The Institute of Ethnology will open an exhibition entitled the “Taiwanese Aboriginal Digital Archive Special Exhibition” at the Digital Archives Exhibition Center in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building on June 29, 2012. The exhibition will run for five months until December 15, 2012, and will feature digitalized representations of precious material collected from anthropological fieldwork conducted by the institute, including cultural relics, photos and film. Members of the media and the public are welcome to visit the exhibition and join the opening ceremony.

        With rich, impressive content that is both informative and engaging, this digital archive exhibition explains how the Institute of Ethnology collects archive material and audio and video records relating to the aboriginal people of Taiwan and introduces the methods used in anthropological fieldwork.

Exhibits include relics of Taiwan’s aboriginal people, such as an Atayal men’s shell bead shirt, an Amis shoulder bag, a Tsou leather hat, a Paiwan wooden comb and a Saisiyat “negrito” spirit ceremony. In the Yami (also known as Tao) section, visitors can learn about Yami culture and values through their architecture, fishing, boats and the custom of “naming after their children”; and in the Pingpu section, visitors can see photo of some of well known “Sacrificial Ceremonies in Siraya” and see a high-resolution photo of a historical property selling contract between the Pingpu tribe and the Han people. 

        The mouth flutes and nose flutes of the Paiwan aboriginals will also be on display. The flutes are a symbol of Paiwan chieftains or noblemen; and also the instruments traditionally used by men to express their feelings for their women. The Institute of Ethnology’s digital archive website, panorama of institute’s museum, and object movie of some of the collections will also be on view.

        Taiwan’s aboriginal people have long been an important focus of research in the field of anthropology in Taiwan. Researchers from the Institute of Ethnology have engaged in long-term, in-depth fieldwork in aboriginal communities, advancing understanding of Taiwanese aboriginal culture and at the same time, through comparative analysis with other cultures, encouraging reflection on some of the long-accepted views of society in Taiwan. It is hoped that the exhibition will help ordinary members of society to better understand Taiwanese aboriginal culture and anthropological research.