Image supplied by Winnipeg Arts Council.Winnipeg Chinatown 2024-2029
Chinatown Neighbourhood Banner Project
插画家麦月明（Natalie
Mark）以喜悦与热情的心为唐人街创作了精美的艺术挂幅！作品的创作灵感来自天朝大厦的公共花园，一个来自各行各业的人们能够相遇、相识、相聚的地方。这八面挂幅形成了一种视觉上的「花园」，藉此来分享被主流历史所遗忘或忽略的经历与故事，并去实践世代传承的社群教诲。
麦月明自身与唐人街社区的联繫、其父母在此地工作的经历，以及社区居民多元的生命故事深深影响了这件作品的创作。唐人街的样貌多元而丰富，这个社区不仅是常见的刻板印象，不仅只出现在历史文献中，更不只是用来开发获利的土地。这些挂幅歌颂了唐人街这个社区所涵盖的各种样貌，藉以创造一幅完整呈现社区特色的视觉飨宴。
这些挂幅上所描绘的佛教珍宝──海螺、胜利幢、宝伞、莲花、宝瓶、双鱼和无尽结──代表了关于仁爱的教义，而这些教义可以对应至原住民社群传颂的七项教诲：诚实、谦逊、勇气、真理、智慧、尊重和爱。这七项教诲是教导我们如何与彼此共存共荣的重要原则，而今日，温尼伯的许多学校都实践与分享这七项教诲，希望能够增进下一代彼此间的和解、同理心及联繫。
透过这些挂幅，麦月明希望能真挚地展示今日唐人街社区的多元样貌，佢同时也希望来到此地的访客以及在当地工作、生活的人们都能享受、欣赏这些挂幅。我们邀请您拜访这个社区，在享受美食，探索当地药房、茶馆及餐馆的同时，也别忘了对社区的邻里微笑致意，并学习以崭新的眼光来探看唐人街。
麦月明自身与唐人街社区的联繫、其父母在此地工作的经历，以及社区居民多元的生命故事深深影响了这件作品的创作。唐人街的样貌多元而丰富，这个社区不仅是常见的刻板印象，不仅只出现在历史文献中，更不只是用来开发获利的土地。这些挂幅歌颂了唐人街这个社区所涵盖的各种样貌，藉以创造一幅完整呈现社区特色的视觉飨宴。
这些挂幅上所描绘的佛教珍宝──海螺、胜利幢、宝伞、莲花、宝瓶、双鱼和无尽结──代表了关于仁爱的教义，而这些教义可以对应至原住民社群传颂的七项教诲：诚实、谦逊、勇气、真理、智慧、尊重和爱。这七项教诲是教导我们如何与彼此共存共荣的重要原则，而今日，温尼伯的许多学校都实践与分享这七项教诲，希望能够增进下一代彼此间的和解、同理心及联繫。
透过这些挂幅，麦月明希望能真挚地展示今日唐人街社区的多元样貌，佢同时也希望来到此地的访客以及在当地工作、生活的人们都能享受、欣赏这些挂幅。我们邀请您拜访这个社区，在享受美食，探索当地药房、茶馆及餐馆的同时，也别忘了对社区的邻里微笑致意，并学习以崭新的眼光来探看唐人街。
With joy and
enthusiasm, illustrator Natalie Mark has created banners for Chinatown! Their
work is inspired by the Dynasty Building’s public garden, a place where people
from all walks of life meet. The eight banners are a visual “garden” to share people’s
experiences that history has forgotten or ignored, and to honour community
teachings.
This artwork is shaped by Natalie’s life-long relationship with the neighbourhood, their parents’ experiences as workers here, and the complex realities of people living in the area. Chinatown is more than stereotypes, more than what you can find in historical documents, and more than land for development. These banners celebrate the whole community to create a complete picture of the neighbourhood.
The Buddhist Treasures you see on these banners — Conch Shell, Victory Banner, Parasol, Lotus Flower, Treasure Vase, Pair of Fish, and Endless Knot — share lessons of compassion. This is similar to the Seven Teachings of Honesty, Humility, Courage, Truth, Wisdom, Respect, and Love. The Seven Teachings act as guiding principles in how we can live alongside one another. These days, many schools in Winnipeg share the Seven Teachings to inspire the next generation toward reconciliation and compassion.
Natalie hopes that visitors, residents, and workers alike enjoy the new banners. Their goal is to thoughtfully show the current Chinatown community. You are invited to explore the food, medicine and tea shops and restaurants, to smile at your neighbours, and to see Chinatown with new eyes.
This public art project is a collaborative initiative between the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ promotes, cares and advocates for a vibrant and inclusive downtown where business thrives and people are drawn to live, shop and explore.
Thank you to Dr. Tina Chen, Kwok Ngan, Pauline Leung, Dr. Jiuyong Xie, Yikun Wang, Szu Shen and Sarah Michaelson for sharing your wisdom with us.
Info, documentation, and press on Winnipeg Arts Coucil website -
This artwork is shaped by Natalie’s life-long relationship with the neighbourhood, their parents’ experiences as workers here, and the complex realities of people living in the area. Chinatown is more than stereotypes, more than what you can find in historical documents, and more than land for development. These banners celebrate the whole community to create a complete picture of the neighbourhood.
The Buddhist Treasures you see on these banners — Conch Shell, Victory Banner, Parasol, Lotus Flower, Treasure Vase, Pair of Fish, and Endless Knot — share lessons of compassion. This is similar to the Seven Teachings of Honesty, Humility, Courage, Truth, Wisdom, Respect, and Love. The Seven Teachings act as guiding principles in how we can live alongside one another. These days, many schools in Winnipeg share the Seven Teachings to inspire the next generation toward reconciliation and compassion.
Natalie hopes that visitors, residents, and workers alike enjoy the new banners. Their goal is to thoughtfully show the current Chinatown community. You are invited to explore the food, medicine and tea shops and restaurants, to smile at your neighbours, and to see Chinatown with new eyes.
This public art project is a collaborative initiative between the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ promotes, cares and advocates for a vibrant and inclusive downtown where business thrives and people are drawn to live, shop and explore.
Thank you to Dr. Tina Chen, Kwok Ngan, Pauline Leung, Dr. Jiuyong Xie, Yikun Wang, Szu Shen and Sarah Michaelson for sharing your wisdom with us.
Info, documentation, and press on Winnipeg Arts Coucil website -
I was invited to apply as an artist for a public art initiative for the Chinatown Neighbourhood. Seeing as I have personal/familial roots there as well as specializing in 2D art, I went for it! Normally I don’t apply for contests, but this one was more of a “Contract Award” type gig rather than a usually contest.
2. Sketches + Personal, archival, and community research. I was contracted to come up with concepts. I paired the Buddhist Treasures and the Seven Teachings as conceptual bases and then I used themes and experiences from research to create the initial banner concepts. Anyone who knows the area knows that it’s not just a Chinese neighbourhood, so I really wanted to honour the visible members of the community and promote teachings of compassion, as well as honour those forgotten in the archives.
Pages of brainstorming and sketching eventually led to thumbnails:
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Fine art/contemporary art spaces are different from commercial art and design spaces in that they ask for “refined sketches”. I think if I left my sketches as is, my chance of getting this work would have been lower. I knew I would be presenting these concepts to mostly non-artists, and put in a bit more effort to make my art easier for the committee to visualize (+ a nice presentation doesn’t hurt!)
3. These were then traced over digitally. In the illustration world, we call this step “linears”. This is the step before “finals” where everything is laid out clearly. The actual banners are about 30x90”, but I just made them big enough to do refined drawings and grey flats.
Process
1. There was a written application with emphasis on the artist’s relationship to Chinatown. After being chosen, we had to provide concepts to be presented to a committee.2. Sketches + Personal, archival, and community research. I was contracted to come up with concepts. I paired the Buddhist Treasures and the Seven Teachings as conceptual bases and then I used themes and experiences from research to create the initial banner concepts. Anyone who knows the area knows that it’s not just a Chinese neighbourhood, so I really wanted to honour the visible members of the community and promote teachings of compassion, as well as honour those forgotten in the archives.
Pages of brainstorming and sketching eventually led to thumbnails:
Fine art/contemporary art spaces are different from commercial art and design spaces in that they ask for “refined sketches”. I think if I left my sketches as is, my chance of getting this work would have been lower. I knew I would be presenting these concepts to mostly non-artists, and put in a bit more effort to make my art easier for the committee to visualize (+ a nice presentation doesn’t hurt!)
3. These were then traced over digitally. In the illustration world, we call this step “linears”. This is the step before “finals” where everything is laid out clearly. The actual banners are about 30x90”, but I just made them big enough to do refined drawings and grey flats.
4. One banner concepts had to be taken to final, so I chose the figure that would have different skin tones, but not be so detailed that I would be expending too much labour if I didn’t get contracted for the next part. We aslo had to create a mock up!
5. I privately presented this work to a committee of various community members, educators, and even a graphic designer! I was the second artist presenting my concept proposal so I was quite nervous! It was an opportunity to talk about my work in more depth and also for the committee to provide feedback. It was a nice collaborative process with people who genuinely want to see the area flourish!
As you can tell from my site, I was asked to take my work to final! Find my work in Winnipeg’s Chinatown!
Feb 10th edit: The project is installed in Chinatown as of TODAY!!! Please take a look!