Hongkong and Shenzhen
Hongkong is obviously fascinating as a cityscape, especially Pei’s Bank of China building (though unloved by locals due to alleged Feng Shui problems, not least the two antennae that resemble vertical joss-sticks, a symbol for death). But the downside is the seamy world of bars and discotheques – right around the corner from the arts centre tower which houses the Goethe Institute and numerous other institutions – where young women from the Philippines and other parts of East Asia are desparately hoping to find a wealthy local husband.
This year is the tenth anniversary of the handover of Hongkong – someone I spoke…
by Jörg Heiser on 26/10/07 | No responses | Read More
China
Beijing is a safe and predominantly clean city, relatively easy to navigate by taxi (as long as you have your destination written in Chinese, or can get someone on the phone to explain to the driver). But when it comes to art, it’s a buzzing hotchpotch of sheer pomposity and chaotic energy.
Uli Sigg, the former Swiss ambassador to China, who has arguably the most internationally renowned collection of Chinese contemporary art (some 1300 works), has initiated the annual Chinese Contemporary Art Award, as well as the first Chinese Art Critic Award, for which I was invited to be on the jury, together…
by Jörg Heiser on 17/10/07 | 1 response | Read More
Reality Czech
In Prague, the past lives alongside the present and the future like a silent but unavoidable house guest. The city’s National Gallery is based in the Veletrzní Palác, a six storey Functionalist behemoth built in 1928 to house the trade fairs of the flourishing central European city. Now proudly presenting an expansive collection of Czech and international masterpieces, it is directed by controversial director Milan Knízák, himself an artist who is not shy of installing vast examples of his own sculpture in the forecourt of the museum. While Knízák, like many, struggled during the Communist era to keep his avant-garde conceptual practice hidden from the…
by Jonathan Griffin on 21/09/07 | No responses | Read More
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