chasing dancing giants...

Had another dream where I was searching for the giant dancing gods of Taiwan (performed during Taoist religious festivals). This is the second this year... the first dream was on New Years Eve 2014 and the second was a week later on my Birthday... I have not had a dream like this in many years... is it a coincidence that I will be traveling to Taiwan this April, the first time since 2008, before I had moved to Kuwait? Click on this video link to hear all the fireworks and hypnotic ritual music and to see how these giant gods dance (the photos are mine but not the video - however the video is at my favorite temple in Taipei, close to where I used to live) and make sure to see the dramatic end of the video! Also note that these photos and video are taken during the day so are clearer but most often these festivals take place at night - making them much more mysterious - in my dreams of chasing these dancing giants it is always at night)...

Cryptic Chronicler of the New China

Lost in time: No Snow on the Broken Bridge by Yang Fudong, 2006

Cryptic Chronicler of the New China

By BLAKE GOPNIK
Yang Fudong’s elliptical films seem to parallel the disjointed state of his country, China.

Happy Chinese New Year!

新春 愉快，願大家心靈豐盛，日日開心。
Happy New Year (Year of the Snake)! Shared from Wu Shanshan

Merry Christmas from Berlin!

My dear old friend Jimmy from Taiwan cooked wonderful Chinese food for our Christmas dinner in Berlin and I made many new friends!  Thank you Jimmy and Merry Christmas to all!

Tibet Self-Immolations Move to Lhasa

Tobgye Tseten, who died from self-immolation in Lhasa this week, was from Xiahe County, or Labrang in Tibetan, the seat of the famous Labrang Monastery. It is one of my favorite places in the world. When I talked with Tibetans in Labrang in 1996 there was obvious discontent over Chinese rule and the situation only has gotten worse. I don't have my photos of Labrang with me in Kuwait but found this wonderful photo on China Mike's website, he seems like a great guy:  http://www.china-mike.com/

Tibet Self-Immolations Moves to Lhasa

By EDWARD WONG (NYT)

The self-immolations were the most significant act of protest to take place in heavily patrolled city of Lhasa since the uprising in 2008.

Chen Guangcheng's First Public Words in US

Watch Chen Guangcheng's 1st public speech (w/ an English interpreter) upon arriving in NYC today.  

Chen Guangcheng's First Public Words in US

www.youtube.com

Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng landed at Newark Airport today (Saturday, May 19). He spoke to media and supporters outside New York University ...

Nicholas Kristof and Ai Weiwei on Chen Guangcheng

Below is what another real life hero, Nicholas Kristof, says about Chen Guangcheng:

Nicholas Kristof

This man, Chen Guangcheng, is extraordinary -- a blind human rights activist in China who has been brutally mistreated and beaten while under house arrest. Now he has escaped and is said to be hiding in the US Embassy in Beijing. The problem is he's stuck there: the Chinese police can't enter to arrest him, but he can't leave the Embassy grounds for fear of renewed arrest and torture. I hope no one in the US government would ever think of ordering Chen to leave. Don't even think it!

Click on the New York Times article below for more on this story and what Ai Weiwei and others have to say about Chen Guangcheng:

Chen Guangcheng, a Blind Activist, Escapes House Arrest in China

www.nytimes.com

If Chen Guangcheng, a human rights lawyer who fled house arrest on Friday, is in the American Embassy in Beijing, the White House is likely to be cautious in handling his case.

Blind Chinese legal activist escapes!

A HERO!

Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese legal activist who has escaped from home imprisonment, is believed to have gone into hiding in Beijing, amid unconfirmed reports he has taken refuge in the US embassy. Chen had been restricted to his village home in Linyi in the eastern Shandong province since September 2010 when he was released from jail. A self-schooled legal advocate, Chen had campaigned against forced abortions.

Chinese activist 'in hiding' in Beijing

aje.me

Supporters of blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng believe he is in the US embassy after escape from home imprisonment.

Artist Sleeps Outside Till the Grass Grows

The artist's "piece is a commentary on human choice in the grand scheme of things…"

Artist He Yunchang (aka A Chang) is sleeping outside in Beijing's Caochangdi art village till the grass grows. (all photos by xingrui_beijing)

Artist Sleeps Outside Till the Grass Grows

hyperallergic.com

Since March 24, He Yunchang, also known as A Chang, has been sleeping outside in the Beijing artist village of Caochangdi (whose name literally means “Grassland/s”) until the grass is fully grown.

Ai Weiwei Ordered to Stop Self-Surveillance

Chinese authorities censor Ai Weiwei's surveillance of himself in his home...but their surveillance continues...

Ai Weiwei Ordered to Stop Self-Surveillance

blogs.wsj.com

Chinese authorities put the finishing touch on artist provocateur Ai Weiwei’s latest performance art piece, ordering him to turn off four live webcams he had installed inside his own home in a wry effort to turn state surveillance on its head.

another look at Cai Guo-Qiang's Doha exhibit and the historical context for the relationship between the Arab world and China

Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) via Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art

Listen to Dr. Jackie Armijo explain the historical context behind the Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab exhibition at Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art.

Another Look with Dr. Jackie Armijo

www.youtube.com

Qatar University professor Dr. Jackie Armijo talks about the historical context for the relationship between the Arab world and China, particularly with Cai's hometown of Quanzhou through a look at the installation "Homecoming" at Mathaf.

Tibet self immolation protests going largely unnoticed in the wider world...

This image from video, released Friday, March 23, 2012 by London-based activist group Free Tibet, reportedly shows the cremation of Sonam Thargyal, a 44-year-old farmer who doused himself with kerosene before setting himself on fire earlier this month.

Tibet Self Immolation Wave Among History's Biggest

www.huffingtonpost.com

BEIJING -- Dozens of Tibetans have set themselves on fire over the past year to protest Chinese rule, sometimes drinking kerosene to make the flames explode from within, in one of the biggest waves of political self-immolations in recent history.  But the stunning protests are going largely unnoticed in the wider world...

If tiny Norway can stand up to the Beijing's bullying, why can't the USA?

If tiny Norway can stand up to the Beijing's bullying, why can't the USA?

Limits to Beijing's bullying by Fareed Zakaria, CNN

www.youtube.com

Limits to Beijing's bullying By Fareed Zakaria, CNN March 30th, 2012 In the playground of foreign affairs, you would think that size matters. The biggest bul...

Tibetan woman, student set selves on fire

This photo taken in 2011 shows the entrance to the Kirti monastary in the town of Aba in China's Sichuan province. A mother of four died after setting herself on fire in a Tibetan-inhabited region of southwest China on Sunday, a rights group said, in the latest self-immolation to hit the country.  http://news.yahoo.com/photos/world-events-slideshow/kirti-monastary-town-aba-photo-200041781.html

Report: Tibetan woman, student set selves on fire

Chinese security forces opened fire on Tibetan protesters, killing at least one...

Chinese security forces opened fire on Tibetan protesters, killing at least one. 

Tibetans Fired Upon in Protest in China

By KEITH BRADSHER (NYT)

Police officers opened fire on Tibetan protesters in western China on Monday in the largest violent confrontation in ethnic Tibetan areas of China since 2008. 

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR???

I don't think things are going to end well in Wukan!!!

I don't think things are going to end well!!!

Relatives carried a picture of Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody after villagers chose him to negotiate a solution to a land deal in Wukan, China.

Wukan Revolt Takes On a Life of Its Own

By MICHAEL WINES (NYT)

Anger at a possible land deal boiled over in Wukan, China, after a popular villager chosen to negotiate a solution died in police custody.

Chinese Contemporary Art in the Middle East!

One of my favorite artists now has a solo show up in Qatar!  I believe Doha's Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art, is really smart in bringing in a big name artist from outside the region, but also just as importantly, not the typical Western artist.   I like Cai Guo-Qiang because he consistently comes up with  thoughtful but unconventional ways to talk about his own heritage as well as historical and contemporary global trade and exchange.  His artwork is smart but fun and easily appreciated by a larger audience.  I hope to go soon!

Pictured above: Installation view of Fragile (2011), Gunpowder on 480 panels of porcelain, 318 x 1800 cm (125 3/16 x 708 11/16 in.) overall, approximately 30 x 39.75 cm (11 13/16 x 15 5/8 in.) each panel, 480 panels in total, Commissioned by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Photo by Hiro Ihara, Courtesy Cai Studio

Link to Cai Guo-Qiang's Exhibit in Doha

And from Art Kuwait: 

www.artkuwait.org

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar – Exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art presents Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab, a major exhibition featuring newly commissioned work by Cai Guo-Qiang. As Cai’s first solo exhibition in the Middle East and the first single-artist exhibition presented by Mathaf, Saraab opens new...

Horrifying image of Tibetan nun in flames on street in latest self-immolation protest against China

Horrifying image of Tibetan nun in flames on street in latest self-immolation protest against China

www.dailymail.co.uk

The image is taken from a video released by protest group Students for a Free Tibet, who smuggled it out of southwest China following the incident.

Ai Weiwei Absent (艾未未‧缺席)

Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles, 2011

Absent indeed - Taipei Times

www.taipeitimes.com

Ai Weiwei Absent (艾未未‧缺席), the appropriately titled exhibition currently on view at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), is the best show of the Chinese artist’s work you are likely see in Taipei for at least the next few years. Unfortunately, the displayed works reveal little about why he has become...

Ai Weiwei vows to fight amid new challenge from authorities

Ai Weiwei vows to clear tax charges amid fresh challenge from authorities - Guardian - latestChina.com

...Hours before the deadline for paying the 15m yuan (£1.47m) fine, tax officials told the artist and human rights campaigner he could not use his mother's house as collateral and that there were problems with the funds he had raised in a public appeal.

"I only heard this morning about this money problem," Ai told the Guardian on Monday. "They put us in a very difficult situation. They are not following the law. There is nothing I can do"....