nutjaivililj

In the Paiwan language, nutjaivililj means “the future” or “a later time,” while also implying a spatial orientation—something positioned behind. In this Indigenous worldview, we stand in the present, facing our past, with the future unfolding at our backs. History stretches before us, shaping and propelling the future that follows. We grow not by charging ahead, but by stepping backward—guided by ancestral memory—into a more expansive world.

This conceptual exhibition is structured across nine thematic sequences, beginning with the question: “Who are you?” It imagines a visitor experience that unfolds as a cultural journey through identity, encounter, ritual, cosmology, and contemporary resilience. Everyday objects, ceremonial practices, and ancestral stories become narrative threads in a curatorial weave that culminates in reflection on Indigenous futures.

At the heart of this proposal is a collection of over 200 culturally significant objects—envisioned not as static displays, but as living carriers of ecological knowledge and spiritual continuity. Animals, plants, celestial bodies, and natural elements are integrated into garments, tools, and domestic architectures, illustrating a worldview where all things are connected and sacred.

nutjaivililj proposes a curatorial and spatial model co-created with Indigenous collaborators. The exhibition becomes a living braid of diverse tribal perspectives—an environment for intergenerational knowledge-sharing and cultural continuity. Much like weaving—a recurring metaphor in the concept—the approach foregrounds reciprocity, tension, and connection as guiding design values.

This vision challenges conventional exhibition frameworks by treating curation as a relational practice rooted in Indigenous temporality. nutjaivililj calls us to listen differently, to walk backward into the future, and to design experiences where story, space, and spirit remain in constant dialogue.