Lunar New Year creative space | Drop-in workshops

Chinese knots 中国结 with Wai Ching Chan

10.30–11.15am

11.30am–12.15pm

12.30–1.15pm

1.30–2.15pm

2.30–3.15pm

3.30–4.15pm

In this workshop, participants will learn how to make a Caisson knot, Endless knot and Button knot while learning about their symbolism and how they might be used in daily life. 

Creating knots as a group is a way to bring together people from different walks of life, to exchange goodwill and blessings. Through these knotting workshops, Wai Ching creates a sense of unity in real life – a space of likeness, connectedness and active learning. A kind of commons. While these knots might be considered decorative, they also carry lessons for living together.

‘Crocheting, knitting, and working with thread in many different ways are love languages passed down from my mother to me,’ says Wai Ching. ‘Every stitch is a universal character spoken with care. Immune from misinterpretation, it transcends the spoken word, the limitations of language. My mother found knotting to be the best way of communicating her love for me. Without needing to rely on spoken words, knotting becomes the best love letter.’

Wai Ching Chan is a contemporary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her practice is often driven by collaborative relationships with other artists, and a desire to build and strengthen connections between people, including between tangata whenua (Indigenous peoples) and tauiwi (non-Māori). Chan was born in Hong Kong and moved to Aotearoa in late 2012. She often works with the symbolic language of Chinese knots 中国结, forming them from a range of fibres, including harakeke and twine, to allude to bonds and connections between people and people and the land.

Knotting workshops are sometimes facilitated by Chan as part of her exhibitions, encouraging conversation among participants and guests, particularly with regard to tauiwi–tangata whenua relationships, while learning to knot.

在这个工坊中，参与者们将学会藻井结、盘长结和纽扣结的编织方法，并了解它们不同的象征意义以及在生活中的实际用途。

以多人形式编织绳结，可以将不同领域的参与者集结到一起，让他们有机会相互交流善意与祝福。Wai Ching运用这些编织工坊，将“合一”的概念带入现实生活中——创造了一个让参与者结识同好、缔结联系、积极学习的空间。纵然这些绳结常常被当作工艺品看待，但它们却承载着“共处、同生”的教育意义。

“钩针、编织以及各类和针线打交道的方式，都是母亲传递给我的爱的语言”， Wai Ching说。“每一针都是用心书写的、通行于全世界的文字。它们绝不会被误解，超脱出了语言的局限。我的母亲将编织作为向我传达爱意的最佳方式。编织是不求用言语回复的最美情书。”

Wai Ching Chan是一位居住在奥克兰的当代艺术家。她的创作常以与其他艺术家的协同合作为出发点，渴望建立并强化人与人——包括新西兰原住民（tangata whenua）和非原住民（tauiwi）之间的联结。Chan出生于香港，在2012年移居新西兰。她常常以中国结所具有的象征性的语言作为主题，利用包括新西兰亚麻（harakeke）和麻线在内的多种纤维作为创作原料，寓表人与人、人与土地之间的联系与纽带。

Chan有时会将编织工坊融合在自己的艺术展览中，鼓励参与者和宾客——尤其是原住民与非原住民——在学习编织的过程中进行交流和对话。

Photo courtesy of National Library of New Zealand 

 

 

Letter writing station

Lunar New Year is a time of deep reflection and an invitation to think about the past and the future. This activity invites you to either write a letter remembering an ancestor or to write a letter to your future self – or both!

Letter One: Remembering our Ancestors

In many East and Southeast Asian countries, Lunar New Year is a time to remember our ancestors: to recognise the wisdom and traditions they have passed down while acknowledging how they have shaped who we are today. In Korea, families might gather to perform charye (차례) a ceremonial offering to ancestors that involves setting up a special table (jesasang 제사상) with different dishes (each with a symbolic meaning) placed in a specific order. In many countries – China, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia, for example – people often have ancestral altars at home, where they light incense and offer different symbolic foods during the Lunar New Year. Many people will also visit gravesites to clean, make offerings, and pay their respects. 

This activity is an extension of this practice: it is an invitation for you to reflect on one of your own ancestors. You might write a letter to them (to keep for yourself), or you might like to write a letter to a friend or family member, sharing some of the ways that this ancestor was important to you. It might be a favourite memory you have about them or some helpful advice they gave you that you would like to pass on.

Letter Two: Reflecting on the Year Ahead

As we enter the Year of the Snake – a year of transformation and renewal – we also invite you to write a letter to your future self, sharing your hopes and intentions for the year ahead.

Once you have written your letter, you can choose to either (a) keep it or (b) send it to your future self. If you’d like to send it to your future self, place your letter in one of the pre-paid envelopes provided. We will mail it to you one year from now.

书信写作台

农历新年是修心的时节——它促使我们反思过往，畅想未来。我们邀请你提起笔来，以书信的方式追怀故去的先辈或勉励未来的自己。你若愿意，可以从这两个角度各写一封信。

第一封书信：追思我们的先辈

在许多东亚和东南亚国家，农历新年是缅怀祖先的时节。我们在对祖先的缅怀中，感恩他们所传递的智慧和传统，认可他们对现今自己的影响与塑造。在韩国，全家会聚在一起，举行祭祀祖先的茶礼（차례），他们会设立一张专用的桌子（祭祀床 제사상），然后将代表着不同意义的菜肴遵循特定顺序罗列在桌子上。在其他许多国家，比如中国、新加坡、越南、菲律宾和印度尼西亚，人们会于农历新年期间在祖先的排位前敬香，摆上各类具有象征意义的食物。许多人也会去先辈的坟茔扫墓、祭奠、追思。

这次活动是我们对祖先追思的延续：我们邀请你怀想一位故去的长辈，你可以直接给他或她写信（信件由你自己保存），或者把你的另外一位亲友当作收信人，分享这位长辈对你人生的重要影响。信件内容可以是这位长辈给你留下的美好回忆，也可以是来自他或她的、让你想要继续传递给子孙后代的建言或忠告。

第二封书信：对于新年的畅想

在步入蛇年这个变革与更新之年的时候，我们邀请你给未来的自己写一封信，分享新年的愿景和计划。

写完信后，你可以选择将信件保存，也可以选择把它寄给未来的自己。如果你想把这封信寄给未来的自己，请将它放入我们所提供的，已经预支邮费的信封之中。我们将在一年后的今天将这封信寄送给你。

We are grateful to Rosabel Tan for curating these creative activities for the Gallery’s Lunar New Year celebrations. Rosabel Tan is a writer, researcher and producer of Peranakan Chinese descent. She is the director of Satellites, an initiative that connects the past, present and future of Aotearoa Asian art – through an archive of Asian diaspora artists in Aotearoa, an online magazine, and a visiting artists programme. She is a founding editor of arts and culture journal The Pantograph Punch, was the inaugural curator: Asia for Auckland Writers Festival 2022, co-programmer for Verb Festival 2023 and co-programmer for the Asian American Literature Festival 2024. Follow Satellites on Instagram

我们对奥克兰美术馆农历新年创意活动的策划人Rosabel Tan表达谢意。Rosabel Tan是峇峇娘惹裔（Peranakan Chinese）的作家、研究员和制作人。她也是Satellites项目的总策划。Satellites项目旨在运用包括创建新西兰亚裔艺术家档案库、出版线上杂志以及设立艺术家访问计划等方式串联过去、现在与未来的新西兰亚洲艺术。她是艺文刊物The Pantograph Punch 的创刊编辑；2022年奥克兰作家大会（Auckland Writers Festival 2022）的首任亚洲部策划人；2023年Verb作家读者节（Verb Festival 2023）和2024年美国亚裔作家大会（Asian American Literature Festival 2024）的联合活动设计者。在Instagram上关注Satellites

Image credit: Julie Zhu