Keywords

1 Introduction

Taiwan is a multi-culture from a variation of Southern China culture with significant East Asian influences including Japanese and such Western influences as American, Spanish and Dutch. Over time, Taiwan gradually developed its own distinct culture [23]. Hence, the prospect of Taiwan’s local cultures will become crucial elements in cultural design applications [24]. For example, Taiwanese aboriginals have distinct and abundant cultures. With their beautiful, primitive, and spiritually motived visual arts and crafts, Taiwan’s aboriginal cultures should have great potential for enhancing design value and being recognized in the global market [12]. Among the aboriginal tribes, Atayal which is composed of several subgroups is one of the best weaving tribes in Taiwan famous for the variety and sophistication of their textiles. In their traditional society, Atayal men did the hunting, fighting, farming and house building, while Atayal women were known for the artistry of their handwoven artifacts [2, 34]. The weaving art of the Atayal in Taiwan has developed rapidly over the past decade. Women’s weavings have performed outstandingly in various textiles exhibitions through combining traditional textiles with modern weaving techniques [20, 35].

Having suffered from their traditions being nearly extinguished in the past colonial periods, the Atayal tribe members are now trying to retrieve their textile traditions and they have already achieved fruitful innovations rooted in their ancestors’ wisdom [35, 36]. For example, Yuma Taru [31] has spent years “reverse engineering” many old woven tribal patterns by encoding them in modern weaving notation to preserve the knowledge of how to weave them, a knowledge that was formerly passed from mother to daughter. She also runs and is trying to improve a school for the children of a poor village in the hills above Miaoli; has built a cultural center called lihang workshop; and promotes interest in Atayal culture (https://www.facebook.com/lihangworkshop). Figure 1 shows some of Yuma’s works.

Fig. 1.
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Some works of Atayal weaver Yuma Taru

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Such spirituality characterizes much tribal design giving it an immediacy which even outsiders can feel deeply and respond to without knowing much, if anything, about the culture of the peoples who produced it. Such feeling can transcend cultural differences. By using a cultural ergonomic approach, the gungu, literally “weaving box” in the Atayal aboriginal language, was chosen as the cultural object for discussion in this study [17, 31]. A framework is proposed for examining the way designers communicate across cultures as well as the interwoven experience of ergonomic design and culture meaning in the design process. Using the framework, this study attempts to illustrate how, by enhancing the original meaning and images of Taiwan aboriginal culture features, and taking advantage of new production technology, they may be transformed into modern products and so fulfill the needs of the contemporary consumer market [23, 24].

2 A Cultural Product Design of the Atayal Loom

The Atayal loom is a type of horizontal ground or foot-braced backstrap loom which is the older of the looms of Ancient Egypt [4, 7, 32] although the date of the first loom or even what it looked like is unknown. As a weaving tool in one form or another it dates back at least to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks [29, 30]. The earliest example (201 B.C. – 8 A.D.) of a backstrap loom in eastern Asia is found at a site in Shizhaishan, Yunnan Province [1]. The gungu (weaving box) as shown in Fig. 2 [17, 31] is a seemingly simple user “product” designed long ago for the art of weaving as practiced by Taiwan’s aboriginal Atayal weavers.

Fig. 2.
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Atayal gungu, ground loom and weaver

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The Atayal woven crafts played a large role in the tribe’s social customs, spiritual life and organization. These textiles were woven on a type of loom called a “backstrap” loom which is the subject of this study. “Backstrap” refers to the strap behind the weaver’s back as in Fig. 2. The Atayal loom is one of the original types of simple movable backstrap and foot braced type looms [1, 17, 31]. That is, the weaver controlled the tension of the warp threads by pushing with her feet against a brace. The foot brace could be a simple bar but in the Atayal loom it is the culturally important “box”. By changing the arrangement of the warping bench and one’s way of weaving, the Atayal’s own characteristic complex patterns can be woven [31]. With a simple bar for the foot brace of a backstrap loom, the total length of the warp (the “stationary” threads on the loom) is limited to about twice the leg length of the weaver. Among its other advantages the gungu increases the total warp length significantly. A desirable feature when such length is needed.

Traditional Atayal looms were composed of many parts, with one of the most important being the Weaving Box, made of tough woods like beech or Formosan michelia. The weaving box was not only an important part, but could also be used for storage when weaving wasn’t taking place [1, 17, 31]. In the days long ago when head hunting was practiced, the hollow box could be struck to make a loud drum sound as a signal to the village that a warrior had returned with a head [17]. For a clear understanding of the Atayal loom, the features of all parts of the Atayal loom must be understood. Diagrams of their parts are included in Fig. 3 [31]. The “weaving art” consists of choosing the colors for the warp threads and the complexity of the lacing of the weft thread (the “moving” thread which also may change colors) as it goes over some warp threads and under others. The weaves used by the Atayal and patterns produced with them are technically interesting and aesthetically pleasing [20]. Creativity comes in designing aesthetically pleasing combinations. It is the particular lacing plan in combination with the coloring of the warp threads which makes the pattern. Practically infinite combinations of colors and lacings (i.e., patterns) exist [31].

Fig. 3.
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Parts of Atayal backstrap loom

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3 A Framework for Studying the Atayal Loom

For the human system design, Kreifeldt and Hill [16] proposed a user-tool-task system design model (Fig. 4) that integrates ergonomics into product design for producing aesthetically pleasing and functionally superior products [22]. The user-tool-task model is designed to solve the problem of completing a task with a tool; it focuses first on the manipulation interface between the user and the tool and then on the engagement interface between the tool and the task. Finally, for the global market, adding a cultural dimension to ergonomics has become an important issue for exploring interaction and experience in product design [19]. Along with technological progress, while product design has been transferred from being manufacturing-based to marketing driven to user centered for some time, there is now greater emphasis specifically on user experience, with ergonomics being increasingly considered in interactional design for marketing. By combining the user-tool-task model with the scenario, a framework which facilitates an understanding of cultural ergonomics in product design is shown in Fig. 5 [22].

Fig. 4.
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A user-tool-task system design model

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Fig. 5.
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Cultural ergonomics in product design with the scenario

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For example, the ergonomic bench in Piegorsch’s research [28] provides a culturally, environmentally, and economically viable alternative to traditional methods of working with the backstrap loom. Piegorsch [28] studied how an ergonomic bench was designed for indigenous weavers in Guatemala that is a typical example of cultural ergonomics. The ergonomic bench helps weavers enhance their productivity and improve textile quality, while also preventing cumulative trauma to their health. The bench focused on user-centered ergonomic design and also stimulated self-awareness in traditional weaving. The benefits of cultural ergonomics can be represented as a cycle with five stages: health, productivity, quality, culture and self-esteem [28]. Based on Piegorsch’s study [28], a framework is shown in Fig. 6 for combining cultural features with ergonomic design which facilitates an understanding of cultural ergonomics in product design shown as the inner triangular factors. It is likely to be a never-ending process and can be applied universally, strengthening the connection between designers and their cultural heritage as shown as the outer circular factors [31].

Fig. 6.
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A never-ending process for studying cultural ergonomics [31]

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For the cultural ergonomics approach [14, 18, 19], the framework consists of two main parts that function to explore the cultural ergonomics issues of the cultural object and to study problems related to human factors. To accomplish the outer circular factors: health, productivity, quality, culture and self-esteem, the inner triangular factors must be considered in practical ergonomic design [28]. This study proposes a cultural ergonomic research model to provide designers with a valuable reference for designing a successful cross-cultural product as shown in Fig. 7 [17]. The model consists of four main parts: conceptual model, research method, human system design, and cultural ergonomic approach. The conceptual model focuses on how to extract cultural features from cultural ergonomics and then transfer those features to the design transformation model in order to design cultural products. Thus, Fig. 7 details the various influences and interactions in a user-tool system and emphasizes the threefold nature of the design: user, tool, and task. The specific task illustrated here is “weaving” which produces a woven product as the system “output”. Among the user-tool-task, there are the two interfaces of the user-tool manipulation interface (ergonomics) and the tool-task engagement interface (technology); and the various interactions between user needs and design requirements in the practical design process (marketing) [17].

Fig. 7.
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A cultural ergonomic research model for the Atayal loom [31]

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4 From Box to Box: A Case Study of the Atayal Loom

Based on the cultural ergonomic approach in Fig. 7, the purpose of the human system design approach focuses on and analyzes the weaving box’s appearance, usability, cultural meaning, operational interface, and the scenario in which it is used. The approach consists of three parts: the study of cultural objects of “cultural ergonomics”, “design transformation” (from cultural object to design elements to design elements), and “cultural products” (design creative products). For the practice, three stages are identified are: (1) extracting cultural features from original cultural objects (identification), (2) translating these features into design information and design elements (translation), and (3) designing a cultural product (implementation) [17, 31].

The subject of this study is the weaving box (gungu) used for the Atayal loom. Based on the approach (Fig. 7), the weaving box could be employed for a systematized and scientific method to study the three aspects of cultural ergonomics. First, ergonomic study of the weaving box across user operational situations needs to be analyzed to study the manipulation interface (ergonomics) between users and the weaving box. Then, based on that analysis, the engagement interface (technology) is studied to identify the relationship between the weaving box and the task. Finally, based on the cultural-feature transformation model, the weaving box is identified with three levels of cultural ergonomics and used to demonstrate how to design cultural products (marketing) [11, 21]. There are social meanings, ergonomic concerns and the functional achievement associated with this cultural object. To develop an ideal loom, both the cultural and operational interfaces of the “weaning box” need to be well-studied using a user-tool-task approach [16, 22].

4.1 Study of the Cultural Ergonomics of Atayal Loom

Considered from the perspective of ergonomics, to develop an ideal loom in the form of the Atayal loom (weaving box), both the social and operational interfaces of the weaving box need to be well designed using a user-tool-task approach [22]. To use the loom, the weaver braces her feet against the gungu around which the continuous warp threads pass completing their circuit around the breast beam held near her body by a strap fastened at each end and passing behind her back: hence the name “backstrap”. Thus, many studies were made to evaluate the prevalence of low back pain among the handloom weavers [3, 5, 6, 25]. The weaver would alternately tighten and loosen the warp threads as part of the weaving process. She did this by pushing with her feet against the box creating a strain against the strap against her back to tighten the thread tension as she “beat” a new weft (cross) thread down and then relaxed to loosen the tension so that she could insert the next weft thread as shown in Fig. 8. She continued this basic process until the weaving was completed [2]. Figure 8 shows many ergonomic issues, so the studies suggested the need for further research regarding the postural strain of weavers and also emphasized the implementation of ergonomic design into the weaver’s loom [10, 13, 15, 32].

Fig. 8.
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Some ergonomic issues of the Atayal loom [32]

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Considered from the perspective of technology, many tools were needed in traditional Atayal weaving as shown in Fig. 3. There are mainly two tools for the Atayal women to do the weaving; the Warping Post and the Loom, as shown in Fig. 9. A warping post is composed of two wooden sticks and one “Y” wooden middle stick as shown at the upper middle in Fig. 9. In ancient times, the warping posts were beaten into the ground so the set made of just the posts was enough to do the warping. However due to the change of living conditions, people started to live in houses with floors instead of living on the ground. The Atayal people therefore created a base made of a long and thick wooden base with several holes. The combination of the base and warping posts became the one which is commonly seen in the Atayal’s Warping Post. After warp setting, the warping post is laid on its side (Fig. 9) and the sticks unpegged from the base. Then the fix rod is inserted in the left most opening behind the warp threads “crossing”; the thread divider in placed in the opening on the other side of the crossing one part of the cloth beam is inserted at the right most post; and the heddle positioned to receive the warping thread formed during the warping process. After all the weaving tools are put in place the warping posts are removed and the heddle closed to prevent the threads from sliding off. This process is shown at the right column in Fig. 9 [15, 31].

Fig. 9.
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The function of “Y” wooden stick

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4.2 Modern Weaving Art of Atayal Loom

Women produced beautiful cloth relying on their professional and aboriginal weaving skills [34] but their tools are inconvenient for fetching due to their overweight and numbers, and the tradition of weaving while sitting on the ground. Meanwhile, the reintroduction of weaving not only required the Atayal weavers to retrace their weaving history and to reconstruct and revive lost skills but also opened up a new opportunity to create new motifs with the Atayal loom [2, 36]. In recent years Atayal people has been seeking creative and alternative ways. A new type of loom called a desktop inkle loom has been devised. Inkle weaving is a type of warp-faced weaving where the shed (the opening under the set of raised warp threads above the unraised ones) is created by manually raising or lowering the warp yarns [27] some of which are held in place by fixed heddles. The inkle loom is useful for weaving belts and narrow bands. The term “Inkle” simply means “ribbon” or “tape” and probably refers to a similarly structured woven good that could have been made on different types of looms, such as a box-loom shown as in Fig. 10 [10, 13, 15]. Inkle weaving is commonly used for narrow work such as trims, straps and belts. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkle_weaving).

Fig. 10.
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Inkle loom and its tools

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For the cultural and creative industry in Taiwan, aboriginal cultural products that tourists purchase as souvenirs are often actually imitations of the original products, and sold without authorization from the aboriginal group [8]. Atayal textiles are now handwoven by some aboriginal women in Wulai who weave primarily for the Wulai Atayal Museum. Weaving exhibitions are the main purpose of the Wulai Atayal museum since it opened in 2005 [34, 35]. Other than displaying materials, techniques and final works, the museum arranges to have weavers do live demonstrations on weekends to attract tourism. For the marketing, the museum also sells the works by the members in the weaving association and invites them to be the seed teachers to design promotional activities such as do-it-yourself for user experience, and promote traditional weaving through the flourishing tourism [33].

4.3 From Box to Box – Modern Atayal Weaving Box

The Atayal tribe members are now trying to retrieve their textile traditions and rooted in their ancestors’ wisdom [36] as for example, Mrs. Yuma Taru [31] in Miaoli County. Many of the aboriginal patterns which would otherwise be lost have now been preserved in modern weavers’ notation so that they can be woven again. Mrs. Taru is trying to improve a school for the children of a poor village in the hills above Miaoli and has built a cultural center called Lihang workshop (https://www.facebook.com/lihangworkshop). While teaching Atayal loom weaving at Lihang workshop in Miaoli, a few children wanted to know how to weave. Weaving need not be an expensive undertaking unsuitable for the classroom situation. Children, as well as novice crafts persons, can be treated to a fairly inexpensive and easily-learned introduction to this useful, cultural, and enjoyable art craft.

The basic procedures of traditional Atayal weaving are: spinning → thread poaching → dye → vertical thread sorting → weaving [13, 15, 31]. Because these take much time, in the courses on inheriting Atayal weaving, the school usually teaches students only the procedures of vertical thread sorting and weaving. The inkle, a simple loom, was suited to teach weaving in school, therefore, after studying the ergonomics of the Atayal loom, this study is trying to re-design an inkle loom – modern weaving box [11]. Based on the approach in Fig. 7, some questions need to be considered before using the research model to explore the weaving box of the Atayal loom. For example, Taru et al. [31] identified the main questions: for the user and ergonomics, for the tool and technology, and for the task and marketing. After study of the ergonomic issues, a desktop inkle loom (modern weaving box/loom) which replaces the vertical thread sorting shelf of the Atayal loom was re-designed as shown in Fig. 11. The modern weaving box used to beat horizontal thread so as to make it connect tightly; used to shove the shuttle into cloth by generating a gap. The main function of the shuttle which is chiseled and shaved from bamboo or wooden pieces is to insert to the horizontal thread into the vertical threads.

Fig. 11.
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Modern Atayal weaving box/loom and practice by children

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5 Conclusions and Suggestions

It is strange that as these cultures diminish or vanish altogether their old traditional art pieces become more and more sought by museums and private collectors and consequently become more and more valuable. Beauty is the soul of the artist expressed in her art. Based in strong religious beliefs, tribal arts express that soul very strongly. As others begin to see the beauty of the art and are moved by it, they wish to possess it even without understanding or even knowing the culture behind the art. There are many parallels to these questions and problems everywhere that native cultures are disappearing and their arts and crafts along with them [17].

Such cross cultural attraction with consequent desire for possession is what designers of products for the international market should hope to have their products evoke. Recently, the reintroduction of weaving has had multiple effects on the Atayal community. Now the Atayal proudly claim their weaving culture as a part of their ethnic identity. It has become an ethnic symbol and a tourism product. It expressed feelings of modernity but in the tradition of the Atayal women’s people. Continuing studies of what makes tribal arts such as the weavings of the Atayal, or even a “tool” like the weaving box, so attractive cross culturally can definitely aid in designing successful cross cultural products. This research suggests that the communication matrix approach will be validated in more testing and evaluating of product design in further study to improve its completeness. Moreover, we hope that this study will encourage more researches to inspect the connection between design and cross-cultural communication in the near future.

In the past, each tribe could be distinguished by the unique types and patterns of its weavings. Recently, with the rapidly changing social trends and progress in technology, tribes or individual studios weaving textiles hope to see this field embracing both tradition and originality in order to create different possibilities for future development. Furthermore, new Atayal weavers work closely with tourism marketing channels to balance the production and marketing of textiles. Therefore, the future of weaving art is full of hope and potential. The Atayal loom is apparently unique and deserves in-depth study.

Results presented herein have helped us create an approach to examine the framework in which designers apply and embody the idea of cultural products as well as the interwoven experience of cultural ergonomics in the design process. In addition, this study proposed a paradigm to integrate ergonomic considerations into human performance in “feeling” for cultural products. Finally, it is hoped that the notions of cultural ergonomics in “feeling” and cultural product design in “function” manifested through the case study of “from box to box” will be validated through more testing and evaluating in further studies.