In remembrance of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Festival has now become a fun day out for the family - a time to enjoy dragon boat races and rice dumplings.

Local artist Luis Chan liked to bring together eastern and western styles as well as new and old creative approaches to tell Hong Kong stories. This Dragon Boat Festival scene is not traditional at all, as the artist added imaginary objects to present a dreamy world that mixes reality and ­fiction. Can you find these objects in his painting?

Luis Chan was born in Panama in 1905 and settled in Hong Kong in 1910. The source of his paintings has always been based on landscapes of Hong Kong and his own state of mind. For several decades, he has been continuously representing what he has seen and heard in Hong Kong by combining the styles of Chinese and Western art, and the new with the old.

He expresses his subconscious ideas in his paintings, such as the distorted, mysterious animals and objects that are scattered throughout the present work. The dragon boats in the painting have already become the symbol of dragon boat festival in contemporary Hong Kong. This festival, which was originally dedicated to the commemoration of the great Chinese poet Qu Yuan of the third century B.C. has also developed into a festival in which many traditional activities are held. Nowadays, watching dragon boat racing in the festival has also become a leisure activity for families, providing physical and mental relaxation.

Dragon boat festival_Look and find.jpg

Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA)

Dragon boat festival

Most artists leave a personal mark on their paintings. In western paintings, you will often see the artist’s signature, while in Chinese paintings a seal is added. How did Luis Chan sign this painting? Look carefully and you will fi­nd a seal with his English name and year of painting.

Standards for Dragon boat race in the eyes of Luis Chan