Around the time of the Shanghai World Expo last year the Rhône-Alpes region of France produced a wonderful series of short films about their twin city. I can’t find much background about them but for anyone with an interest in Shanghai they provide a wonderful glimpse into this burgeoning metropolis at the turn of the last decade.
A friend of mine from South Korea sent me this video today by David Dutton which provides a wonderful perspective on a trip he made from Daejeon to Seoraksan to Busan to Seoul. I’ve visited many of the same places on my various trips to Korea over the past few years and this brought back a lot of happy memories for me – hope you enjoy it:
It’s been a while since we last visited the more unusual side of Japan but today I thought I might share with you a few more unique, or shall we say alternative, artists who roam its shores providing us with some refreshingly different distractions (see Parts 1, 2, & 3). Presented in order of high to low artistic integrity!
Whilst walking down Hollywood Road yesterday I noticed that the old decommissioned Central Police Station compound was playing host to a free art exhibition providing a unique opportunity to take a look inside one of Hong Kong’s oldest colonial relics.
Every year in late April or early May, Hong Kong celebrates the birthday of Tin Hau (媽祖), also known as the Queen of Heaven and Goddess of the Sea. Legend has it that over 100 years ago Tin Hau stood on the shore guiding fishing boats home, unperturbed by typhoons and storms.
Away from the glitz of Hong Kong’s many skyscrapers the city is much like any other with a mix of people from all walks of life. Having been segregated from mainland China for much of the last century it’s developed it own unique culture and ways of dealing with the inherent lack of space.
On a warm Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago I paid a visit to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (萬佛寺) in Shatin, Hong Kong. As you might have imagined there are a lot of Buddhas but the name is somewhat misleading since it’s actually managed by laypeople and there are no resident monks.
Tate Modern has posted this message of support for the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was detained on Sunday at Beijing Airport, on its façade. The British arts organisation is also encouraging people to sign this petition calling for the artist’s release [via CR] who is accused of “economic crimes”.
Below is a wonderful film providing a tour of colonial Hong Kong in 1938 when the city was still under British colonial rule. It was shot by the filmmaker André de la Varre, and ran in movie theaters after the newsreels and before the main features. He used a small Leica camera, and was completely self-taught, crafting his technique through trial and error as he traveled the world.
Shenzhen is one of the most modern cities in China, having rapidly developed over the past 30 years since its inception as a special economic zone. Walking around its streets there is little to see in the way of history or culture but scratch beneath the surface and there are a few intriguing glimpses of the past to be found.