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Politics and art don’t always mix well, but the combination has yielded a rare chance for Hong Kong residents and visitors to see what is arguably China’s most famous painting.

Trying to foster nationalistic pride in China’s heritage among Hong Kong residents, the Chinese government has sent 32 artworks here for an exhibition to mark the 10th anniversary of Britain’s return of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997. Among them is Zhang Zeduan’s “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” a scroll painted in the early 12th century.

“Qingming Festival” is famous partly for its involvement over centuries in palace intrigues, theft and wars, and partly for its detailed, geometrically accurate images of bridges, wine shops, sedan chairs and boats beautifully juxtaposed with flowing lines for the depiction of mountains and other natural scenery. It is routinely covered in courses on Chinese history, art and culture, across China and in the West.

Read full article (International Herald Tribune, July 4, 2007)

Bringing ASEAN museums together – that is the aim of Singapore’s National Heritage Board (NHB), which has organised the first ever ASEAN Museum Directors Symposium.

At the symposium, museum leaders from the region are discussing possibilities of combining their strengths to promote ASEAN culture and heritage worldwide.

Read full article (Channel News Asia, July 4, 2007)

The Mona Lisa for free?

France’s prime minister announced Tuesday that free access would be tested at a sampling of museums in Paris and other towns.

Francois Fillon did not name any museums, and the Ministry of Culture said it had no immediate details. But Fillon said he wanted to make art more accessible, and noted that several other European nations have made museums free.

“I want access to our artistic heritage to be truly democratized,” Fillon said in his policy speech to parliament.

Read full article (International Herald Tribune, July 4, 2007)

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Was the bout of Keen vs Anderson, Britannica vs Wikipedia or Microsoft vs Everyone foreseen by the (prescient) Spanish artist Francisco Goya when he painted his ‘El Sueño de la Razon Produce Monstruos‘?

Maybe Eric Cartman says it better:

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Here is something to think about.