The 2024 joint exhibition of Hualien and Taitung jade and jewelry design, curated by designers Mao Haoya and Lin Shenghuo, will be held at the Hualien County Art Museum.

Pakimad Heritage — Jewelry Art Exhibition 2024
The Taiwan jade and jewelry exhibition, jointly initiated by local Hualien jewelry artists Mao Haoya and Lin Shenghuo, is being showcased at the Hualien County Art Museum.

Designer Mao Haoya, from Hualien’s Amis tribe, blends traditional tribal culture with modern design to create distinctive jewelry pieces. Her works are named “pakimad,” which means “telling stories” in the Amis language, symbolizing her use of jewelry and metalcraft to narrate the history and cultural stories of her tribe. Behind every piece lies the designer’s deep affection for her homeland and community, expressed through a contemporary interpretation of traditional aesthetics.

Mao Haoya grew up in the Lilou Tribe in Hualien, an Amis community near the sea with a rich history and culture. From a young age, she was immersed in the tribe’s traditional rituals, songs, stories, and myths, all of which have become sources of inspiration for her creations. The Amis culture emphasizes oral traditions, passing down ancestral wisdom and stories by word of mouth through generations. This background instills in the designer a deep respect and love for tribal memories that she consistently honors in her work.

“Pakimad” is not only the name of her jewelry design but also her way of preserving tribal cultural heritage. Each piece is an expression of a memory and emotion in her life, transforming Amis songs, myths, and history into tangible design elements. These elements are skillfully integrated into the jewelry, imbuing each piece with a profound sense of history and contemporary artistic aesthetics.

Through these jewelry pieces, the designer hopes to share the beauty and depth of Amis culture with a wider audience and ensure that the tribe’s stories continue to be passed down in modern society. With every piece, she engraves the tribe’s emotions and memories into each detail, allowing these stories and feelings not only to persist within the community but also to be conveyed to admirers around the world.