LunarFest has always been a showcase for Asian art. However this year, organizers monkeyed around with that concept.

On the plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery, there was a display featuring three Canadian artists and three Taiwanese artists. Their mission was to integrate simians into their creations in honour of the Year of the Monkey.

One of the most intriguing was a collaboration between Taiwanese master paper-sculpture artist Hsin-Fu Hung and Walter Kao, a student at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Entitled Real Me, it featured identical arrangements of Hung's paper animals on both sides of a table. A frame between them was made to appear like a mirror.

There were also monkeys on both sides, too. No doubt, this fooled some passersby into thinking they were simply looking at a reflection.

Nearby was another work, Imagine, by Taiwanese artist Jhao-Jhen Chen. It looked like a gift but included holes, enabling people to look inside the box and see the monkey.

Urban Zoo was created by local artist Sherri Rogers to depict wildlife in the city. She accomplished this by placing the monkey near images of urban life.

Another piece called On The Way Home featured a monkey peering through a tunnel underneath the ground. Created by Taiwanese artist Yen-Chun Lu, it depicted a pathway to her village. The destination featured an imaginary grocery store that she has wished for.

Then there was an arrangement of banana art collected by B.C. artist Anna Banana. It seemed particularly fitting, given that this is the Year of the Monkey.

Below, you can see more images from LunarFest.