Yen-Chun Lu
A professional paper artist, known for her simple but sophisticated and creative crafts. She recently curated the exhibition to showcase the profound bond between the local farmers in Taiwan and the land itself, as well as the relationship between food and the natural environment, allowing people to reflect and be aware of the way we eat in order to drive change.
Inspired by the Pop-Up Tunnel book, she has used her talents to build “the way back home to Gongliao” as a reflection of herself, nature and the land. She has also participated in various events, such as World Food Day and Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan alongside her crafts. She believes that art has the power to unite everyone, and utilizes talents to make a contribution to society.
It is not difficult to discern how her beloved Taiwan influences her works. She values the land she grew up in, and uses her creations to find the connections and similarities between Taiwan and Canada.
We Keep Taiwan Young
TAIWANfest is well supported by many elders in the Taiwanese community; many of them have also dedicated themselves when they were young in various social movements that brought changes to Taiwan. In honour of their unconditional devotion and forever-young spirit, the 2019 TAIWANfest staff t-shirt was designed to echo their love for Taiwan. Do you want to keep Taiwan young too?
We Keep Taiwan Young
Perfect and Beautiful
American author Alice Walker said, “In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.” In a world driven and judged by performance statistics and pre-determined results, we seem to lose sight of other things that are equally as important. When our eyes and brains are trained to like the flashy façade, we seem to lose the ability to hear the stories within. In the current climate where people are so openly opinionated, are we still able to see the beauty in this imperfect world?
LunarFest returns to celebrate the Year of the Dog. Dogs are the symbol of loyalty and honesty. Known as humankind’s best friend, they are friendly, faithful, straightforward, venerable and have a strong sense of responsibility; all of the traits that perhaps we need desperately today. While Lunar New Year is one of the most important Asian traditions, LunarFest is inspired to cultivate a celebration that helps everyone to re-discover the beauty in the imperfect us.Designed to be a festival that celebrates one of the oldest traditions for many Asian cultures – Lunar New Year – LunarFest aims to collaborate with many Asian communities and outreaches to other Canadians. Since the inception, LunarFest is also built on an important artistic element for many cultures – the lanterns. Through collaborations with professional artists and school children in Canada and around the world, LunarFest has already presented Lantern Forest for 2009-2010, Lantern Aquarium for 2011-2012, Lantern Jungle in 2013, Lantern Palaces in 2014, World’s Little Shepherds in 2015, Monkey King and His Friends in 2016, and the Rooster Winter Games in 2017.
