Eight shimmering lanterns light up the night in šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. This flowing, dreamlike art—entitled Hundred Pace Snake—represents love, brotherhood, and guardianship, according to Taiwanese creator Godkidlla 廖小子.
“Many Taiwanese are so familiar with the sea,” Godkidlla tells Pancouver over Zoom. “So, I drew the sea waves and used brush strokes to draw other things within the sea waves, like a fist or the mountains.”
Hundred Pace Snake is one of five displays around Vancouver as part of The Lantern City project. The Asian-Canadian Special Events Association is also exhibiting Lunar New Year lanterns at 800 Robson Plaza, the Bentall Centre, Granville Island, and the Pendulum Gallery to ring in the Year of the Snake.
Human beings often recoil from snakes. But in Taiwanese Indigenous culture, they are revered as guardian spirits. Hundred Pace Snake demonstrates how these shapeshifting reptiles twist and turn across the landscape.
Godkidlla is a highly regarded graphic artist in Taiwan for how he re-assembles natural elements into his work. Initially didn’t want to include bright red on his lantern design in Vancouver because this colour reminds him of China.
“But because it’s Lunar New Year, maybe I had to,” Godkidlla quips. “I had to make the work more happy or more optimistic.”
Godkidlla grew up in the working class—and the culture of ordinary people infuses his work. When asked about his artistic vision, he replies that his goal is to improve society and encourage people to love Taiwan.
“I think everything is political, especially in Taiwan,” Godkidlla states. “We cannot live without it being political. We cannot say anything without it being political.”
Godkidlla will offer workshops in “Calligra-ffiti”
One thing that sets Godkidlla apart from many artists is his use of text. He often incorporates calligraphy in a graffiti-like style. This reflects his deep-seated concern about the future of Traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Godkidlla emphasizes there is no guarantee that Traditional Chinese will continue to be the preferred written language in Hong Kong. He worries that over time, the Chinese government may supplant it with less elegant Simplified script introduced by Chairman Mao to promote phonetic writing.
“Maybe in the future, Taiwan will be the only one using Traditional Chinese,” Godkidlla cautions. “So, as an artist who uses Traditional Chinese, I want to use my art to remind people that these characters still exist and are still being used.”
Hundred Pace Snake (On Canvas) will be exhibited from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the lobby of Bentall Centre Tower Three (595 Burrard Street), starting on January 29. In addition, Godkidlla will offer two workshops entitled Reinventing the Written Word: Calligra-ffiti, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on February 8 and 15 at The Post at 750. (Register for the workshops through Showpass.com.)
Over the years, he has created art for the Taiwanese indie band, Sorry Youth, which proudly sings all its songs in Taiwanese Hokkien. Sorry Youth has frequently performed at demonstrations, making it one of Taiwan’s more political bands. And Godkidlla describes the trio as his brothers.
“It’s a relationship that cannot be torn apart,” he says.
An intensely political artist
Meanwhile, Godkidlla joined friends on the frontlines at one of the most significant protests—the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement. He and others stormed into the national legislature to oppose the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) government’s decision in 2014 to pass a Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement with China. Godkidlla recalls that he and other protesters were beaten by police after raising their voices in opposition.
Early in his career, Godkidlla designed many book covers. This brought him in contact with publishers. But he noticed back then that there weren’t many good opportunities for launching books, which led him to open his first bookstore in Taipei in 2014. Around a decade ago, he also founded a magazine to promote awareness of social issues in Taiwan.
He has since closed the Taipei store and now owns TaKao Books in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, a traditional hotbed of anti-KMT sentiments.
The Sunflower Student Movement laid the foundation for the 2016 defeat of the KMT and the election of Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen as president. Godkidlla believes that it took a massive collective effort to accomplish this.
“Everyone was like a small screw,” Godkidlla says of the efforts to replace the KMT.
Last year, the DPP won its third straight presidential election under the leadership of Tsai’s former vice president, Lai Ching-te. However, the DPP lost control of the Legislative Yuan, giving the KMT the ability to block various initiatives.
“I hate the KMT,” Godkidlla defiantly declares. “My whole life’s job is to destroy the KMT.”
Event and exhibition details
Godkidlla’s Hundred Pace Snake will be in šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square (north side of Vancouver Art Gallery) until February 18 as part of The Lantern City exhibitions. Hundred Pace Snake (On Canvas) will be in the lobby of Bentall Centre Tower Three from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday, starting January 29.
In addition, GodKidlla will deliver a free artist talk in Mandarin called Urban Independence. It will take place at 2:30 p.m. on February 14 in the Montalbano Family Theatre on the eighth floor of the Vancouver Central Library. Godkidlla will also deliver two workshops entitled Reinventing the Written Word: Calligra-ffiti, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on February 8 and 15 at The Post at 750. Register for the workshops through Showpass.com.
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