Taoyuan woodcarver keeps traditional craft of altar tables alive

Описание: A woodcarver in Taoyuan is dedicated to creating traditional furniture 100% by hand. Chen Li-wei taught himself to carve altar tables more than 30 years ago. A single piece takes at least a year, and often much longer. But as the art form declines in popularity, it’s in danger of dying out. Chen is calling for a Taiwanese woodcarving museum, to protect the traditional craft.

Lifelike carvings jump out from altar tables and chairs. These varied designs are incredibly intricate. Each line is carved by hand by Chen Li-wei.

Chen focuses intently as he works on a design. Just carving out a single component for a piece can take months of work. Many designs for religious artifacts are extremely complex. So following a project from start to finish takes a whole year, at the very least.

Chen Li-wei
Woodcarver
It’s my passion. I’ve loved carving since I was a kid.

Chen is an art design graduate. He started not in wood carving, but in interior decorating. But after a while, his passion for wood carving led him towards art. He opened a workshop in Taoyuan’s Daxi District, where he makes 100% hand-carved altar tables. But the industry is in decline.

Chen Li-wei
Woodcarver
Not so many people in the younger generation pray at altar tables. And most of them don’t care about these crafts. Imported goods are cheap, so it’s been in constant decline.

But Chen is dedicated to the craft, no matter whether it’s fashionable or not. His main fear is that traditional skills like his will disappear if they’re not embraced by younger artists. He wants the government to set up a woodcarving museum to help hand the craft down.