Arts

Book Review: ‘The China Fantasy’ by James Mann

In 2007, American author James Mann wrote a book called The China Fantasy in which he predicted that capitalism would not bring democracy to the Asian nation. More than a decade later, some of his predictions remain true. Expecting a change in China When the U.S. was engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet ...

Jack Roberts

'The China Fantasy'

A Shattered Chinese Dream

Mr. Wu Ningkun, an acclaimed Chinese translator and an Anglo-American literary research expert, passed away at the age of 99 on August 10, 2019, in the United States. He is best known for his Chinese translation of The Great Gatsby, a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and his memoir about a shattered Chinese dream ...

Max Lu

Wu Ningkun.

Chance Encounters: When a Chinese Artist Met Australian Aboriginals

Zhou Xiaoping is a renowned Chinese-Australian artist. For the past 30 years, he has been working closely with the Australian Aboriginals and their communities in Australia and developing new styles of art while showcasing to the world the rich cultural heritage of its oldest native population. Valuing Aboriginal art Xiaoping was a traditional Chinese painter ...

Raven Montmorency

An Australian Aboriginal.

Thomas Dambo: The Artist Who Creates Giant Trolls Out of Trash

Thomas Dambo from Denmark has created something unique for the people of Copenhagen to enjoy — six large troll sculptures spread throughout the city’s forests. What’s interesting about them is that all the sculptures are made out of trash. The trolls of Copenhagen Thomas Dambo used recycled wood, collected from sources like pallets, old fences, ...

Armin Auctor

Giant trolls.

Terracotta Warriors Guarding Immortality Exhibition

The feature exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne is the Terracotta Warriors and Cai Guo-Qiang, combining ancient Chinese artifacts with brilliant artwork by Cai Guo-Qiang. All the tomb warriors are individually made and when you take a closer look at each one, you can see each one displays its own personality. ...

Trisha Haddock

A terracotta archer.

Comics Trivia: When Did Superman Really Start Flying?

When talking about Superman, the first thing that probably comes to the minds of most people is the superhero high up in the sky with one hand clenched forward. However, he did not always have the power of flight. Flying Superman Superman made his appearance in 1938 in Action Comics issue number 1. Created by ...

Armin Auctor

Superman flying.

World’s Most Expensive Painting Shows Up on Saudi Prince’s Yacht

Salvator Mundi, a painting done by Leonardo da Vinci, is the most expensive painting in the world. It was sold for a record US$450 million at a Christie’s auction in New York in 2017. The identity of the buyer was never revealed. Recent reports now state that it has been placed on Saudi Crown Prince ...

Armin Auctor

The Saudi Crown Prince with the 'Salvator Mundi' painting.

The 30th Anniversary Memorial Concert for the June 4 Tiananmen Massacre

Dr. Fengshi Yang, a well-known composer, conductor, and pianist, has been holding a yearly memorial concert for the past three decades in remembrance of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre incident in China. This year, she held the 30th Anniversary Memorial Concert in Chicago. Yang has been holding a memorial concert every year since 1989. ...

Hermann Rohr

Little girl perfoming at memorial concert.