EX Weekend 2018

[rusty_armour]

There was a lot to see this year at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition). In addition to the annual cat show and sand sculptures, there were giant gnomes and an incredible indoor lantern exhibit. As usual, my mom and I had a good day at the EX.

I had recently been discussing Sherlock Gnomes with pyrateanny, so I was amused to learn that there would be giant gnomes in the Heritage Court of the Enercare Centre. In this alarming display, there are three 6-foot tall gnomes and three 12-foot high gnomes “crafted out of their native greenery”. Apparently, the goal is to make visitors feel dwarfed when usually it’s the other way round.









I have yet to see Sherlock Gnomes, but I can definitely recommend the trailer if you haven’t watched it already:

Click to view

As usual, there were wonderful sand sculptures in the Heritage Court as part of the International Sand Sculpting Competition. I think these sculptures speak for themselves:

















The indoor lantern exhibit, Legends of the Silk Road Come to Light, is a celebration of Canada-China tourism. There are 17 illuminated sculpture installations made of 4000 metres of synthetic silk and 55 metres of steel. I think my pictures turned out surprisingly well for the most part, but the sculptures are more impressive when you see them in person.



The Princes’ Gates

The first installation in the exhibit (after the Princes’ Gates) is The Adventures of Marco Polo. The sculptures recapture the sights and sounds of that 24-year journey on the Silk Road to China:











The next installation is The Four Dragons. These dragons were captured by the Sky Emperor Jade because they did not ask his permission before delivering water to human beings. The Emperor ordered the four mountains to sit upon the dragons, and the dragons were chained and imprisoned forever. However, the Four Dragons still managed to help people in need by transforming themselves into four rivers that brought water from east to west and north to south. In other words, this is the legend behind the four great rivers of China.

















The theme of the next installation is the fairies of Lake Saif-ul-Malook:









In The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor installation, we catch a glimpse of the adventures of Sinbad and his crew on the island of Krakatoa:



















Atlas







Mom with Atlas





The Minotaur





Aladdin and the Genie of the Lamp

The sculptures below are from an installation called Portraits of Power. It represents the way in which every culture has “stories and legends of strong women and wise men who have risen to the occasion to help and shape communities acting as inspirational heroes and guides”. In this collection, we see such figures as a wizard, Mulan, and an Amazon woman.



This looks suspiciously like Gandalf









This is one of my favourite sculptures in the exhibit



The next installation is Animals of the World and it showcases these stories: The Legend of How the Zebra Got its Stripes, The Legend of How the Giraffe Got its Long Neck, The Legend of How the Tiger Got its Stripes, and The Legend of How the Lion Got its Long Mane.















This will probably be pretty self-evident, but the next installation is a display of mythical creatures:











With the Sacai - The Tang Horse installation, artists celebrate the war horses that were the pride of the Tang Dynasty:















Phoenix Rising



Pegasus



Griffin



Icarus



Jack and the Beanstalk



The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg





Hansel and Gretel



I was lucky enough to find this beautiful print by Daniel Turres at the Pop Fiction
booth in the Arts, Crafts & Hobbies Pavilion. I saw a greeting card of the print
first and instantly recognized the Christopher Reeve Superman. The man running the
booth (who happens to be the artist’s father) must have seen the way I had eagerly
plucked it from the stand because he asked me if I was planning to send it to
someone. No! Mine! Chrissy! Mine! I explained that I was planning to keep it, so he
directed me to a slightly bigger print that wasn’t a card. Then I noticed that there
were even bigger prints, so, naturally, I got one of those. Yes! Yes! More Chrissy! Yes!

Crossposted at https://rusty-armour.dreamwidth.org/173290.html