專業: Craft & Products

"I think people who like natural materials are those who appreciate how these materials change as they are used over a long period of time." Marcello was founded by Yang Hsin-yi, a music teacher who majored in the cello. Before creating her bamboo-woven leather bags, she had never imagined that vegetable-tanned leather would pair so harmoniously with bamboo. She also discovered that, just as leather gradually changes based on a person's skin temperature and oils during use, bamboo likewise reacts to every human touch, evolving over time to accumulate a unique aesthetic and character that belongs solely to the individual.

Actually, both are making products, one just has electricity and the other doesn't. The two partners of A.M IDEAS, formerly product designers in ASUS's design department, in pursuit of the lifestyle they desired, initially focused on providing design services when founded in 2010. Since 2014, they began developing products using natural materials as creative mediums through the Taiwan Rush Production Cooperative.

Have you ever wondered why Lukang, Changhua—a place that does not produce bamboo—had more than 50 bamboo fan factories between 1970 and 1990? In fact, the raw materials for these bamboo fans mostly came from Zhushan, Nantou. Tracing back along the supply chain to Zhushan, Nantou, the core of the bamboo industry, you might just get to know the predecessor of KYOU, a bamboo factory specializing in fan rib manufacturing.

Huang Tu-shan, a bamboo craft master from Zhushan Township, Nantou County, was born in Nantou County in 1926. He received the National Craft Achievement Award in 2008 and is one of the few bamboo craft masters who studied fine bamboo workmanship at the Zhushan District Bamboo Craft Training Center. He prefers to use makino bamboo produced in Zhushan for weaving. Bamboo craft masters such as Chiu Chin-duan, Lin Hsiu-feng, and Tu Su-ying all studied under Huang Tu-shan.

Weng Ming-hui, a bamboo craft master from Guanmiao District, Tainan City, was born in Dongshi Village, Guanmiao District in 1935. Of Southern Min descent and well-versed in bamboo weaving techniques, he is renowned for weaving bamboo shields. In terms of bamboo selection, he prefers thorny bamboo as his creative material, and he is one of the few early Taiwanese bamboo craft masters who integrated materials such as bamboo, rattan, and cowhide in his creations.

Mo Yung-chung is a bamboo craftsman from Guanhua District, Tainan City. Born in 1930 in Linnei Township, Yunlin County, he is of Hokkien descent and is proficient in bamboo weaving techniques. His journey of learning and practicing bamboo art spans across Taiwan. He is one of the few bamboo artisans trained at the Zhushan Commandery Bamboo Craft Training Center. Nearly a hundred of his craft pieces have been donated to organizations such as the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Tainan City Government for preservation, and he is a designated preserver of the traditional art of bamboo weaving in Tainan City.

Lu Ching-chih, a bamboo craft artist from Guanhua District, Tainan City, was born in Guanhua District, Tainan City, in 1945 and is of Hokkien descent. She established "Guangyi Handicrafts" and "Jingshan Enterprise Co., Ltd.," which were important to Tainan's bamboo industry, and sold bamboo handicrafts such as fish traps and dustpans to the United States and Japan. After the decline of the bamboo industry, she dedicated herself to touring numerous bamboo craft study workshops throughout Taiwan. She is a Tainan City-designated preserver of the traditional art of bamboo weaving.

I found that the residents of Zhushan Township have a very strong sense of identity, and it's through bamboo. Lin Shan, founder of "Shanjie Bamboo Craft," is a bamboo craftsman from Nantou who settled in Tainan. Whenever he simply mentioned he was from Nantou, Lin Shan was often mistaken as coming from Zhushan Township, where the bamboo industry has been thriving since the 1960s. In reality, his hometown was in neighboring Mingjian Township, where his family grew tea. In the past, he wasn't even aware that Zhushan Township once had a massive bamboo industry, until he went to the neighboring town to participate in a Zhushan spotlight meetup. There, he met Lin Chia-hung of Yuantai Bamboo Handicrafts, discovered how Zhushan was united through bamboo, and consequently grew to love bamboo as a natural fiber.

Among many natural materials, we found that the toughness and density of bamboo are best suited for prolonged wear, and it even conforms better to the shape of the face with daily use. Therefore, bamboo has become the soul of Feizhu Eyewear.

Island Lacquer strictly adheres to the rigorous procedures of lacquer craft, creating Taiwanese lacquerware that combines both aesthetics and practicality, bringing a greater sense of aesthetic taste to daily life. With exquisite and delicate traditional lacquer art, each vessel must go through more than 30 complex processes, making every piece a unique masterpiece of painstaking effort.