First Installation of the River Flags
Will Steger’s Homestead, Ely, MN
Artists involved: Wang Ping, Sean Smuda, Ruthann Godollei, Samuel Biorgum.
Feb. 5, 2011
By Wang Ping
By Wang Ping
This is the first gift from the Yangtze to the Mississippi.
The first river flag is consisted of ten pieces of 13x19” silk, six images by Wang Ping from the Yangtze River, the headwater (Tibet), the middle (Three Gorges), and the mouth (Shanghai), three poems by Wang Ping, all about the Yangtze and Mississippi. The other two images are by artists Sean Smuda and Ruthann Godollei. Alison Sommer did the photoshopping and printing.
On Feb. 4, the first day of the Chinese New Year, Lama Yeshi visited Wang Ping’s home and blessed the river flag with chanting, rice, and incense.
Feb. 5, Samuel, Ariel, Leo and Ping drove to Ely to help Will Steger cut the ice to fill his icehouse. Samuel drove, and Ping sewed the flag together on the string. The silk was so dense it almost broke the needle. But Ping managed to put all the pieces together in relatively fine needlework.
The ice cutting was quite a sight. Men and women from all over Minnesota, some from NY, stood in the ankle deep water, sawing squares of ice from the lake, hauling them to the shore, and two giant Belgian horses (each weighs 1800 pounds) pulled them up the hill while children laughed and rolled down the snowy hills. We worked and chatted with the other helpers at the lake.
Will Steger ran down the hill and Ping stopped him to show the flag. He was so excited about the flag and wanted us to hang it in his castle that he’s been building for years, a grand beautiful place Will designed and built for international conferences. He took us to the top of the building, which had just been completed with stunning woodwork and marble and stones. It was indeed a perfect place for the flag, though Ping had wanted it to be outside and let the wind blow it away. But Will really wanted people to see it and read the poems. So Ping told Will that she’d like to hang it outside for a while before she moved it inside permanently.
Samuel and I took the flag outside and found a great spot between two pines. Young Leo came along and helped us hang the flag, then danced and jumped under the flag, singing and chanting in his language. It was another blessing ritual. We took photos then moved it into the castle.
It is beautiful there, with light coming from different directions through windows up and down and all around. Will came up and took some pictures with us. I wanted children to take photos with Will, but they were too busying climbing and sliding in the snow to pay attention to us.
So the first river flag is officially installed in Will Steger’s conference center. Without the elements from nature, it will be there for a long time.
