Asian Contemporary Art

Ever since I visited the Primary Colours: Feng Zengjie exhibition at Singapore Art Museum, I've been digging some news and works on asian contemporary art. Following Masterpiece auction in March, Larasati auction will be next, to be held on April 13, 2008, with art preview on April 11-12, 2008, at Raffles Hotel, Singapore. Below are few upcoming art exhibitions around Asia:


(left) 101TOKYO Contemporary Art Fair 2008 will be held on April 3 -6, 2008, at Rensei Chugakkou, 6-11-14 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021. They have flickr, too, btw.

(middle) ART HK 08 on May 14-18, 2008 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

(right) ShContemporary, The Asia Pacific Contemporary Art Fair, will be held on September 10-13, 2008, at Shanghai Exhibition Center (SEC) 1000 Yan’an Zhong Road, 200040 Shanghai.

I wish I had the luxury to visit them all. Haha. :) Btw, don't forget to check out Luo Brothers's Chinese Pop artworks! Love them.

Villa Lagoon Tile, USA

Yesterday, Lundy of Villa Lagoon Tile, an Encaustic Marble / Cement Tile producer in Gulf Shores, Alabama, USA, sent me an email after she saw my recent tile photo. And I was so glad she did. Really. Not only she carries a fantastic tile collection, but she also has a long list of other Encaustic Cement Tile manufacturers around the world on her site(!). *a Must See!*



Above are my top picks from Villa Lagoon Tile, (top) Venetian, and (bottom) Surf tiles. And guess what.., each of Villa Lagoon Tile is handmade-to-order in the same way that hydraulic encaustic tiles have been crafted since 1857. Amazing, isn't it? Click here to learn more about encaustic cement tiles, Lundy's site offers everything you need to know. :)


Thanks to Lundy and her list, now I know we have similar manufacturers in Indonesia; in Jogja and Bali. :)

Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia

Two saturdays ago, my brother, sis and I went for a day trip to a small charming town in Central Java called Pekalongan. My brother suggested the idea sometime last year, but I only took up the offer when I was in Jakarta recently. And I'm glad I did. *thanks, bro!*




We first visited a weaving home industry, Ridaka, which house those gorgeous tiles, btw. But I hesitated to take pictures of their business as I was afraid I might offend their privacy, so I didn't take any pics of their old spinning wheels, making their own yarns, and their 10+ huge weaving looms(!). I was quite surprised to see such large operations inside a house that actually looks small from the front yard.

Only during our lunch at a nearby eatery, we learnt that the owner of Ridaka has a sister who runs a batik home industry. *entrepreneurship runs in the family apparently*. And they offered to bring us to Tobal Batik soon after lunch. Tobal Batik sits on a bigger house than Ridaka, but really, both houses just look like other houses, you wouldn't expect any big operations going on inside the house, or such large land area behind its front door. Well, I guess.. that's why it's called a home industry. :)

The moment I saw rows of batik, I knew I just had to ask if I could take pictures there at Tobal Batik. So I did, and.. permission granted! *yay!* I was quite overly excited already at this state. :) Then as we turned into another section (stamping) of the workshop, the first look I had into that section was their shelves of copper blocks. I was stunned, gasping, and I felt like fainting on the spot. No kidding, it was my first time seeing tons of copper blocks everywhere, on the shelves and tables(!). By then, excitement was nolonger the word to describe how I felt. It's heaven. Heaven was the word. :) Afterwards, we toured around the coloring, dyeing, and sewing sections of the workshop. And finally, we visited their batik shop, where I bought dresses for my two girls, and fabric for myself. :)

I had uploaded my Pekalongan pictures more than a week ago, but I only managed to share the story today *sorry*. So please enjoy the rest of the pictures here.


Thank you, Ridaka and Tobal Batik, for such priceless experience and for your kind hospitalities. Thank you.

oh btw, Ridaka will be at INACRAFT on April 23 -27, 2008 at Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Happy Easter!


Just a quick stop to wish everybody a Happy Easter.

Here's a picture of Easter Egg Weaved Basket craft project taken from FamilyFun.com. It looks fun, and sounds fun too, so I thought you might want to take a peek. :)

Have a delightful Easter Sunday!

Away

We'll be leaving early for the coming school holiday, heading back to our hometown, Jakarta, Indonesia, this afternoon. I'm not actually quite done catching up with my blog readings yet, but I'll leave you with these great finds around the blogland I've found so far.


MISHA Handmade Wallpapers

Silk hand-painted wallpapers are now available for viewing at the MISHA showroom in Milan, Italy. (via Poppytalk)


Stories and Tales Exhibition
This exhibit was curated by Susan Schwake to express the theme of visual story telling and evoke a bit of quiet mystery. Each artist hails from a different area of North America from Toronto (Darryl Berger) to Boston west (Abby Glassenberg) and North Carolina (Alena Hennessey) to upstate New York (Tara Hogan). They each bring a different visual language with their individual artwork. Together as an exhibition they will tell a new unique "tale". Exhibition will start on March 7 till March 31, 2008. (thanks, Susan!)


Lines & Shapes

Congratulations to Lena and Mav on the launch of LINES & SHAPES !


Craig Ward

Wish You Were Here, an A1 Papercut Illustration by Craig Ward, 11 hours to complete. *jaw-dropping WOW* (via Royal Buffet)


Bokja Design

Gorgeousness from Beirut, Lebanon, as featured on Palace Costes 2007 and Jasmin 2007 magazines. Oh how much I wish I had one of these. Click here, or this flickr to drool over. (via decor8)

livingstones

by Stéphanie Marin at the Interior Design Show, Toronto, Canada. (via Green Design Girl)


Enjoy! I'll see you in 2 weeks. :)

husmusen is back!

I was catching up with my blog readings last night and heard about the news posted on design*sponge last week. If you've been in the blogland long enough, you might've heard of husmusen before. And you'd understand why I got too excited about it. :) It's a popular Home & Interior blog run by Frida Berglund. And believe me, you have. to. add. it. to your blogroll !!


Husmusen is the blog that first introduced and got me hooked onto Scandinavian design. I know the blog is in Swedish, but as a firm believer of picture speaks a thousand words, this is certainly not something I'd want to miss. Welcome back, Frida!

Whiteport, Australia

Believe it or not, it might not be obvious from my posts here, where mostly dominated by the bright and playful colors, but yes, white is one of the two of my favorite colors. So when Lee McCabe told me about his wife's new online shop, Whiteport, I knew I just had to share it here. :)

As Jennifer McCabe, the founder of Whiteport, said, "White products are simple, timeless and complement any colour scheme. They look equally good in a city loft apartment or a sprawling beach house." And I couldn't agree more. Above are my top picks, Fleur de Lys decorative ornament, Millway photo wallet, Montauk quilt, and Monogram cushion cover. Timeless, indeed.

Thanks, Lee!

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