News Bites

Monkey King exhibit

Zdenek Sklenr's Monkey King exhibition launched at the Czech Pavilion on Oct 5. The pictures of this Czech painter, who was inspired by Wu Cheng'en's novel Journey to the West back in the 1950s, will be accompanied by an interactive animated story and a Czech-Chinese version of Journey to the West.

Liu Xiao Ling Tong, the most famous Chinese performer to be associated with the role of the Monkey King, attended the grand opening.

Azulejo tiles

An Azulejo ceramic-tile exhibition will be held at Shanghai Times Square until Oct 15, featuring cultural activities by the Portugal Pavilion. Azulejo, or painted and tin-glazed ceramic tiles, constitutes a major aspect of Portuguese architecture, and can often be seen on walls, floors and ceilings in the country.

This exhibition combines old and new forms, and displays the works that Portuguese art gallery Ratton spent 23 years collecting. The exhibition will be free to the public.

Image Expo 2010

Image Expo 2010, a live collaborative project, took place at the Ireland Pavilion in September. The exhibition documented the experiences of 20 visual communication design students at the ongoing Expo.

It was supported by students and lecturers from two prominent seats of higher education: The Dublin Institute of Technology's School of Art and Design, and Fudan University's School of Visual Art.

Belgium-EU Pavilion hymn

The music video clip of the Belgium-EU Pavilion's Women de ge was released recently in China. The Smurfs, who serve as the mascots of the pavilion, were integrated into the clip as 2D animations. The hymn was composed by Belgian pianist and composer Jean-Francois Maljean, who performed it with Chinese singer Shang Wenjie. The clip, filmed by Taiwan director Chen Ying, will be broadcast on Chinese television this month.

Natural History Museum

Shanghai Natural History Museum, which opened in 1956, now has over 270,000 specimens, including minerals, ancient and modern animals. This public collection, which aims to expand further, incorporates demonstrations, educative displays, private collections, research, recreation, science and the arts.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/08/2010)