The Dance of The Lonely Lion: In Searching of Home

2025

This project reimagines the traditional Chinese lion dance to explore the emotional experience of homesickness among international students. Inspired by the designer’s childhood memories of lion dance in Guangzhou and the unexpected feeling of homesickness when seeing it abroad, the work transforms the lion from a symbol of celebration into emotional expression. The costume was handmade, featuring soft crochet fur and symbolic home elements like the kapok flower. Through participatory workshops, interviews, and a film, international students were invited to wear the lion costume, dance as a lonely lion, and share their stories. The project becomes a bridge between tradition and contemporary culture. It offers a space for reflection, connection, and being understanding. This work explores how tradition can be both preserved and reinterpreted, not frozen in time, but alive, and able to speak to contemporary experiences of identity, longing, and connection with modern society. 

此项目重新诠释了中国传统的醒狮文化，以探讨留学生的思乡情感经历。灵感来自设计师童年在广州观看醒狮的记忆，以及在异国他乡看到醒狮时突如其来的思乡之情，作品将醒狮从象征庆典的形象转化为情感表达的载体。手工制作的“孤独小狮子”采用柔软的毛线钩织狮被，并融入了象征“家”的元素，如木棉花。通过参与式工作坊、采访和影像记录，邀请留学生穿上狮子服饰，化身为孤独的小狮子起舞，分享他们的故事，为其提供一个反思、连接与被理解的空间。本项目试图建立传统与当代之间对话的桥梁，探索非物质文化遗产在现代语境中的活化路径，使其不仅被保存，更能以崭新的方式回应当代社会关于身份、归属与情感表达的多重议题。

Watch The Lonely Lion’s Journey, a documentary sharing real stories of international students and their longing for home.
观看《孤独狮子的旅程》完整影像记录，聆听留学生关于身份、思念与家的真实故事。