https://www.scmp.com/rss/265198/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chinese contemporary art has become fashionable at auction houses around the world, where prices for works by established artists such as Zhang Xiaogang can fetch more than HK$20 million. But outside of the art cognoscenti, few mainstream art viewers are aware of the boom in creativity that has been taking place on the mainland since Wang Guangyi become famous with his pop art take on Cultural Revolution propaganda in the early 1990s. Although casual exhibition-goers in the West may be familiar... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1196375/guggenheim-makes-commission-statement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1196375/guggenheim-makes-commission-statement?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The Killing Fields of Cambodia are not typical material for young adult fiction. But they form the basis for two exceptional young adult novels by Minfong Ho, a writer who grew up in Thailand and worked as a nutritionist in the refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border in the early 1980s. Ho saw the hardships faced by Cambodians first-hand, as they tried to escape their country, which had been destroyed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge and then invaded by the Vietnamese. The Clay Marble (1992) tells... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1176592/author-minfong-hos-work-refugee-camps-informs-her-acclaimed-novels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1176592/author-minfong-hos-work-refugee-camps-informs-her-acclaimed-novels?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Manhattan venues such as CBGB, the Fillmore East, and Max's Kansas City have become part of the fabric of rock'n'roll mythology. CBGB is famous for being the launch pad of American punk in the 1970s, when it helped bands as diverse as Blondie, Talking Heads and The Ramones to become stars. The Fillmore East hosted gigs by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and many of the rock greats back in the late-1960s, while Max's was the stomping ground of influential art-rock band The Velvet Underground. With... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1130241/new-yorks-rock-and-roll-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1130241/new-yorks-rock-and-roll-history?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Book of Revelation St John the Apostle Atheists may not believe what's written in the Bible to be true, but that doesn't mean it can't be appreciated as a work of literature. What reader, religious or not, could fail to enjoy the exotic lyricism of the Old Testament's Song of Solomon, or the esoteric beauty of the wondrously strange Gospel According to St John? Even if you disagree with its philosophy, a humanity and compassion that speak equally to believer and non-believer alike can often be... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1114409/rewind-book-book-revelation-st-john-apostle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1114409/rewind-book-book-revelation-st-john-apostle?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films pushed English professor J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novels to the forefront of popular culture. But the trilogy, the first part of which was published in 1954, has its antecedent in a smaller, more pastoral 1937 work called The Hobbit. This charming, cheerful and somewhat magical book sets the scene for the great adventure that is to follow. The Hobbit has now been split into three parts and filmed by Jackson and his The Lord of the Rings team, and the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1105406/rings-prequel-hobbit-less-lordly-just-grand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1105406/rings-prequel-hobbit-less-lordly-just-grand?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Cleopatra Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz "Was this well done of your lady?" Roman general Agrippa barks at a servant after discovering the sumptuously attired body of Egyptian queen Cleopatra, who had taken her own life by poison. "Extremely well, as befitting the last of so many noble rulers," she replies. So ends 20th Century Fox's 1963 epic Cleopatra, a film as famous for the off-screen antics of stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as it... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1031460/grandest-epic-them-all-still-looks-fantastic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1031460/grandest-epic-them-all-still-looks-fantastic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground MGM/Verve The Velvet Underground are not known for their love songs. The band, who became famous under the aegis of pop artist Andy Warhol, are better known for their artistic explorations of the musical possibilities of feedback and distortion. Songs such as 1967's Heroin used discord and drone effects to convey the rush addicts experience when using the drug. So the elegant and beautiful Pale Blue Eyes, which appeared on the band's eponymous third... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1017080/kinder-softer-sound-velvets-third-album?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1017080/kinder-softer-sound-velvets-third-album?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000