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Photo of the Day: Ukrainian lion, Taiwan bear bump fists for unity

Art exhibition featured Indigenous hip hop 'party animals' from Ukraine, Taiwan

Jul. 11, 2022 18:48

"Unite, ONE for ALL" mural.(Instagram, iversn_rangi photo)

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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An art exhibition was held in Taipei on Friday (July 8) to raise funding for Ukraine through the showcasing of collaborative artwork by Ukrainian and Indigenous Taiwanese artists.

That evening at the Epic Taipei nightclub, Ukrainian artist Yana Voronovska hosted an art exhibition that featured works by a Ukrainian artist who goes by the handle LBWS (Instagram @lbws_168) and is based in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, and an Indigenous artist from the Taroko tribe, Iverson Rangi (Instagram @iversn_rangi).

The main mural in the exhibition depicts a Ruthenian lion on the left and a Formosan black bear fist bumping each other. The lion can be seen wearing a traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt called a vyshyvanka, while the bear is clad in the distinctive vest of the Taroko Indigenous people.

Both outfits feature tribal patterns that are colored white, red, and black. Beneath the lion is the Ukrainian word "ПІДТРИМКА," which means "support," and under the bear are the Chinese characters 團結, meaning "unity."

Rangi said that the fist bump symbolizes the mutual support and solidarity between the two countries and promotes ideas of love and peace, which are also the "spiritual core of hip hop culture." Also featured at the exhibition were Taiwanese and Ukrainian wildlife depicted as "party animals," painted by Rangi, as well as cool cats crafted by LBWS.

Over 80 people attended the event that evening with proceeds going to the People In Need (PIN), a nonprofit humanitarian organization that has been providing humanitarian aid to those in Ukraine, according to the organizers. Those who wish to make a donation can visit the PIN website.

Ukrainian lion. (Taiwan News photo)