Thursday 24 September 2009

Shanghai - Jia Aili in Platform China gallery




















Platform China gallery presented in Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair the latest works of Jia Aili. Powerful lines, dynamic, with an intriguing fascination to the Mickey Mouse symbol. This works comes of interest beyond the common use of icons in Chinese art which seem to flock around the Mao era, the pre mao era, the transformations of cities, the new order, the modern China. The grey and white canvas convey an inner expression of a futuristic projection of solitude wearing the Mickey ears. The next canvas in black in white shows the artist's technical ability; is the Mickey a mockery or a reality in today's China?

Wednesday 23 September 2009

Amin Maalouf - the blog

Amin Maalouf, the renown author, is experimenting the new web tool: blogs, blogging, to blog, to be blogged about, I'll post it on the blog...
An author who lives in recluse, writes alone, page after page to produce a 150, 200, 500 pages books, plans to share his thought process in short notes. It's a thrill to see an established writer in his medium ready for exploration within new dimensions. Come to think about it, it's not so surprising as Maalouf has often used his own perspective and point of view to present a different perception of History. The book "The Crusades through Arab eyes", for example, has given laymen the capacity to contemplate their own history and think about their present. In a simple fluent language, he has opened doors to help many understand the intricate labyrinth of origins. "In the name of Identity" touches upon the essence: who are you? who am I?
This blog will add a layer of sweetness to the information flood on the web.


his blog in English or French: with amin maalouf

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair






































Art fair from the 10 to the 13 th of september in Shanghai. Many galleries from Asia and some from the west. Art in a massive way. It gave a good sense of the Chinese art and how it is unfolding in the world of expression. At the entry, a curated display of the finest works.
The one that stood among others was this red carpet installation by Shinji Ohmaki from Japan: He used an ephemeral patterns of flowers to be walked on and destroyed to create a new life to the carpet. Elegance and futility under each step.

(more to come on this art fair and events around it, in future posts)

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Green Caravan film festival



Save the date: 28 -29th October 2009
to save the earth eventually.
Green Caravan is coming your way in Kuwait at the Dar al Athar theater in Midan Hawally. A Film Festival to show world renowned movies on Earth matters: wild animals, water, pollution...
Please check their web site for more information. Take your kids or your grandma.
In the program: "Home" a movie released early summer by Yann Arthus Bertrand, the man best known as "the photographer from above".

The effort is a non profit endeavor, by Equilibrium to pull energies into better informed opinions that might someday do something.

Link to the film festival: http://www.thegreencaravan.com

Saturday 5 September 2009

Lebanese National Library Foundation















The Lebanese National Library Foundation saw a need to fulfill: restore and bring to the public the archive of books and newspapers with a history of more than hundreds of years. The effort is tedious and straining. Exhibitions are arranged often to keep the spirit alive. Beyond their wars, Lebanese are often aware of their written heritage and their freedom of speech across ages.
In the world today, many are questioning the existing necessity of National Libraries. With the age of technologies and unwired web of information, does anyone flip through books or dictionaries or even encyclopaedias?
The National Public Library in France (Bibliotheque Nationale de France) is under a severe strain of “take over” from the gigantic info monster: Google. Under the cover of digitizing all documents, the French are propelled into the digital faster track. They have already covered 800 000 documents, and wonder if Google's intentions are beyond the profit when proposing a full coverage of the archives.
The Lebanese National Library is far from that fear. They are still desperately fundraising to restore first, and then erect a space. They are certain that a memory brought back to life could encourage the younger generations of researchers into a far broader capacity of understanding.
And these youngster need an access to the past to built a better future.

link: http://www.flbn.org/en/