2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. As a great pioneer of China’s democratic revolution, Dr. Sun fought tirelessly for the independence, democracy, and prosperity of the Chinese nation. His contributions and influence have been profound and enduring. In the early 19th century, Dr. Sun Yat-sen traveled extensively across the United States, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore in his decades-long revolutionary career, receiving great support from overseas Chinese and international friends.
To commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his remarkable achievements, his hometown Zhongshan City plans to invite sister cities related to his life and career—Honolulu, USA; Nagasaki, Japan; and Penang, Malaysia—to jointly hold a youth art exhibition focusing on Sun Yat-sen in these respective regions. This announcement is for Hawai‘i secondary school students, whose artwork should focus on the activities of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Hawai‘i. See the attached brief historical introduction.
I. Who may participate: Hawai‘i students in Grades 6-12.
II. How to participate
- Painting Creation and Selection
Before the deadline of July 15, 2025,
• register here to indicate that you intend to participate. Then,
• obtain a sheet of art paper or stretched canvas of 11×14 inches from a craft or art supply store, and
• design and execute an original painting using any medium (oil or acrylic paint, watercolor, ink etc.), depicting some aspect of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s life in Hawai‘i. Be as original and creative as you’d like!
• Mat your painting as appropriate.
• Together with your painting, on a separate sheet of paper, submit 2-3 sentences in Chinese (if you can; using characters; either Traditional or Simplified) AND English, describing the content and significance of your work. Include your full name in Chinese and English, your grade level and age, your school, name of your sponsoring teacher (if applicable), and your contact information (including your e-mail address, cell phone #, and mailing address).
• On Tuesday, July 15, between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm, deliver your work to The Mission Memorial Auditorium in the Hawaii Civic Center facing S. King Street. If you cannot make these hours, contact the people listed below for alternate arrangements. Paintings submitted later than 3 pm will not be accepted.
• At 4 pm on July 15, a panel of judges will select 15-20 paintings from the total number submitted.
- Acknowledgement and exhibition in Honolulu:
All paintings submitted by the deadline will receive a Certificate of Participation from the City & County of Honolulu. Selected entries will receive a $100 cash prize from the Chinese Language Education Association of Hawai‘i. They will also be exhibited in the Lane Gallery in City Hall for 2-3 weeks in August, 2025. Thereafter, 15-20 of these will be mailed to Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province, China, hometown of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, to be included in a major exhibition there.
- Zhongshan Exhibition: The opening ceremony of the Zhongshan exhibition will be held on November 12, 2025—the day of Sun’s birth, in the 100th year since his passing in 1925. Sister city delegations will be invited to attend. The Hawai‘i paintings will be included among a similar number from Nagasaki, Japan and Penang, Malaysia, in a month-long exhibition. Afterwards, the paintings will pass into the permanent collection of the Sun Yat-sen Museum in Zhongshan City.
- Please note that your paintings will not be returned. A digital copy of selected paintings will be featured on the website of the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation, https://sunyatsenhawaii.org/. You should make a digital archive for yourself before you submit your work.
If you have any questions, please contact
Yen Chun, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation, yenaloha@gmail.com
Cyndy Ning, Chinese Language Education Association of Hawaii, cyndy@hawaii.edu
