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Issue: 1129 Date: 4/12/2012
Become A Fan, Like St. Louis Chinese American News
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"Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night"
First group of artisans arrived at Missouri Botanical Garden
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The Missouri Botanical Garden will host America's first large-scale Chinese lantern festival this summer. Expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors, the event - "Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night" - will feature 26 large-scale glowing sculptures of undulating dragons, lotus flowers, cherry blossoms and a three-story replica of the 15th century Beijing Heavenly Temple. "We expect the festival will make St. Louis a destination," said Lynn Kerkemeyer, special events and exhibits manager for the garden. "These sculptures are larger than life, and when you see them at night, it is just amazing."
The festival will run from May 26 to Aug. 19, 2012. The garden will host special evening hours 6 to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays featuring Chinese food, music, entertainment and vendors. The garden has contracted with Chinese outfit Lantern Fest to design and install the sculptures, or "sets" as they are called. About 35 to 40 professional artisans from Zigong, China's lantern headquarters, arrived at St. Louis on April 8. Many learned from their fathers and grandfathers how to forge metal skeletons and design colorful silks to create animated sculptures known as sets. They will make the sculptures onsite using metal, silk and thousands of light bulbs. Small motors give the illusion of fighting dragons, dancing opera singers and flitting fairies. Other sets depict historic or legendary icons such pandas, a four-faced Buddha and the armies of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Modern characters from Disney princesses to Hello Kitty appear at today's Asian lantern festivals, but garden officials wanted its 26 sets to reflect traditional Chinese culture. The garden already hosts the annual Chinese Culture Days and maintains a Chinese garden. Garden researchers also have worked in China for some 25 years documenting the Chinese wild plants. The garden's 24-volume "Flora of China" contains full descriptions of 31,500 species and illustrations of some 20,000 species. That work one day may lead to significant scientific and medical advances.
Lantern Fest managing director Spencer Tan and his wife June arrived at St. Louis in early April. St. Louis County Commissioner Francis Yueh and his wife May Wu, Director of St. Louis Chinese American News welcomed them with an introduction of St. Louis and the Chinese community at the Garden. The Chinese Culture Education & Services, which sponsors the Chinese Culture Days, is making plans with various Chinese American organizations to help welcome Tan and his group.
Tan and his wife visited the Chinese grocery and merchandise stores near 170 and Olive - often called St. Louis' "China Town" last weekend to shop for the artisans who arrived last weekend. |
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