WHAT IS VIVA LA VIDA?
Viva La Vida is a global art experiment which explores the meaning of life. In this project, we invite people to answer a simple question “What is your life” by drawing a picture on the spot or online. We encourage people to use the artistic medium to deeply think about and explore the purpose of life. The first offline event was held in Mexico City where we collected ~70 artwork in four hours. So far, Viva La Vida has gradually become a global open source art movement that anyone can host a Viva La Vida offline art experiment to collect people’s drawing. Now we already have presences in 15 countries and has collected more than a thousand people’s drawings.
INSPIRATIONS
Notes from the Founder
“Viva La Vida” is a Spanish phrase meaning "Live the life". It is also the name of a painting created by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. This painting was her last artwork. Even with her death looming near, Frida converted all the pain and sorrow she experienced in life into the liveliness and boldness of her paintings. She is a truly brave and genuine soul.
This really inspired me. If art is the connection between Frida and her life, what are the connections between other people and their lives? How do people perceive life differently? That’s where this art project comes from.
After I did the first experiment in Mexico City on January 3rd, 2018 (that’s why our social media accounts are vivalavida0103), I was amazed by people’s creativity and level of engagement. Thus I decided to make it an open source project. People all over the world can organize this experiment, and we will gather all the artworks online for people to appreciate.
I hope this could be a starting point where people get inspired and begin to think about what their lives really mean to them.
Special thanks to my friend Alex. Viva La Vida won't exist in this world if I never met him.
TEAM MEMBERS
Xiaoning Lyu
Founder
Danxin Wu
Co-founder
Head of Brand
- Minerva Schools at KGI.
- Vice President at APEC Voices of the Future
- "To observe, understand and appreciate different forms of human lives"
- Fudan University
-Bilibili, Kuai, Nielson, Accenture
-"Exploration on ourselves makes us more real."
Yan Zhang
Co-founder
Head of Engineer
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Software engineer at NVIDIA
"YOLO"
Shuyu Li
Lead Designer
- University of Washington
- UX designer at Microsoft
"Stay ignorant, humble and fragile"
Xiaoshu Chen
Product
- Minerva Schools at KGI.
-Argentina Ministry of Education, Stanford Design Institute
"一棵天地间生长的树"
Lili Wang
Curator
- University of Melbourne
-UNESCO
"唯倜傥非常之人称焉"
Jiesen Gao
Product
- Peking University
- Bytedance
"世界对自由的人是如此广阔"
Liying Zhu
Designer
- Washington University
-Development Planning Institute of Zhejiang Province
"Be strong and creative."
Zhongjie Cui
Engineer
- Fudan University
"人生没有白走的路，每一步都算数。"
Jingyun Shi
Marketing
- Fudan University
- Chanel，24HOURS
"爱是我与这个世界建立联系的方式。"
Siying Liu
Curriculum Designer
- University of International Business and Economics
"竹杖芒鞋轻胜马，谁怕，一蓑烟雨任平生"
Dan Liu
Marketing
- 南开大学/Cardiff University
- Caixin Media Group
"野蛮其体魄 文明其精神"
Yuxuan Liu
Engineer
- Fudan University
"Facing the barren inside and outside"
Yuan Lin
Marketing
- Xiamen University
-Uber BD, mobike MKT,AIESEC in XMU
"C'est La Vie."
Huan Lu
Engineer Advisor
- University of Michigan
-Cisco
"一个热爱hiking的人！"
Ruijia Xia
Marketing
- Hong Kong Baptist University
-Uber graphic design, AIESEC
"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"
Zixuan Zhu
Marketing
- Fudan University
-French Embassy Book Club
"On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur."
Shuran Li
Designer
- Cornell University
-Robots in Groups Lab, MITRE
"The human body is 90% water. We are basically cucumber with emotion."
Yu Wang
Operation
- University of International Business and Economics
"When u gotta go, u gotta go."
Xiaoming Shang
Marketing
- Fudan University
-Mattel MKT, Didi
"有限的人生里做些冒险的事情"
Zijun Li
Designer
-Fudan University
"多一种体会人生的方式。"
Tom Pless
Photographer
- Minerva Schools at KGI
Maiqi Liu
Marketing
-Fudan University
-遠夜の空にしも白ろき、天上の松に首をかけ。
Sitong Li
Engineer
-Beijing Institute of Technology
-一个人的理想越崇高，生活越纯洁。
Xiaoyang Sun
Designer
-Fudan University
"Cherish the moment."
Dulce Rivera
Curator
- Minerva Schools at KGI
Bingxue Duan
Marketing
-Beijing Foreign Studies University
-爱生活，爱阳光。
Guang Cheng
HR
-Anhui University of Technology
-Forex Group
Yijun Chen
Marketing
-United World College Changshu China
“没有比对人类的爱更富于艺术性的事业”
Hanbing Zhang
Engineer
-RWTH Aachen
-Siemens, Fraunhofer FIT
-La vita bella.
Yujun Ma
Engineer
-Nanjing University
Xi Chen
Marketing
-Peking University
-Explore the world, explore ourselves.
Margarita Levitova
Curator
- Minerva Schools at KGI
Dan Wang
Marketing
-Anhui University of Technology
-Bull Group
-思念造业。
Yuchu Luo
Engineer
-Hangzhou Electronic Science and Ttechnology University
-It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
MR. XIAO
financial support helped us
through the initial steps
FRIDA KAHLO
inspired us with her vital life
and triumphant spirit
ALEX
motivated Xiaoning to start
this project and persist in it
LI Zhiwei
inspired Xiaoning