Pop Culture: Over the Moon

In belated recognition of the Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calender (celebrated this year on October 3), here are photographs of luscious mooncakes, the delicacies associated with the festival, from Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mooncake&w=all#page=0

The Mid-Autumn Festival commemorates the autumnal equinox, when the moon is roundest and brightest, and was historically celebrated as a harvest festival. A legend associated with the festival is that of the valorous Hou Yi and his beautiful wife Chang'e. One variation of the tale posits that Hou Yi was an archer who shot down nine of the ten suns in the sky, thereby saving the earth's crops from being scorched by the extra suns. As a reward, Hou Yi was subsequently gifted with an elixir for immortality. However, unbeknownst to him, his wife Chang'e swallowed the elixir, which promptly caused her to float up to the heavens and onto the moon. Only on the days when the moon is fullest is Hou Yi able to visit his wife.

Therefore, eating the round delicacies known as mooncakes commemorates the reunion between Hou Yi and Chang'e. Mooncakes measure between 3-4 inches in diameter and are about 2 inches thick. They consist of a thin, dense crust filled with sweet fillings such as red bean paste or lotus seed paste. The skin is then imprinted with characters or decorative motifs. New-fangled mooncakes may be filled with green tea or coffee-flavored fillings, and even ice cream. Their popularity and ubiquity in China is such that they can even be ordered at Starbuck's alongside a cup of joe.

Arts Focus: Setting "Semele"

This is hardly new news, but the Chinese artist Zhang Huan has designed and directed a production of George Frideric Handel's (1685-1759) opera "Semele" in a project co-organized by Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and the KT Wong Foundation in London that commemorates the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. Zhang worked with an international team of choreographers, designers, and performers in order to realize the production that opened on September 8. It will then travel to China in 2010.

In the following interview, Zhang discusses the experience of working on the opera in addition to providing a behind-the-scenes view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuGSHjVyXM8

An article about the opera can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/arts/17iht-LOOMIS.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Zhang's set designs for the opera touch upon universal themes of the encounters between gods and humans by using a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ancestral temple built of wood for the primary backdrop, which can be seen prominently in an image from the following article:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=32034

Moreover, his work on this project ties together his early excursions into performance art when he lived in the "East Village" of Beijing during the mid-1990s, and introduces yet another layer of interpretation, from ancient Greek myth to Baroque opera to the 21st century international stage.

Newsworthy: China's National Day

October 1, 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. News coverage of the National Day festivities is beginning to trickle in. The following article from the Wall Street Journal reports on the grand military parade that progressed toward Tiananmen Square in Beijing, as well as changes in National Day celebrations over the years that reflect growing prosperity and modernization in China:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125436303133555023.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

The following piece from the BBC reflects upon 60 years of change in China through personal interviews and reminiscences:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8281431.stm

Finally, an audio slideshow provides a fascinating analysis of modern Chinese art from propagandist images of the Mao era to the 21st century international marketplace. The theme of change that is evoked elsewhere in the news media on this occasion is nowhere more apparent than when viewing the dramatic transformation in visual imagery between then and now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8279176.stm

Pop Culture: Ikea, Here and Abroad

Consumers in China really, really like Ikea. They just don't like to buy things there. A stroll through Ikea Beijing, which opened in 1999, reveals consumers walking through displays, handling merchandise, even taking naps on the furniture, but rarely making major purchases. Some are merely there for the refreshing air-conditioning or for the inexpensive cafeteria meals.

Sound strange? Not at all, from the perspective of young parents who frequent Ikea stores in the United States for the free play centers, wallet-friendly cafes, and even free wi-fi. More bang for the buck (or for no buck at all) is certainly a marketing strategy that consumers both in China and the United States can agree with.

For an article on Ikea Beijing, go here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-ikea25-2009aug25,0,3900096,full.story

And for an article on Ikea in the U.S.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/garden/11ikea.html?_r=1

Arts Focus: The Fabric of Indian Society

Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee is endeavoring to bring back the use of khadi, homespun fabric, into contemporary Indian fashion. Khadi is made from cotton, silk, or wool which is handspun into threads and then woven by hand. Due to the way it is produced, the fabric has a rougher feel than machine-made fabric.

One of the enduring images of the 20th century is that of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) seated beside a spinning wheel. Throughout the 1920s during the Indian struggle for independence, Gandhi advocated a return to the making and use of khadi, which symbolized self-reliance and a rejection of foreign machine-made textiles. Moreover, Gandhi believed that the separation of production and consumption of consumer goods resulted in the exploitation of workers, another reason for his promotion of khadi.

According to Mukherjee, khadi is "refined, sophisticated, eco-friendly and comfortable" although it "has too long been regarded as the poor man's fabric." In order to bring khadi back into fashion, he is reaching out to Bollywood stars and international celebrities who wear his designs out in public, often to great acclaim. He has also established cooperatives of craftswomen in rural areas across India. Nevertheless, due to the handmade nature of the fabric, his designs are extremely expensive. But the price may be worth it in order to preserve traditional textile-making techniques in India.

An article about Sabyasachi Mukherjee can be found here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8256410.stm

Photograph of Mahatma Gandhi by Margaret Bourke-White, 1946, Time-Life

Newsworthy: Lucky Day

September 9 (9/9) is considered an auspicious day because the number 9 (jiu) in Chinese is a homonym for the word meaning "for a long time." Therefore, the two 9s taken together mean "long-lasting." The fact that the year is 2009 adds to the auspiciousness of the day.

The couple pictured in this link was just one out of tens of thousands in China who chose to marry on this day because of its auspiciousness:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8246078.stm

The article below discusses how local officials responded to the great demand for weddings on 9/9/09:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8245765.stm

However, I wonder how well a Wednesday wedding would go over in the U.S., auspicious day or not!

Arts Focus: Ananda Coomaraswamy

On September 17, Sotheby's New York is due to hold an auction of modern and contemporary South Asian art, as well as six miniature paintings from the collection of Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947). Ananda Coomaraswamy was born in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) to a Tamil father and English mother; after the death of his father when he was only two years old, the young Coomaraswamy moved with his family to England, where he was educated. He studied geology and botany at university, and returned to his homeland between the years 1902-1906 in order to conduct research on Ceylonese mineralogy. During this period of time, an abiding interest in the arts was kindled. Coomaraswamy wrote a book on the premodern art of Sri Lanka, having been deeply influenced by the theories of William Morris, a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement who valorized handicrafts above machine-made goods. In India, he associated with well-known intellectuals such as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).

In 1917, Coomaraswamy came to the United States in order to serve as the first curator of Indian art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; he was in fact the first curator of Indian art in any museum in the U.S. He worked at the Museum of Fine Arts until his death in 1947. One area in which he specialized was the study of miniature paintings. For this reason, the sale of six paintings from his collection next week is a significant event.

One of Coomaraswamy's major contributions to the study of miniature painting was his research on Mughal and Rajput painting. The Muslim Mughals, originating from Central Asia, ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent between the 16th-18th centuries. The Hindu Rajputs ruled over the princely states of northwestern India. The paintings produced by Mughal court painters were influenced by Persian painting styles. Over time, the Persian painting styles had an impact on Rajput painting as well, reflecting the political alliances that developed between the Mughals and Rajputs.

The e-catalogue for the Sotheby's auction can be viewed here:
http://catalogue.sothebys.com/events/N08566

Unfortunately, the captions don't identify which paintings are from the Coomaraswamy collection, but the article below on the Sotheby's auction identifies one of them as a painting illustrating a jataka tale (a story of the Buddha's past lives) dating 1780-1790.

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=32819