Chinese New Year celebrations begin this Saturday at FACT with a special programme of free events and workshops for the whole family.
Festivities include a tea ceremony, artistic performances and conversations, a gameplay walkthrough, and a lantern-making workshop. All events are free to take part in – but booking is required.
Teaming up with the Liverpool East and South East Asian Network (LESEAN), FACT is inviting the public to learn about Lunar New Year traditions from members of the community and engage with the digital artworks of East and South East Asian (ESEA) artists.
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“FACT is excited to have teamed up with LESEAN to bring you a vibrant programme of events,” said Kayt Hughes, Public Programme Producer at FACT. “LESEAN has curated an engaging and educational series of events that celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Lunar New Year.
“We're thrilled to be supporting this chapter of LESEAN’s wider programme, and can't wait for visitors to join us over the celebratory period.”
The feast will kick off at 3pm on 21 January with a tasting menu.
Each guest will be served a platter of eight sweet treats inspired by the traditional Chuen Hup (“Tray of Togetherness”) – a gift box filled with treats commonly served during the Lunar New Year.
All the sweets will be vegan-friendly, with a selection of gluten-free options.
The tasting menu will be followed by a GIF celebration at 5 pm.
Inspired by GIFFEST – a Singapore-based festival celebrating animated gifs – the event will consist of original gif creations by ESEA creatives, including local artist b3.png. The event will also include a performance by dance artist Pei Tong.
On January 27, multidisciplinary artist April Lin 林森 will accompany the public on a gameplay walkthrough of The Interface – a custom-built chatbot at the heart of her latest artwork The Earthly Realm is Out of Balance.
A lantern-making workshop on February 5 is aimed at families. Led by LESEAN, childrenand adults alike will learn to craft traditional lanterns in celebration of the Lunar New Year.
After having crafted the perfect Chinese New Year lantern, you can stick around for the traditional tea ceremony at 15.30 pm on February 5. The intimate group workshop will mark the end of the Lunar New Year celebrations at FACT.
All bookings come with a 10% reduction at The Canteen – FACT’s new café and bar. The discount can be claimed within two hours of your ticketed event.
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