Giant white rabbit wows Taiwan
The Dutch artist whose huge inflatable yellow duck caused a sensation in Asia has now drawn more than one million visitors with a giant white rabbit on show in Taiwan, organisers said Monday.
Florentijn Hofman’s creation, made of waterproof paper material, wood and polystyrene, stands 25 m tall.
The beaming bunny drew 350,000 admirers on Monday alone as Taiwanese celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, bringing to 1,004,000 the total number of visits over five days to the exhibition in the northern city of Taoyuan, the local government said.
PHOTO: Reuters
The creation, an official said, was inspired by ancient Chinese folklore about a goddess who lived on the moon and her companion – a rabbit which constantly pounded the elixir of life for her.
“Hofman said he felt the rabbit might need to take a break after working on the moon for thousands of years,” the official said, speaking of why he posed the rabbit reclining against a bunker at a former naval air base.
The official said the artwork would remain in Taiwan after the festival, which also features installation and performance artists from China and Taiwan, closes on Sunday.
Other 'giants'
Hofman’s yellow ducks drew millions of visitors when they were on display in three Taiwanese cities last year.
The "Rubber Duck" by Hofman rolling into Los Angeles harbour to open the Tall Ships Festival on Aug 20. PHOTOS: AFP
Since 2007 the original duck designed by Hofman – which was 16.5 metres tall – has travelled to 19 cities in 11 countries, including Brazil, Australia, the United States and Hong Kong, on its journey around the world.
Over in London, Hofman's 'HippopoThames', a 20.7-metre-long sculpture, is floating in the River Thames for the next few weeks.
PHOTOS: AFP
In an interview with CNN, Hofman said the hippo idea came after he studied the history of the area, and found out that the animals used to hang around the area, hundreds of thousands of years ago.
He said: "I wanted to use the hippo to get people out of their homes, away from the Internet and the TV, and to explore London with a new perspective."
Source: AFP
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