Eastern, western cultures meet in Chiayi Lantern Festival

Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 22, 2018 -- Lantern festival has been the symbol of one of the traditional Chinese festive events, and the 2018 Taiwan Lantern Festival, which opened Feb. 16 and will run through March 11 in Chiayi under the auspice of the Chiayi County government, is bringing to visitors an unprecedented experience to witness the exchange and stimulation of eastern and western cultures.

An aerial artistic lantern area, unprecedented in Taiwan, is designed by Janet Echelman, a famous American aerial sculptor.

Some of the focuses of the event were works by American artist Janet Echelman and Australian contemporary art team The Amigos.

Janet Echelman is a world –renowned sculptor, and good at incorporating old technics into advanced technology in creating unique art works made of fishnet wires.

Her work in exhibition this time was “1.26” which Janet created just after the 2010 Chile earthquake when she learned of NASA data that measured the effects of the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

Earth day time was cut short by 1.26 microseconds as the strong quake resulted in the acceleration of the Earth’s rotation, making the disaster common among different countries and peoples. 

The tsunami wave ripples were presented by the wires of a 900 square-meter net supported in the air by five 15-meter tall steel columns. The “1.26 (microseconds)” work, while being exhibited in Chiayi, symbolized they “saw each other as Chiayi lies at 23.5 degrees north latitude, and 23.5 was pronounced in Mandarin Chinese like “Ai Shang Wo (falling in love with me).”

The “1.26” work through the projected changing lights, illuminated the fishnet wires that were flying in the wind under the night sky spotted with stars, symbolized the transformation or elevation of the disaster and sadness to love. 
    

The Amigos, a team established by Australian artists Simone Chua and Renzo B, has been good at industrial designs. It’s work “Birds of Lumos”, exhibited at the Southern Branch of the Palace Museum, combined a natural style with the steampunk, a subgenre of fiction of science fantasy that incorporated technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery, forming another kind of light sculpture.  

The work and the Feibai Hall and Moyun Hall, both in the Southern Branch of the Palace Museum and famous for its collection of Asian classics, constituted a picture showing the exchange of western technology and eastern arts in the same dimensional space.    

About 2018 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi
Date: February 16 to March 11, 2018.
Location: Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, Taizi Blvd, and Chiayi County Administrative District.
Website: www.taiwan.net.tw/2018taiwanlantern

Visit the links at https://goo.gl/f2Q3wp

Press contact
Runa Chen
E-mail : [email protected]