Before anyone seeks an explanation of the Year of the Rabbit, it is probably more important to understand the true meaning of the ancient Asian tradition—Lunar New Year.
"It’s about family reunions and it’s about having fresh perspectives to start the New Year. Ultimately, it is about making sure every loved one is in good health and spirit,” said Charlie Wu, managing director of the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association, which organizes LunarFest Vancouver.
Founded in 2009 as part of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad, LunarFest Vancouver started as a place where the world came together. The original Lantern Forest, an outdoor installation where thousands of children from Vancouver and Taiwan shared their celebrations of LNY on lanterns, has since evolved into today’s The Lantern City.
This month, three sites of enormous, totem-like lanterns featuring local and international artists will show how Vancouver celebrates LNY like no other city. “Bringing communities together in deeper conversations via art and storytelling has been really powerful in shaping the new way Vancouver commemorates LNY,” said Wu.
At Jack Poole Plaza, Ovila Mailhot, a Coast Salish artist originally from the Seabird Island reserve in B.C., and George Littlechild, a Plains Cree artist who was part of the Sixties Scoop and now resides on Vancouver Island, will be featured with two Indigenous artists from Taiwan, Walis Labai of Seediq and Arucanglj Rusagelet of Paiwan. Their designs are part of the Coastal Lunar Lanterns display, which acknowledges that Vancouver is built on the unceded land of the Indigenous Peoples. This year, all four artists share their interpretations of the relationship between people, culture, and nature.
At šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, a.k.a. Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza, Métis artist Phyllis Poitras-Jarrett, Malaysian-born and Vancouver-based mural artist and illustrator Arty Guava, South Asian artist and sociology professor Angela Aujla, and linguists, artists, and culture keepers Ocean Hyland and Jesse Recalma are partnering with The Lantern City to share their imaginations of Lunar New Year celebration in the context of their own stories and heritages.
“Vancouver is now home to people who are Indigenous or have roots from around the world; it is like a wonderland where the world comes together like a family,” said Wu.
As The Lantern City continues to expand to showcase communities in Vancouver, the partnership with Granville Island also welcomes Arts Umbrella to The Cycle of Life display. Its young student artists will showcase their talents in imagining what the Year of the Rabbit means to them. With three lanterns designed by youths, three other lanterns will feature designs by accomplished artists heavily influenced by their family elders. They are Rachel Smith, a Kwakwaka’wakw/Oweekeno artist with a multi-racial background; Richard Hunt, a renowned First Nation carver and artist and a recipient of Order of British Columbia and Order of Canada; and muralist and designer Jessie Sohpaul, Creative Director of The Punjabi Market Collective.
According to Wu, The Cycle of Life display constantly reminds us how generations are connected and how stories are imagined and dreams are cultivated.
“Perhaps when we are trying to get lost in nature (Jack Poole Plaza), we might actually discover the wonderlands (šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square) that we always long for; this is just the Cycle of Life (Granville Island) that we have been reminded of time after time,” explained Wu on what weaves together the three sites for The Lantern City in 2023.
On January 24th at the Orpheum Theatre, the Together We Are! concert will bring together Harmonia String Ensemble led by Nicholas Urquhart, Vivaldi Chamber Choir and Out in Harmony Choir led by Music Director Edette Gagne, the Symphonic Strings (WVYB), and Ginalina Trio to share their LNY celebrations with their friends and families, both locally and around the world (via live streaming). In addition, the concert will present Anna Sagalova, a renowned Ukrainian pianist and a new resident of Vancouver.
One of the most important LNY traditions is to reflect our relationships with nature. The Colours of Formosa by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) will share how dye and fabric artists, such as the legendary Ching-Lin Chen, are inspired by the wonders of nature in Taiwan. The exhibition will be displayed at the Ocean Artworks Pavilion on Granville Island. Thousands of schoolchildren in Vancouver and Burnaby will participate in a persimmon dye workshop developed by the Taiwanese artist.
“The workshops are intended to help encourage youth to be closer to mother nature and to be curious about our surroundings in exploring their creativity,” said Wu.
Over the weekend of January 21st and 22nd at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, LunarFest Vancouver will ring in the Year of the Rabbit with a culinary treat. Joining forces with Street Food City presented by Dine Out Vancouver, the plaza will welcome Vancouverites looking to kick-start the new year tastefully. Also inspired by the theme “Year to Imagine”, LunarFest 2023 introduces a series of workshops at Ocean Artworks of Granville Island, beginning on January 20th. These celebrations will end on Family Day on February 20.
Links:
Together, We Are concert tickets (free) on Jan 24
Live-streaming links: YouTube FaceBook
LunarFest Vancouver website: www.LunarFestVancouver.ca
The Lantern City website: www.TheLanternCity.ca
