The Old Man and the Sea

Coincidence is sometimes very beautiful Nearly three years ago, I found myself browsing the online pages of Thomas L Le – a scholar and translator of Vietnamese and French poetry. I was so moved by one of the poems that it inspired a small painting of a Hoi An fisherman skilfully riding the surf in

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Two Charming Lions

A visit to Phat Tich Pagoda in Bac Ninh Province There is a current debate concerning the guardian lions of Vietnam that stand in pairs at the entrances of religious and government buildings. A pair of guardian lions comprise of one male (yin) and one female (yang). The male has one foot on an embroidered

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Flying Colors

Traditional flags and their meanings in Vietnam Flags have been used to communicate meanings, directions and identities for over 6,000 years. The earliest known flag is a bronze relic from Iran dated around 4,000BC. I never thought much about the meanings of flags until I moved to Vietnam where they are far more common than

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Art and meditation

Drawing and mindfulness bring beauty to the ordinary… Here is how art and meditation fit together. Since I was about 16, I enjoyed sitting within a landscape to draw it. However, I would often spend more time searching for the most picturesque view than I actually spent drawing. I was so keen to produce a

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Snap decisions: Collecting photography

Someone recently asked me: “Are photographic prints collectable? Can collecting photography be an investment the same way as art?” My answer is absolutely! And right now is a very good time to start collecting, right here in Vietnam. Across the world, 19th, 20th and 21st century photography have occasionally sold for millions of dollars at

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Human Touch

An artist gets her kicks in Singapore Visiting Singapore after two years in Vietnam is such a treat for an artist like me. It was the annual Affordable Art Fair in the exhibition halls near the Singapore wheel. I was dazzled by the array of contemporary art on offer from galleries who had travelled to

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Big and Shiny

The neon lights of Hong Kong I last visited Hong Kong at the very beginning of the Year of the Horse and here I am, 12 years later, in the same year but a different place. Back then, the city had been reunited with mainland China for only five years and it was struggling to

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