Courtesy of 裹山 Dungku Asang.

Born to a Truku father and Han Chinese mother, Labay Eyong (Lin Gieh-wen) is a contemporary weaver and installation artist from Taiwan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts from Fu Jen Catholic University, and a master’s degree in Temporary Space Design from the Faculty of Architecture of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. She traverses between the modern and the ancient, attempting to strike a balance between the two through artistic creation, and speaks of power through gentleness, while exploring self-development through traditional Truku weaving. Her practice engages in metal work, soft sculpture, installation, video, writing, public art, and curating, with which she endeavors in promoting contemporary indigenous weaving. One of her projects Bubu's Closet (2008), inspired by her grandmother's closet, won the top prize of the Hometown Entrepreneur Program. Other projects include Yaku Kuyuh (I’m a Woman), a visual series created in 2014; a 2015 documentary Nii Nami (We Are Here).

The keynote will be followed by the film “裹山 Dungku Asang”. “Dungku Asang” (裹山), an indigenous term meaning “a place that has been traversed and will be returned to,” is the focus of a short documentary directed by Tommaso Muzzi. This film follows the Bunun people in Jhuosi Township and their work in a serpentinite marble quarry. In 2021, Labay initiated ‘The Dungku Asang Art Project’ at this location. Along with 10 weavers from various parts of Taiwan, Labay employed traditional weaving techniques to wrap and heal the wounds of the mountain forest, aiming to restore the damaged environment of the mine.