In pictures: Lunar Lanterns glow for Year of the Rat

Year of the Rat

Each animal is designed by an Asian-Australian artist in a contemporary interpretation of the traditional lantern lighting for Lunar New Year. The City of Sydney unveiled 4 new sculptures in 2020: Rat, Rooster, Rabbit and Horse.

Claudia Chan Shaw’s golden glowing rats resemble wind-up toys, reflecting their busy, industrious nature. Visitors can walk among the rats, copy their poses and take the perfect Insta snap.

“I hope people enjoy the rat lantern – they’re very approachable, very friendly robots. It’s not something that you need to stand back and observe, you’re meant to get up close and play,” Claudia said.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Rooster

Sydney Lunar Festival curator Valerie Khoo’s new design celebrates Sydney’s diversity. Hundreds of soft, ovoid lights and brushed steel form the Rooster, symbolising the concepts of yin and yang.

“I wanted to create an artwork that resembles how Sydney is made up of so many different cultures, people, ideas and histories. The ovoids represent all those unique identities,” Valerie said.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Rabbit

Nancy Liang and Fiona Lu created a 5m Rabbit in the style of Chinese paper-folding. The drawings on the ‘paper’ evoke the wrappers of traditional candy, harking back to the artists’ childhoods and new year treats.

“As an Australian-born Chinese, it’s an honour to able to express the Chinese culture we experienced growing up in Sydney, and share it with the city we live in,” Nancy said.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Horse

Taking on a robotic form, the horses are embellished with vibrant Korean flowers and patterns including the dancheong found on traditional Korean wooden buildings.

The magnificent horse lanterns make reference to traditional totem poles that identify village boundaries and serves as protective guardians. With an illuminated beating heart, the pair of 6-metre-tall horses are designed as modern guardians for the Lunar New Year.

Located at the corner of Alfred and Loftus streets.

Credit: Chris Southwood

The Pig

Delicate and airy, a deconstructed 3-dimensional grid has been carved out to form an abstract silhouette of a pig by artist Qian Jian Hua (Justin).

Qian Jian Hua was born in Nanjing and came to Australia in 1991 as a visiting scholar. He now lives and works in Sydney and his sculptures have been displayed in many major exhibitions in Australia.

Located at Customs House.

Credit: Chris Southwood

The Monkey

Sydney-born artist Louise Zhang’s impressive 8m tall monkey tower captures the monkey as playful and child-like. Their poses were developed from imagining the monkey as acrobats hopped on each other’s shoulders.

Born in Sydney, Louise Zhang is a Chinese-Australian artist, whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture and installation.

Located on the corner of Ultimo Road and Thomas Street, Haymarket.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Dog

The zodiac symbol of The Dog can be characterised as loyal, smart and sociable. Artist Song Ling’s mysterious dog lantern is painted in bright primary colours and floats between past, present and future. The dog’s bright, inquisitive eyes gaze upon the world, stopping only to hold up things of importance.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Dragon

Beijing-born artist Guan Wei’s impressive Loong (Dragon) is an emblem of Chinese culture, representing power and mysticism. In this lantern, a little boy retrieves a jewel from Loong’s mouth, enabling Loong to spit water and bring rain to the land. Symbols on each side of Loong signify a relationship with local Australian culture.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Tiger

In Chinese culture, the tiger incites both awe and admiration for its prowess, ferocity and beauty. This big cat is full of life and embodies the spirit of achievement and the drive to make progress.

The tiger represents the greatest earthly power and protection over human life. The sign on this tiger’s forehead spells ‘king’, which is common in most Chinese symbols depicting a tiger.

Malaysian-born Kevin Bathman is an artist and graphic designer who has worked in Sydney, Auckland and Kuala Lumpur. Among his projects is The Chindian Diaries, an arts and community project exploring the connection, history and forgotten stories of Chinese and Indian communites.

Located at First Fleet Park, Circular Quay.

The Sheep

The Electric Sheep the 2.5-metre-tall sheep lantern pays homage to the ancient tradition of applying paper-cut designs to lanterns, with a nod to a Philip K Dick’s sci fi novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’.

The impressive sheep lantern was created by Brisbane-born artist Pamela Mei-Leng See, who has exhibited in Australia and China.

Located at the QVB.

Credit: Chris Southwood

The Ox

The powerful Ox lantern brings together 2 cyphers in Chinese heritage, the Ox and the Scholar Rock, emanating as 1 in a symbolic surge of strength and knowledge. Artist Lauren Tan lives and works in Wollongong, Beijing and Las Vegas.

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

The Snake

Inspired by the traditional art of Chinese kite-making, this golden snake flies above the public, representing prosperity and wealth. The artists have also featured the Chinese happiness symbols in the snake’s eyes as a symbol of good fortune for the coming year.

The slithering snake is the work of amigo and amigo. Co-founded by Simone Chua and Renzo B Larriviere, the Sydney-based lighting and design studio explores the combination of light and sculpture in public spaces. Best known for large-scale interactive works, amigo and amigo has exhibited extensively in Australia and in Shanghai, China.

Located under the Cahill Expressway, Circular Quay.

Credit: Chris Southwood