Painting upon the Floor – Chinese Baotou Rugs
What comes to mind when you think of traditional Chinese art? Is it porcelain, calligraphy, scholar’s rocks or jade carvings? A category of artwork all too often overlooked…
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Behind the Scenes – The Making of Japanese Calligraphy
Considering the history of written languages throughout the world, Japan was fairly late in the game compared to other cultures. Cuneiform writing was established over 5,000 years ago…
Fascination with Death – Skull Symbolism
What happens when we draw our final breath? Nobody knows the answer – except the dead. Yet death has fascinated the living for thousands of years. Burials were…
The Chicken or the Egg – Giacometti and Dogon Art
Globalization. This term entailing free trade, cultural integration, vanishing borders and accessible communication throughout the world is surprisingly modern. It was coined in 1983 by Theodore Levitt, a…
Filled to the Brim – African Figurative Ceramic Vessels
Ceramic works from Africa can be loosely divided into two categories: terra cotta figurative art and earthenware vessels. In opposition to figurative art, ceramic vessels can be broken…
The Art of the Dig – Excavated Ancient Artifacts
They called him The Digger, Diggy for short. It was an apt nickname considering his most peculiar hobby – digging. As a child he created countless craters in…
Stronger Than You Think – Women of Power in Africa
Many African cultures have historically given women great power, especially Queen Mothers. Queen Mothers are defined as women who give birth to a reigning king.
Art of the Brushstroke – Introducing Seiran Chiba
Since the day Seiran Chiba entered a calligraphy school at the age of 11, her teachers had always provided her with lessons in the form of characters to…
Through the Eyes of the West – European Engravings of the Orient
Long before Google Earth could take us on virtual trips around the world, before we could search the internet for facts, pictures and videos, before encyclopedias even existed,…
The Horror of it All – Ghanaian Movie Posters
In the late 1980s when videocassette recorders (VCRs) started making their way into Ghana, a small cottage industry developed called the ‘mobile cinema.’ The industry was composed of…