Find The Rainbow In The River

Public anthropological record
Property of the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís, Eörpe

“Find the rainbow in the river” is an annual tradition practiced at the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís by the students attending any of the programs at the Creatives Lyceum.

Etymology & Definition

The name of the tradition originates from a lusoyan saying that goes ‘beauty and meaning can be found even in the most simple and mundane of things’. It was a commonly spoken piece of encouragement to students and coworkers alike by a former Head of Community Arts, Setsuvah.

History

Origin

The tradition originates from what was intended to be a one-time event honoring the memory of the Head of Community Arts Setsuvah, after she had passed away due to illness. Anyone who wanted to contribute to the memorial event was given access to the Creatives Lyceum to create a piece of visual art that’d be put on display in the stretch of the Vilde River running through the academy grounds.
The Creatives Lyceum was open for a full month in order to give everyone ample of time to finish their contribution, and the attendance number was far higher than had ever been anticipated. One week before the students’ official summer vacation began the river was filled with a myriad of colorful works of art. It was covered in several news reportages and became a primary target for tourism for the rest of the summer.

Modern Practice

The original event was so widely appreciated that requests for a repeat started dropping in en masse already the following autumn. The event has run annually since but with a much more limited scope.

Observance

The event is run annually, with preparations starting two weeks before the student’s summer vacation. The event is typically publicly announced on all common forms of media in Hövnís to draw attention and tourism.

Participants

Today the tradition is limited in involvement and only includes attendees to any of the Creative Lyceum’s art programs. Participation is voluntary.
Most art teaching will be involved in preparing and organizing the event, and there'll be a number of maintance workers aiding in setup and removal of the artworks.

Preparation

All students at the Creatives Lyceum that’d like to participate in the event are asked to spend the last two weeks of their semester to look through and reflect on all their creations made over the course of the year. They’re then to choose the piece they’re most proud of and submit it before the end of the semester. Along with the submission they're also able to give a short request on where and how they'd like their art piece to be displayed.
Once the deadline for submitting pieces of art has passed, the art teachers involved in organizing the event, alongside local maintenance workers, are responsible for setting up the art displays during the following weekend.
Depending on the nature of the art piece, different methods of assemblage is used. The most common method is using transparent podiums fastened on the river’s bottom with the art piece placed on top which will give the illusion of it free-floating above the water under certain lighting conditions. Sculptures and other physical art objects, with their creator’s approval, have been seen partially submerged or fully placed on the river’s bottom.

Execution

The art exhibit remains up through the entirety of the summer and is a highly popular target for tourism during that time. At the beginning of the autumn semester the exhibit is ended, and the art is recovered and given back to their respective creators.

The River Artworks

Below is a selection of the artworks displayed at the original memorial event. Due to being dedicated to the memory of Setsuvah, most of the art that went up on display touched on subjects known to have been dear to her.

The River Flower

by Fiona Art

The former head of community arts was named after a common but famously beautiful flower found abundantly in the calm rivers of her homworld, Cajlu.
This particular piece was a composition made from a shellstone frame with the petals and leaves shaped from colored keishun-silk. By letting the colors increase in transparency toward the edges it gave the illusion of melting in with the water when set to float on its surface.

Seeing Beyond the Rainbow

by Steve Johnson

Setsuvah sometimes expressed that having eyes that can see far beyond the spectrum of colors of most of her peers and coworkers were both a blessing and a curse in her line of work.
This small rounded dome with a light-catching orb at its center, was placed on the bottom of the calmest river bend. As light shone on the orb, the reflective dome around would scintillate in an impressive range of hues and tones.

Life of Color

by Merlin Lightpainting

Art in all its forms were a lifelong passion of Setsuvah, and before her exile from the Ascendancy she had been on her way to renown as a sculpter and painter on her homeworld of Cajlu.
A bust of Setsuvah was placed on a podium close to the lyceum itself. Thin and carefully shaped luma-thread, powered by a minimal energy pack, gave it an etheral shine during the darker hours.

Soul on Cajlu

by Martyseb

Though she rarely, if ever, spoke of why she had to leave her home, it was always clear that she dearly missed Cajlu. Many hoped that her soul now finally could return home where it belonged.
One artwork featured a photo of the vast Calju ocean, supposedly close to her birth town, as its base with a silhouette of Setsuvah and a colorful rainbow thinly painted on top.