When Big is Best

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/When-Big-is-Best-30277880.html

FASHION

Paris Fashion goes XL

BIG FLAPPY GREATCOATS, baggy trousers and voodoo charms… that is what fashionable men will be wearing next autumn and winter if the Paris catwalks are anything to go by.

As men’s fashion week wound up Sunday in the French capital, some clear trends were emerging for the months ahead, not least that black is back with a vengeance.

From Dior to Givenchy and Yamamoto and Rynshu, it was everywhere in velvet, leather and wool, often combined with red check, the style touch of the season.

But the trend that dwarves all others is for big and baggy. Small families could settle down for the night inside many of the overcoats that have come flapping down the runways this week.

Raf Simons went hyper-supersized with enormous puffa jackets, Off-White’s coats were so long they were almost adult sleep suits and Rick Owens went and created an actual sleeping bag coat, all riffing on the idea that the modern male needed comforting and somewhere to hide.

Watch out too for overlong sleeves that reach almost to the fingernails and rich, silky purples that appeared most memorably in Dries Van Noten’s gorgeous macks and peacock and serpent pattern coats.

Pink – which in the 19th century was seen as the most masculine of colours before it was lost to bubblegum girliness – has made a tentative comeback too.

It adorned the collars of Givenchy’s coolest jackets, Julien David used it for his most cuddly coats, and it was everywhere in Pigalle’s panorama of pastels.

Hermes tried to take a little of the taboo away by making theirs almost raspberry, while Officine Generale hid their pinks behind blacks and greys.

Another long-time style no-no, the lumberjack jacket, may also be about to be brought in from the cold, meekly making an entrance in Valentino and getting a glamorous makeover by Dior.

But for sheer aplomb, it was hard to beat the dramatic return of braid and breeches.

Agnes B went for less of a testosteroned look, dressing three of her models like 18th-century bourgeois gentlemen in blue and purple velvet, complete with tricorn hats.

But extra large and extra baggy dominated. Even the oldest of the Paris houses still showing, Lanvin, wrapped itself in flappy greatcoats Sunday in the first collection under the sole control of Lucas Ossendrijver after the shock departure of artistic director Alber Elbaz in October.

Rather than make a flashy splash, Ossendrijver – who had been at the label for a decade – went for detail under the watchful eye of the brand’s Taiwanese owner Shaw-Law Wang.

Elbaz sportingly posted a supportive Instagram message saying, “Good luck with your show today Lucas.”

And Ossendrijver did succeed in making the show in a huge hangar on the outskirts of Paris strangely intimate, bringing buyers and press right up close to his creations on the narrow catwalk.

“I wanted people almost to touch the clothes and then be touched by them,” he explained.

“There is a softness and a sensuality about the collection,” he said of his loose cut suits and highly worked coats and shirts that flirted with grunge.

British designer Paul Smith was having none of the new giganticism, however, sticking by his tried and trusted tailored line.

His Sunday show revisited some his classic designs with strong echoes of the 1960s with Crombie coats, single vertical Mod-inspired stripes and Saturday night suits with subtle flower details.

His show began to the chimes of Big Ben and the reggae track “My England Story” before embarking on a musical history of Britain over the last 50 years that ended with the late David Bowie’s “Oh You Pretty Things”.

The clothes, however, drew their inspirations largely from the 1960s and 1970s, with combinations of rich clarets, greens, purples and mothball blues.

“I love the playfulness of this collection,” he said. “We are on a bit of a high at the moment.”

Paris’s haute couture week started late Sunday with Versace although |the shows only began in earnest Monday with Christian Dior and Schiaparelli.

Haute couture exists only in Paris and is sustained by a small number of the world’s richest women.

 

Fields of Dreams

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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Fields-of-Dreams-30277879.html

FASHION

designer Ornpraphan Suttinoraseth

designer Ornpraphan Suttinoraseth

Thai ready-to-wear brand Vick’s celebrates its first year with a party at the Jam Factory

ORNPRAPHAN SUTTINORASETH, director of Thai ready-to-wear brand Vicks, recently celebrated the huge success of her minimal style of clothing by turning trendy art space The Jam Factory into a hippie hangout and hosting a fashion show and party on the theme “Dream Field” to mark Vicks’ first birthday.

Six leading photographs joined Ornpraphan and created images that reflected how art and fashion are intertwined while indie musicians Yellow Fang, Noth Panayangkul, Sqweez Animal and Bangkok Paradise put on a concert that had everyone up and dancing.

The fashion show was attended by a number of celebrities and fans of the designer, among them Pimpisa Jirathiwat, Duangrit Bunnag, Disaya Korakochmas, Panu Ingkawat, Suchar Manaying, Pokchat Tiamchai, Sara Legge, Kamolned Ruangsri and Irada Siriwut, many of them dressed in her outfits.

Ornpraphan told XP that in 2016, she will focus on laid-back lifestyle trends and emphasise her commitment to slow fashion, which is friendlier to the environment.

The new collection, Dream Field, brought graceful hippie styles to the catwalk, mixing them with modern lines that matched the lifestyles of today’s young people. Cotton, silk and linen were the fabrics of choice enhanced by clean cut silhouettes and neat embroidery in Vick’s signature dark colours, although somebrighter colours were used in a nod to summer.

The concept of slow fashion from Vick’s point of view is a design that’s easy to wear and suited to any body shape. The fabrics, she pointed out, are comfortable, suited to everyday wear and can be mixed and matched at will.

The brand also showed how fashion enhances art through works by six photographers

Naruebet Wadvaree’s work, depicting a holiday journey, was inspired by the concept of isolation reflected in Alex Katz’s artwork.

Sukhum Nakpradit, in collaboration with Vicks, created “1,001 Nights and 1,000 Kilobyte” to guide viewers as they crossed the boundary between fact and deception to join another person’s experience.

Visual designer Supachai Petchree’s “The Summer Wind”, inspired by Frank Sinatra’s song of the same name, showcased the beauty of leaves and flowers while Sirima Chaipreechawat’s black-and-white photo, “A White Ribbon”, offered illustrations of houses and buildings in the style of a fashion photo shoot.

Professional barista Eakamon Theepatiganont reflected on the simple way of life in “Out of Ordinary” while “Natural Habitat of the Fangs”, a work created by band Yellow Fang, dwelt on the warmth and gentleness of |friendship.

 

The Sharp Jawline – a sign of youth

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/The-Sharp-Jawline–a-sign-of-youth-30277878.html

SKINDEEP

A universal sign of youth is a tight jawline and upper neck.

A universal sign of youth is a tight jawline and upper neck. Fair or not, our subconscious mind sees both men and women with a tight , defined jawline and upper neck as younger, thinner, healthier and more attractive.

Unfortunately, as we age, jowls appear and the jawline tends to merge with the neck. These often show up on profile pictures and cause us to cringe. According to a recent newspaper report , the five worst signs of ageing that worry Hong Kong women the most are a sagging jawline , double chin , turkey neck , cheek wrinkles and volume loss in cheeks. I would wager than Thai ladies are not very different in their concerns.

So is it possible to firm up the jawline and make it the way it used to be and, if so, can this be done without surgery?

Fortunately , today’s bag of tricks can mitigate this ageing sign more effectively than ever before.

Non-ablative skin tightening programmes such as Thermage , Ulthera and Duo Lift are used to correct the “triangle of youth”, a term used to describe the widest part of the face. In our younger years , the triangle of youth places its lengthiest points at the cheek bones and temples but eventually inverts to the ” pyramid of age ” as gravity causes sagging and widening of the jawline and jowls.

The primary goal of these revolutionary skin-tightening technologies is to cause contraction and regeneration of collagen to decrease some of the skin laxity and enhance the neck and jawline, without surgery.

We all know that collagen is an essential connective protein that gives skin the youthful qualities of structure and elasticity. Thermage, Ulthera and Duo Lift programmes work by emitting and delivering energy into the underlying tissue, creating collagen contraction and stimulating collagen production as well. |The procedures require little to no downtime. For three to six months following treatment, collagen formation will tighten and lift the skin for a more youthful contour. The results from these skin-tightening programmes tend to look natural and last about a year.

So while we may fear and shun all the indicators of ageing, it is never too late to regain our youth. And with the promise of further developments in cosmetic care technology ahead, we may one day be able to banish the ravaging signs of age forever.

THANISORN THAMLIKITKUL MD| is a member of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and |certified in dermatological laser surgery. Send your questions |for her to info@romrawin.com

An inspiration to the north

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/An-inspiration-to-the-north-30277521.html

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY

The village's only

The village’s only

Villagers join the weekly clean-up.

Villagers join the weekly clean-up.

Light meal - sticky rice with herbs and herbal drink.

Light meal – sticky rice with herbs and herbal drink.

The remaining wood structure of Wat Ton Kwen.

The remaining wood structure of Wat Ton Kwen.

Guide and another young boy collect leaves for fertiliser plant.

Guide and another young boy collect leaves for fertiliser plant.

A small community in Chiang Mai is proud to share its healthy way of life

At first glance, Ban Rai Gong King, a village in Chiang Mai‘s Hang Dong district, looks like any rural settlement in this part of the world – a scattering of small houses, narrow gravel roads and fruit orchards.

But Ban Rai Gong King is very different from its neighbours. What makes it special is the way of life, which not only creates a strong bond among the villagers and promotes good health but today is also drawing visitors wanting to leave the rat race behind.

People here leave their beds before dawn to tend their small gardens where a variety of vegetables are grown and make up the major part of their meals.

As the sun rises, some are already hard at work in the orchards. Others are busy tending to their hives, the focus of a community business that produces honey as well as pollen and honey-based soaps and other herbal items. Nearly everyone grows herbs at their houses and these dried herbs – said to ease numbness – are in high demand.

Indeed, herbs have played a major role in the community for several years, first helping to soothe the side effects of too many years of chemical fertilisers and later easing the pains of HIV/Aids.

All the products are sold under the brand name Suk Siam, the brainchild of the community’s saving club that today has more than 200 members. Last year, revenue from sales topped Bt9 million and 60 per cent of that went back to members at the end of the year.

In the evenings resident relax at the community spa, where an hour of traditional Thai massage costs Bt150 and a session in the sauna, breathing in the fragrant home-grown herbs, goes for Bt50. Exercise equipment is available for free at the community health centre and gets plenty of use.

Sundays see the students taking part in the weekly cleaning campaign and collecting the leaves on the public roads. For each small bag of leaves, they receive one egg. The leaves go to the central fertiliser-making facility, which helps the village avoid chemical fertilisers.

“I want this village to stay clean,” says young volunteer Guide, as he pushes a cart of fresh eggs to distribute to the other boys.

Somsak Inthachai, the village chief, is pleased that the way of life has become a selling point.

The village turned itself into a tourism destination in 2013. Homestays were introduced, bundled with healthy food and activities. In addition to participating in the village chores, they can take a morning bike ride to the nearby attractions, which include Royal Ratchaphruek Garden, the 700-year-old Wat Ton Kwen, and Muang Koong Village – a major supplier of pottery items. For Bt300, they can try a “Yam Khang”, a traditional foot massage that requires the masseuse to heat his feet, already soaked with sesame and herbal oil, on a red-hot steel plate. At night, they will be treated to Khan Tok – the traditional northern-style dinner, a drum show and traditional dance.

“Visiting a community means you need to get to know the people through their food and their lives,” Somsak says.

Hundreds of thousand visitors have come to Ban Rai Gong King to enjoy the sustainable way of life, among them hospitality students from Singapore and the United States. The number is set to increase as the village was recognised by Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) with an “honourable mention” when the organisation handed out the Tourism InSPIRE Awards in 2015.

Recognising organisations and businesses that have demonstrated excellence in social, environmental and economic sustainability in tourism, the awards are in six categories: Best Branded Accommodation, Best Independent Accommodation, Best Marine and Wildlife Tourism Provider, Best Culture and Heritage Tourism Provider, Best Responsible Tourism Destination, and Best Community-Based Tourism Initiative.

The winners of these awards, according to Pata, exemplify use and application of sustainable consumption approaches, resource efficiency, the value chain approach, eco-innovation, sustainable reporting, community action, cultural heritage, and collective impact.

The winner in the Best Community-Based Tourism Initiative was Bojo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association in the Philippines. The association was formed in 2009 to take care of Aloguinsan’s 1.4-kilometre Bojo River, with support from fishermen who now work as river cruise guides. The members have received training in ecotourism, housekeeping and accommodation, handicrafts and other livelihood programmes. The foundation now counts more than 50 family members and its model has been replicated in neighbouring communities.

Somsak says the honourable mention has motivated him to do more though he admits that not everyone shares his enthusiasm for the tourism scheme.

“We’ve only been involved in tourism for three years and we’ve already earned a mention. Tourism has generated more income. This award should encourage all community members to join hands in preserving our culture,” says Somsak who has been the village chief for 22 years.

While ready to export the knowledge to neighbouring communities, Ban Rai Gong King is striving to learn more from others. With help from Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organisation), the village found its strengths in herbs then turned to Mae Jo University for help with the packaging. Dasta also arranged trips to other successful communities in Trat and Rayong where villagers could study how to run tourism successfully and sustainably. Tips on making herbal items were also cultivated from a visit to the Chao Phya Aphaiphubejhr Hospital foundation in Prachin Buri while a trip to Japan inspired Suphan, Somsak’s wife and biggest supporter, in the cooking and presentation of food..

Plans are in the pipeline to make the village “homes of health and wealth”. They include the production of organic fertiliser pellets and a larger garden with steam rooms where visitors can enjoy the benefits of the herbs they pick. The massage room will be expanded too to take account of the larger number of visitors.

“We don’t want to rush. We need to know what we are capable of,” Suphan says.

 

Por’s death gives press the straw to break the camel’s back

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Pors-death-gives-press-the-straw-to-break-the-came-30277520.html

SOOPSIP

Nation/Tanachai Pramarnpanic

Nation/Tanachai Pramarnpanic

The much-maligned press demonstrated again last week why it’s much maligned, photographers and reporters brawling to get a glimpse of the body of Tridsadee “Por” Sahawong as it was taken from Ramathibodi Hospital ready for transfer to Buri Ram, his hometown.

The popular actor died last Monday after a two-month battle against various health complications stemming from dengue fever.

A picture of the body, even draped, is surely not what his fans want to see – not his true fans, anyway.

Utterly ignored by the swarming media horde was anything remotely close to the “Ethics Guidelines for Covering Funerals” drawn up Al Tompkins, a well-respected journalism teacher at the Poynter Institute in the US.

In the guidelines, Tompkins calls for “the highest degree of sensitivity and professionalism” among reporters attending such grim events. “Although stories about funerals can be deeply moving, newsworthy and even healing for an audience, there is great potential for journalists to intrude on a family’s privacy and cause pain to already vulnerable people.”

The Bangkok reporters “on the ground”, as they say in the business, have countered that it’s their “duty” to get the photos of Por’s corpse and his grieving family. Well, that just poured oil on the angry flames crackling in cyberspace. Folks at Pantip.com, Facebook and elsewhere were furious at such a cock-eyed interpretation of “duty” and the total lack of any sense of dignity.

“Why don’t media understand this?” one fan at Pantip fumed. “It’s not photos of Khun Por’s body or the family’s loss we want to remember. We want to remember him when he was well and happy. He gave us happiness and love. Why don’t you respect Khun Por and his family?”

“If the media want to go that far in their coverage,” another said, “I’ll join those who choose not to view the news. If you cover the funeral like you’re doing now – reporting every situation, every process with no sign of respect for the deceased and the bereaved – I choose not to view your news.”

Nation Multimedia Group editor-in-chief Thepchai Yong, who’s also president of the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, expressed his concern on Facebook. “In the past the media could ignore criticism from the public, but the media landscape has changed. The media can be investigated as never before and people are no longer inarticulate.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if one day society loses patience and does more than criticise. The public response will be systematic and determined, because these days communication is no longer tied to just the news media. I would like all media managers to learn a lesson from Por Trisadee’s case, because this might be the starting point for restoring the public’s faith in the media.”

Thepchai’s prediction seems quite plausible. Even as we speak there’s a petition posted at Change.org urging media associations to improve their ethics and social etiquette. As of late Thursday it had more than 25,813 signatures.

A new musical experience

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/A-new-musical-experience-30277519.html

STAGE REVIEW

Kanda Witthayanuparpyuenyong portrays Wikanda in 'The Wife'. Here, she's photographed by her philandering husband, played by Theerawut Kaeomak, while travelling in Japan. Photo courtesy of Bangkok Studio 41

Kanda Witthayanuparpyuenyong portrays Wikanda in ‘The Wife’. Here, she’s photographed by her philandering husband, played by Theerawut Kaeomak, while travelling in Japan. Photo courtesy of Bangkok Studio 41

“The Wife” breathes new life into both the novel and contemporary Thai theatre

My first time in an American theatre 22 years ago wasn’t on Broadway but a small theatre studio in Seattle where I was astounded by a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins”.

Watching Bangkok Studio 41’s production of “The Wife: A New Musical”, the company’s adaptation of National Artist Krissana Asoksin’s novel “Mia Luang”, last Thursday at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts reminded me of that experience. After being turned off by mediocre and less than memorable musicals throughout these years, only to be occasionally rejuvenated overseas by watching works like “The Book of Mormon” and “Once”, I have become something less than a fan of this genre of theatre.

Set in an arena stage where the audience is close to the stage actions and can hear the true voices of the performers, “The Wife” takes us into the married life of Wikanda. A fine-looking woman with an impeccable social and educational upbringing, she is married to Anirut, a man of equal breeding but with one flaw: he just can’t keep his hands off the ladies.

Capturing the heart and soul of the novel which is more than 800 pages long and seems better fitted to TV drama, the musical book is complete in itself. Scenes feel neither too short nor too long, there’s no rushing through any part of the story and no attempt is made to cram in more information. Like the novel itself, it proves that there’s more we need to know and understand about our patriarchal society and how it has been creating mia luang (legitimate wives) and mia noi (minor wives ). Thanks to our overexposure to TV soap depictions, we think we know all about them.

Performed with a piano, a violin and percussion, the music doesn’t try to do too much – it serves the dramatic purposes and doesn’t try to climb the pop charts. Even better, the lyrics fit the musical notes. Although it’s a work by three composers and another musical director, it sounds like the work of just one.

With two highly acclaimed title role performances in “Miss Saigon” and “Cixi Taihou” under her belt, Kanda Witthayanuparpyuenyong delivers a knockout performance with sheer subtlety, and clear diction. When she sang “I am his home” and “I am the legitimate wife” with such strong compassion, I found myself crying. I don’t have any direct experience of this mia luang-mia noi arrangement, but I thought of many friends who do and I understand them better now. Another two show-stoppers, who nail it with their characterisation and singing prowess, are Lalita Tubthong as Nuan, a maid and in-house mia noi for Anirut, and Phitchaya Muangsukham as the prime minister’s wife, from whose experience Wikanda could learn.

Much credit is due to director Chavatvit Muangkeo, who clearly understands how to work in an arena stage, not common in this country and a major challenge for any director, with only chairs as set-props and makes full and deft use of his ensemble of chorus actresses. He needs, though, to spend additional time coaching young actress Kamolvasu Chutisamoot as Nudee, a rural girl who becomes Wikanda’s assistant and another of Anirut’s mistresses. Despite having a beautiful voice, she was always upstaged by her senior actresses. Perhaps he needs also to rethink his characterisation of Orn-in, who looks and sounds too stereotypical in this otherwise unorthodox work.

Despite suffering from jetlag, I didn’t yawn once during this 150-minute musical.

It’s not yet the end of January and I’m sure I’ll watch many more musicals this year, but I’ve already made a note that “The Wife” is a strong contender for IATC Thailand Award 2016 for best musical, best book, best direction, best performance by a female artist and best performance by an ensemble.

And coupled with “Mom: The Musical” which ended yesterday, January has truly been a memorable month for Thai musicals.

SOCIAL SITUATIONS

n “The Wife: A New Musical” continues from Thursday to Saturday at the Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts at Chulalongkorn University. It’s in Thai with English surtitles.

n Shows are at 7.30 nightly and at 2pm on Saturday. The venue is on Henri Dunant Road, a 10-minute walk from BTS Siam, Exit 6.

n Tickets are Bt800 (buy four or more and it’s Bt600 each; Bt300 for students. Call (094) 931 3434 or visit http://www.BangkokStudio41.com.

Making of scientific revolution

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Making-of-scientific-revolution-30277518.html

CHINA CULTURE

Song Feideng posing with his comic book showing a page with a drawing of Darth Vader in Guangzhou. Photo/AFP

Song Feideng posing with his comic book showing a page with a drawing of Darth Vader in Guangzhou. Photo/AFP

Artist Song Feideng looks at one of his paintings in Guangzhou. Photo/AFP

Artist Song Feideng looks at one of his paintings in Guangzhou. Photo/AFP

China has a “secret plan” to use the force of “Star Wars”

A long time ago in country far, far away, Chinese authorities managed to obtain a copy of America’s ultimate cultural weapon, a blockbuster movie with enough special effects to wow an entire planet. Summoned to a small theatre in the southern city of Guangzhou in 1980, artist Song Feideng was shown “Star Wars” and instructed to transform it into a traditional Chinese comic book, known as a lianhuanhua, to promote scientific achievement to China.

Song was one of the first people in China to see George Lucas’ magnum opus, at a time when it was still banned – a marked contrast to the status of the series’ most recent instalment in a market Hollywood increasingly sees as crucial to success.

“The objective was to take the world’s advanced science and popularise it in China,” says Song, who worked for a state-owned publisher at the time.

He replaced the movie’s X-wing spacecraft with Soviet rockets and jet fighters. In one illustration, Luke Skywalker wears a cosmonaut’s bulky spacesuit, while rebel leaders are dressed in Western business suits. Darth Vader appears alongside a triceratops.

At the time, China was emerging from the isolation of the Mao Zedong era and “Star Wars” had still not been granted a release by Communist authorities, three years after it hit Western cinemas.

The movie “was very novel, very exciting”, Song remembers, adding that he felt as if he had seen a “glimpse of the world”. The project came amid a brief flowering of Chinese science fiction following Mao’s decade-long Cultural Revolution, when the arts were reduced to glorifying the Communist Party. Mao’s decision to send intellectuals to work in the countryside had badly affected basic scientific research. Song spent the period on the then poverty-stricken Hainan island, producing propaganda slideshows.

Science fiction has had a fraught history in China, where genre pioneer Ye Yonglie once called it “one of the barometers of the political climate”.

Shortly after the 1977 US release of “Star Wars”, the Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily attacked it as a fantasy that demonstrated how Americans’ “dissatisfaction with reality” had pushed them to “seek comfort in an illusory fairyland”.

But the following year, as China began to reopen to the world,

Beijing declared sci-fi critical to rehabilitating the country’s sciences, releasing a flood of almost 1,000 new titles. A translated “Star Wars” script appeared on the mainland as early as March 1979,

while Song’s comic is believed to be the first illustrated standalone.

It sold briskly, he recalls. “I could buy a TV, a stereo… it was just unimaginable.”

But the initial hopes of the country’s “reform and opening” quickly soured as artists began to criticise the government. Speculative stories imagining a China without communism were not the plotlines authorities were looking for, and they moved to ban science fiction again.

Song’s own works – he had moved into hard-boiled noir comics featuring private eyes, femme fatales, and a keen appreciation for the female form – were criticised for “spiritual pollution”.

It was not until 1985 that “Star Wars” first appeared on Chinese screens, at a multi-city American film festival that drew millions of viewers. By the late 1980s, it was airing on local television stations, while pirate copies circulated on video. But the movies never developed the broad, devoted fan base they have enjoyed elsewhere, and most Chinese learned of the franchise through the prequels – much maligned in the West.

Song’s comic went viral ahead of the release of the latest instalment, “The Force Awakens”, but a midnight premiere in Beijing this month had a mostly foreign audience.

Even so the movie raked in $90 million in its first week, according to film data website China Box Office.

The world’s second-largest economy is also its second-biggest film market and Hollywood is keen to satisfy its moviegoers, who have shown a deep appetite for Western science fiction such as Avatar or the Transformers series.

But Beijing has shown signs of resistance to that hunger, part of a wider pushback against the influence of “foreign culture”.

In 2011, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued an edict discouraging movies featuring “fantasy” and “time travel” among other “bizarre plots”.

More recently, President Xi Jinping instructed artists to abandon “naive sensual amusement” and instead use “true-to-life images to tell people what they should affirm and praise”.

Song has split the difference: his latest paintings of scantily-clad models incorporate Party-friendly themes.

An illustration of a mostly naked woman, he says, symbolises the beauty of the South China Sea. The traditional Chinese junk boat in the background, he adds, shows that the region has been Chinese since ancient times, echoing the party line on a bitter territorial dispute.

“As long as you don’t oppose the state, don’t oppose the Communist Party”, he said, “there’s no problem with whatever you draw.”

 

A woman’s place is in the gallery

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/A-womans-place-is-in-the-gallery-30277516.html

CONTEMPORARY ART

Installations entitled 'Bound', left and '181 Kilometres' by Alice Anderson, are displayed at 'Champagne Life' in the Saatchi Gallery. Photo/AFP

Installations entitled ‘Bound’, left and ‘181 Kilometres’ by Alice Anderson, are displayed at ‘Champagne Life’ in the Saatchi Gallery. Photo/AFP

A visitor looks at an installation entitled 'Untitled (Food For Thought series)' by Maha Malluh. Photo/AFP

A visitor looks at an installation entitled ‘Untitled (Food For Thought series)’ by Maha Malluh. Photo/AFP

'Two Cows' by Stephanie Quayle Photo/AFP

‘Two Cows’ by Stephanie Quayle Photo/AFP

 

London’s Saatchi gallery opens landmark women-only show

For the first time in its 30-year history, London’s influential Saatchi Gallery is holding a female-only exhibition, showcasing 14 of the brightest stars in the art world.

Exhibits at the “Champagne Life” show include stuffed animals, giant portraits, abstract sculptures and a giant wall of saucepans.

The show’s organisers say the works highlight the diversity among female art, and its value to art lovers of both genders.

“We’re not bringing them together as some kind of needy group. This really is about celebrating women’s contemporary art and being quite deliberate in saying these women don’t have anything in common,” says Saatchi Gallery chief executive Nigel Hurst.

The gallery has established a reputation for supporting female artists, helping launch the career of Tracey Emin, among others, and hopes the exhibition will contribute to redressing disparities within the industry.

“The art world has a glass ceiling. If you look at the number of people going to art college it pretty much splits 50/50. If you look at the top 50 auction lots in 2015, only three of them were by women artists,” Hurst points out.

Wider exposure would boost the price of female artwork, he adds, urging gallery bosses to modernise.

“The art industry is like every other industry, if you take a break from what you are doing, you are perceived as less focused, less professional, less serious than you should be,” he says.

“Even though it’s getting much better, a huge amount of work remains.”

The exhibition takes up two floors of the grand gallery in Chelsea, southwest London, and comprises works from all corners of the globe.

Standout exhibits include Anglo/Swedish artist Sigrid Holmwood’s paintings – which recall the Dutch peasant scenes of Pieter Bruegel and the lighting of Impressionist master Rembrandt – taken to psychedelic extremes with the use of fluorescent paint.

Another room is dominated by Serbian artist Jelena Bulajic’s hyperreal portraits of elderly women fashioned from marble dust, granite, limestone and graphite.

Next door, Saudi Arabia artist Maha Malluh’s wall of saucepans looks down on Iranian-born Soheila Sokhanvari’s stuffed horse, which straddles a Jeff Koons-style balloon sculpture.

French-born sculptor Virgile Ittah, whose wax sculpture of two mirrored figures laying on hospital beds is on display, says that female artists are now being taken more seriously.

“We are at a turning point in our society where the issue of gender is not so important any more, it’s important that it’s no longer important,” she says.

“I grew up with my dad alone, so the vision of a mother staying at home and taking care of her children and the kitchen has completely disappeared.

“As artists we are a reflection of society,” she adds. “It’s not a male club any more.”

The show runs until March 6.

 

Remembering the masters

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Remembering-the-masters-30277409.html

THAI FRAMES

Euthana Mukdasanit's rarely screened 1978 musical romance 'Angel of Bar 21' is among the selection of classical Thai films at the Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinema.

Euthana Mukdasanit’s rarely screened 1978 musical romance ‘Angel of Bar 21’ is among the selection of classical Thai films at the Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinema.

'Pai Daeng' is among several films by Euthana Mukdasanit at the fest.

‘Pai Daeng’ is among several films by Euthana Mukdasanit at the fest.

 

Vesoul Fest pays tribute to Thai screen classics of the past

RARELY SHOWN CLASSIC Thai films, some that were believed to be lost, will be shown in next month’s International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in Vesoul, France.

Among those nearly-lost masterpieces in the festival’s “Forgotten Masters of Thai Cinema” programme is “Citizen I” (“Thongpoon Khopko Rasadorn Temkan”), MC Chatrichalerm Yukol’s 1977 drama about a poor taxi driver from Isaan struggling to retrieve his stolen cab from Bangkok thugs. It’s been compared to the Italian classic “The Bicycle Thieves”, and it spawned a sequel, “Citizen II”, which is more commonly in circulation. The newly restored version of “Citizen I” will make its world premiere in Vesoul.

Programmed by Bastian Meiresonne, who was assisted in tracking down his titles by the Thai Film Archive and some studios, particularly Five Star Production, the “Forgotten Masters” range from 1940’s anti-war historical epic “King of the White Elephant”, produced by statesman Pridi Banonmyong, up to Wist Sasanatieng’s 2000 homage to 1970s Thai action films, “Tears of the Black Tiger”.

Both those films, as well as “Citizen I” and many others, are listed in the Thai Culture Ministry’s Registry of Films as National Heritage. Others at Vesoul include 1957’s rollicking comedy “Country Hotel”, by pioneering auteur RD Pestonji and Permpol Choei-arun’s “Muang Nai Mhok” (“A Town in Fog”), a taut 1978 drama loosely based on Albert Camus’ “The Misunderstanding”.

Permpol’s 1978 followup, the drama “Pai Daeng” (“Red Bamboo”), about a monk in conflict with his communist childhood friend, will also screen, along with another socialist-leaning tale, 1981’s “On the Fringes of Society” by Manop Udomdej.

Celebrated auteur Cherd Songsri will be represented by his gender equality story from the Rama IV era, 1994’s “Amdaeng Muen Kab Nai Rid” (“Muen and Rid”), and writer-director Vichit Kounavudhi will have his 1982 rural drama “Look Isaan” (“Son of the Northeast”).

And among the directors in focus is Euthana Mukdasanit, who will be part of the international jury. His films include the at-one-time-banned 1977 socialist drama “Tongpan”, his 1985 Deep South childhood tale “Butterfly and Flowers” and the rarely seen 1978 musical romance “Angel of Bar 21”.

Others taking part in the festival will be South Korean director Im Sang-soo as jury president and Thai producer Donsaron Kovitvanitcha on the Netpac jury. Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee will also be hand. The Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinema runs from February 3 to 10.

On the Web

http://www.cinemas-asie.com

http://www.facebook.com/groups/|FICAVesoul

 

Shaken and most definitely stirred

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Shaken-and-most-definitely-stirred-30277343.html

Dolce Gabbana/AFP

Dolce Gabbana/AFP

Fashion titans clash over a massive shake-up in the catwalk calender

It is nothing short fo a fashion earthquake.

The organisers of New York Fashion Week are considering doing away with a century of tradition and showing designers’ catwalk collections only when they go on sale in the shops.

Until now, the public has had to wait between four and six months before they could buy the clothes featured in each season’s shows.

But the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which runs New York’s twice-yearly catwalk shows, claims the “system is broken” and no longer works in a world obsessed with “fast fashion”.

Its director, the designer and former princess Diane von Furstenberg, claims the system frustrates the public and gives counterfeiters time to rip off the latest trends.

“The only people who benefit are the people who copy,” she told the trade bible Women’s Wear Daily.

Von Furstenberg and the CFDA – who have commissioned a consultants’ report into how the fashion calendar might be shaken up – said the press and retailers should still be given sneak previews of each new season’s creations behind closed doors so orders could be placed.

But the razmataz of the big runway shows should be opened up to the public, she argued, and turned into major entertainment events.

Now only fashion buyers, journalists and celebrities are allowed to attend the catwalk shows, with seats highly sought after.

But the Americans may not have it their way, with Paris and Milan – the world’s traditional fashion capitals – roundly rejecting the idea.

With their fashion industries more geared towards craft and artistry than the mass-market US trade, the fashion world appears to be heading for a stand-off.

“Our industry is experiencing exceptional growth,” says Ralph Toledano, head of France’s Couture Federation, saying it was wrong to think the status quo no longer works and warning that such radical change might create more problems that it solves.

“This all comes from an idea that we frustrate the public by showing them things that they cannot yet buy. Which is true. And that maybe is a problem we should think about,” Toledano says.

“But it is not the best solution for Paris, which is the capital of fashion know-how and creativity. We want to show clothes in a manner fitting to the way they were created.

“You cannot say to a designer, ‘We are going to freeze your creations for months’. Some of them sometimes tell us the day after a catwalk show that they don’t like some of the things they came up with themselves – imagine what it would be like after several months,” he adds. And Toledano dismissed as unrealistic von Furstenberg’s idea that new collections could be shown secretly to the press and buyers without details leaking in the age of Twitter and WhatsApp.

His opposite number in Milan, Carlo Capasa, is equally sceptical.

“There will be a black market in photos of designs,” he claims, warning that turning fashion shows into a “phenomenon of pure marketing risks killing the way catwalk shows promote innovation.”

Capasa fears the system the Americans are proposing pander to multinational brands, and “will penalise new labels who might lose the powerful push that a good catwalk show can give”.

For several years, London has been experimenting with a halfway house between the two systems, organising a “Fashion Weekend” at the end of each fashion week for the general public.

Caroline Rush, director of the British Fashion Council, says with many followers of fashion watching shows almost live through social media, the lines were already blurring.

“There is no doubt in future seasons these lines will blur even more as designers opt to do in-season shows. However, we need to ensure those businesses that rely on platforms such as fashion weeks to reach new wholesale partners and media continue to have the opportunity to do so,” she adds.

Some labels are already trying to find alternatives to the catwalk circus, with Versus Versace – the youth-orientated brand of the Italian fashion house – putting its new designs directly on sale on its website.

And the French brand Givenchy set up a lottery for 800 places at its last New York show in September.

It is not the first time such a democratic approach has been tried. Thousands of fashion fans bought tickets to