筷子


中国年鉴


Londres, ©susanalf. 2013
蛇年: Year of the Snake

The second part of Chopsticks took place in New York. That time I focused the camera on the Chinese Community traditions and so the starting point was the Chinese Spring Festival or Chinese New Year.

This time we celebrated the year of the Snake and it started last 10th February. I am going to share with you some pictures I took during those days.

  The Chinese New Year Festival is the most significant holiday for Chinese people around the world, regardless of the origin of their ancestors. It is also known as the Lunar New Year Festival, because it is based on the lunar calendar or Spring Festival, because it is the beginning of the blossom season. The Spring Festival comes on the first day of Chinese Lunar calendar and lasts for almost half of a month.

  The origin of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years through a continually evolving series of colorful legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is that of Nien, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast, which the Chinese believe, eats people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nien away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nien is said to fear the color red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nien away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is kung-hsi, or "congratulations." 

©Susanalf. 2013 
     Chinese New Year Parade: Lion and Dragon Performance.


Chinese New Year fireworks open the events for the Chinese New Year festival. The sounds of firecrackers tell people the new year has arrived.


  On the Chinese New Year day, the first lunch will have only vegetables, because they say it is not good luck to kill on the first day of the year.

Every Chinese New Year Parade ends with a Dragon Dance. The parades start on New Year's Day and continue for the next fifteen days until the end of the festivities with the Lantern Festival.

  The Dragon represents wisdom, power and wealth, and a very important aspect of Chinese Culture. It is also said that the Dragon Dance performed on New Year's Day scares away the evil spirits and all the bad luck with them ... 

Mott St. Manhattan. ©Susanalf. 2013

La segunda parte de Chopsticks tuvo lugar en Nueva York. En esta ocasión mi cámara retrató las celebración del año nuevo chino o fiesta de la primavera, que tuvo lugar el pasado 10 de febrero. Este año se celebra el año de la serpiente.

Canal St. Manhattan. ©Susanalf. 2013

El Año Nuevo Chino, 農曆新年, conocido, en China, como la Fiesta de la Primavera, 春节, es la festividad tradicional más importante del calendario chino.

Las celebraciones comienzan el primer día del primer mes lunar, 正月, y terminan el día quince, cuando se celebra el Festival de los faroles, 元宵节. Este año el año comienza el 10 de febrero de 2013, año 4711).

La víspera del Año Nuevo, el equivalente a la Nochevieja occidental, se llama en chino "chuxi" (除夕, chúxī; chu significa pasar y xi víspera).

©2013. Susanalf
8th Avenue, Sunset Park, Brooklyn. ©Susanalf2013

London. ©Susanalf. 2013

筷子

Last year 2012, the 1st Part of Chopsticks, a work that talks through Chinese images about the different reasons why we sometimes are forced to immigrate to a new country, opened. It talks about our necessity to adapt to a new culture while at the same time we try to preserve our origins.

 The work was divided into two parts: The first episode was shown through sixteen pictures, the settlement and adaptation of the Chinese Community in cities so different as Manhattan (New York) and Santa Coloma de Gramanet (Barcelona), but preserving the common link of its origins. In the second part we discovered twelve photos day to day from 19 September to 19 October, trying to discover the city of Hong Kong.




筷子 - Movie


   El año pasado 2012 se inauguró la 1º parte de Chopsticks, un proyecto que  habla, a través del imaginario de la cultura china, de los diversos motivos que en ocasiones, nos obligan a emigrar a otro país y de la necesidad de adaptarnos a una nueva cultura al mismo tiempo que intentamos preservar nuestras raíces.

El proyecto se dividía en dos entregas: la primera mostraba, a través de dieciséis imágenes, el asentamiento y la adaptación de la comunidad China en ciudades tan dispares como Manhattan (Nueva York) y Santa Coloma de Gramanet (Barcelona), pero manteniendo el nexo común de sus raíces. La segunda entrega constaba de doce fotos, que se fueron descubriendo día a día desde el 19 de septiembre al 19 de octubre de 2012, en un intento de aproximar la mirada a la ciudad de Hong Kong.




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