Seexeng Lee to unveil artwork at Dragon Festival
ST. PAUL – Local emerging Hmong artist Seexeng
Lee will be unveiling a painting titled "Unity in Diversity" to the accompaniment of an original composition by
the same name by local Asian Pacific musicians under the direction of Rick Shiomi, artistic director of Mu Performing Arts,
at this year's Dragon Festival on Sunday, July 15 at Phalen Park, St. Paul.
Dragon Festival, the all-volunteer
run nonprofit organization that puts on the annual two-day Pan-Asian celebration, largest in the Greater Twin Cities area,
was awarded a $14,000 Cultural STAR (Sales Tax Revitalization Program) Grant from the City of St. Paul for Seexeng Lee's
art project.
"Unity in Diversity" is a large-scale (5' x 8') relief painting showing five hands
in different colors putting pieces of the State together. One of the pieces represents the City of St. Paul, where the Dragon
Festival takes place. A 24K gold leaf ribbon with the words "We Are One" in different Asian languages is woven in
and out to depict and reflect the unique characteristics of the different ethnicities. According to Lee, this painting, commissioned
by the Dragon Festival, is the embodiment of the spirit of the Festival that aims to unite the various Asian Pacific communities
within the Twin Cities. Lee plans to have Festival participants put their own mark on and help complete the piece by painting
a small piece of the painting.
The use of gold leaf is a signature of Lee's works. In Hmong culture, gold,
silver and currency show value. "I choose important symbols and subjects that best represent Hmong culture and combine
them with the best visual art style in hopes of enlightening my viewers. The technique I chose to use was gold leafing,"
he says.
Lee's first "canvas" was a dirt floor in Laos and his "brushes" were wooden sticks.
When his family emigrated to the United States in the 1984, he realized the best way to communicate was through art. However,
his parents wanted "bigger and better" things for him and art did not fit that category in the Hmong culture. Lee's
solution to satisfy his own interest and his parents' wishes was to teach art! Armed with degrees in Studio Art and Secondary
Education, Lee has been teaching since 1997.
The Cultural STAR Grant, funded with 10 percent of a half-cent citywide
sales tax created by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1993 to support economic development in the City of Saint Paul, promotes
"growth in Saint Paul by strengthening the arts and cultural sector…"
"Awarding the Dragon
Festival the Cultural STAR Grant is truly an affirmation of the City's commitment to the arts and to diversity. We applaud
the City," said Evelyn Lee (no relation to artist Seexeng Lee), chair of the Dragon Festival.
The musical
composition, also titled "Unity in Diversity" is funded by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. A select
group of local Asian musicians under the direction of Rick Shiomi, artistic director of Mu Performing Arts, with Mr. Zhang
Ying as lead composer, are working on a piece using various Asian instruments. It will be approximately 20 minutes long .
Other highlights of this year's two-day Festival include:
• Opening ceremony at noon, Saturday,
July 14 which includes a dragon dance, blessing the boats and teams by Thai monks, story of the dragon boat races and "awakening"
the dragon; immediately followed by
• A reenactment of a traditional Indonesian Minangkabau wedding where
the bride is decked out in highly ornate headdress and clothes trimmed in gold. Minangkabau, "victorious buffalo,"
is a Muslim tribe in West Sumatra, the largest island in Indonesia. The Minangkabau tribe is one of a handful of tribes in
the world that is truly matriarchal.
• Dragon boat races
• Free canoe rides, courtesy of Wilderness
Inquiry
• A Community Village where visitors can view cultural displays, chat with representatives from different
cultural organizations to learn about the different cultures, and watch craft demonstrations.
• Cultural performances
ranging from Mongolian acrobats to Chinese guzheng players to Japanese dancers
• Wide variety of martial arts
demonstrations including Thai, Chinese
• Authentic ethnic foods and merchandise for sale
•
Supervised children craft activities
Festival organizers are arranging free off-site parking with shuttle service
to the park. The two-day event is free to the public, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors: Allianz, Ameriprise Financial,
Clearway, HRK, Qwest, State Farm, Target, Wells Fargo.
For details about the festival and to see photos from past
festivals, please visit www.dragonfestival.org.
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