Art makes Chinese New Year come alive in Wellington
New works inspired by Chinese New Year are set to bring unique expressions of Chinese culture to Courtenay Place.
Ho Sun Nian, curated by Linda Lim, runs from February 1 to May 23 at the capital’s light boxes at Courtenay Place Park in the central city. The exhibition is inspired by Chinese New Year celebrations and features work by Wellington-based Chinese artists Stan Chan and Kerry Ann Lee.
As New Year is the most important date in the Chinese calendar, the exhibition’s title Ho Sun Nian refers to the Cantonese phrase ‘‘celebrating New Year’’ and references the language of the Chinese community who first settled in Wellington.
The community’s New Year festivals have created an opportunity for new Chinese residents to bring their culture out into the streets of Wellington, and to feel more at home in New Zealand, a Wellington City Council spokeswoman said.
Chan, a Chinese brush painter and calligrapher, has been involved with the Chinese New Year festival in Wellington for 20 years.
He practises and teaches traditional painting and calligraphy, as well as western oil and watercolour techniques, from his studio inkLink at Cuba Mall after studying art in Hong Kong.
In Ho Sun Nian, Chan’s paintings capture moments from photographs of Wellington’s Chinese New Year celebrations in years gone by: a Chinese lion parading through the streets and an East-meets-West fashion show from the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Lee’s work shows a personal perspective of Chinese culture and celebrations. Wellknown for her hand-made and digital collages, her work overlays a playful aesthetic to scenes of remembrance and celebration. Fascinated by the role food and ritual plays in bringing communities together, Lee shows Cantonese Chinese place-making in all its guises – from family meals to restaurants to local sites of significance.
A scholar from Te Whanganuia-Tara, Lee is of Seypi Cantonese Chinese descent and has undertaken international residencies in China, Taiwan, the United States, Mexico and Australia. She exhibits regularly in New Zealand and overseas.
While the Courtenay Place Park Light Box exhibition runs from February through March, the Chinese New Year festival in Wellington is from February 13-14.
Organisers of the festival also announced the Chinese New Year Zodiac Art Trail, an installation of artworks around Wellington by local and international artists in public spaces.
The trail features 12 works, each representing an animal from the Zodiac, as well as a series of activations by local performing artists.
Each artist involved has a distinct connection to China, either as residents or their ancestors came from China, or they have visited as an artist-in-resident.
20th Anniversary of Chinese New Year festival celebrations in Wellington, February 13-14.