Moganshan Art District, Shanghai

Moganshan is Shanghai's answer to Beijing's 798 art district.  A great idea, with plenty of galleries jostling for sales.  Quite commercial.  798 is now also.

 Designated a Tripple-A Tourist site.

 This building #1, above, said to have been built originally in 1938.

 Scene above from the video The Night Man Commeth by Yang Fudong, 2011.

 Installation above by Geng Jiangyi, The Content Is Disturbed by its Shadow, 2011.  The viewer looks through a pinhole at the set piece, a domestic living room scene covered by aluminum foil.

 From M50 Gallery.

 Wu Shanzhuan, Butterfrog, drawing.

 This indoor hallway (above) is packed with galleries and stores carrying works by local artists.

 The most interesting works at Moganshan?  The graffiti on the walls outside.  Refreshing.  One of the few places true graffiti is allowed.  Or is it just outdoor art?

Scenes from Luer Temple, Tainan, Taiwan

Luer is a village ten minutes from Tainan city in southern Taiwan.  This is a massive temple devoted to Mazu, the goddess of seafarers worshipped widely in southern China.  On this festival day processions from other subsidiary temples throughout Taiwan visited to pay respects to the main Mazu image.  They usually follow a processional circuit through the surrounding villages, carrying the images and banners under the hot sun.

Armenia Survives! by Tim Judah | The New York Review of Books

Armenia Survives! by Tim Judah | The New York Review of Books

Excellent review of life in a little-visited part of the world.