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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
Wing Shya, Hong Kong-based photographer, artist and director, in Tai Hang. Photo: Alexander Mak

Wing Shya: photographer to Wong Kar-wai on working with the great and good of Hong Kong cinema

Reading Time:6 minutes
Chef-nun Jeong Kwan at the Bukhara Biennale, in Uzbekistan, as part of a kimchi-fermentation collaboration with the Koryo-saram community. Photo: courtesy Andrey Arekelyan and Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF)

Bukhara Biennial spearheads cultural blossoming of the city as well as the wider Uzbekistan

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
The Yuen Long branch of Wing Wah Restaurant does a brisk mooncake trade ahead of the 1976 Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: the evolution of Hong Kong’s Mid-Autumn mooncake

Reading Time:1 minute
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
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Janice Laujan at her first art exhibition, “Memory & Punishment”, at Gold by Serakai Studio, in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong rocker Janice Laujan finds a new medium for a ‘public breakdown’ – art

David Boring lead vocalist Janice Laujan says her exhibition, ‘Memory & Punishment’, carries the same sentiment as her music.

Japan

Praised abroad, ignored at home: Japanese museums shun war-atrocity video art

Wellness

Zen and the art of flower arranging – how ikebana brings calm to your life

Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Don’t let AI take over our human creative expression

The grand promise of AI has been inverted: while we continue doing the grunt work, AI is writing poetry and painting masterpieces.

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Visitors tour Dataland, the world’s first museum of AI arts, on June 16 in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images
Fame and celebrity

Meet Woody Harrelson’s wife, Laura Louie, who joined him at the Brothers premiere

The couple, who first met during a taping of Harrelson’s hit sitcom Cheers, enjoyed a double date with Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves at the 2026 US Open.

Japan

Manga mania: how Japanese comics conquered the world

From museum walls to blockbuster screens, Japan’s graphic storytelling is expanding its cultural reach, commercial power and international fan base.

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Chinese culture

Few still make Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns the classic way. This artisan does

Hong Kong lantern artisan Wan Wong explains why she keeps the traditional craft alive, barriers she faced as a woman and the key techniques.

Rabbit lanterns made by Hong Kong fashion designer and lantern artist Wan Wong, who continues to keep the traditional ways of making Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns alive. Photo: Wan Wong
Travel

From Star Wars to Banksy, 7 must-sees at new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Seeing everything at George Lucas and Mellody Hobson’s huge new Los Angeles museum in one day is a tough ask, so here are some highlights.

South Korea

Bukhara Biennial spearheads cultural blossoming of the city as well as the wider Uzbekistan

With site-specific artwork displayed in restored or adapted historical structures, the inaugural Bukhara Biennial heralded the development of a cultural district designed for residents and visitors alike.

Icons and Influencers

Style according to … Cordelia de Castellane of Dior Maison and Baby Dior

The Paris-based designer behind Sofitel’s Le Vestiaire uniform collection shares her favourite books, beauty essentials and travel finds.

Cordelia de Castellane, artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior. Photo: Handout
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.

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
Photography

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

An Italian palace in Turin is hosting a new exhibition of Fan’s works that capture everyday human activity in 1950s and 60s Hong Kong.

Travel

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

The Bayeux Tapestry is expected to draw 1 million visitors to the British Museum before its exhibition ends in July 2027.

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.

Patsy Lo reveals the inspirational story behind her journey to become a dancer and filmmaker. Photo: Jonathan Wong
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.

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.

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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’.

The Louvre Pyramid, designed by I.M. Pei, in 2025. The Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project has been proposed to resolve overcrowding and reimagine the visitor experience at Paris' Louvre Museum. Photo: Reuters
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.

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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.

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.

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Black Kite Brewery’s Flockfest 2026 craft beer festival, at PMQ from September 11 to 13, is one of the exciting happenings in Hong Kong this weekend. Here’s what else to do and see. Photo: Black Kite Brewery
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.

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.

Two necklaces showcasing Bulgari’s colour compositions at the exhibition “Bvlgari Kaleidos: Colors, Cultures and Crafts” in Shanghai. Photos: Handout
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.

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.

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