DILI, 15 december 2023 (TATOLI) The government, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), together with the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture (SSAC), has awarded prize money to the top 10 weavers who won the TAIS competition held from the 11th to the 14th to celebrate the second National TAIS Day in Timor-Leste.
The TAIS competition was attended by the weavers from the municipalities of Atauro, Ainaro, Bobonaru, Baucau, Ermera, Lautem, Liquiça, Manatuto, Oé-cusse Ambeno, and Viqueque, while the municipalities of Aileu and Covalima did not participate due to unfavorable weather.
Meanwhile, the results of the TAIS Competition were announced on the night of the 14th, where the first-place winner was the Dulmadik Ana group from the municipality of Ainaro with a nominal prize of $800, the second-place winner was the municipality of Oé-cusse Ambeno with a nominal prize of $750, the third-place winner received $700, the fourth-place winner received $350, and the others all received a nominal prize of $100.
In addition, the cultural dance competition also received prizes, with the first-place winner from Saint António receiving $ 500, the second-place winner from Le-Zival Senior receiving a nominal prize of $ 400, the second-place winner from Le-Furak receiving a nominal prize of $ 350, the fourth-place winner from Universidade Nacional Timor-Lorosa’e (UNTL) receiving a nominal prize of $400, the third-place winner from Timor-Furak receiving a nominal prize of $350, the fourth-place winner from Universidade Nacional Timor-Lorosa’e (UNTL) receiving a nominal prize of $300, and the fifth-place winner from Foinsae Rumbia Kaikoli receiving a nominal prize of $250.
The quiz was followed by the Institute of Business (IOB) receiving $300, the Dili Institute of Technology receiving $250, and the Universidade Oriental receiving $200.
The poetry competition was attended by UNTL students. Martinho Soares Tasi was crowned the first-place winner, receiving $350; Anita Amaral was the second-place winner, receiving $300; Arnaldo Horta was the third-place winner, receiving $250; and Jaime da Costa was the fourth-place winner, receiving $200. While the poetry competition was attended by 24 participants, only four people were eligible for the prizes.
The representative of the first-place winner of the TAIS competition, Dulmadik Ana Group from the Municipality of Ainaro, Alexandrina da Costa Silva, who represented her group of 20 members, expressed her deep gratitude to the government for awarding the prize to their group.
“We are very proud; this is the first time our group participated in the TAIS competition and won first place. Of course, this is the pride of Ainaro because we have made Ainaro proud through the TAIS competition this year,” Alexandrina told TATOLI at the Dili Convention Centre (CCD).
She explained that the TAIS woven was patterned with crocodiles, maps, and flowers, with a size of 4.5 centimeters, a width of 70 centimeters, and a length of two meters.
Martino Soares TASI, from the UNTL Faculty of Teacher Training, the first winner of the poetry competition, said the topic of my poem was “Buibere nia Liman mak Maubere nia Tais”.
“This poem was written by myself. I wrote it using references from reading history books to help me write. Despite the challenges he faced, he was proud to win first place in writing a poem about TAIS.
In this opportunity, he called on the younger generation to promote TAIS through their talents and engage in various creative endeavors about TAIS to preserve the legacy TAIS bequeathed to us.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Philip Nino Pereira, said that TAIS is a heritage of our ancestors and therefore needs to be preserved and promoted. “The government will make all efforts to promote TAIS because TAIS is our cultural identity,” he said.
Minister Pereira said the younger generation must become the promoters of TAIS production to transform the new generation and preserve TAIS as Timor-Leste’s cultural identity.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
