Giant Whale Makes an Appearance！2020 Taipei Lantern Festival Shines in East and West Districts

By / Scenic Spots Home (compiled and reported)
 
The 2020 Taipei Lantern Festival debuted on February 8, the Lantern Festival, in both the east and west districts of Taipei. This year, the dual main venues were linked together. Aside from the two main lanterns — "Unfurling the Wind God" and "Hide-and-Seek" — shining in Nangang and Ximen respectively, each lantern zone featured unique highlights that connected and illuminated one another.

Connecting the east and west districts was a new challenge for this year’s curatorial team. As the emerging main venue, Nangang’s main lantern “Unfurling the Wind God” not only collaborated with local youthful performance groups but also partnered with the Taipei Music Center. Meanwhile, the Ximen lantern zone integrated the local landscape to introduce the adorable main lantern “Hide-and-Seek,” and invited related performance troupes to put on shows.

Starting in the east district’s Nangang, artist Ke Qiudi created a massive whale, approximately 10 meters long, swimming into Taipei’s urban jungle, becoming a striking urban spectacle. Co-exhibited with the giant whale was "Light Tube." Artist Jiang Ji-yang shared that he hoped to use the enormous light tube that delves into a “wonderland,” along with the steel-sculpted whale in the urban forest, to push the magical atmosphere of the lantern festival to new heights and connect the east and west districts.

The team also created visual rhythm and pace in the colorful west district using point-like spherical light sources, suspended to form patterns in the space.

On the pedestrian overpass in front of Fuxing Elementary School, when people stand still while the escalator slowly ascends, it visually appears as if bulbs are continuously descending — a transmission and also a memory. The tubes on the overpass cling to the railing structure and seem ordinary by day, but at night they glow with warm light, paying homage to the shimmering flow of cinema with subtle shifts in color temperature.

This year’s Taipei Lantern Festival also engaged visitors of different age groups, featuring family-friendly interactive installations in both the east and west zones.

Artist Lin Yulun, who majored in children’s cultural design, brought "Cheese Lunar Madness" next to the giant whale in the east district. On a small green space, he used a landscape light installation to create an extension of the space through the visual effects of light and mirrors.

The west district’s main lantern "Hide-and-Seek" is also like a fairytale story, where children can freely run and play underneath the artwork. Meanwhile, on Zhonghua Road, "Joyful Mice Come Treasure Hunting" features fantastical giant cookie desserts. Under swaying lights, their shadows transform — with oversized ears, pointy teeth, and even long tails appearing！

Artists Lin Yunqiao and the Mirror Interactive Projection Team combined interactive projection technology to let the public discover their shadows turning into mice under flickering streetlights, evoking the childlike joy of exploring and discovering shadows. The creative team hopes this work reflects how city dwellers strive toward their goals, creating “boundless rat-themed” joy at the Taipei Lantern Festival.