fluktor -|||- study - office - newsletter August 21, 2005

China Daily, 08/11/2005
Chinese museums become global bridges
By Kevin Holden (China Daily)

The ever-stronger forces of globalization and the bullet-paced march of a market society across China are fundamentally changing museums and the art they display.
[image] "Chai," which means "demolish," has become a symble for some artists capturing China's rapid-fire changes. [China Daily]

"Chinese museums, like Chinese society, are very quickly becoming more open and free," said Gao Minglu, a widely-respected expert on Chinese art and museums.

Gao, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, United States, said, "The driving forces behind the metamorphosis of museums throughout China are the market, international institutions and globalization."

Gao and other experts say that the rush of the world's top museums to get a foothold in the planet's fastest growing economy is bolstering the growing competition among museums in China to match Chinese exhibitions with imported shows.

Curators say the complementary trends are making the outlook of Chinese museums more professional and global.

For example, Aurelie Arff, a leading coordinator for the Year of France in China, said that since France started staging a rapid-fire series of major shows at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing last October, "every exhibition has gone off perfectly."
[image] Artist Yu Hong mixes painted snapshots of her childhood and youth with panoramas of Chinese society as it changes around her. [China Daily]

That museum is currently hosting four simultaneous exhibits on photography, engraved prints, oil paintings and fashion sent here by leading French art centres.

Arff praises the cosmopolitan head of the National Art Museum, painter Feng Yuan, for his professional skills and global outlook. "Each side has learned a lot from the joint 'French-Chinese' exhibitions," she said.

She adds that "these exhibitions have been attracting record numbers of visitors to the National Art Museum" and other major art centres in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The National Art Museum's Feng Yuan says the jointly designed art shows are "helping the museum evolve into a world art centre."

Professor Gao calls the period starting from the turn of the century, "The Art Museum Age."

During this period when Chinese museums compete to stage high-profile international shows, they have become more open to contemporary Chinese art, he said.

"Today almost all the important art museums and galleries in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing compete to organize international biennial exhibitions," Gao said.

He said that when China's Ministry of Culture co-sponsored the first Beijing Biennial two years ago, it invited "many influential Western artists as well as some avant-garde artists whose works were displayed along with a number of 'conservative' Chinese artists."

He says that trend is likely to gain ground next month, with the opening of the second Beijing Biennial.

The new century's Art Museum Age "is characterized by the emergence of official exhibitions of contemporary art and the establishment of local art museums and organizations throughout the country," Gao said.

'The Wall'

The emergence of museums run by market-minded corporations, like the Millennium Art Museum in western Beijing, is spreading the spirit of competition and openness.

Gao said the Millennium Art Museum's current show, entitled "The Wall," is a good example of how new museums are opening more creative space for experimental artists to show their works.

According to Wang Yudong, the Millennium Museum's vice director, the exhibition covers oil paintings, installations and videos by 50 contemporary Chinese artists, with some being featured for the first time in a major Chinese museum.

The show includes works by Yu Hong, who is considered as one of the best oil painters in China today

Yu's works resemble painted snapshots from her childhood and youth, juxtaposed with panoramas of the Chinese society as it undergoes constant changes around her.

In contrast, performance artist Zheng Lianjie transforms the Great Wall into a stone canvas for his artwork.

And Wang Jingsong presents a repetitive series of photos of the Chinese character "chai," or "demolish."

"Chai," which has been painted and circled in white on countless walls around Beijing and every other Chinese city, is the dominant symbol of the destruction of the old to make way for the new as the country re-sculpts itself at hyper-speed.

Chaos Chen, a former curator of the Millennium Art Museum who organized a symposium around "The Wall" exhibition, said that Wang Jingsong and some other artists believe that the demolition of centuries-old walls and sites "is breaking the fabric of the city and removing its memory."

Chen said that while city planners and construction corporations race to build a post-modern China, some citizens are torn by nostalgia for the ancient city."

She said artworks in "The Wall," and the fact that they are being presented by the high-tech Millennium Art Museum for a multi-national mix of visitors, reflects "two competing visions of a utopia one that is based on the past and one on the future."

Gao, guest curator for "The Wall," said that with the breakneck-paced blurring of borders between museums and artists in the East and the West, "Experimental Art in China has been thoroughly internationalized."

"Globalization threatens to turn Chinese artists into residents of a global village, in which they speak their most intimate secrets in a standardized, international language," he said.

The Millennium Museum's Wang Yudong said that when "The Wall" exhibition closes in Beijing, it is set to travel to Europe and the United States.

http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/11/content_467991.htm

*************************

Potala Palace plaza renovation project finished
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-20

LHASA, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Completion of the Potala Palace plaza renovation project was celebrated in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Saturday amid heavy drumbeat, fluttering colorful banners, and merrily spraying fountains.

Qiangba Puncog, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, said the renovation of the square was part of the central Chinese government's efforts to protect Potala Palace, a world heritage site.

"The repaired plaza is a combination of modernity and Tibetan cultural features and is a multi-function square which can be used for purposes of rest-taking, recreation, cultural activities and get-togethers," said the leading regional official.

The project was completed late last month. The new square, covering 18 hectares, will be the main venue for the upcoming celebration of the 40th founding anniversary of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The project, costing 150 million yuan (about 18.5 million US dollars), includes brick-paving, building greenbelt, a musical fountain and installing broadcasting and power facilities. It started in late March.

The Potala Palace, located in the northwestern corner of Lhasa, was first built by Tibetan King Songtsa Gambo in the 7th century in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) , and expanded during the 17th century.

It features the essence of ancient Tibetan architectural art. It was added into the list of world cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/20/content_3380710.htm

****************************

Taipei Times, Aug 12, 2005
Art in the flesh
By Nick Wheeler
[image] ``Life is art,'' they say., PHOTO NICK WHEELER, TAIPEI TIMES

Interactive art takes on a whole new meaning this weekend, as Taipei hosts only its second ever Taiwanese Tattoo Convention, in the Xinyi district near the Warner Village complex, outside New York New York department store.

Activities start tomorrow around 10am with a break-dancing competition. During regular intervals in the competition, the crowd will be treated to a cat-walk show of tattooed models. Expect to see quality work by local artists and, in particular, full-body tattoos of Daoist mythological gods and demons perfectly sculpted around muscles that in their movements make legendary battles seem vividly alive. "Life is art," the adage goes and there can be no better way to express such an ideal and to celebrate the human form.

For the rest of the day, until 8pm, the buzz of the tattoo gun will fill the air as a team of a dozen tattoo masters will be offering their services to anyone who decides to get inked. The convention will undoubtedly draw a larger crowd on Sunday and proceedings are set to start at 10am again with a similar line up to the day before.
[image] ?

Since dynastic China, tattoos have been seen as the badge of criminal fraternities, so there is no surprise that in modern Taiwan, as in Japan, people with tattoos are still viewed in a negative light by a large segment of society. One of the principle organizers of the event Tsai Jong-da (蔡宗達) hopes to destroy such ingrained notions by showing that tattoos are the domain of anyone with an artistic temperament, not just those on the fringe of acceptability. This weekend he has helped to produce nothing less than a human museum of fantastical ink work designed to leave the public wondering how they could ever have appreciated a lifeless painting on canvas.

Two weeks ago in his studio, Tsai explained the importance of the quality of the inks used by tattooists. He uses either British or US products and, in the unlikely event that the colors should fade after only a few years, free touch-ups are provided. He then continued by saying a full back piece would cost a few hundred thousand NT$, as heavily shaded work demands a greater degree of attention and is extremely time consuming, not to mention energy draining for both customer and artist.

Books full of various images will be available at the convention for those unable to come up with an original design, but most people that choose to be tattooed spend time tailor-making something that is meaningful to them. All tattoo artists present will be more than happy to discuss ideas with the initiated and first-timer alike.

Foreign tattoo enthusiast Andrew Braddock says, "If you are going to be marked forever, you have to think very seriously about something that represents you in a timeless sense." He also said that art should be as alive as possible and should always be fluid, ever-changing and never stagnant, just like the human body; hence he thought of tattooing as one of the highest forms of art. He concluded his interesting theory by drawing a comparison between tattooed people and martial artists: "Martial artists have overcome their emotions and their actions are solely based upon a philosophy. In much the same way, someone who wants to get tattooed has to overcome his emotions and, presuming he has chosen a design that reflects his own beliefs, must then live up to it."

There won't be another chance, at least not for another year, to see the transformation of the normal into the colorful and extraordinary with tattoo art.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/08/12/2003267459

***************************

PD, August 17, 2005
Emblem of China Cultural Heritage officially announced
[image]

After ten days' pre-appointment announcement, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) officially declared on August 16 the golden pattern of "four birds circling the sun" excavated at the Jinsa site in Chengdu as the symbol of China Cultural Heritage.

The golden-colored design, found at the Jinsa ruins in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2001, features four divine birds flying around the sun. It is a major archeological discovery of China in this century.

Jointly recommended by domestic experts, said SACH, this well-knit pattern conveys profound meanings with its flowing lines expressing exquisite beauty. It is a perfect combination of the philosophy of "harmony between Heaven and man" among the ancients, as well as their rich imagination, extraordinary creativity and consummate crafts.

According to opinions collected during the announcement period, SACH decided on "China Cultural Heritage" in simplified Chinese characters above the pattern and Chinese pinyin "ZHONG GUO WEN HUA YI CHAN" below it. In autonomous regions of ethnic minorities local languages can be used, and in foreign contacts the English words "CHINA CULTURAL HERITAGE", or those of other foreign languages can be used. The standard color is golden, and other colors can also be used on various occasions.
By People's Daily Online

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200508/17/eng20050817_203062.html

***************************

BBC News, 2005/08/09
Artist to recreate Afghan Buddhas
Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddhas are due to be recreated by multicoloured laser images projected onto the cliffs where they once stood.
[image] The Buddhas were one of Afghanistan's great treasures

The 1,600-year-old statues, which stood on the Silk Road in the Bamiyan Valley, were destroyed by the Taleban in 2001.

Artist Hiro Yamagata will use solar and wind power to project a series of images onto four miles of clay cliffs.

Afghan government officials, who approached the Japanese artist in 2003, are awaiting approval from Unesco.

Fourteen laser systems would project 140 faceless images, standing up to 175ft (52.5m) tall, onto the cliff-face for four hours every Sunday night.

[quote] I'm doing a fine art piece. That's my purpose - not for human rights, or for supporting religion or a political statement
Hiro Yamagata

United Nations cultural organisation Unesco must assess whether the laser beams could damage the cliffs.

"If there is a way to do it so there is no environmental impact, we would support it as it would boost tourism," said Habiba Sarobi, governor of the Bamiyan province.

"The images would remind us of what (the Buddhas) once looked like."

Yamagata estimated the project would cost $9m (£5m) and that it would be completed by June 2007.
[image] Yamagata's works recently featured at Bilbao's Guggenheim museum

The California-based artist, who visited Bamiyan in 2003, hoped his artwork would give something back to the war-torn region by using the imported windmills to provide power for surrounding villages.

He also planned to employ local workers to build the foundations for the windmills.

"Many people say, 'My art will heal the people,'" said Yamagata. "Of course I help people, but it's more about not harming people."

"I'm doing a fine art piece. That's my purpose - not for human rights, or for supporting religion or a political statement."

Zahir Aziz, Afghan ambassador to Unesco, confirmed that an earlier Swiss plan to rebuild the Buddhas at the cost of $30m (£16.8m) per statue had been discarded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4134252.stm

***********************

ChinaDaily, 2005-08-11
Nude art exhibition sparks controversy
By Li Dan (Shenzhen Daily)

A nude photo exhibition opened Wednesday at Guangzhou Library, drawing queries about the line between art and pornography.
[image] Visitors look at the nude women photoes applying the three-dimensional photographic techniques at Huangzhou photo exhibition. [Guangzhou Daily]

Some 300 big photos, featuring young women nude or barely clothed, will be shown until the end of the month. The exhibitor said the photos adopted a three-dimensional photographic technique with the resolution for each photo reaching 20 million pixels. "It has never before been used on nude photos," said Dong Yijin.

The models presented in the photos were all volunteers chosen from various cities in China, he said.

He also claimed the photos were pure art and the high-resolution technique helped to present the flawless skins and unique beauty of the models.

Some visitors questioned whether cultural authorities approved the exhibition. A cultural bureau official replied there was no law imposing a compulsory examination on human body photo exhibitions.

An art industry management rule published July 1, 2004 by the State lowered the threshold for entering the art market.

Companies no longer need the approval from cultural authorities to exhibit or auction off art works as long as they are legally registered with industrial and commercial departments.

Cultural and police authorities would catch and punish exhibitors involved in spreading pornography with periodical inspections or with the help of whistleblowers, the official said.

Another official regretted there was no clear definition of pornography to distinguish it from the freedom of art.

The only provision concerning this issue is a temporary regulation drawn 17 years ago on pornographic publications.

http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/11/content_468110.htm

__________________

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

__________________________________________

An archive of this list as well as an subscribe/unsubscribe facility is
available at:
http://listserv.uni-heidelberg.de/archives/art-eastasia.html
For postings earlier than 2005-02-23 please go to:
http://www.fluktor.de/study/office/newsletter.htm


	August 21, 2005: [achtung! kunst] diverse news

	China Daily, 08/11/2005 Chinese museums become global bridges By Kevin Holden (China Daily) The ever-stronger forces of globalization and the bullet-paced march of a market society across China are fundamentally changing museums and the art they display. [image] "Chai," which means "demolish," has become a symble for some artists capturing China's rapid-fire changes. [China Daily] "Chinese museums, like Chinese society, are very quickly becoming more open and free," said Gao Minglu, a widely-respected expert on Chinese art and museums. Gao, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, United States, said, "The driving forces behind the metamorphosis of museums throughout China are the market, international institutions and globalization." Gao and other experts say that the rush of the world's top museums to get a foothold in the planet's fastest growing economy is bolstering the growing competition among museums in China to match Chinese exhibitions with imported shows. Curators say the complementary trends are making the outlook of Chinese museums more professional and global. For example, Aurelie Arff, a leading coordinator for the Year of France in China, said that since France started staging a rapid-fire series of major shows at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing last October, "every exhibition has gone off perfectly." [image] Artist Yu Hong mixes painted snapshots of her childhood and youth with panoramas of Chinese society as it changes around her. [China Daily] That museum is currently hosting four simultaneous exhibits on photography, engraved prints, oil paintings and fashion sent here by leading French art centres. Arff praises the cosmopolitan head of the National Art Museum, painter Feng Yuan, for his professional skills and global outlook. "Each side has learned a lot from the joint 'French-Chinese' exhibitions," she said. She adds that "these exhibitions have been attracting record numbers of visitors to the National Art Museum" and other major art centres in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The National Art Museum's Feng Yuan says the jointly designed art shows are "helping the museum evolve into a world art centre." Professor Gao calls the period starting from the turn of the century, "The Art Museum Age." During this period when Chinese museums compete to stage high-profile international shows, they have become more open to contemporary Chinese art, he said. "Today almost all the important art museums and galleries in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing compete to organize international biennial exhibitions," Gao said. He said that when China's Ministry of Culture co-sponsored the first Beijing Biennial two years ago, it invited "many influential Western artists as well as some avant-garde artists whose works were displayed along with a number of 'conservative' Chinese artists." He says that trend is likely to gain ground next month, with the opening of the second Beijing Biennial. The new century's Art Museum Age "is characterized by the emergence of official exhibitions of contemporary art and the establishment of local art museums and organizations throughout the country," Gao said. 'The Wall' The emergence of museums run by market-minded corporations, like the Millennium Art Museum in western Beijing, is spreading the spirit of competition and openness. Gao said the Millennium Art Museum's current show, entitled "The Wall," is a good example of how new museums are opening more creative space for experimental artists to show their works. According to Wang Yudong, the Millennium Museum's vice director, the exhibition covers oil paintings, installations and videos by 50 contemporary Chinese artists, with some being featured for the first time in a major Chinese museum. The show includes works by Yu Hong, who is considered as one of the best oil painters in China today Yu's works resemble painted snapshots from her childhood and youth, juxtaposed with panoramas of the Chinese society as it undergoes constant changes around her. In contrast, performance artist Zheng Lianjie transforms the Great Wall into a stone canvas for his artwork. And Wang Jingsong presents a repetitive series of photos of the Chinese character "chai," or "demolish." "Chai," which has been painted and circled in white on countless walls around Beijing and every other Chinese city, is the dominant symbol of the destruction of the old to make way for the new as the country re-sculpts itself at hyper-speed. Chaos Chen, a former curator of the Millennium Art Museum who organized a symposium around "The Wall" exhibition, said that Wang Jingsong and some other artists believe that the demolition of centuries-old walls and sites "is breaking the fabric of the city and removing its memory." Chen said that while city planners and construction corporations race to build a post-modern China, some citizens are torn by nostalgia for the ancient city." She said artworks in "The Wall," and the fact that they are being presented by the high-tech Millennium Art Museum for a multi-national mix of visitors, reflects "two competing visions of a utopia one that is based on the past and one on the future." Gao, guest curator for "The Wall," said that with the breakneck-paced blurring of borders between museums and artists in the East and the West, "Experimental Art in China has been thoroughly internationalized." "Globalization threatens to turn Chinese artists into residents of a global village, in which they speak their most intimate secrets in a standardized, international language," he said. The Millennium Museum's Wang Yudong said that when "The Wall" exhibition closes in Beijing, it is set to travel to Europe and the United States. http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/11/content_467991.htm *********************** Potala Palace plaza renovation project finished www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-20 LHASA, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Completion of the Potala Palace plaza renovation project was celebrated in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Saturday amid heavy drumbeat, fluttering colorful banners, and merrily spraying fountains. Qiangba Puncog, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, said the renovation of the square was part of the central Chinese government's efforts to protect Potala Palace, a world heritage site. "The repaired plaza is a combination of modernity and Tibetan cultural features and is a multi-function square which can be used for purposes of rest-taking, recreation, cultural activities and get-togethers," said the leading regional official. The project was completed late last month. The new square, covering 18 hectares, will be the main venue for the upcoming celebration of the 40th founding anniversary of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The project, costing 150 million yuan (about 18.5 million US dollars), includes brick-paving, building greenbelt, a musical fountain and installing broadcasting and power facilities. It started in late March. The Potala Palace, located in the northwestern corner of Lhasa, was first built by Tibetan King Songtsa Gambo in the 7th century in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) , and expanded during the 17th century. It features the essence of ancient Tibetan architectural art. It was added into the list of world cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/20/content_3380710.htm ************************ Taipei Times, Aug 12, 2005 Art in the flesh By Nick Wheeler [image] ``Life is art,'' they say., PHOTO NICK WHEELER, TAIPEI TIMES Interactive art takes on a whole new meaning this weekend, as Taipei hosts only its second ever Taiwanese Tattoo Convention, in the Xinyi district near the Warner Village complex, outside New York New York department store. Activities start tomorrow around 10am with a break-dancing competition. During regular intervals in the competition, the crowd will be treated to a cat-walk show of tattooed models. Expect to see quality work by local artists and, in particular, full-body tattoos of Daoist mythological gods and demons perfectly sculpted around muscles that in their movements make legendary battles seem vividly alive. "Life is art," the adage goes and there can be no better way to express such an ideal and to celebrate the human form. For the rest of the day, until 8pm, the buzz of the tattoo gun will fill the air as a team of a dozen tattoo masters will be offering their services to anyone who decides to get inked. The convention will undoubtedly draw a larger crowd on Sunday and proceedings are set to start at 10am again with a similar line up to the day before. [image] ? Since dynastic China, tattoos have been seen as the badge of criminal fraternities, so there is no surprise that in modern Taiwan, as in Japan, people with tattoos are still viewed in a negative light by a large segment of society. One of the principle organizers of the event Tsai Jong-da (蔡宗達) hopes to destroy such ingrained notions by showing that tattoos are the domain of anyone with an artistic temperament, not just those on the fringe of acceptability. This weekend he has helped to produce nothing less than a human museum of fantastical ink work designed to leave the public wondering how they could ever have appreciated a lifeless painting on canvas. Two weeks ago in his studio, Tsai explained the importance of the quality of the inks used by tattooists. He uses either British or US products and, in the unlikely event that the colors should fade after only a few years, free touch-ups are provided. He then continued by saying a full back piece would cost a few hundred thousand NT$, as heavily shaded work demands a greater degree of attention and is extremely time consuming, not to mention energy draining for both customer and artist. Books full of various images will be available at the convention for those unable to come up with an original design, but most people that choose to be tattooed spend time tailor-making something that is meaningful to them. All tattoo artists present will be more than happy to discuss ideas with the initiated and first-timer alike. Foreign tattoo enthusiast Andrew Braddock says, "If you are going to be marked forever, you have to think very seriously about something that represents you in a timeless sense." He also said that art should be as alive as possible and should always be fluid, ever-changing and never stagnant, just like the human body; hence he thought of tattooing as one of the highest forms of art. He concluded his interesting theory by drawing a comparison between tattooed people and martial artists: "Martial artists have overcome their emotions and their actions are solely based upon a philosophy. In much the same way, someone who wants to get tattooed has to overcome his emotions and, presuming he has chosen a design that reflects his own beliefs, must then live up to it." There won't be another chance, at least not for another year, to see the transformation of the normal into the colorful and extraordinary with tattoo art. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/08/12/2003267459 *********************** PD, August 17, 2005 Emblem of China Cultural Heritage officially announced [image] After ten days' pre-appointment announcement, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) officially declared on August 16 the golden pattern of "four birds circling the sun" excavated at the Jinsa site in Chengdu as the symbol of China Cultural Heritage. The golden-colored design, found at the Jinsa ruins in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2001, features four divine birds flying around the sun. It is a major archeological discovery of China in this century. Jointly recommended by domestic experts, said SACH, this well-knit pattern conveys profound meanings with its flowing lines expressing exquisite beauty. It is a perfect combination of the philosophy of "harmony between Heaven and man" among the ancients, as well as their rich imagination, extraordinary creativity and consummate crafts. According to opinions collected during the announcement period, SACH decided on "China Cultural Heritage" in simplified Chinese characters above the pattern and Chinese pinyin "ZHONG GUO WEN HUA YI CHAN" below it. In autonomous regions of ethnic minorities local languages can be used, and in foreign contacts the English words "CHINA CULTURAL HERITAGE", or those of other foreign languages can be used. The standard color is golden, and other colors can also be used on various occasions. By People's Daily Online http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200508/17/eng20050817_203062.html *********************** BBC News, 2005/08/09 Artist to recreate Afghan Buddhas Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddhas are due to be recreated by multicoloured laser images projected onto the cliffs where they once stood. [image] The Buddhas were one of Afghanistan's great treasures The 1,600-year-old statues, which stood on the Silk Road in the Bamiyan Valley, were destroyed by the Taleban in 2001. Artist Hiro Yamagata will use solar and wind power to project a series of images onto four miles of clay cliffs. Afghan government officials, who approached the Japanese artist in 2003, are awaiting approval from Unesco. Fourteen laser systems would project 140 faceless images, standing up to 175ft (52.5m) tall, onto the cliff-face for four hours every Sunday night. [quote] I'm doing a fine art piece. That's my purpose - not for human rights, or for supporting religion or a political statement Hiro Yamagata United Nations cultural organisation Unesco must assess whether the laser beams could damage the cliffs. "If there is a way to do it so there is no environmental impact, we would support it as it would boost tourism," said Habiba Sarobi, governor of the Bamiyan province. "The images would remind us of what (the Buddhas) once looked like." Yamagata estimated the project would cost $9m (£5m) and that it would be completed by June 2007. [image] Yamagata's works recently featured at Bilbao's Guggenheim museum The California-based artist, who visited Bamiyan in 2003, hoped his artwork would give something back to the war-torn region by using the imported windmills to provide power for surrounding villages. He also planned to employ local workers to build the foundations for the windmills. "Many people say, 'My art will heal the people,'" said Yamagata. "Of course I help people, but it's more about not harming people." "I'm doing a fine art piece. That's my purpose - not for human rights, or for supporting religion or a political statement." Zahir Aziz, Afghan ambassador to Unesco, confirmed that an earlier Swiss plan to rebuild the Buddhas at the cost of $30m (£16.8m) per statue had been discarded. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4134252.stm ********************* ChinaDaily, 2005-08-11 Nude art exhibition sparks controversy By Li Dan (Shenzhen Daily) A nude photo exhibition opened Wednesday at Guangzhou Library, drawing queries about the line between art and pornography. [image] Visitors look at the nude women photoes applying the three-dimensional photographic techniques at Huangzhou photo exhibition. [Guangzhou Daily] Some 300 big photos, featuring young women nude or barely clothed, will be shown until the end of the month. The exhibitor said the photos adopted a three-dimensional photographic technique with the resolution for each photo reaching 20 million pixels. "It has never before been used on nude photos," said Dong Yijin. The models presented in the photos were all volunteers chosen from various cities in China, he said. He also claimed the photos were pure art and the high-resolution technique helped to present the flawless skins and unique beauty of the models. Some visitors questioned whether cultural authorities approved the exhibition. A cultural bureau official replied there was no law imposing a compulsory examination on human body photo exhibitions. An art industry management rule published July 1, 2004 by the State lowered the threshold for entering the art market. Companies no longer need the approval from cultural authorities to exhibit or auction off art works as long as they are legally registered with industrial and commercial departments. Cultural and police authorities would catch and punish exhibitors involved in spreading pornography with periodical inspections or with the help of whistleblowers, the official said. Another official regretted there was no clear definition of pornography to distinguish it from the freedom of art. The only provision concerning this issue is a temporary regulation drawn 17 years ago on pornographic publications. http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/11/content_468110.htm __________________ with kind regards, Matthias Arnold (Art-Eastasia list) http://www.chinaresource.org http://www.fluktor.de __________________________________________ An archive of this list as well as an subscribe/unsubscribe facility is available at: http://listserv.uni-heidelberg.de/archives/art-eastasia.html For postings earlier than 2005-02-23 please go to: http://www.fluktor.de/study/office/newsletter.htm