Photo: The public art installation has been placed around cafes and along Eagle Lane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) A Brisbane laneway has been transformed with vivid patterns and weavings to celebrate the city's Asian heritage through street art.
Brisbane-based artists Vanghoua Anthony Vue and Elysha Rei drew on their cultural backgrounds to create Weaving Our Heritage, an outdoor installation like no other in the river city as part of the BrisAsia festival.
The colourful creations in Eagle Lane in the CBD has many office workers and curious passers-by stopping to venture down the cobblestone lane.
Photo: Each window pane has been weaved with neon contact, adhesive tape and pieces of industrial tape. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Mr Vue used industrial tape to weave pieces of artwork that pay homage to his Hmong heritage.
"I wanted to reinterpret modern textiles traditions, and I've used Hmong written systems along the way and influences from popular culture, street art and DIY materials," he said.
"I started the work before Christmas and have been working on it every day since then and I love the process."
He said his favourite piece was a large window installation with rows and rows of adhesive weaving.
"I really like the window pieces as it's vibrant and the foam symbols are something different and I've found it really effective," Mr Vue said.
Photo: Lotus flowers and aquatic plant stencils have been painted and pasted onto the laneway around manhole covers. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Photo: Artists Elysha Rei and Vanghoua Anthony Vue standing in front of the Japanese cut-outs in Eagle Lane, Brisbane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Popular culture infused with Asian heritageIncluded in the weaving are nods to popular culture, including strips of contact from the movie Frozen.
"My niece has been watching Frozen a lot and I think it's influenced me a little too much," Mr Vue said.
Photo: Small pieces of Frozen adhesive contact can be seen in the weaving. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Photo: A large cut out appears alongside a popular Brisbane cafe near Eagle Lane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Mr Vue, who was born in Australia, said the exhibition would allow Brisbanites the chance to learn more about the Hmong community.
"I'm sure many people haven't heard of the Hmong community we're mostly in Logan, but we've been here since 1995 and we're a small population that can often go unnoticed," he said.
"That's part of the bright colours ... it's like, 'bam, we're here, come have a look!'.
"Interacting with Asian culture but in an Australian context is really important."
Photo: Artists Elysha Rei wanted to make the lane look similar to the Brisbane River with fish and aquatic plant flowers weaved through the laneway. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Photo: Small fish have been stencilled onto the road of Eagle Lane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Turning Japanese Ms Rei used her Japanese ancestry to inspire her intricate paper cut-outs and paste-ups along the laneway.
Her grandmother is Japanese and her mother is part Japanese and she hoped their cultural influence on her had been shown in a modern Australian context.
"I took inspiration from kimono fabric, symbolism and also from the Brisbane River which was a catalyst for creating work that featured fish and aquatic plants," she said.
"It's almost like we've turned the laneway into a river scene with flowers and fish all dotted around."
Photo: Foam has been used to create 3D images and symbols stuck to the laneway walls with adhesive tape. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Photo: Foam symbols have been decorated and placed along the walls of Eagle Lane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Throughout the laneway small carp fish have been stencilled onto road crossings and guttering.
Stopping office workers in their tracks
Weaving Our Heritage producer Kerry Turnbull hoped the artwork would draw people into the narrow laneway.
"It's a wake-up call on a Monday morning for office workers with fluoro colours and bright paste down on the road," she said.
"I think they're enjoying having something happening in the laneway that's out of the ordinary.
"It's great to have people out and about with art rather than having it on the white walls of the gallery, and making it part of everyday life allows people to view it on the way to work.
"What I hope people get from the display is that they learn a little more about the multiplicities of the Asian cultures here in Brisbane."
Photo: Officer workers stop to look at the art installation in Eagle Lane. (612 ABC Brisbane: Jessica Hinchliffe) Topics:arts-and-entertainment,visual-art,carnivals-and-festivals,human-interest,brisbane-4000First posted February 08, 2016 14:18:06
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-08/asian-heritage-highlighted-for-brisasia-festival-in-brisbane/7147062?source=rss
