South East Asia’s Largest Balloon Art Festival Held in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur – Renowned international balloon artists from Italy, Japan and Taiwan are attending the largest balloon art festival in South-East Asia which is currently being held from June 11 to 26 in Malaysia.

The Balloon Art Festival in South East Asia at Resorts World Genting features works of six internationally renowned balloon art sculptors – Alberto Falcone and Federico Onida from Italy, Stone Chang from Taiwan, Charry, sisters Azuza Ieizumi and Akane Shibata from Japan.

Well-known Belgian balloon sculptor Tom Bibo will be conducting live balloon twisting demonstrations and balloon workshops throughout the festival. Bibo told The Epoch Times that he was surprised by the performance of the balloon art sculptors from Taiwan and Japan. He revealed that the flair and technique they showcased surpassed what he had seen before.

Attending the Balloon Art Festival in South East Asia balloon sculpture artist from Japan, Azusa Ieizumi, told The Epoch Times she has been sculpting with balloons for 13 years and also is a creative balloon instructor in an international balloon company. “I love balloons! Because they make me happy, and I want to make people happy!”

Ieizumi and her sister, Akane Shibata, have won titles in numerous balloon sculpting competitions across Asia and the US, including 2007 BACI Figure David Grist Award, 2007 Balloon Art World Challenge (Thailand) and 2008 International Balloon Art – Giant Sculpture Master Competition.

Taiwanese Stone Chang Zhao Fu had been in the balloon art field for eight years but it was not until six years ago when he started to take balloon art sculpting as his professional career. Currently, he owns a balloon art sculpting business which has 13 branches across Taiwan.

“The balloon industry is a happy trade,” said Chang. “There are always happy faces waiting for the balloon artists, be it in a wedding or a birthday party. That is why it felt pleasant to be in this industry”.

Chang is considered the most prestigious balloon art sculptor in Taiwan and has won numerous awards. Before engaging in the balloon art industry, Chang was a theme park creative director. He was exposed to balloon art through a TV program which triggered his interest.

“I saw a Japanese sculpting balloons on a TV championship show. He was fantastic! The balloon art industry in Japan at that time was 10 years ahead of Taiwan,” said Chang. “I started to experiment with it. And there was not anybody who could teach balloon art in Taiwan that time, therefore I worked behind closed doors and picked up slowly.”

But Chang said the Taiwanese balloon industry had a history of over 20 years but it only began to flourish about five years ago. Now the industry enjoys great success as Taiwan boasts thousands of retail outlets dedicated to the balloon industry.

Genting Resorts World Marketing Assistant Vice President, Huang Shao Li said Genting had hosted numerous holiday events, including magic shows, singing and Wushu performances. This time, they wanted to do something special.

“When we first had the idea, all of us had the impression that balloon art was not fascinating and childish. Yet when we got in touch with it, balloon art turned out to be something special that we can really explore into.”