Installation: Lion Dance as a Vessel for Joyful Celebration by Student Artist in Residence Christina Duan
During their residency at the Movement Lab, Christina Duan has explored celebration through tradition and heritage. Focusing primarily on the art of lion dance, Duan’s installation uses projection, sound, and videography to explore the importance of lion dance and move beyond the external, public-facing aesthetic to illuminate what it means to be a lion dancer.
Installation runs from 4:30-6:00pm on Tuesday, April 18th and from 2:30-6:00pm from Wednesday, April 19th through Friday, April 21st. Drop-ins are welcome!
Bio:
Christina Duan (also known as just Duan) is a senior at Barnard College studying computer science on the urban planning track. They are a designer – focusing on UI/UX, graphic, and typographic design – visual artist, dancer, and friend :) They’re learning about creative technology and hope to reframe their relationship with technology in the movement lab space and community. Recently, they’ve been immersed in traditional lion dance (even though it is very hard!), archives & zines, photography, the written word, and helping out where they can.
Duan believes that creating is an act of resilience in and of itself – I was here, I am here, and I will be here – and they are hoping to carry that sentiment into this project on the movement and purpose of lion dance. They’ve been wondering if it is possible to translate the experience of a lion dance celebration through the mediums of film, projection, sound, and code. They want to recognize that – as people of the diaspora – not everyone is born into a tradition or has a chance to engage in an artistic practice. Duan wishes to explore how to pass down traditional forms of knowledge, along with concepts of healing, love, and ritual. Let’s live and create pathways of joy!