Student Work Showcased at Chinese Folk Art and Culture Festival

Alumna Yuhan Song’s VR project, Wardrobe of Qing Dynasty, was an attraction at the 4th New York Chinese Folk Arts and Culture Festival.

NYIT students and alumni were among 35 artists who showcased their artwork at the 4th Lunar New Year Chinese Folk Art and Culture Festival in Queens, N.Y., on January 19.

More than 20 community organizations, hundreds of community members, and VIPs including New York State Senators Toby Stavisky and John Liu, New York City Council member Peter Koo, and the Honorable Lei Wang, Deputy General Consul of China’s Consulate in New York, were in attendance.

The festival was organized by the New York Council of Chinese American Associations, a major non-profit organization of the Chinese community in Queens.

Digital film and television production students Jian Chen and Haobang Geng hosted a presentation of three NYIT student-produced films:

• Number Secrets of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, by Jian Chen, Haobang Geng, and Huiyu Liu
• Suzhou Embroidery, by Yi Ding, Xuan Dong, Yucheng Hang, and Jiamin Li
• Happiness of Kite, by Zhuoxiu Li, Fanan Jiang, Jialin Jin, and Congyan Jin

Four NYIT students received Elite Youth Leadership and Volunteer Program certificates. Beginning fourth from left: Haobang Geng, Jian Chen, Yu Liu, and Zirui Zhang.

The films were well received and represented Chinese culture with “a high standard of professionalism and film quality,” according to Cheryl Zhang, senior student support specialist in NYIT Office of Global Engagement, who accompanied the students to the festival.

The festival also featured works by artists Yuhan Song (M.F.A. ’18) and Jiaqi Zhu (M.F.A. ’18). Song’s virtual reality project, Wardrobe of the Qing Dynasty, was especially popular with the crowd and attracted interest from Chinese television network Sinovision and other media.

All volunteers, including business administration student Yu Liu and digital film and television production student Zirui Zhang, received Elite Youth Leadership and Volunteer Program certificates from Mei Chen, president of the event organizer. Chen mentioned the participation of NYIT’s students and alumni in her keynote speech, saying that their works represent a high level of art created with advanced technology. NYIT’s role in the festival was also acknowledged in reports including Sinovision, World Journal, China Press, and other Chinese-language media.