All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French
Chinese School, Circa 1820, a bust-length portrait study of a Mandarin in a fur-banded hat and coat thumbing the point of an arrow, watercolour and body colour.
I recently heard that the Hudec House on Shanghai’s Panyu Lu closed on February 4 2024. It is the former home of the Hungarian architect Laszlo Hudec. Here a series of photos of the house from 2010 pre-restoration & being housesat by an old couple who let me (and Duncan Hewitt and Bill Savadove) in…
It’s not often I post a picture of a biscuit barrel, but today…
Here is a silver plated & glass biscuit barrel won by “Undine” in the 1881 Shanghai Sailing Club race to Woosung (Wusong) and back – total height 20cm…
The 2023 edition of the Royal Asiatic Society China Journal is now up in pdf form to download. A host of great stuff, as well as me on a 19th century stushie at the old Peking Club & a review of Edward Weech’s Chinese Dreams in Romantic England…
The ‘Cute’ Exhibition runs till mid-April at London’s Somerset House. A major exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture and of course it deals almost exclusively with the Asian notion of cuteness – Hello Kitty et al. I’ve included below some images included in the exhibiton from North Korea and a sculpture by Sean-Kierre Lyons that represents to me the darker, scarier side of the Cute trend.
From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. But how has something so charming and seemingly harmless – adorable, doe-eyed animals, chubby-cheeked babies, flowers, hearts, stars, sweets and other such romantic motifs – gained such traction?
“CUTE brings together contemporary artworks, including new artist commissions, and cultural phenomena such as music, fashion, toys, video games and social media, in this brand-new show examining the world’s embrace of cute culture and how it has become such an influential measure of our times. It will seek to unravel cuteness’ emotive charge, revealing its extraordinary and complex power and potential. ”
More details here
WHAT CHINESE CRIME NOVELS CAN TELL US ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CHINA – my China-Britain Business Council author Q&A column for February with Jeff Kinkley explaining the value of reading crime novels set in China – from Qiu Xiaolong to Catherine Sampson & many more (+ his top 5) – Kinkley’s book China Mysteries is out now from University of Hawaii Press….click here
Kassia St Clair on The Race to the Future – the Peking-Paris 1907 Car Rally – an RAS China Zoom, 21.2.24
Shanghai 202 Folding Camera, 1960s…
