Exhibition of the week China’s Hidden CenturyBlockbuster survey of China in the 19th century, when the imperial era was coming to an end. British Museum, London, 18 May to 8 October Also showing Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris Introspective portraits by the Welsh Vermeer. Pallant House, Chichester, 13 May to 8 October Patrick CaulfieldEarly work by one of the most ironic and haunting British modern painters and printmakers. Josh Lilley, London, 18 May to 20 June Melati Suryodarmo This acclaimed performance artist brings her vision to…
Tag: Art and design
Ai Weiwei’s Lego re-imagining of Monet’s water lilies to go on show in London
Claude Monet’s monumental triptych Water Lilies 1914 -26, which depicts nature’s tranquil beauty as part of the French impressionist’s world-famous series, will take on new meaning in a giant recreation by artist and activist Ai Weiwei in his new London exhibition. Monet’s brushstrokes in his water and reflection landscapes are replaced by about 650,000 studs of Lego bricks, in 22 vivid colours, in the 15-metre-long work at the centre of Weiwei’s biggest UK show in eight years, opening next month. Entitled Water Lilies #1, it is the largest Lego artwork…
Uyghur: Reclaiming Our Story – exhibition looks beyond the oppression
Photographer Sam Biddle engages with members of the Uyghur diaspora who are reclaiming their identity and broadening the public’s perception, from the singular narrative of persecution to include the thousands of years of rich Uyghur history and culture. The exhibition starts on 11 March in Coburg, Victoria The Guardian
Could a Ming dynasty Buddha found near an Australian beach rewrite history?
In 2018, a pair of Australian film-makers were doing runs with metal detectors in remote Western Australia as they prepared to shoot a documentary about the French exploration of Australia. The film was supposed to feature a hunt for scientific equipment believed to have been left in the area by the Baudin expedition of 1800-1803. There was no trace of Napoleonic-era exploration, but what they did find was something perhaps even more unusual. It was 15cm-tall bronze Buddha figure, weighing just over 1kg and – according to experts – likely…
Lunar New Year 2023 around the world – in pictures
Panama City, Panama Artists perform the traditional Lion Dance during the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations on January 20, 2023 Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA The Guardian
Ximei review – Ai Weiwei produces inspiring portrait of Chinese Aids activist
Produced by Ai Weiwei, this is a rousing portrait of Liu Ximei, an astonishingly resilient Aids activist; it also sheds light on a controversial government campaign that accelerated the epidemic in 1990s China. During the first half of the decade, poor farmers were encouraged to donate their blood in exchange for money. Due to a lack of health and safety standards, a staggering number of donors as well as those who received transfusions contracted HIV. In Ximei’s province of Henan, more than 300,000 villagers live with the debilitating effects of…
‘Ordinary’ Chinese vase valued at €2,000 sells for almost €8m after bidding war
An “ordinary” Chinese vase put up for auction in France and valued at €2,000 (£1,745) has sold for almost €8m after a ferocious bidding war among buyers convinced it was a rare 18th-century artefact. At the sale in Fontainebleau near Paris, auctioneers were astonished as the offers from about 30 mainly Chinese bidders kept on coming. When the hammer fell the vase had been sold for €7.7m – almost 4,000 times its estimated value. With the seller’s fees, the final purchase price was €9.12m. The tianqiuping-style porcelain was put in…
Ai Weiwei says mother, 90, warns him against China return
The Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has said his desire to be reunited with his 90-year-old mother could lead him to return to China, but that she has implored him not to give up his British exile. The sculptor and activist, who divides his time between Cambridge and Portugal, spent 81 days in custody in Beijing in 2011 and fled his home country four years later on the return of his passport. Asked by Chris Patten, the former governor of Hong Kong, at an event in London whether people who…
China’s censorship reaches far beyond its own borders | Letter
I read with interest your editorial (The Guardian view on China’s censors: the sense of an (acceptable) ending, 24 August). In 2016, I was about to publish a book on pop art, which had a short section on artists responding to political and social turmoil in the 1960s, and which included an illustration of Jim Dine’s Drag – Johnson and Mao (1967). The etching depicts Mao Zedong of the People’s Republic of China and the US president Lyndon B Johnson, who sent troops to counter Chinese communist support in the…
Photographer Luo Yang captures rare glimpse of China’s ‘brave and free’ youth
Neon hair, heavy black lipstick, friends gathered around a table in leopard print and lace. Luo Yang’s portraits of young people offer a rare glimpse into modern culture in China. The Shanghai-based photographer says she was drawn to taking pictures as a way of recording emotions that rise up during adolescence. She has been documenting Chinese youth for more than a decade. “They live bravely and authentically under the limits of traditional culture,” she said in an email interview. Luo Yang was born in Liaoning, China and is based in…