Yuma Taru

Yuma Taru (born 1963) is an indigenous Taiwanese aboriginal artist, of the Atayal people from Taiwan’s central and northern mountainous region. She obtained a master’s degree from Fu Jen Catholic University and is dedicated to preserving the weaving techniques and traditional culture of the Atayal people through her art. Not only has she devoted herself to the 50-Year Plan for Revitalizing Ataya Culture , but she has also established Atayal Weaving Exhibitions with the goal of rediscovering and preserving her lost cultural heritage. In recognition of her contributions to cultural heritage, she was awarded the title of Important Preserver of Traditional Artists in Atayal dyeing and weaving techniques. Her works have made her an important cultural heritage bearer of the time.
==Family and life==
Yuma Taru was born in 1963 in Daan Tribe, Miaoli Country in Taiwan. She is a descendant of the Atayal from her mother and Han ethnicity from her father.The Atayal tribe is well-known for their excellent weaving skills. The technique of weaving is a closely guarded family secret, passed down only to direct blood relatives who are entrusted with its preservation and continuation. Weaving skills also represent the position of women and her family within the tribe. Men are responsible for hunting, and women are bound for weaving and doing the household chores.However, in the recent years, traditional weaving techniques among the Atayal people have been lost, resulting in the disappearance of this cultural heritage.
In 1992, she graduated from a Chinese literature department in National Chung Hsing University and passed the teacher vacancy test,became a Chinese teacher, which was the most admired profession among people in her tribe.She devoted herself to teaching for ten years while also working at a manufacturer crafting weaving products for work-related purposes. She was astonished to find that as an Atayal person, she was unfamiliar with Atayal weaving products and surprised by the lack of literature on the topic, then she quit the job by returning back to her tribe to rebuild the disappearing traditional techniques. 
In 1998, she held a master's degree with the Textile Research Institute from Fu Jen Catholic University. During her two years of graduate studies, She conducted meticulous field research by visiting more than a hundred villages belonging to eight different Atayal subtribes. She documented the life histories of tribe elders and the significant role of weaving in their lives and communities. In the next year, she devoted herself to the 50-Year Plan for Revitalizing Ataya Culture and established an Atayal Weaving Exhibition, with the goal of rediscovering and preserving her lost cultural heritage.
In order to revitalize the primitive weaving techniques, she initiated the ecological restoration process, encompassing tasks such as planting ramie, extracting fibers, dyeing, and weaving the fabric.
==Skills==
As an Important Preserver of Traditional Artists by Atayal dyeing and weaving techniques. She has been devoting herself to restore the original appearance of the Atayal tribe’s primitive dyeing and weaving techniques, the process starts from the very beginning with planting ramie. As almost all weaving materials in Taiwan have been replaced by petrochemical fibers, and no one grows ramie anymore, until 1995, she saw a red ramie plantation at a farm in Wufeng Township in Hsinchu.Through traditional weaving, she combines the memories of ethnic groups with contemporary culture, to arouse more attention by cultural heritage preservation and conservation. 
Ramie, known for its length and toughness which is the most important raw material for the Atayal people. It is a strong plant that doesn’t need to require special care and can be harvested three to four times a year. Ramies are known for their long, slender, and not easily susceptible to mold, decay, or insect damage.By making a weaving thread, it needs to remove the surface glue and rub the fibers to form hemp threads, the plant material undergoes various intricate processing steps, such as dyeing with plant fruit, before it can be used as the yarn for weaving. It takes dozens of steps to complete the traditional dyeing and weaving process. In their tribe, weaving is called” round weaving”, which is the meaning defined by life. For the Atayal people, weaving represents a cultural record of the weaver's life and creations. The circle of life is a significant concept,which involves coming into the world through a symbolic “rainbow bridge” or “bridge of the gods,” and returning to the ancestral land.These circles of life are interconnected, and each encounter and effort in life extends the circle outward, adapting to the changing times and periods.
There are seven basic weaving methods including plain weaver, twill weave, diamond weave, wrap-float weave, wrap-pickup weave, wrap-interlock weave, and spiral weave. Different indigenous tribes have their unique weaving patterns, which are an important part of their cultural heritage and can be used to identify their origins. These distinct patterns have been passed down through generations and reflect each tribe's style, materials, and techniques.
==Style==
The composition of traditional Atayal clothing for men and women combines sewn and draped garments, divided into three categories: everyday wear, work clothes, and ceremonial dress. The clothing is predominantly red, symbolizing the Atayal people's vitality, proactivity, and enterprising spirit. Atayal people use dark red pigment on clothing to scare away evil spirits. The patterns on the front of the clothing are mainly diamond-shaped, representing the eyes of ancestral spirits and providing protection. The designs on the back of the clothing are more complex and are meant to repel Utux, the evil spirit.
====Lukkus Kaxa====
Lukkus-Kaxa (Chinese: 貝珠衣 English: Shell clothes) served as a form of currency in ancient times and was also a vital betrothal gift during the marriage. Before the wedding, the groom would present the bride with one to several pieces of shell clothes. Shell clothes are sleeveless tops with white shell beads arranged horizontally or vertically on a vest. It is kept as a treasure and is worn only on important occasions by traditional leaders, clan elders, and warriors.
==Works==
When Yuma Taru was 30 years old, she quit her job as a Chinese teacher and went back to the tribe, dedicating herself to the revival of dying Atayal traditional culture. She has been creating art works for the past 30 years. During this time, she has produced a diverse range of pieces, including various art crafts and traditional Atayal clothes. The following are several works by Yuma Taru that are particularly well-known, and that each of these pieces is associated with a specific design idea.
『島嶼・四季 (The Island’s Four Seasons)』This work is 58 meters in length and 3.5 meters in height, crafted in 2015. Island・Four Seasons is made of ramie and wool. It shows the different feelings and colors in the four seasons in front of visitors from abroad through the complicated weaving styles.
『築夢時代 (Era of Dream Building)』This work is 6 meters in length and 2.2 meters in height, created in 2009. The work depicts natural elements such as forests, land, water, sky, and breezes, using traditional Atayal weaving materials like ramie, Agave sisalana fiber, and wool, as well as modern materials like stone. By combining these two different sets of materials and techniques, the artwork is able to convey a powerful message: “When you’re exhausted after struggling to get success or to chase your dream in a metropolis, your hometown is always a haven to retreat and refresh yourself. Take a rest and keep fighting again.”
『河殤 L'liung Penux (Early Death of a River)』This gigantic art craft, created in 2017, is made up of ramie and wool. Atayal people in Alang Liung Penux used to live near the Da-an River and created many specific cultural aspects. However, the overquarrying of the riverbeds left the Da'an River nothing but complete devastation. The story behind L'liung Penux is that Yuma Taru wishes to see the original, pure Da-an River again after the environmental restoration.
==Achievements==
There are two major contributions that Yuma Taru brings to the society and her own culture: One is the 50-Year-Atayal-Culture-Revival Project (泰雅文化復興50年計畫) started from 1991, the other one is the establishment of Lihang Studio (野桐工坊) in 2002. She divided the 50-Year-Atayal-Culture-Revival Project into 5 decades, and set up various goals for each decade: the first decade is filled with field research, and endless study about traditional Atayal clothes weaving skills, styles, patterns, and so on. In the second decade, she published an essay focusing on Atayal clothes. She helped residents in the tribe, especially females, cultivate their weaving skills and brought their ancestors’ clothing back to life. The third decade was all about cultural education. Yuma Taru persuaded the residents and changed Da Guan Elementary School to P'uma Elementary School, which was the first experimental elementary school for indigenous people. She also builded S'uraw kindergarten, aiming to give kids more cultural education. The fourth decade, because she noticed that the economic and living quality of most clansmen was still below the standard; thus, Yuma Taru encouraged them to come back to the tribe and achieved a self-sufficient economic system. That was, planting ramie and making good use of every part of it. For the fifth decade, she hoped to cultivate talents with global perspective, who can lead them to broaden the living area, and cultural activities to a wilder place.
After the 921 Earthquake, Yuma Taru went back to Tai’an Township to help with post-disaster reconstruction. While Yuma Taru was studying for her master's degree and eventually graduated, she realized that the women in her tribe still needed her help. This led to the establishment of Lihang Studio. The importance of Lihang Studio is that it gives these females the ability to make a living by themselves since most of them may not have a good family or a steady relationship in marriage. Under the limited condition to find a working opportunity, Lihang Studio became a beacon of hope to these women, helping them to rediscover self-worth.
==Exhibitions==
====Taipei Fashion Week AW23====
In Taipei Fashion Week AW23, Yuma Taru uses LED fiber-optic threads to create a weaving and dyeing effect, combined with Atayal traditional hand weaving and natural dyeing skills. In the Taipei fashion week AW23, She collaborated with Taiwanese fashion brand Chia-hung Su (Chinese: 蘇家紘), which has been committed to tracing the origin of Taiwanese culture, exploring the continuity and extension of aboriginal culture from the migration of Austronesian people to the Japanese colonial period. They also incorporate traditional Taiwanese Aboriginal and Japanese craftsmanship, wabi-sabi aesthetics, and modern fashion silhouettes. At the event, the show opened with a set of traditional Atayal wedding dresses from the collection of the National Museum of Prehistory, followed by this clothing series depicting the timeline of Taiwanese Aboriginal culture.
==Awards==
* 2006
** Yuma Taru was the recipient of National Living Treasure announced by the Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture (CCA, Council for Cultural Affairs) and also named The Important Traditional Craft Preserver in the weaving category by the Ministry of Culture for her effort to preserve traditional Atayal weaving culture and her extraordinary skills of weaving.
* 2007-2008 
** She won the prizes of Most Outstanding and Best Local Engagement in Public Art Work. Since her remarkable work conveys the concept of a mixture of indigenous elements, the judges gave her the recognition after visiting the work in person and listening to her presentation. 
** Moreover, it is worth mentioning that her work Spreading the Wings of Dreams. was sent to the National Gallery of Canada for exhibition with three other outstanding indigenous artists, Walis Labai and Kulele Rulada, on behalf of Taiwan
* 2015
** She received the prize of The Outstanding Alumni in Social Service and Catholic Spirit Promotion by Fu Jen Catholic University. Before that, in 1991, she came back to the tribe and spent years acquiring Atayal's traditional weaving skills to undertake the craft's inheritance. So far, she has held hundreds of exhibitions of Atayal's classic weaving works. Aside from these, she promoted and pushed the education of tribal children, women, and teenagers, practicing the Catholic spirit by contributing to building the Atayal Traditional Dyeing and Weaving Cultural Park. Then, in 2002, she became the first director of the Association of Indigenous Crafts in Miaoli and got the grant from the 1st Keep Walking sponsor project. To appreciate what she had done to keep traditional arts, Fu Jen Catholic University decided to give her this award. 	
* 2021
** She won the prize of Environment Integration in Public Art Work again due to the fact that her work can integrate into the public place, beautify the environment and Improve the public image of the location.
Category:1963 births
Category:People from Miaoli County
Category:Fu Jen Catholic University alumni
Category:Taiwanese people
Category:Indigenous artists