Scotch College

Enter the Junior School dragon

Does the Chinese dragon created by Junior School boys fly off late at night, bringing good luck to people in distant places?

Words: Ms Priscilla Williams – Head of Junior Art Photography: Ms Jocelyn Pride

Inspired by the Olympics in Beijing and the theme of ‘One World, One Dream’, Scotch students embarked on a collaborative project in term three 2008 to make an imaginative creature, important to the Chinese people and in concert with the Olympic theme.

The symbol of a dragon was chosen because it is a mythological creature deeply rooted into the Chinese culture. The Chinese often consider themselves descendants of the dragon, and there is a belief that the dragon brings good luck to people, symbolising great power, dignity and auspiciousness.

Lyn Ferrall, a well-known artist and educator who exhibits work across a range of venues, was invited to work collaboratively with the art department and students to create our very own seven-metre-long textile Chinese dragon. Many of Lyn’s pieces are part of an impressive list of artist-in-residencies across the country. She is highly regarded in the teaching profession, running courses for art teachers and teaching part-time as an art specialist in government schools.

Every boy in the Junior School worked with Lyn and contributed ideas, skills and art pieces to the three-dimensional design. Some highlights of the project included pompom making with Preps, hand-sewn quilted scales by Year 4, and felt-making techniques from the Silk Road to make Year 6 felt scales, Year 3 spikes and Year 2 felted spheres. More than 1,700 hours were devoted to making pieces for the dragon, and many more were required to carefully attach each of the 400 art works to the final body.

On 25 November, an audience of over 450 gathered on the Junior School Oval to witness an official awakening ceremony, with dancing Chinese lions and music. The Scotch dragon came alive and danced among guests and students, allowing everyone to see the beauty and awesome artwork adorned all over his body.

Over the summer holidays the talented maintenance team installed our large collaborative puppet in the Junior School library. Competitions were run to name him during first term, and many stories are now being told about the dragon’s adventures.

The Chinese say that the dragon is a kind of amphibian with the ability to move on land, fly through the air and swim in the sea. It seems our dragon possesses magical abilities and rumours are now whispered that he leaves the library each night and travels to distant places, bringing joy and good luck to many. GS