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The Star
21 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 hosts guest country Philippines
The Philippines will be guest of honour at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, from Oct 15–19. Photo: AFP The Philippines will be presenting its literature as guest of honour at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, which runs from Oct 15-19, the organisers have said. "This year, we are opening a window to the Pacific," Book Fair Director Juergen Boos said at the presentation of the guest country programme in Frankfurt on Thursday. The appearance will also help to "dispel clichés," he said. The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands and, in addition to the official language Filipino, there are more than 130 other languages. The Philippines will bring "a multitude of voices to Frankfurt," said the initiator of the guest country appearance, Loren Legarda. The country has interesting perspectives on natural disasters and colonialism, dictatorship and diaspora, visions of the future and the threat of climate change, she said. The architect responsible for the Guest of Honour Pavilion at the exhibition grounds, Stanley Ruiz, said it will mainly feature materials typical of the country such as shells, bamboo and pineapple fabric. Visitors will be able to discover the most important works of Philippine literature, the organizers said. Before and after the book fair, visitors can also experience Philippine culture at exhibitions, concerts and film evenings throughout Germany. Around 100 delegates will be travelling to the event, according to the organisers. A special feature will be the so-called FlipTop Rap Battles - competitions involving spoken word - which are particularly popular in the Philippines. - dpa
The Star
21 minutes ago
- Business
- The Star
Global art market banking on new generation of collectors
The global art market is not immune to current economic and geopolitical tensions, and is counting on a new generation of collectors to revitalise the momentum. Some big transactions were concluded last week during Art Basel, the world's top contemporary art fair, notably by London's Annely Juda Fine Art gallery, which sold a David Hockney painting for between US$13mil and US$17mil, without disclosing the exact price. The David Zwirner gallery sold a sculpture by Ruth Asawa for US$9.5mil and a Gerhard Richter painting for US$6.8mil. However, prices did not reach the heights achieved in 2022, when the art market was in full swing. Back then, a sculpture by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois was purchased for US$40mil. "The market is certainly softer," Art Basel's chief executive Noah Horowitz told AFP, though major sales still happen at such fairs "despite, somehow, all that's going on in the world". Switzerland's biggest bank UBS and the research and consulting firm Arts Economics prepared a report for the fair. According to their estimates, the art market slowed in 2023, then fell by 12 percent globally in 2024, to US$57.5bil, with the decline particularly affecting works valued at more than US$10mil. The four-day Art Basel fair, which closed last Sunday, featured more than 280 galleries presenting works by around 4,000 artists. Photo: AFP "In the next six to 12 months, I don't see any changes on the horizon," said Hans Laenen, an art market specialist at insurer AXA XL. In a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainties, "investors are turning very strongly to gold", he told AFP. In the art sector, behaviour is "more conservative" among both buyers and sellers, who prefer to wait before putting works on the market in the current climate, he continues. "The number of transactions is increasing," but in "lower price segments," he noted. According to the insurance firm Hiscox, the number of lots sold for less than US$50,000 increased by 20 percent in auction houses in 2024, while very highly priced works saw a sharp drop, indicating a change in collector behaviour. New generation According to Jean Gazancon, chief executive of art insurer Arte Generali, a younger generation of collectors is entering the market. "We are insuring more and more 30-somethings for collections of 300,000, 500,000, or a million euros," he noted. "These are successful start-uppers, investment bankers, lawyers, or sometimes people who have inherited," and they begin their collections "very young", sometimes making "very radical" choices, he said. A view of Ukrainian painter Sana Shahmuradova Tanska's 'Zhai-Liza (Angel), 2024' at Gunia Nowik Gallery's booth at Art Basel on June 17. Photo: AFP UBS expects that trend to increase. According to its projections, an unprecedented wealth transfer will take place over the next 20 to 25 years with the general ageing of the population. Globally, around US$83tril in assets will change hands, it says, meaning "there's a whole new generation of collectors coming to the market with different buying patterns", said Eric Landolt, global co-head of the family advisory, art and collecting department at UBS. The four-day Art Basel fair, which closed last Sunday, featured more than 280 galleries presenting works by around 4,000 artists. It is a must for collectors, who can buy everything from Pablo Picasso paintings to very recent works. The Thaddaeus Ropac galleries notably offered a portrait of Pope Leo XIV by the Chinese-French artist Yan Pei-Ming. It also highlights young artists, such as Joyce Joumaa, 27, who jointly won the 2025 Baloise Art Prize for her work focusing on the energy crisis in Lebanon. - AFP
The Star
21 minutes ago
- General
- The Star
Gender not main factor in attacks on Egyptian woman pharaoh: study
Visitors stand behind the bust of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BC) at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's central Tahrir Square on June 11. Photo: AFP She was one of ancient Egypt's most successful rulers, a rare female pharaoh who preceded Cleopatra by 1,500 years, but Queen Hatshepsut's legacy was systematically erased by her stepson successor after her death. The question of why her impressive reign was so methodically scrubbed has attracted significant debate, but in new research published Monday, University of Toronto scholar Jun Wong argues far too much emphasis has been placed on her gender. "It's quite a romantic question: why was this pharaoh attacked after her death?" Wong told AFP, explaining his interest in a monarch who steered ancient Egypt through a period of extraordinary prosperity. Earlier scholars believed Queen Hatshepsut's stepson Thutmose III unleashed a posthumous campaign of defilement against her out of revenge and hatred, including because he wanted to purge any notion that a woman could successfully rule. "The way in which (Hatshepsut's) reign has been understood has always been colored by her gender," Wong said, referencing beliefs that Thutmose III may have viewed her as "a kind of an evil stepmother." His research, which builds on other recent scholarship and is being published in the journal Antiquity , argues Thutmose III's motivations were far more nuanced, casting further doubt on the theory of backlash against a woman in charge. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt roughly 3,500 years ago, taking over following the death of her husband Thutmose II. She first served as regent to her stepson, the king-in-waiting, but successfully consolidated power in her own right, establishing herself as a female pharaoh. Experts say she expanded trade routes and commissioned extraordinary structures, including an unparallelled mortuary in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile's west bank. Wong reassessed a range of material from damaged statues uncovered during excavations from 1922 to 1928. He said there is no doubt Thutmose III worked to eliminate evidence of Hatshepsut's achievements, but his efforts were "perhaps driven by ritual necessity rather than outright antipathy," said Wong. Thutmose III may have been trying to neutralise the power of his predecessor in a practical and common way, not out of malice. He also found that some of the statues depicting Hatshepsut were likely damaged because later generations wanted to reuse them as building materials. "For a long time, it has been assumed that Hatshepsut's statuary sustained a vindictive attack," said Wong, arguing that a fresh look at the archives suggests "this is not the case." - AFP
HKFP
21 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- HKFP
Monsters and memes: Labubu dolls ride Chinese soft-power wave
Small, fuzzy and baring sharp teeth, Chinese toymaker Pop Mart's Labubu monster dolls have taken over the world, drawing excited crowds at international stores and adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Cher. Beijing-based Pop Mart is part of a rising tide of Chinese cultural exports gaining traction abroad, furry ambassadors of a 'cool' China even in places associated more with negative public opinion of Beijing such as Europe and North America. Labubus, which typically sell for around US$40 (HK$314), are released in limited quantities and sold in 'blind boxes', meaning buyers don't know the exact model they will receive. The dolls are 'a bit quirky and ugly and very inclusive, so people can relate', interior designer Lucy Shitova told AFP at a Pop Mart store in London, where in-person sales of Labubus have been suspended over fears that fans could turn violent in their quest for the toys. 'Now everything goes viral… because of social media. And yes, it's cool. It's different.' While neighbouring East Asian countries South Korea and Japan are globally recognised for their high-end fashion, cinema and pop songs, China's heavily censored film and music industry have struggled to attract international audiences, and the country's best-known clothing exporter is fast-fashion website Shein. There have been few success stories of Chinese companies selling upmarket goods under their own brands, faced with stereotypes of cheap and low-quality products. 'It has been hard for the world's consumers to perceive China as a brand-creating nation,' the University of Maryland's Fan Yang told AFP. Pop Mart has bucked the trend, spawning copycats dubbed by social media users as 'lafufus' and detailed YouTube videos on how to verify a doll's authenticity. Brands such as designer womenswear label Shushu/Tong, Shanghai-based Marchen and Beijing-based handbag maker Songmont have also gained recognition abroad over the past few years. 'It might just be a matter of time before even more Chinese brands become globally recognisable,' Yang said. TikTok effect Through viral exports like Labubu, China is 'undergoing a soft-power shift where its products and image are increasingly cool among young Westerners', said Allison Malmsten, an analyst at China-based Daxue Consulting. Malmsten said she believed social media could boost China's global image 'similar to that of Japan in the 80s to 2010s with Pokemon and Nintendo'. Video app TikTok — designed by China's ByteDance — paved the way for Labubu's ascent when it became the first Chinese-branded product to be indispensable for young people internationally. Joshua Kurlantzick from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) told AFP that 'TikTok probably played a role in changing consumers' minds about China'. TikTok, which is officially blocked within China but still accessible with VPN software, has over one billion users, including what the company says is nearly half of the US population. The app has become a focus of national security fears in the United States, with a proposed ban seeing American TikTok users flock to another Chinese app, Rednote, where they were welcomed as digital 'refugees'. A conduit for Chinese social media memes and fashion trends, TikTok hosts over 1.7 million videos about Labubu. Labubumania Cultural exports can 'improve the image of China as a place that has companies that can produce globally attractive goods or services', CFR's Kurlantzick told AFP. 'I don't know how much, if at all, this impacts images of China's state or government,' he said, pointing to how South Korea's undeniable soft power has not translated into similar levels of political might. While plush toys alone might not translate into actual power, the United States' chaotic global image under the Trump presidency could benefit perceptions of China, the University of Maryland's Yang said. 'The connection many make between the seeming decline of US soft power and the potential rise in China's global image may reflect how deeply intertwined the two countries are in the minds of people whose lives are impacted by both simultaneously,' she told AFP. At the very least, Labubu's charms appear to be promoting interest in China among the younger generation. 'It's like a virus. Everyone just wants it,' Kazakhstani mother-of-three Anelya Batalova told AFP at Pop Mart's theme park in Beijing. Qatari Maryam Hammadi, 11, posed for photos in front of a giant Labubu statue. 'In our country, they love Labubu,' she said. 'So, when they realise that the origin of Labubu is in China, they'd like to come to see the different types of Labubu in China.'
The Star
21 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
In New York, Vermeer delivers the art of the love letter - sealed with a brush
Vermeer's 'Mistress And Maid' draws a visitor's gaze at The Frick Collection preview in New York, part of a three-painting exhibit exploring the art of seduction through the written word. Photo: AFP In a special exhibit featuring just three paintings, the Frick Collection in New York is inviting viewers to contemplate the age and the art of seduction by the written word. The show brings together a trio of paintings by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer: the Frick's own Mistress And Maid, The Love Letter on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and Woman Writing A Letter With Her Maid from the National Gallery of Ireland. They are three of six paintings by Vermeer (1632-1675) that focus on the reading and writing of letters. They also depict interactions between women of different classes. Each painting features a woman and a female servant who has likely become a confidante and an intermediary as her mistress conducts a romantic relationship, said exhibit curator Robert Fucci. "While the contents of the letters in Vermeer's paintings are not made clear, they are most likely amorous," he said. "Courtship and love letters were an important part of the artist's social context and a prevalent artistic theme." In Vermeer's era, women had increasing autonomy in choosing their life partners, Fucci noted. "Servants played a crucial role. Employers entrusted them with delivery, especially when messages needed to be shared covertly," he added. A debt with the baker Vermeer's Love Letters, on view until the end of August, is the first show on offer since the Frick reopened its doors in April following a top-to-bottom, US$330mil (RM1.4bil) renovation. The 20th century mansion filled with paintings, sculptures, and decorative pieces dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century now has 10 new galleries on its second floor, in what used to be the Frick family's private quarters. Two of the Vermeer paintings – worth a fortune today – helped the artist's wife, Catharina Bolnes, settle a debt with a baker after she was widowed with 11 children. The show is the first of the Dutch master's works in New York since 2001. The intimate offering is in sharp contrast to the sprawling Vermeer retrospective at the Rijksmuseum in 2023. Featuring 28 of his 35 known paintings, that was the largest collection of Vermeer's work ever assembled in one place, and drew thousands of art lovers. "Vermeer certainly continues to compel people and to inspire people today," said Aimee Ng, another curator at the Frick. – AFP
