Armchair Voyage

Two of my favourite things in the world are Ancient Greece and proper diction:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p017h0rz/Armchair_Voyage_Hellenic_Cruise_Venice_to_Mycenae/

The Whitechapel Gallery: Gert and Uwe Tobias; Karl Blossfeldt

The Whitechapel Gallery is a favourite of mine. In part this is due to its proximity to Brick Lane and the beigel shop. The home of ironically dressing like your grandfather was more hip replacement than hipster, with noticeable tourist and yummy mummy contingents (reverse snobbery over, although tourist is quite frankly the dirtiest word in the entirety of the English language).

Enticed there on an awful overcast English spring day was I by Gert and Uwe Tobias. I was not especially bothered by the majority of the exhibition, but the three large paintings towards the end of the exhibit and currently being sold as the accompanying postcards I did enjoy. Their practise described in the press release as "working across different artistic traditions, the artists dissolve boundaries between craft and fine art, abstract concept and unconscious fantasy, and modernity and tradition", was rather like William Morris on a trip. I did in fact buy one of the postcards to send to my textile designing cousin.

Continuing with botany as a theme the Karl Blossfeldt photography exhibition made a much greater impression on me as whole than the Tobiases did. Something in the shape of the forms he captured affected me in an almost ineffable way.

What I will also say about The Whitechapel is that it has a ruddy good bookshop. I normally have to be frogmarched past them in other institutions but this time I was both on my own and at leisure so had a long time to peruse its shelves. Following my awful foray in the pretences of hipsterdom earlier in this post, I noted So You Think You're a Hipster in the shop. Tempted to buy it, yes I was. Fearfully of finding myself described inside its pages, inevitable.

An Austenite

I hate myself for such a cliche but Darcy is the most delicious depressive that one could ever fall for. Is it terrible that my first love was a character written two hundred years ago? Although I believe this makes for more of a meaningful comment on the disagreeable fifteen year olds that I went to school with than myself. Yet I still know the very first sentence of Pride & Prejudice off by heart.

Having just reread Northanger Abbey for the umpteenth time and finding it to have grown that little bit more charming as I have grown that little bit more older, Auntie has so wonderfully reconstructed The Netherfield ball in honour of the P&P bicentennial. I so want to play dress up with them and dance la boulangerie. I am so thoroughly wasted on the C21th.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sf0q6/Pride_and_Prejudice_Having_a_Ball/


The documentary was co-presented by Dr Amanda Vickery, whose book The Gentleman's Daughter, I coincidentally have began reading. Nothing like a bit of feminist social history for the dull daily commute to my desk.

The Politics of Pandas

Here is another enlightening radio show from the BBC investigating the more nuanced aspects of international relations that Edinburgh's recently acquired pandas signify:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019h2b8/The_Politics_of_Pandas/

Ken Hom

Who doesn't love Ken Hom? He's one of the first chefs to popularise authentic Chinese food in Britain, in honour of Chinese New Year The Guardian has published firstly a live chat with the chef and a few of his recipes including ones for chilli pork spare ribs and fish in hot sauce. Haochi!

Man Asian Literary Prize

I'm going to challenge myself to read all seven of the shortlisted books over the year. The world is far too small to not know more about other cultures.

• Amitav Ghosh- River of Smoke
• Banana Yoshimoto- The Lake
• Jahnavi Barua- Rebirth
• Jamil Ahmed- The Wandering Falcon
• Yan Lianke- Dream of Ding Village
• Rahul Bhattacharya- The Sly Company of People Who Care
• Kyung-Sook Shin- Please Look After Mom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2012/jan/12/man-asian-literary-prize-2011-in-pictures  

Unfinished

On such a cold January evening as tonight, what greater pleasure is there than a decent book or a television drama? But how awful that it's unfinished! I cannot be the only one watching The Mystery of Edwin Drood on the BBC.

Unfinished is a wonderful documentary exploring our fascination with English Literature's incomplete masterpieces from Dickens, to Austen and Coleridge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019gcdf/Unfinished/

Kawaii

Kawaii is the Japanese word for cute, although it goes far beyond the English comprehension of the term as it could be considered an aesthetic in its own right. The most obvious scion of kawaii embedded in pop culture -world over- is Hello Kitty. The extent to which kawaii pervades Japanese culture is so extensively mainstream; from everyday items to youth tribes i.e. Gothic Lolita . One can not help but observe it to be the predominant aesthetic of goods imported from the country and its popularity in Britain is for all to see on the high street, which is adorned with anthropomorphic pieces of cake (the cute cupcake phenomenon).  From a feminist point of view I find kawaisa and its adoption by grown women slightly peculiar, yet it is fascinating.

Takashi Murakami, about who it is near impossible not to draw comparisons with Andy Warhol for his awareness of pop culture whilst contributing to it significantly, is obviously influenced by the kawaii aesthetic. Commercially the first example that springs to my mind is Murakami's collaboration with Louis Vuitton. Here is the Superflat First Love video, which celebrates this union:

Here also is a video clip from Adam and Joe Go Tokyo, where the pair discuss kawaii and have quite a typically British reaction to it:

Ronald Searle

I was sad to hear that the illustrator Ronald Searle, of St. Trinian's fame, has  passed away. I do very much love his witty work, it's so terribly British to be scared of school girls. 

http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.com/

Pandas

Pandas are cute. Cute enough for all the hassle of moving them to Edinburgh?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/05/how-to-pamper-a-panda?INTCMP=SRCH

Collecting china: bagging a bargain

The Guardian's House and Home blog has published the next installment of its Collecting china blog this time on buying pieces from charity shops.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/house-and-homes-blog/2011/nov/24/collecting-china-bagging-a-bargain?INTCMP=SRCH  

Letter writing

Do you still write letters? I do, great three page monsters. I love the anticipation of a reply from loved ones. I also enjoy -rather too much- purchasing paper. I have frequently noticed that the most stylish of note paper frequents from East Asia. I had a wander around Paperchase   today and observed some very sweet little sets produced in Japan and Korea. Is this reflective of these nation's love of correspondence writing or purely an aesthetic consideration? Either way I shall purchase some in the Christmas sales.

On the theme of letters this review made me feel both proud and annoyed: 
Masters of the Post: The Authorized History of the Royal Mail by Duncan Campbell-Smith – review  

On a side note I found it hilarious that the sending of thank you cards (really just plain good manners) increased following the now infamous email sent by a certain mother in law.

Asian Art Week Round iii

On Monday night, I had a jolly good time wandering around the Mayfair galleries. A particular highlight was an exhibition of Ishizumi fans by Nana Shiomi at The Oriental Club. It was a wonderful blend of a traditional Japanese art form with modern art, her use of perspective was very beautiful.

Click here to read an interview by Kanji Ishizumi from the Daiwa institute, about the art.

Collecting china: how to buy from eBay

Another article in The Guardian's House and Home blog about collecting ceramics, this time about the perils of buying online.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/house-and-homes-blog/2011/nov/07/collecting-china-guide-to-ebay

Asian Art Week Round ii

Last night I went to the Hua Gallery in Battersea. A relatively new addition to the London art scene, its raison d'etre is to showcase contemporary Chinese artists, which I'm very glad about. The artist whose works made up this exhibition was Kuan Ching Mediha Ting. His work had that graffiti pop culture aesthetic that is very popular nowadays. What was interesting about it though was that I have never seen that look combined with a Chinese sensibility. Worth the wander through the jungle that is SW3 to get there.

Asian Art Week Round i

I left my room, I actually left my room! And wound up on the ever delightful Kensington Church Street.

First stop was Jorge Welsh   for a lecture on a new book they've published called The RA Collection of Chinese Ceramics: A Collector's Vision   by Maria Antónia Pinto de Matos. Which was a very intriguing overview of the how the collector had amassed some very interesting pieces that showed the development of the Chinese ceramic export trade. Next stop was Marchant   for a wander around and then on to Gregg Baker   for some music by a kimono clad koto player and some really rather beautiful Japanese screens.

Asian Art Week

It's finally here! Stay posted for my reports of me actually leaving my room!

Chinese art auctions

The Telegraph has published a rather interesting article on the rise of Chinese antiques being auctioned at provincial British auction rooms.


Asian Art Week: sellers offload Chinese treasures

Harris Tweed- From Land to Street

I like tweed (there's probably a pattern forming here, teacups and tweed she's a pensioner). So I was delighted when I got sent this link to this report from the beeb about a new photography book celebrating the last 100 years of the blessed fabric, called Harris Tweed- from land to street by Lara Platman.

I think it's important that small regional producers of quality products like tweed, continue in their longstanding traditional practices. Not only as part of this country's heritage, but environmentally and ethically. It doesn't have far to travel, it's not made by exploited ten year olds in the developing world and wool itself is an often neglected natural resource that we have plenty of in this country and should be put to good use and I know I'm right about this because Prince Charles agrees with me.

Florence or a Machine

This little gem of a quiz, courtesy of The Guardian, asks you whether the lyric is from Ceremonials or made up by a computer. I got 6 out of 10, statistically speaking little more than guess work...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/quiz/2011/oct/24/florence-machine-lyrics-quiz