Old pop-up card inspiring paper artist to rekindle interest in the art

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Drawing inspiration from an 88-year-old Taiwan-made pop-up greeting card, Taiwan paper artist Hung Hsin-fu (洪新富) is hoping to re-introduce the allure of paper art to give people a greater appreciation of the art form and Taiwan's culture.

Hung intends to reproduce the card to give greater exposure to paper art and the power of Taiwan's creative traditions and launch a journey in search of its cultural and creative roots so that more works can be discovered.

In an interview with CNA on Monday, Hung, a renowned Taiwanese paper artist who pioneered the folded paper zodiac lanterns that are passed out annually during the Lunar Lantern Festival, spoke of his hopes and source of inspiration that has been with him for 25 years.

He recalled that he was presented the artifact by the owner of an antique shop when he and a friend went treasure hunting in Taichung 25 years ago for a lantern cover made during Taiwan's Japanese colonial-era (1895-1945).

When he found out that Hung worked with paper, the owner pulled out a greeting card and a patent application from a drawer and said "This has been waiting for you for a long time."

Hung showed CNA a copy of the patent application, which showed that the document, given the file number 71945, was submitted by a man called Huang Ken (黃根).

The form was filed by a Japanese government employee identified as Yoshiaki (or Yoshikane) Kishi in Showa 11th year (1936).

Hung said he was mesmerized not only by the fact that the patent was submitted 88 years ago, but also by the presence of the Elderly Immortal of the South Pole, a Chinese deity of longevity, whose hands would rise from within the card to greet its holder when opened.

The Taiwanese artist said he could not help but get goosebumps from the card, adding "It's like it was destiny that it found its way to me, like it was all meant to happen."

Hung said he found a kindred spirit in Huang, who did what the modern artist had been doing for decades, reinventing and developing paper art to create surprises, such as making a blessing from a deity vividly and unforgettably three-dimensional.

Huang must have put in a lot of work in the process of creating the card, said Hung, who was so impressed with Huang's work that he wanted to track down the pioneer's descendants.

Hung said he searched to no avail for two decades, until details left by Kishi took him to Taipei's Dadaocheng area where he finally came across Huang's descendants three years ago.

The presence of this and other priceless innovations and artifacts in Taiwan explains why he wanted to undertake the mission of documenting the development of Taiwan's cultural arts and unearth more creative art pieces, such as Huang's patent.

Aside from pioneering Taiwan's annual festive lanterns, Hung is also one of the main engineers behind one of Taiwan's world-record achievements.

On April 19, 2013, Hung, the Taichung City government and many of the city's teachers and students broke the Guinness world record for having "Most pop-ups in a pop-up book" after displaying the colossal art piece outside of city hall.

The gargantuan pop-up art told the story of a family of four who toured 148 of the city's most popular tourist hotspots.