In the West, incense is generally defined as ‘a gum infused with spices that produced a sweet smell and smoke when burned, and played an essential part in religious ceremonial rites’. In China, however, incense defies definition. Known generically by… Continue reading
The MQJ Collection exhibition was first seen in Hong Kong in October during Sotheby’s autumn sale series. MQJ, short for Mu Qu Ju (The Lodge of Wood Delights), is the name chosen by the late Wang Shixiang, the renowned scholar… Continue reading
The year 1589 marked the beginning of the Ming dynasty’s death rattle. Halfway through his reign, the Wan Li Emperor’s (1573-1620) most able minister, Zhang Zhuzheng, died and the Emperor, long chafed by him, indignantly refused to carry out his… Continue reading
In the summer of 1978, Nancy Berliner, currently Wu Tung Curator of Chinese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, was visiting Taiwan and came across an unusual painting at a Taipei flea market stall. She was ‘intrigued… Continue reading
This an exciting and rare exhibition of Chinese ritual bronzes and later related material because of two reasons: the fact that they are long-famous and that they have never been exhibited outside of the halls of the Minneapolis Institute of… Continue reading
To visit artist Jin Feng’s studio beyond Beijing’s 5th Ring Road is a little like stepping back through time. The studio is part of a vast predominantly deserted rural estate that was once the home of Wan Li, Communist party… Continue reading
Ma Qjuisha is a young Chinese video artist who established her reputation with autobiographical videos about the necessity for a woman to conform in China’s patriarchal society. In No. 4 Pingyuanli to No. 4 Tianqiaobeili (2007), she talks ‘face to… Continue reading