Hua Niao Island International Public Art Festival images have been launched as part of the Lightscapes program at the RMIT City Campus and Melbourne Central (B2 & B24 Rodda Lane and Knox Place) as part of our partnership with the Huaniao Island (meaning flowers and birds in Chinese) International Public Art Festival near Shanghai, China with East China Normal University. 

Huaniao Island Public Art Festival is an annual festival on an island near Shanghai, China. Over the years, the islands' isolation has diminished the population. Currently the remaining inhabitants are mostly over the age of 55, with negative population growth since 1998. This context has inspired local authorities to consider how they can activate the island through contemporary art and cultural tourism to attract new generations of people in sustainable ways. The themes of the festival include the 'field' and the 'encounter' focusing on site specific and socially engaged work relating to the environment. 

RMIT and ECNU artists worked in unseen sites and relied on intercultural communication to develop their works during pandemic conditions. The festival launched on 16 of July in 2021 and lasted three months and in 2022 ECNU staff and students have continued to work with our PhD Candidates, Sherry Liu and Wilson Yeung to further develop projects for Huaniao Island. ECNU has been an International partner of the SoA for over 10 years through collaborative exhibitions, creative exchanges, workshops and international pathways. This project continues and extends our ongoing commitment to cross-cultural exchange and dialogue at the School of Art with our International partners.

The images on display demonstrate artworks develop for the island and include projects by artists:

1. The Tension Between by Ourania(Rani) Amvrazis (RMIT)

2. Tears of Blue by Rory Daniel (RMIT)

3. Finding Children of Compost by Mee-Yee (Clara) Chan (RMIT)

4. I See the Clouds of September by Haoran (Renee) Yuan (RMIT)

5. Tying Knots by Ruijia (Grace) Fan (RMIT)

6. Lost Wind of the Flower Birds by Bixiao (Frankie) Zhang (RMIT)

7. Daily Catch by Yan Wang (RMIT)

8. Warrior Tattoo by Ruiqi Qiu (RMIT)

9. Free and Unfettered by Neryhs Wo (RMIT)

10. Coralline by Bo(Gemma) Pang (RMIT)

11. Sea of Life by Linya Huang (ECNU)

12. Spring is just around the corner by Xinyu Gu (ECNU)

13. Scenery of Huaniao by Xingyuan Su (ECNU)