Chinese lanterns in 2018 & 2019
For twenty years, I have been going to see the Chinese lanterns at the Montréal Botanical Garden and I love this incredible & magnificent visual show.
Sometimes I took my photos while the lanterns were being installed during the day. Other times, in the evening.
In this project, I show you my best photos of the year 2018 and 2019.
“Autumn and winter: Chinese lantern team members find a new theme. The painstaking design work begins. Precise drawing are made for each lantern, and the order, including dimensions, colours and technical assembly specifications, is sent to China.
Spring: artisans in the Shanghai region make each lantern by hand, following the technical drawings sent from Montréal.
May and June: the lanterns are shipped to Montréal by sea, by rail, and finally, by truck.
July and August: the lanterns arrive in Montréal. I takes two months for electricians, carpenters, painters, plumbers, welders and labourers to build the supports, install the electrical wiring and hang up the lanterns in the heart of the Chinese Garden.
September, October and early November: more than 900 lanterns light up the Chinese Garden!” (Montréal Botanical Garden)
Good viewing!
In 2018 & 2019 : The book of wonders
The 2018 exhibition (the same in 2019) is inspired by shan Hai Jing's book of legends “ Mountains and Seas,” written more than 5,000 years ago. The book's Wilderness section describes a menagerie of fabulous creatures, including the renowned He Luo Yu.
Born in Inner Mongolia, in a tributary of the Yellow River, the creature (He Luo Yu) has one head, 10 bodies... and barks like a dog! Legend has it that one taste of the fish has the power to heal serious skin infections and that breeding it will protect against fires. He Luo Yu can turn into a bird, but at the slightest sound of thunder, it hides, terrified. Does it turn back into a fish? The legend doesn't say.
Inside the Chinese pavilion, visitors can write their wish on the back of one of the dragon's 6000 scales.
He Luo Yu in progress.
In 2019 : The book of wonders
Exceptionally, the exhibition in 2019 was the same as in 2018 with the impressive fish He Luo Yu, mythical beast with a head and ten bodies that, to escape the fishermen, is transformed... in bird!
