#asian-arts-and-culture

#asian-arts-and-culture

It wasn't until Whitmarsh had been herded into the main hall that he grasped what he'd signed up for: 'a geopolitical event, not an intellectual one,' as he put it, with hosts including Greece and China's ministries of culture.

As Los Angeles Dodgers fans count down the days until Opening Day 2026, there are plenty of events and activities going on around the city for fans to enjoy with their families, friends or even solo this weekend. There are multiple cultural events happening this weekend that will embrace culture and community with vibrant celebrations for Black History Month, Mardi Gras, and Lunar New Year Pick your favorite events, mark your calendar and make the most of your weekend in LA!

The Bud­dhis­ti­cal­ly inflect­ed " ichi-go ichi‑e" is just one in the vast library of yoji­juku­go, high­ly con­densed apho­ris­tic expres­sions writ­ten with just four char­ac­ters. (Oth­er coun­tries with Chi­nese-influ­enced lan­guages have their ver­sions, includ­ing sajaseon­geo in Korea and chéngyǔ in Chi­na itself.) It descends, as the sto­ry goes, from a slight­ly longer say­ing favored by the six­teenth-cen­tu­ry tea mas­ter Sen no Rikyū, " ichi-go ni ichi-do " (一期に一度).

As an American who's traveled to 44 countries over the last 30 years, I've seen my fair share of unforgettable places. But if I had to choose one place to visit again and again, it would be Bali, an island and province in Indonesia that combines vibrant culture, natural beauty, and a pace of life that feels both energizing and restorative. After spending a month on the island in 2023, I fell in love. Here's what made my trip to Bali so special.

A sprawling tale of two Singapores, the short documentary Sandcastles draws connections between Singapore, Michigan - a 19th-century ghost town swallowed by sand following widespread deforestation - and the island country of Singapore, where rapid development and land reclamation has, for decades, been enabled by the importation of sand. More poetic exploration than call to action, the work surveys waterways, cycles of development and the transient nature of sand - deceptively sturdy over short timescales but, over decades, quite volatile.

Tucked away in the Wat Ket area, a quiet pocket of Chiang Mai well clear of the chaos of the Old Town, at 137 Pillars House you're close enough to dip in when you want to, but far enough out that the noise never follows you back. It's the kind of neighbourhood where mornings start slowly, perhaps with a quick trip to the nearby Lung Khajohn Wat Ket, one of the city's best rice roll spots, or a plate of Neng's Clay Pot Roast Pork (insanely delish!), before retreating back to the calm of the hotel gardens.

One of Japan's most recognizable cultural practices - the Japanese tea ceremony, known as chanoyu, or chadō - is being reshaped by tourism, wellness culture and social media. Matcha, the Japanese powdered green tea that is used during the ceremony, has entered the global marketplace. Influencers post highly curated tearoom photos, wellness brands market matcha as a "superfood," and cafés worldwide present whisked green tea as a symbol of mindful living.

This year's Art SG, which closed last month, featured an intriguing debut: South Asian Insights, a modest pavilion dedicated to contemporary art from the region. Part of the TVS Initiative for Indian and South Asian Contemporary Art, it was backed by India's TVS Motor Company, one of the world's largest two-wheel manufacturers, which has its global headquarters in Singapore. Eight galleries-five from India-were each given a wall to showcase art.

Last February, master of ceremonies Dennis Bowen (a Seneca elder) welcomed the reigning champion into the 2025 World Championship Hoop Dance Contest arena at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Thousands of spectators joined them to watch more than 100 dancers compete across the two-day event. Bowen announced Josiah Enriquez's (Pueblo of Pojoaque, Navajo, Isleta) accomplishments as a top place finisher several years running in the teen division and as the surprise winner in an unprecedented tiebreaking round in the adult division the year before.

Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is the world's oldest known rock art, in a cave off the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The hand stencil has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it 1,100 years older than the earliest example of rock art that was known about before this, produced in Spain by Neanderthals. The Sulawesi work may, its finders say, provide insights into the migration of early humans to Australia.

The Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak began exploring female breasts in her work shortly after the birth of her son in 1994, when she began breastfeeding. Reflecting on her experience as a mother, the breast became a metaphor for herself as well as a broader celebration of womanhood. In 2001 Sanpitak began to draw parallels between the breast and Buddhist stupas-dome-shaped sites of veneration, and began her Breast Stupa series, combining the sacred with the sensuous.

"The idea is that intention is not the whole story," says Selene Yap, a co-curator of the Biennale. "Systems can generate a certain kind of afterlife, and there are side effects." While the waterfall impresses, it also has consequences, she adds. The work uncovers how Singapore imports hydropower through transnational infrastructure, including the Vajiralongkorn Dam, whose construction has displaced Thailand's indigenous Karen hill tribe, forcing many to live in floating homes on the reservoir.

Running from 15 January to 22 February, the as-yet-untitled show includes works from across four decades of Ai's career. Among them are his large-scale Lego works based on famous artworks, including versions of Surfing (After Hokusai) and Water Lilies, a reinterpretation of Monet's triptych of the same title. To mark his India debut, he will also show new Lego works based on Pichwais, intricate cloth paintings depicting devotional Hindu subjects, as well as homages to the country's storied Modernist painters V.S. Gaitonde and S.H. Raza.