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Lantern of the East Los Angeles |
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About Us |
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LELA Meeting August,2010 at Phillippe's in Los Angeles. Left to Right Front Row Seated: Miguel Mauricio, Hideo Okamura, Rey Zipagone, Vera Armand, Kumiko Kamino,Phillipine, Barbara Tabachnik, Hideo Sakata, David Jung. Standing Left to Right: Temoc, Michico Smith, Norma Jean Squires, Merrilyn Duzy, Avinger Nelson,Lauren Woods, Barbara Nathanson, Nobuyuki Okada. |
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| Mission | |||
| Lantern of the East , Los Angeles (LELA) is a distinctive arts organization, with deep roots in the countries of the Pacific Rim. It has a rich history of uniting visual artists in the production of exhibitions, workshops, performances and special events. A major aspect of the Lantern of the East tradition is the sponsorship of Art Camps which feature professional artists working with youth to transmit both the skills and passion for the experience of artistic creation. | |||
As we enter the 21st Century, and as the Asia-Pacific region gains in cultural as well as economic prominence, LELA has recently undertaken a restructuring of its organization with a view towards expanding its commitment to providing programs to serve its artist members and the broader communities worldwide. LELA's mission will continue to emphasize the points of unity between East and West, drawing on strengths in both traditions, as it continues its productive work dedicated to the arts and art education.
HistoryLantern of the East is an art movement initiated by four Asian artists, Lee Kye Song, Hideo Sakata, P. Khemraj, and Yoko Kamijyo, who became concerned about trends in the contemporary art world in the late 20th century. These artists viewed the art scene as becoming increasingly dominated by commercial forces and tending towards a mono-cultural, Western-oriented bias. This perception was reinforced when the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996 at their special exhibition of ' 20th century Great Artists' featured scant representation from Asia. The Lantern group believed that Eastern art, with a different sensibility derived from the distinctive religious and cultural traditions of the Asian region, needed to become a more active force in the contemporary visual art scene and that in doing so, would be a driving force in reshaping the world of contemporary visual art in the 21st century. The Lantern of the East founders are motivated by the conviction that art can unite people in our troubled modern world across boundaries of race, faith and national borders, helping all of us to reconnect with our fundamental spiritual essence and to find an inner peace and happiness. In that spirit, the founders began, in 1996, an annual international art festival to communicate the spirit of Eastern art to the world. The movement these Asian artists started became rooted in one of the Korean cities, Pyong Taek city. The city regularly hosts the Lantern of the East International Art Festival. The founders of Lantern of the East hope that more local cities in the world like Pyong Taek city join this movement and provide spaces to enjoy and appreciate non-Western contemporary art. APEX in L.A., which marked the 10th anniversary of the Lantern of the East International Art Festival, was the largest and most ambitious project in its history. It presented not only the spirit of Eastern art but also introduced the sensibility of Central and Latin American art. |
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Art Festivals 1st |
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