In Asia, Lunar New Year is a monumental event, with festivities lasting for 15 days. Most people take at least a week off work at this time to be with family, who come from far and wide. Here in Vancouver, there are no statutory holidays, but celebrations and events commemorating the Year of the Snake will continue at a variety of venues.
One of the highlights is Reinventing the Written Word: Calligra-ffiti Workshop. Taiwanese artist Godkidlla 廖小子 will share his artistic secrets in combining calligraphy and graffiti from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday (Febuary 8) at The Post (750 Hamilton Street). He will give another workshop on Saturday (February 15) at the same location. Register for the workshops through Showpass.com.
Meanwhile, GodKidlla’s artistry is featured on eight Lunar New Year lanterns in šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square (north side of Vancouver Art Gallery) until February 18. His Hundred Pace Snake is part of The Lantern City, which is presenting other exhibitions at 800 Robson Plaza, the Bentall Centre, the Pendulum Gallery, and Ocean Artworks on Granville Island.
Visitors to Ocean Artworks will encounter lots of free Lunar New Year activities on weekends throughout February. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday (February 7), there’s a LunarFest Crafts Market. On Saturday (February 8) at 11 a.m. at the same location, Kwakiutl artist and facilitator Christine MacKenzie will lead a program to create an Indigenous snake. The Vancouver International Children’s Festival is presenting this in collaboration with LunarFest Vancouver.
Lunar New Year film series at VIFF Centre
Music workshops are also on the menu. Members of the Suona Gang will offer insights into making contemporary and traditional music with traditional Chinese instruments at Ocean Artworks. Their sessions run from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to noon on Sunday (February 9). Plus, there is an Artist Market on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lunar New Year is also a time for families in Asia to go to the cinema. To replicate this in Vancouver, LNY Splash has teamed up with the VIFF Centre to show five compelling films about Asian families.
On Saturday, Hao Are You will be screened at 2 p.m., followed by a virtual question-and-answer session with director Dieu Hao Do. In his documentary, he investigates why his mother and six siblings stopped contacting one another after surviving the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon. Do’s has aunts and uncles live in Hanover, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh City.
At 5 p.m. on Saturday, a Hong Kong comedy, Stand Up Story, will be at the VIFF Centre. It features a young male character, Manfred Chim (Ng Siu Hin), who takes delight making people laugh in a stand-up comedy competition. But he realizes that his best laughs come from his own misfortune.
The Saturday movie lineup concludes at 7:30 with the innovative and heartfelt comedy, Granny Must Die, by Taiwanese director Chen Yi-Jung 陳怡蓉. It raises important questions about how families should deal with troublesome elders. Director Chen will speak about her film afterward in a virtual question-and-answer session with audience members.
LNY Splash highlights seniors’ struggles
On Sunday, LNY Splash and the VIFF Centre will present two more films from Asia. The documentary Come Home, My Child 愛子歸來 tells the riveting story of Mama Yang. She’s a Taiwanese senior who lives in New York and gives hope to Chinese-speaking migrants serving long prison sentences in the state. It’s especially timely in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Come Home, My Child 愛子歸來 will be screened at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The final film in the series is from South Korea. Picnic focuses on a friendship between three seniors—Geum-soon (Kim Yeong-ok), Eun-sim (Na Moon-hee), and Tae-ho (Keun-hyong Park)—who demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of their own life challenges. This drama will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets for all the films are available on the VIFF Centre website.
Watch a trailer for the five films at the VIFF Centre this weekend.
Artists speak about their work
Legendary Taiwanese comic book artist Ruan Guang-min has several events planned in Vancouver. He will offer four guided tours of his exhibition, Conmics on the Island – Taiwan, which is at the Pendulum Gallery (885 West Georgia Street) until February 22. Two of the guided tours are in Mandarin: 4 p.m. on Tuesday (February 11) and 1 p.m. on February 22. English-language tours are at 4 p.m. on February 18 and 11 a.m. on February 22. Register here.
At noon on Wednesday (February 12), Ruan will be part of a free panel discussion at the Coach House at UBC Green College entitled “Places of Memory in Graphic Novels”.
In addition on Thursday (February 13), LunarFest Vancouver is inviting the public to hear a panel discussion on arts, culture and identity with Ruan, Godkidlla 廖小子, lantern artist Angel Kao, and musician Daniel Lew. They will share their thoughts at 5:45 p.m. at the Pendulum Gallery (885 West Georgia). Afterward, Ruan will lead a tour of his exhibition on comic-book art in the gallery.
There will also be two events at the Vancouver Central Library featuring the Taiwanese artists. GodKidlla will deliver a free artist talk in Mandarin called Urban Independence at 2:30 p.m. on Friday (February 14) in the Montalbano Family Theatre. Ruan will also speak in Mandarin at the same location at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (February 15).
Happy Lunar New Year!
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