LunarFest 2010
January 22 – February 28th, 2010
The Asian-Canadian Special Events Association and Public Dreams Society proudly present LunarFest 2010. LunarFest is a lantern festival and International art exchange between Canada and Taiwan, which runs from January 22nd to February 28th on Granville Street between Robson and Georgia in Vancouver.
LunarFest celebrates the Lunar New Year and the 2010 Winter Olympics by bringing together the diversity of cultures, grassroots community spirit and the creativity of artists. LunarFest 2010 presents stunning visual art installations by 10 Canadian and Taiwanese contemporary artists, a story wall projection, a lantern forest and a spectacular lantern procession.
Love, Life and Light is an exhibition of installations that brings together four Canadian and six Taiwanese artists in an International art exchange and residency. Six Taiwanese artists lived and worked in Vancouver for two months during the summer of 2009. During this time they explored the city and drew inspiration from the environment and local art scene. Similarly, this past winter, four Vancouver artists went to Taiwan to explore and make work about their concerns and their experiences abroad. This resulted in 10 large scale lanterns which incorporate elements of light into their structure.
The story wall will be a series of projections showcasing stories from around the world whose purpose is to enlighten and inspire. A lantern forest will be made of 2,010 dazzling lanterns designed by schoolchildren from Taiwan and Canada all in the spirit of the Olympics. A lantern procession will also take place on February 13th and 14th to kick off the Lunar New Year and the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The goal and legacy of LunarFest 2010 is to create a dialogue and an exchange of artistic ideas to bring about a contemporary understanding of cultural life and creative production in both cities. We see this exchange as a positive move in establishing friendships, connections and creating awareness of celebrating art, diversity, love and life. LunarFest 2010 showcases collaborative workshops and exchanges between Taiwan and Canada artists, young and old, from both continents come together to create, build and showcase a unique form of lantern making to welcome the world to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics Winter Games and the Cultural Olympiad.