Christina Shmigel: This City, Daily Rising

Back in 2010 I blogged about (then) Shanghai-based artist Christina Shmigel’s wonderful Cabinet of Chinese Curiosities project. I particularly liked it as it combined both an examination of China now and ideas around Chinese history, interpretation and Chinoiserie – all things that get a bit of an airing on China Rhyming. Now the catalogue for that exhibition (which includes some great photos of the cabinet itself and its contents) is available online to look at for free here (or to buy here). I always loved Christina’s idea for a cabinet of curiosities after having seen drawings of Herr Wunsch’s Cabinetto Cinese at the City Museum of Oriental Arts in Trieste. Wunsch’s Cabinetto tapped into a love of chinoiserie in the late nineteenth century Austro-Hungarian Empire (just check out Castle Miramar nearby for Chinois overload!). The Cabinetto was a converted shop full of Chinese curiosities and entry was gained for a few pennies. It was apparently massively popular with local Tiestinos.