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| Once again, visiting company was a great excuse to go down and see the newest exhibit at Bellagio’s Conservatory and Botanical Garden, titled “Chinese New Year, Year of the Goat”. The Chinese calendar runs in a 12-yearly cycle, with each year in that cycle represented by a different animal. According to Chinese astrology, people share personality traits with the zodiac animal of the year of their birth. In the last 100 years, the Year of the Goat has fallen on 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991 and 2003. It is the eighth sign of the Chinese zodiac; the number eight in Chinese is an auspicious one, symbolizing peace and prosperity. According to Chinese astrology, Goats are gentle, mild-mannered souls. They are shy, kind-hearted, compassionate and charming. Goats are the most creative signs, which is lucky, as business is not really their strong point. You will most likely find a Goat working as an artist, writer or craftsman. On the other end of the scale, Goats are quite the worriers. They can be pessimistic, indecisive, moody and insecure; they need to feel loved and protected. This exhibit will be on display from Jan. 9 to March 1. Be sure to visit early in the day to encounter the fewest people possible and get the best pictures. |
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Even though they do use some things over, such as the Chinese boy in (Fig. 02) above, their display is always new. The backdrop with all of the Chinese lanterns makes for an awesome display of color. The large display of Chinese Pagodas (Fig. 03) that filled the center of the room was new and provided a vibrant use of color when contrasted by the yellow and purple flowers. At the rear of the room was a large mountain topped with a half dozen goats (Fig. 01), provided the theme of the exhibit, “Year of the Goat”. A series of waterfalls flowed from its top into a lake that surrounded one side. A house was built into the base of the mountain (Fig. 04). The back corner of the room, which usually contained a painting scene made with flowers, had a large Faberge egg (Fig. 05) in honor of the "Faberge Revealed" exhibit currently being held in the Gallery of Fine Art. Opposite this on the back side of the mountain was a large incense pot (Fig. 07) with ‘smoking’ incense sticks that had been used in previous exhibits. (Fig. 06) shows the detail of the goats on the top of the mountain. The right side of the room contained a beautiful bridge covered lilly pond (Fig. 08) that was filled with coy. As usual, the overall effect of the exhibit provided a colorful, yet calm, relaxing feeling.
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| (Fig. 08) |
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