STARBUCK × ÄIÄI Candles

Starbucks has invested in social corporate responsibility (CSR) activities for a long period of time, from community clean-up projects, to regular involvement in both small-and large-scale group activities. Since 2010, Starbucks partners had already reached an accumulated 185,000 hours of volunteer work. With Starbucks Taiwan’s 20th anniversary in 2018, from the perspective of the Starbucks brand, the thought is of how more can be done for society and how circular economy and renewable energy issues can be incorporated into Earth Day activities. In addition to the all-store Coffee Grounds Charity Candles, Starbucks will also give back more directly to the community that has cared for it all these years and has filled the Taiwan brand with so much love for the earth.

“If the Earth is Our Mother” is the light / ritual / multimedia / interactive work exhibited by ÄiÄi Illum Lab in the 2017 Nuit Blanche Taipei overnight public art exhibition.

The inspiration for “If Earth is Our Mother” came from the traditional Hawaiian therapy of ‘Ho’oponopono’. Comprised of four phrases of cleansing and healing (‘I love you’, ‘I am sorry’, ‘please forgive me’, and ‘thank you’), it is intended to build a connection between modern humans and the Earth. While using candlelight and calligraphy pen to write out the ‘four phrases’ of Ho’oponopono in a ceremony where participants gather for a congenial party, Mother Earth begins to repair relationships from the ‘heart’.