Fish Trap Bamboo House on Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan by Cheng-Tsung Feng.

Renowned for his reinterpretation of traditional bamboo craftsmanship, young Taiwanese artist Cheng-Tsung Feng continues to celebrate the beauty of ancient wisdom by bringing together the artisanal knowledge of an indigenous tribe and the curiosity of a community. Feng’s latest installation, Fish Trap House, sees the construction of a bamboo river fishing trap on Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake, using the skill embodied in the indigenous craft. Rather than capturing fish, this intricately constructed pavilion captures people’s attention.

Combining installation, public art, traditional craft, social design, workshop, architecture, temporary building, green design and natural material, the project is the culmination of the artist’s research into the indigenous Thao tribe. Thao is a small group of Taiwanese aboriginals who have lived near Sun Moon Lake, the largest body of water in Taiwan, for over a century.

Before he came up with the design of his installation, Feng learned the traditional making methods for bamboo traps used for river fishing from the elder of the Thao tribe. The final installation was built using bamboo, rattan and stainless steel with 20 other volunteers, who shared in the beauty of ancient wisdom and traditional lifestyle from the locals.

[Photography by Chong Sheng HSU (finished & learning tradition photos) and Chien Hao Lin, Lance Wang & Alvin Liu (workshop photos).]