Family Lantern Festival
Category: Environmental Design
The loreApproximately 150 years ago, there was a peasant uprising in Southern China, to which they were defeated; their homes burned and many killed. However, two brothers with the last name 毕 (Bi) survived. They fled to the Thousand Islands Lake in a region known today as Chun’an, and founded a new village. My father’s family grew up here and our surnames, including everyone else in the village, are all 毕 (Bi).
The banners on every building in the village feature calligraphy written by my grandfather.
Early iterations My initial idea was to create balloons in the shape of the character 毕 (Bi). These renderings were created using Blender. However, this concept was abandoned after group feedback sessions and critiques.
Final concept To honor my grandfather’s legacy and the setting in which this would take place, I decided to focus on calligraphy instead. The following characters were my attempts at writing my family name 毕 (Bi) in a traditional Chinese calligraphy technique. As part of the typographic art installation, these will be used as banners to hang on walls or folded into lanterns.
Red lanterns will hang over the village, each with handwritten calligraphy of the character 毕 (Bi). These will be made of rice paper and be written on using ink. Lanterns and the color red are symbols of fortune and prosperity in Chinese culture, reflecting the history of this village and wishing well for future generations.
As part of the installation, an event will take place where residents and nearby villages will come together to release lanterns into the sky, with their family names written on them. Just as the two 毕 (Bi) brothers fled across and the country and settled here, and how my father moved to Canada, this event represents family migration and wishing good luck upon the future.
To engage the community, visitors and residents of nearby towns can write their own family names or other messages, creating their own lanterns to hang in their town or home.