Illuminating the heart of Chinatown with 72 gold coin light installations throughout south Dixon Street trees, Market of Lights 2017 will rain animated lights of gold coins during 10 magical nights.
The vibrant installation represents the ancient legend of Chinese money coin trees that dates back more than 2000 years with the lucky gold coins symbolising prosperity, wealth and abundance. This culturally rich installation will illuminate vibrant energy to Chinatown Haymarket during Vivid 2017.
Commissioned by Haymarket Chamber of Commerce (HCC), international lighting artists; amigo & amigos with Edison Chen will curate, design and digitally illuminate the gold coin light installation. This first time gold coin lighting installation is sustainably designed with the lights created out of lightweight fully recyclable lampshade material and low energy LED lighting. Red ribbons enhance this already auspicious lighting design with the traditional colour of luck.
Animated with warm gold and red lighting, each coin is etched with traditional Chinese Characters that symbolise luck, treasure and welcomes abundance to the area. The unique glow at night will welcome thousands of visitors and residents as they highlight the beauty of the surrounding Dixon Street trees.
As an initiative by Haymarket Chamber of Commerce (HCC), with the support of the City of Sydney, Market of Lights is an annual event in Haymarket. It aims to highlight and celebrate Haymarket’s diverse cultural community of over 16,000 residents and is one of Australasia’s leading destinations to work, live and play.
HCC commissioned international lighting installation artists firm amigo and amigos and lighting designer Edison Chen to curate, design and create the digital creation of the gold coin light installations. Lightweight recyclable materials and low energy LED lighting will bring the sculptures to life.
HCC President Simon Chan says, “Market of Lights will become a key event in Sydney’s CBD to highlight the city’s most diverse, exciting and culturally rich precinct. HCC are proud to launch this cultural showcase of innovation, art, light and culture in the heart of Chinatown along Dixon Street.”
“Amigo and amigos is pleased to be working with Haymarket Chamber of Commerce in producing this unique light installation that is culturally significant for the heritage of Chinatown and Haymarket,” says amigo and amigos artist Simone Chua.
The installation for the Market of Lights, Haymarket will launch during the Vivid Light Walk with more than 80 spectacular light art installations, large-scale illuminations and mesmerising 3D-mapped building projections.
About Haymarket Chamber of Commerce
Haymarket Chamber of Commerce (HCC) is a not for profit organisation committed to the commercial and culturally diverse growth and development of its communities throughout Haymarket’s Chinatown, Thai Town and Korea Town. This unique precinct is one of Australia’s leading destinations to live, work, invest and visit, attracting over 1 million visitors annually, representing 16,000 residents and over 40,000 workers.
HCC aims are to support the commercial and cultural diversity across Haymarket’s local businesses, visitors, residents and investors to encourage economic growth, cultural transformation and to maintain a sustainable, resilient and connected local community and market place.
Over the next five years, we will experience a historic transformation with investment, tourism and local and international population growth. Haymarket’s evolution from its traditional base as Sydney’s Chinatown to an expanding precinct that will see new infrastructure, increased public transport and new residential and commercial developments to become the most innovative and culturally diverse metropolis of South East Asia.
HAYMARKET FACTS
· One of the top three precincts to increase employment by 23%
· 16,644 Residents* ABS
· 48,071 workers
· Over 3,000 businesses
· Australia’s most walkable precinct* www.walkable.com
· Number 1 precinct for migrants* ABS
· The most popular precinct for shopping / food & dining & art, design and culture in Sydney* NSW Tourism
· In the top three most visited locations for events* NSW Tourism
About Dixon Street
Over the last 150 years the Chinese community’s emergence throughout Sydney’s CBD has centrally gathered in Haymarket’s Dixon Street and is infamously described by the community as the head of the dragon body. As early as 1818 the first wave of Chinese gold rush arrivals in the 1850’s attracted clusters of Chinese residents and businesses into the city. They moved up the sandstone spine of the CBD from the Rocks, through to the old Haymarket site at the bottom of Surry Hills and are known now to be placed along Dixon Street and its surrounds. Some suggest that Chinatown in Dixon Street may be actually older than Hong Kong. Growing and diverse in nature with the many Chinese provinces expanding into the area, this group is a mobile, transforming community in the city.
It is here in Dixon Street, in the 1980’s following global trends in urban place making, that the gates of Chinatown with their own guard Lions were placed to celebrate Australia Chinese Friendship between Guangzhou and Sydney.
2017 marks the 31st anniversary of the Sydney-Guangzhou sister city relationship and the historic ties it represents for some of the first Chinese in Australia. Both are economically dynamic port cities and financial centres, with thriving services and innovation sectors.
About amigo and amigos
Co-founded by Simone Chua and Renzo B. Larriviere is a Sydney based artist studio with a background in Industrial Design. The artists are passionate about lighting and experimental forms. The artists’ body of work showcases their ability to use light and materials to transform spaces and engage the public. Amigo’s projects are predominantly large scale and technically complex. They are playful in nature and are designed to transform environments into memorable experiences, inviting audiences to interact with the work.