Drawing inspiration from an 88-year-old Taiwan-made pop-up greeting card, artist Hung Hsin-fu (洪新富) is hoping to reintroduce the allure of paper art to give people a greater appreciation of the art form and Taiwanese culture.
Hung said he intends to reproduce the card to give greater exposure to paper art and Taiwan’s creative traditions, and launch a journey in search of the art form’s cultural and creative roots so that more works can be discovered.
Hung, a renowned Taiwanese paper artist who pioneered the folded paper zodiac lanterns that are passed out annually during the Lantern Festival, in a media interview spoke of his hopes and source of inspiration that has been with him for 25 years.
Photo: CNA
He recalled that he was presented the artifact by the owner of an antique shop when he and a friend went treasure hunting in Taichung 25 years ago for a lantern cover made during Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945).
When he found out that Hung worked with paper, the owner pulled out a greeting card and a patent application from a drawer, and said: “This has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Hung showed a copy of the patent application, which showed the document, given file No. 71945, was submitted by a man called Huang Ken (黃根).
The form was filed by a Japanese government employee identified as Yoshiaki (or Yoshikane) Kishi in 1936.
Hung said he was mesmerized not only by the patent being submitted 88 years ago, but also by the presence of the Old Immortal Man of the South Pole, a Chinese deity of longevity, who would rise from within the card to greet its holder when opened.
Hung said he found a kindred spirit in Huang, who did what the modern artist had been doing for decades, reinventing and developing paper art to create surprises, such as making a blessing from a deity vividly and unforgettably three-dimensional.
Huang must have put in a lot of work in the process of creating the card, Hung said, who was so impressed with Huang’s work that he wanted to track down the pioneer’s descendants.
Hung said he searched to no avail for two decades, until details left by Kishi took him to Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area, where he finally came across Huang’s descendants three years ago.
Aside from pioneering Taiwan’s annual festive lanterns, Hung is also one of the main engineers behind one of Taiwan’s world-record achievements.
On April 19, 2013, Hung, the Taichung City Government and many of the city’s teachers and students broke the Guinness World Record for having “Most pop-ups in a pop-up book” after displaying a colossal piece of art outside the city hall.
The gargantuan pop-up art told the story of a family of four who toured 148 of the city’s most popular tourist spots.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS