescued once-endangered weaving and dyeing crafts. Over the second decade she is striving to cultivate young talent. Now, the studio is becoming a social enterprise, and she hopes to establish an Atayal Ethnic School. In this lecture, Ms. Yuma Taru will share her personal journey in Atayal weaving and will also give a demonstration of traditional back-strap loom weaving.

The lecture and demonstration will take place at the TRC on Tuesday 26^th November 2013. The programme will start at 15.30 with some words of welcome by the director of the TRC, followed by the lecture.. The lecture is followed by a view of the exhibition and a reception. Please register in advance at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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 Indigo Dyeing: lectures and workshops

Reviving Indigo: A case in Taiwan (Ms CHENG Mei-Shu and Mr. CHO Tzu-Lo)

27^th November 2013 at the TRC, Hogewoerd 164, Leiden

Indigo dyeing had been in Taiwan for hundreds of years, but all disappeared from ordinary life in the twentieth century due to the import of chemical dyes. In the 1990s, researchers started to revive this traditional craft. The Zhuoye Studio intends to preserve the traditional techniques as well as to improve the production process with modern technology. They also hope to bring the indigo memories back into everyday life. They make indigo clothes, everyday items, decorative items and artworks in order to bring indigo back into their daily experiences and allow more people to get close to this clean and non-toxic traditional industry.

In this lecture and workshop, they will in fact have three indigo workshops which focus on forming beautiful indigo motifs with chopsticks, wooden sticks and rubber bands; or with wax-resist techniques (batik). Before the workshops, a 20-minute introductory lecture presents the traditional processes and techniques involved in producing indigo dyes, touches upon the historical development of the indigo industry in Taiwan and introduces the Zhuoye Studio.

• Workshop 1: 09.00 – 11.00 (max. 10 participants)
• Workshop 2: 11.30 – 13.30 (max. 10 participants)
• Workshop 3: 14.00 – 16.00 (max. 10 participants)

These workshops are open to the general public and are free. If you would like to attend one of the workshops, please register as soon as possible at the TRC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.