Art has always walked alongside the life of Tsuyumi Miwa—from her early years immersed in calligraphy and painting, to her time gracing the screen as an actress and delivering words as a broadcaster. Today, she continues this lifelong dialogue with creativity through her work as a visual artist.
Having lived in Japan, Italy, Australia, and now Singapore—her current base—Tsuyumi’s experiences across cultures have shaped a distinct artistic lens. With brush in hand once again, she explores the intersection of personal memory and the collective memory of Singapore, a land where diverse ethnicities and cultures coexist in vibrant harmony.
In this new column series, Story of Art, we begin by diving into Tsuyumi Miwa’s recent body of work, the Singapore Cultural Series. This ongoing series shines a spotlight on the unsung everyday heroes who form the backbone of Singapore’s multicultural society.
Let us begin by unraveling the story behind the painting that initiated this journey.
【Story of Art.4】Fire Dragon Maker – Building a Modern-Day Dinosaur
A dragon is not merely a mythical creature. It is fire, movement, and the prayers of people, given form through the devotion of human hands.
At the Cantonese temple Mun San Fook Tuck Chee in Singapore, Yan Meng Chye carries on the painstaking craft of building the colossal Fire Dragon.
The Fire Dragon Dance (Huolongwu, 火龍舞; Cantonese: Fo Lung Mooi) is a traditional ritual performance with its origins in Guangdong, China. Its story traces back to the late 19th century in Tai Hang, Hong Kong, when a plague swept through the village. To drive away evil spirits, locals wove a dragon from straw, studded its body with incense sticks, and paraded it through the streets at night. Smoke and sparks rose into the sky, making the dragon appear to be cloaked in flames—thus, the Fire Dragon Dance was born.
Today, Hong Kong’s Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance is recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, performed annually during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Beyond Hong Kong, the ritual has been carried on by Cantonese communities in Singapore and Malaysia.
The Fire Dragon itself is an awe-inspiring creation: stretching over 60 meters and weighing more than 65 kilograms. Crafted from straw wrapped around a rattan frame, its making requires the precision of tailoring. Just the head alone can take two months to complete, while the entire dragon demands nearly half a year of work. The straw, sourced from Xiamen in China, is tied piece by piece with meticulous care.
Once completed, the dragon is blessed in a ritual, and a red dot painted by a calligrapher awakens its spirit. Surrounded by clouds of incense smoke, it comes alive in the hands of more than 80 dancers, chasing the pearl of wisdom, breathing fire, and ultimately offering itself to the flames. Its final ascent to the heavens is not merely a performance, but a moving tale of creation, destruction, and renewal.
In Singapore, this ceremony takes place once every three years, on the second day of the second lunar month, to honor the birthday of the Earth Deity. Each time, the dragon must be ritually invited back, ensuring the cycle continues—summoned, danced, consumed, and reborn.
Dragons in Chinese culture symbolize authority, prosperity, and protection. In Japan, too, dragons appear in legends such as the story of the “Dragon Gate” and in the carvings of temples and shrines. Yet few traditions bring the dragon to life as vividly as this—an immense creature of fire and motion, soaring above the city like a living dinosaur of our time. It is a reminder that through tradition, myth and reality can merge in the most breathtaking of ways.
Next month, we will return with another story of art that transcends time.
🌕 Note
This series is published on the day of each full moon.
The next installment will be released on Tuesday, October 7, 2025. Stay tuned.
