Rajeev's World: Art

Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Saturday, July 9, 2016

A Bit Of Mexico In Dubai...

With a day packed with exploring Dubai behind us - with visits to the Dubai Mall, dune bashing and entertainment in the desert and staring in amazement (bewilderment?) at Burj Khalifa, it was time to call it a day. Well, not quite, we went about exploring the hotel and found quite a few Mesoamerican artworks - a distinctive style that I saw a few weeks back in Mexico...

The gaudiness of Dubai has to be seen to be believed...

There isn't anything called an "understated elegance"...

It's all over the top and in your face...

And it shows in the decor...

And this is something I had seen a few weeks back in Mexico...

Mesoamerican pottery on display and sale...

Psst... Don't ask me the prices...

Moroccan lamps...

A lovely display of bottles and jars in the restaurant...

Some more pottery from Mexico...

This piece is distinctively Mexican...

A lovely jar...

And so is this one...

Heading back to the room...

What's your poison?

But with a tiring day behind us, a long 10-hour sleep beckons! Good night!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Nanta And Other Charms Of Myeongdong...

If you've not visited Nanta Theatre, you've practically not seen Seoul.

After a couple of very strong recommendations from our Korean friends, we headed to Myeongdong's Nanta Theatre after returning from Nami Island this evening.

The Nanta show also known as the Cookin’ Nanta show is a non-verbal comedy musical show that started in 1997. The show depicts a story of three cooks preparing a wedding banquet within tight deadlines while the manager brings in his incompetent nincompoop nephew to work in the kitchen. The show incorporates traditional samul nori rhythms performed with kitchen instruments, such as pots, cutting boards, water canisters and knives.

The Nanta show blends in the storyline with acrobatics, tricks, comedy, pantomime and encourages participation of the audience. The performers skillfully unite the audience, Koreans or foreigners like us, in the universal language of laughter. The Nanta show was an incredibly unique experience for us, a truly unforgettable one!

Back on the streets of Myeongdong, it was time for a snack...

Who cares for veggies wrapped up in pork belly and grilled to a crunchy perfection...

Waiting for my order to be made - an agonizing wait indeed...

With food like this, who wouldn't fall in love with Korea?

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Chinese Treasures In The Heart Of Taipei...

A few years back, we had visited the Forbidden City in Beijing, which is home to numerous Chinese artefacts and treasures. Little did we realise that there was a bigger treasure trove right across the Taiwan Straits in Taipei!

And today was our chance to see some of these treasures.

And we proceeded from the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in the Zhongshan District to the Shilin District to visit the National Palace Museum.

The museum has quite an interesting history that reflects the tumultuous times China had faced since the early 1900s. The museum was originally established as the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City in October 1925, shortly after the expulsion of the last emperor of China. The museum housed valuables of the former Imperial family.

In 1931, realising that a Japanese invasion was imminent, Chiang Kai-shek ordered that the museum evacuate its exhibits out of Beijing to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Japanese Army. The exhibits were initially moved to Shanghai and then to Nanjing. As the Japanese Army advanced further, the collection was moved around various towns. After the surrender of the Japanese in 1945 and cessation of hostilities, the collection was shipped back to the Nanjing.

But soon there was another crisis on the horizon. The communists were gaining territory and realising that the defeat of Nationalist forces was imminent, Chiang Kai-shek ordered that artefacts be shipped to Taiwan. However, some artefacts were left behind in Beijing when the communists came in. A total of 2,972 crates of artefacts from the Forbidden City moved to Taiwan, accounting for only 22% of the crates that had originally transported south. But it is believed that these pieces represented some of the very best of the collection.

With American aid, the museum was constructed in the 1960s. Since its construction the museum has undergone several expansions to create space for all exhibits. But what you see in the museum is only the tip of the iceberg - of 696,344 artefacts the museum has, only 6,000 are exhibited at a given point of time.

The museum covers artefacts from the Qin Dynasty of 200BC to the Qing Dynasty that ruled China till 1911. Unfortunately we could only see a bit of the museum as we had only half an hour to explore. And sadly photography is not permitted within the premises.
The exhibits did seem quite priceless and intricate. And what they say is indeed true - the collection over here is far better than what have in Beijing! And Taiwan often uses this cultural heritage as a tool of diplomacy - these exhibits are often displayed in museums abroad - Europe, Japan and the United States. Despite the warming of ties with the Mainland, they have avoided organising exhibitions there, as fears that the Mainlanders may impound and seize these treasures.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The memory of a couple of exhibits will always remain in our minds. One such exhibit was an amazingly detailed painting titled "100 Horses" or "100 Steeds", by Giuseppe Castiglione, an Italian Jesuit, missionary. Giuseppe was also a painter at the imperial court, who adopted a Chinese name Lang Shi-Ning. He arrived China in 1715 and served the first three emperors of Qing Dynasty and was buried at Forbidden City, in 1766.
The painting is more than seven meters long and depicts a scene of a herd of horses out on a pasture in autumn. This painting blends Chinese art with Western painting skills.

(Source: Digital Taiwan Archives)

One such exhibit was that of an ivory ball that served as an imperial decorative piece. This ball was carved from a single solid piece of ivory to form successive openwork spheres inside, serving as either a hanging or resting decorative piece. The piece has 21 spheres inside and has dragons and clouds engraved.
We wished we had more time to explore the museum and for sure, we have to come back some day. But for now, we head to Taipei 101!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Visiting Musée Du Louvre... Part III

With about half an hour to spare, we moved on to the Greek Roman antiquities section of the Louvre.

With such a huge collection, it is said that it takes over 3 days to do a complete round of the museum, to view the 35,000 objects and artefacts from prehistory to the 21st century, which are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres. It is little wonder that this treasure trove makes the Louvre the most visited museum in the world, receiving more than 9.7 million visitors in 2012.

But there is a darker side to it. Somewhere deep inside I felt an extreme unease seeing some of the artefacts here. How did they make their way from the countries of origin to here? And it turned out, like many other museums in the western world, some of items on display here are indeed disputed and were plundered from their countries of origin as part of colonial conquests.

This is indeed sad, but perhaps there is a silver lining - at least these artefacts have been saved from destruction and from getting into the black market like the way it happened in Iraq or Syria.

Moving downstairs...

I quite liked the patterned mosaic on the floor - Greco-Roman style...

Skipping through really fast. We would need to visit the Louvre later to visit the section on Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities, that I am really interested. I am afraid that won't be possible during this trip...