double-skinned crabsVietnamese crab exporter
Advertisement
Advertisement
TOPIC

Art

Art
News and insight on trends in fine art, art auctions and leading artists
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Wanrong and Puyi, in Tianjin, circa 1925. Photo: Getty Images

Paul French lifts veil on final months of China’s last emperor in the Forbidden City

It is not the first biography of China’s Puyi, but Paul French’s latest book brings with it a feminine voice of modernity and fully exploits its place in the ‘doomed-monarchy’ sub-genre.

Reading Time:6 minutes
The city of Baguio, on Luzon island, in the Philippines, was favoured by American administrators for its climate. Photo: Thomas Bird

Escape Manila’s heat for northern Luzon’s pine-scented hills and Sagada’s hanging coffins

Reading Time:6 minutes
Nurbol Baimukhanov’s Zhabe horse, Ayan, near Almaty, Kazakhstan. Photo: courtesy Nurbol Baimukhanov

Ode to the horse: 5,000 years of human-equine connection on display in new Kazakh museum

Reading Time:7 minutes
John Yiu, an art historian and the deputy director of the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole academic research and cultural centre, at the University of Hong Kong, with his guqin. Photo: Alexander Mak

Hong Kong’s guqin revival bridges ancient philosophy and modern passions

Reading Time:6 minutes
Soy-glazed, fish-sauce-marinated chicken thigh with black-garlic oil at Chiu San. Photo: courtesy Chiu San

Hong Kong’s hottest new openings, from Sugar Daddy’s creamy pastries to Japanese-Chiuchow fusion fare at Chiu San

Reading Time:2 minutes
Architect Kisho Kurokawa with his creation, Japan’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, in 1972. Photo: Tomio Ohashi/M+

How Japan’s innovative Nakagin Capsule Tower is finding new life

Reading Time:6 minutes
MORE IN POSTMAG
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
The Colour of Silence, In Search of Truth (2026), by Shokhrukh Rakhimov, at the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA), in Uzbekistan. Photo: Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation and Timur Epov
Travel

Can Uzbekistan rival Dubai as the next global art hub?

The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent’s inaugural exhibition sees 10 global artists examine the East through their own perspectives.

Photography

Fan Ho’s poetic photos of mid-20th century Hong Kong show in an unlikely place

Travel

Tapestry depicting England’s ‘most important event’ back in UK after 1,000 years

Fame and celebrity

Mariko Mori’s landmark Tokyo retrospective traces an extraordinary cosmic journey

From 1970s anime to ancient Jōmon culture and Buddhist thought, the Japanese artist’s retrospective explores cosmic connections.

Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum is staging a retrospective exhibition tracing Japanese artist Mariko Mori’s cosmic journey. The show, which runs from October 31 to March 28, 2027, includes this 1995 work Birth of a Star. Photo: Handout
Performing arts in Hong Kong

The inspiring story of Hong Kong dancer who started at 48 after leaving Apple

Patsy Lo talks about making her latest dance film in Patagonia, being struck down by illness, and why she left Apple to pivot to dancing.

Chinese culture

The tragic Qing politician whose legacy lives on in descendant’s new novel

The life of Duanfang inspires E.L. Shen’s novel Foreigners, about identity, queer awakening and the immigrant experience in modern America.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
South Korea

16th Gwangju Biennale rises above controversies as one of art’s recent bests

Curators urged visitors not to be distracted by the bitter pre-opening dispute over the ‘Taiwan Pavilion’ naming. They needn’t have worried.

James T. Hong’s “Apologies” (2012-) is projected on the outside of the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall. The ongoing video compilation of politicians’ public apologies is projected on the exhibition hall every night for the duration of the biennale. Photo: courtesy of James T. Hong and Empty Gallery
France

The Louvre looks East to help fund €1 billion makeover

To offset the costs of a major upgrade, Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, would ‘love to have some sponsors from Asia’.

Artificial intelligence

Hong Kong artist Lau Wai looks at the unsettling future of humans and AI

Lau Wai’s solo multimedia exhibition ‘After Intelligence’ is a disturbing look at how the lines are blurring between humans and AI.

videocam
Hong Kong culture

Opinion | Hong Kong’s contemporary artists deserve a bigger stage in its museums

Now that other Asian societies are taking their artists more seriously, it is time for M+ and HKMoA to give our living artists major solo exhibitions.

Visitors to the M+ museum on July 1. Both M+ and the Hong Kong Museum of Art have held group shows of Hong Kong art but these do not go deep enough to allow for a proper appreciation of each artist’s practice. Photo: Elson Li
Crime

‘Worth zero’: why stolen Renoir paintings have little black market value

Two paintings stolen on Tuesday have a combined estimated value of US$10.5 million, but the thieves’ chance of profiting is ‘extremely low’.

Young Woman at the Well (left, 1886) and Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910), by French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, on September 8, 2026. Photos: Reuters
What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, September 11-13

From a craft beer festival to an introspective art exhibition and a soundwalk to Tomorrowland’s fashion pop-up, there’s a lot on this weekend.

videocam
Travel Destinations

Must-see fall 2026 art exhibitions and a new museum on our radar

Explore a spaceship-like cultural centre co-founded by the Star Wars creator, the historic Bayeux Tapestry, designs by Geoffrey Bawa, and more.

France

Thieves steal art worth millions from Renoir Museum in France

Suspects abandon two artworks during their getaway after early morning break-in in Cagnes-sur-Mer.

A police officer at the gated entrance of the Renoir Museum after the robbery. Photo AFP
Asian cinema: Korean films

Busan Biennale 2026: a ‘Dissident Chorus’ of sound, art and politics

This year, South Korea’s oldest biennale explores politics through sound, performance and art, but does it truly challenge the status quo?

The lobby of the Busan Museum of Contemporary Art features a selection of images taken from The House of Korean Protest Songs archive during the 2026 Busan Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui
Jewellery

Bulgari celebrates a love affair with colours at Shanghai exhibition

The immersive show, designed by Sanaa and Formafantasma, also features two installations by Chinese artists Liang Manqi and Zhang Ding.

South Korea

Seoul Art Week 2026 sees galleries court new generation of buyers in a cooler market

Hosting over 300 galleries, Frieze Seoul and Kiaf leaned towards affordable art for collectors now that speculators have left the market.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, September 4-6

Caviar ice cream, a poster exhibition, a super fashion showcase, a showing of a Wong Kar-wai classic and more await you this weekend.

videocam
Messina has teamed up with Hong Kong-based purveyor Nomad Caviar for a limited-edition collaboration for this week only, as part of our selection of things to see, do and eat this weekend. Photo: Messina
Hong Kong culture

Late Hong Kong dance pioneer Lau Siu-ming remembered for outstanding achievements

Culture minister among those paying tribute to late performer, known as Ming Sir, for his artistic contributions to sector.

South Korea

Art and Seoul: Korean collectors on their passion and artists to watch

As Seoul Art Week kicks off, we talk to a variety of collectors on their journey and suggestions on who and what to see over the coming days.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Older, wiser and happier? What happens when seniors take the stage in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Creative Aging Arts Festival will feature more than 40 performances highlighting the healing power of the arts for the elderly.

Lucy Siu (left), 76, a retired university lecturer, and Bobby Chow, 67, a former TV actor and retired businessman, are pictured at the launch ceremony of the second Hong Kong Creative Aging Arts Festival, in which they are both taking part, at Lok Fu Place on August 6, 2026. Photo: Nora Tam
Art Basel

The Hong Kong psychiatrist with a taste for art that’s not safe for work

Dr Brian Ip set up Kabinett in Wong Chuk Hang to show inspiring works by female and LGBTQ artists – works he can’t hang in his office.

Dr Brian Ip at his Kabinett art space in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong. The artworks are (from left) “Soleil Cache” (2020) and “Nuages Oranges et Gris” (2022) by Caroline Bachmann. Photo: Enid Tsui
Hong Kong culture

Hong Kong arts figures, fans pay tribute to Yayoi Kusama after her death at 97

West Kowloon arts hub chief Bernard Chan and AllRightsReserved founder Lam Shu-kam among those expressing sadness at Japanese artist’s death.

videocam
Japan

Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist famous for pumpkins and polka dots, dies aged 97

The avant-garde artist, who enjoyed a strong following in Hong Kong, died on August 14 at a hospital in Tokyo due to multiple organ failure.

videocam
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Anne Imhof on love, LGBTQ visibility and control ahead of her Hong Kong show

Award-winning artist talks about her ballet-infused work at Tai Kwun, challenges of working in Hong Kong and how falling in love inspired her.

German artist Anne Imhof at Tai Kwun in Central, Hong Kong, where her work “House of Swans” will be performed from September 25, 2026. Photo: Karma Lo
United States

What new analysis of Joshua Reynolds’ masterpiece The Portrait of Mai tells us

The Getty Museum is conducting a thorough study of the 18th century painting ahead of its Los Angeles debut on September 14.

The Portrait of Mai by Joshua Reynolds was bought by the Getty two years ago in a celebrated and rare joint acquisition with London’s National Portrait Gallery after the privately held painting was put up for sale by its Dublin-based owner for more than US$61 million. Photo: TNS
Taiwan

Taiwan vs South Korean art biennale: inside the political row over pavilion name

Gwangju Biennale’s refusal to name the Taiwanese art showcase the ‘Taiwan Pavilion’ has sparked accusations of political censorship.

Chinese culture

The Buddhist text in Taiwan said to bring lifetimes of luck with one glimpse

The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement