Curated by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI), cross-border craft initiative FIBER LINKS connects designers and artisans across Southeast Asia to create a series of fibre craft products ranging from fashion to home accessories

Rattan mats and crafts by Shan Jie Hao bamboo studio and the Bidayuh community from Serikin, Malaysia, 2021. Image copyright Kelvin Chan Photography

In recent years, local traditional crafts have gained greater attention and recognition from Asia’s design community — a revived appreciation that has led designers from all over the region to reignite ties with local artisans. Rooted in Asia’s diverse traditions, fibre crafts, which involve knitting, sewing or weaving materials such as hemp, cotton, yarn and leather, have not only played a significant role in people’s daily lives for centuries, but also embody the symbolic idea of bonding. This is what inspired the launch of FIBER LINKS, a craft co-creation project curated by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) in partnership with the ASEAN Handicraft Promotion & Development Association (AHPADA).

The online initiative aims to ‘connect and engage artisans and designers during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the belief that fibre crafts can bring relief and comfort to people during these trying times,’ said FIBER LINKS co-curators Meng-Chii Huang — principal of FIBER LINKS — and AHPADA president Eric Ong in a statement. Connecting 24 designers and craft communities from across eight Southeast Asian nations, the cross-border initiative resulted in a range of collaborations that celebrate and bring a new meaning to Asian fibre crafts.

Taiwanese textile designer Eileen Chung, who runs fashion brand mee.textile, partnered with Thai brand Hemp Saithong to create a pair of hats, while in another collaboration, Taiwan’s Abus Bunun Ramie Traditional Clothing Studio and Indonesian designer Myra Widiono co-created a ramie shawl featuring a woven diamond motif, a symbol of togetherness in both designers’ cultures. Combining fibre crafts with the art of natural dyeing, Novieta Tourisia, who runs Bali craft studio Cinta Bumi Artisans and Taiwan’s Xinpu Persimmon Dye House created a persimmon-dyed tote bag and dress.

The project also includes a range of home accessories, including lampshades and handbags by Sarawak-based atelier Tanoti Crafts and Taiwan’s Essence Design&Craft. Tanoti Crafts also worked with members of Taiwan’s indigenous Kakawasan tribe to create weavings on two ginger shell chandeliers. Taiwanese designer Yiyu Chen took the concepts of ‘island’ and ‘ocean' as starting points for creating a mobile installation that was produced in collaboration with farmers, pina weavers and embroiderers. May Sun Studio and Anyaman Begerang created a mobile and a lamp based on the the traditional ranyek bag. Another multidisciplinary collaboration brings together the works of Philippine fashion designer Ditta Sandico, Thai designers Korakot Aromdee and studio PATAPiAN and Taiwan’s bamboo design studio 2nd Corner Studio and artist Shan Jie Hao in a collection of home accessories made of banana fibre, bamboo, triangular rush and rattan.

Altogether, FIBER LINKS documents collaborations undertaken remotely during the pandemic while introducing new cross-disciplinary approaches to fibre crafts — a meaningful exchange of techniques that unites Taiwanese designers and craftspeople across cultures and borders.

All of the products created for FIBER LINKS can be seen on the project’s official Facebook page, and an online exhibition is set to launch from December 5, 2021.