When the Chinese New Year came upon us, the students of the Interior Decorating and Visual Display Program, took on the task of creating a décor for the reception area of our centre.
It was thought at first that all materials could easily be bought in Montreal’s Chinatown.
However, it was decided that the students would practice their newly learned skills and create the work themselves to honour this important event.
With the guidance of our Chinese students, we learned about the importance of the celebration, and found that the “year of the horse” was also upon us.
Many students were excited to learn about the enduring qualities that come from being born in a year of the horse, a noble and intelligent animal, deemed to have the moral integrity of human beings.
In Chinese culture, the horse is a symbol of success; those who ride him “will take the lead, and achieve immediate victory”…
And after the class designed, created and installed the decor, our student, Haiyin Duan, created the celebratory couplets to be included in the décor, and under the amazed eyes of fellow students, he magically created the golden calligraphy which, translated by William Byron, reads like this:
China vibrant in landscapes of mountains, of rivers
And of endless sky
At this time, we welcome the New Year of the horse.
Canada, panoramic of landscapes. Its people woven into its
Golden fields, peaks and shores
Eternal, to be embraced forever in health and well being.
China and Canada, both leavened in light.