Celebrity Life

It's that magical time of the year again: the Venice Film Festival 2021 - the oldest fest still running - is back to grace us with long-anticipated premieres, memorable red carpet outfits, grand entrances by boat, and everything in between.

This year, the line up is pretty impressive, with celebrated directors like Pedro Almodóvar and Ridley Scott presenting new features, documentaries on global stars like Led Zeppelin and Leonard Cohen making their debut, and, of course, a biopic-style film about royalty.

We can't wait for the lido to light up, in the meantime, here are five movies that we are looking forward to checking out at Venice Film Festival 2021.

Halloween Kills

The twelfth instalment of the cult Halloween series, directed by David Gordon Green, sees Nick Castle and Jamie Lee Curtis (who will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at Venice 2021) reprising their roles as Michael Myers and Laurie Strode respectively. The movie begins where the previous chapter ended and we can't wait to watch the next clash between Laurie and her family and Michael in Haddonfield.

Becoming Led Zeppelin

Venice 2021 will be a particularly good year for music documentaries. One that we are really looking forward to seeing is Becoming Led Zeppelin, a years-in-the-making project that chronicles the lives of each member and the legendary band's meteoric rise to stardom through rare footages and interviews with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

Spencer

Looking at the trailer and images, Kristen Stewart's transformation into Princess Diana, looks remarkable. Pablo Larraín's take on the late princess' life focuses on the Christmas festivities of 1991, when Diana decides to leave Prince Charles. Now, the premise is interesting enough to hope that the latest biopic-esque movie on the Princess of Wales will have more luck than its predecessors.

Last Night in Soho

At first glance, Last Night in Soho looks remarkably stylish - and drenched in neon lights. The psychological thriller stars Anya Taylor-Joy (we love you), Matt Smith and Thomasin McKenzie, who plays an aspiring fashion designer that is mysteriously transported back to the 1960s in the body a singer named Sandy (played by Taylor-Joy).

Parallel Mothers

In Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas in Spanish), Pedro Almodóvar explores womanhood and social dynamics through the stories of three mothers plays by Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit. Those in awe Almodóvar's distinct auteur style might be in for a treat.

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The Ze/Ro exhibition at Ben Brown Fine Arts is sparked by the idea of an increasingly gender-neutral world.

The curator (an artist herself) Shirky Chan tells us about the Hong Kong women artists featured in the show, whose works explore ideas of femineity and empowerment.

When the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association issued an open call for a potential project for its Summer Programme (which connects member galleries with emerging local artists, curators and art writers), Shirky Chan – herself an artist and curator – answered with a proposal centring on women and gender equality. Chan's idea was to bring together female artists from different generations to explore empowerment, their place within and outside of society, their desired dissolutions of gender, as well as each artist’s unique creative vision.

The association was impressed with her idea and she was invited to visit Ben Brown Fine Arts’ space at The Factory in Wong Chuk Hang, after which she began to approach women artists about being part of the show.

The result is Ze/Ro, which is showing at the gallery until August 26. A showcase of the works of five local women artists, its title is inspired by the use of the gender-neutral pronoun “ze”, rather than “he” or “she”; thus, in place of the apparent male bias in the word “hero”, Chan suggests the non-gender alternative ze/ro.

Of the five artists in the exhibition, Chan Ka Kiu is the youngest and also the only out lesbian – her work is described by Shirky Chan as “post-90s”.

“I think society is more aware of discrimination and gender is not really a restriction or burden to her. Her works are more carefree. That’s why I wanted to choose cross-generational artists in the same show.”

Ka Kiu was around eight years old when she and a friend were both diagnosed with a bone tumour – tragically, her friend died after the tumour became cancerous. Ka Kiu’s tumour has stayed with her all these years, closely monitored through many trips to the hospital.

“The fear of death,” says the artist, “came to me at a very young age.”

The show features four pieces from her series A List of Things to Bring to Paradise. “These are some little things I think are important for my life right now,” says Ka Kiu. “Maybe I’ll go to hell, maybe I’ll make another series.”

Love, Name of a Bird is a headless flapping wooden bird sculpture suspended from the ceiling, pressed against patterned glass and basking in pink-yellow lighting (“like a sunset, like paradise.”). Ka Kiu says this piece is about the first life she took away, a bird that died after it hit her studio window. She heard a large bang in the night and found its body the next morning. “So this bird,” she says about her work, “will never die.”

Her favourite self-created piece is I Wanna Be Your Dog – inflatable dogs with “fragile” stickers attached. “I think everyone has this moment where you just want to be a pet with a nice owner,” she says. And the sticker? “I wanted to stick this label on myself – fragile!”

Ants, in pencil on paper, depicts minuscule hand-drawn insects. “I had to sharpen the pencil constantly. I think ants are a little, tedious, mundane annoyance, so it’s one thing I’d like to bring to paradise. Paradise will be peaceful and just happiness 24/7, so I want to bring something annoying, something not too horrible.”

Ka Kiu’s other featured work is the first thing you see when you walk into the exhibition – an acrylic disinfection box filled with cleaning supplies perched on a metal shelf, that guests can become part of by placing their hands into glove inserts. Titled Pamper Day, the piece reflects handling toxins, things that are contagious – and how we might feel that there are similar things inside ourselves: “I hope when we think something is bad inside, we take a pamper day and take care of it,” she says.

Like Ka Kiu, the artist Christy Chow also has coloured light on her work. Her piece Baby #1 concerns the first of her two miscarriages. “Of course, I was very sad,” she says. “I suddenly realised, ‘I don’t know who I can talk to,’ because this isn’t a topic that people love to talk about – it’s different from your relative or friends passing away. There’s a funeral, there are formal things you can do to grieve. With a miscarriage, there’s basically no grieving at all.”

The piece is in wool – pinched and rolled and unrolled with water and cleaning detergent – pinned on to silk. “It was very labour-intensive and took me about two weeks. I liked the labour – it was like a meditation, the repetition – it was actually the way I grieved,” Chow says.

The last image she saw of her baby was a black-and-white ultrasound. “I don’t think that their life should be that sad, so I tried to give them colour, vivid colour, but matching the same hues of the black and white,” she says.

Chow’s other piece comes from her Disaster series, which is centred on the female body – Chow aims to talk about real bodies and not the “bodies you see in magazines and ads: perfect and hairless”.

“Everything is so natural about the body – menstruation, urine, breastmilk. No one wants to talk about it, but it’s so natural. It’s almost like when you don’t talk about a disaster. It happens in our world – it’s natural.”

Her work Flood, in embroidery on vinyl, shows a woman (“like a goddess, like a Mother Earth”) relaxed on waves, with liquid pouring out from her. This is Chow's way of talking about bodies when society doesn’t want to: “If women don’t talk about it, then who will?” she asks.

Further into the exhibit are two video works by Jess Lau, both of which feature her own hands. Drowning, a fixed stop-motion animation on a projector, consists of a drawing of her right hand, erased and redrawn until the paper wore out. Animators act like a god of their animation, controlling its plot and timing, but Lau says she wanted to loosen her “power” and let ‘time’ decide when the animation would end: when the paper was too worn out to be drawn on again.

Her other work, Handnote, is a video poem made of three parts: a stop-motion animation of her hand, black-and-white film photos she took and a series of women’s hands she found in old Hong Kong advertisements. It’s a collage of sorts displayed on a small television set, which, says Lau, gives the video a special texture that connects different women from different times.

According to the show’s curator, Lau’s pieces focus on the most intimate part of her body, the hands. “She’s using her body, the external, to guide or lead to her inner feelings as to what a woman should be.”

Jaffa Lam and Au Hoi Lam are the two oldest artists featured in Ze/Ro, whose works conform to more traditional fine-art media, says Chan. Jaffa is a sculptor, which the curator says is significant as there’s an assumption that female artists can’t – or won’t – undertake laborious work. But for Jaffa, the wooden medium is no restriction.

Lady/Tree in Travel represents Jaffa herself: it’s the same height, width and weight as she is. The sculpture is made of reworked wood and is displayed in the middle of an open crate – in the past when Jaffa had overseas exhibitions she couldn’t attend, she'd send the tree in her place. On the trunk, three Chinese characters say her name, “work” and “wood”.

As a single unmarried woman without children, Jaffa has fantasised about being pregnant at some stage. Oval Chair is made of an old chair frame, stainless steel and recycled crate wood. Seen from afar, it resembles a throne, with a regal air of elegance (“the way pregnant women should be treated,” says Chan). As you approach it, the rounded red-ball shape looks akin to a swollen pregnant stomach. It’s also a reference to Jaffas candies, sweet and warm, even as the cold stainless steel works against that suggestion.

Coloured with mercurochrome, a compound formerly used as an anaesthetic and dye that's no longer sold because of its high mercury content, Red Balloon is Jaffa’s favourite piece. “A balloon should be soft and fragile, just like women are supposed to be, but actually we’re hard and solid and strong,” says Chan.

Au Hoi Lam’s acrylic paintings on canvas were made 18 years ago. At the time, she’d just completed her master of fine art degree and was experiencing some uncertainty about her future. “The works capture my authentic self at that time,” she says.

Titled Memo, Pink and Blue and The Cradle, the pieces are described by the artist as “transforming inner turbulence through the act of painting, and realising a better state of being”.

Memo and Pink and Blue feature etchings in pencil and ballpen on canvas or linen. According to Chan, they’re “something like a secret code, like diary entries scribbled on canvas. She wants to express but not express at the same time; to let people know what she’s feeling but keep some secrets to herself.”

"Ze/Ro" is showing at Ben Brown Fine Arts, Unit 202, The Factory, 1 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang until 26 August. You can find out more here.

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Coldplay, Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran are among the stars announced Tuesday for a day of global concerts across multiple cities on September 25 to raise awareness about climate change, poverty and vaccine distribution.

New York, Paris and Lagos are the first cities to be announced for Global Citizen Live, which will run for 24 hours and be screened around the world via TV stations and social media.

Joining Eilish and Coldplay in New York's Central Park are Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes and Burna Boy, among others. Sheeran headlines the French gig, with Doja Cat, HER and Black Eyed Peas supporting, while Fema Kuti will top the bill in Nigeria.

More locations and artists are due to be announced in the coming weeks. "Across six continents, artists will help rally citizens in demanding that governments, major corporations, and philanthropists work together to defend the planet and defeat poverty," NGO Global Citizen said in a statement.

It said it was focusing "on the most urgent, interrelated threats hitting those in poverty the hardest -- climate change, vaccine equity, and famine".

A slew of other artists -- including BTS, Lorde, Metallica and The Weeknd -- are also lending their star power, either through live or filmed performances.

The event is designed to coincide with the UN General Assembly in September, and push for action at the G20 the following month and COP26 climate meeting in November.

Global Citizen said it urgently wants one billion trees planted, one billion vaccines delivered to the poorest countries and meals for the 41 million on the brink of famine.

WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus lent his support to the campaign, saying in a statement: "We now face a two-track pandemic of haves and have-nots. Over 75 percent of the more than 4 billion doses administered to date have occurred in just 10 countries. "We cannot disregard this gross inequity or become complacent."

This article was published via AFP Relaxnews.

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With local athletes bringing home six medals, including gold, it was the city's finest Olympic Games performance of all time.

After a year-long delay for reasons we've all had enough of hearing about, the 2020 Summer Olympics finally took place in Tokyo, bringing the greatest living athletes together to compete on the world stage. In the end, it was the usual suspects that came away with the most hardware; the United States, China and host country Japan took the top three spots for both gold and overall medals, respectively. However, it was Hong Kong that put on a performance that will be remembered by its people for years to come.

With a final count of one gold, two silver and three bronze medals — an all-time Olympics high for the city — Hong Kong put on a historic show across a variety of athletic competitions that had us beaming with pride for our hometown heroes. Here are each of this year's winners.

Edgar Cheung Ka-long, Fencing (Gold)

In the biggest match of his career, the 24-year-old left-handed foil fencer defeated defending Olympic champion Daniele Garozzo of Italy by a score of 15-11 in the Men's Individual Foil event. It was Hong Kong's first-ever Olympic gold for fencing, and its second in history (windsurfer Lee Lai-shan won the city's first gold, and first medal, in 1996). Per HKFP, Cheung's historic victory has created what has been dubbed the 'Ka-Long Effect', with a surge of parents rushing to sign their kids up for fencing lessons. Here's to the next generation of Olympic champions.

Siobhán Haughey, Swimming (Silver, Silver)

Bringing home back-to-back silver medals in the Women's 100m Freestyle and Women's 200m Freestyle, respectively, the Hong Kong-born Haughey clinched 2020 as the city's most successful Olympic campaign to date. The daughter of an Irish father and a Hongkongese mother, she also made history as the first Hong Kong athlete ever to win two medals in any sport.

Doo Hoi-kem, Lee Ho-ching and Minnie Soo, Table Tennis (Bronze)

After an early loss to Germany, Hong Kong's women's table tennis team of Doo Hoi-kem, Lee Ho-ching and Minnie Soo rallied back to claim victory and a bronze medal for the city. It was the city's second-ever Olympics medal in table tennis, and a first for three-time Olympian Lee Ho-ching, who finally got to bring home a piece of hardware. It also proved to be a fitting second act for team coach Li Ching, who won the city's first — a silver — with Ko Lai-chak back in Athens in 2004.

Grace Lau Mo-sheung, Karate (Bronze)

2020 may be both the first and last time we see karate in an Olympic competition — it's not on the docket for the 2024 games in Paris — but Grace Lau ensured Hong Kong didn't leave this historic moment empty-handed. The 29-year-old took home the first-ever Olympic bronze medal in the Women's Solo Kata, scoring a 26.94 in total, with 18.90 in technical performance and 8.04 in athletic performance.

Sarah Lee Wai-sze, Cycling (Bronze)

Hong Kong's Sarah Lee Wai-sze battled back from a disappointing Women’s Keirin on the final Thursday of this year's games with an inspiring performance in the Women's Sprint, taking home bronze and winning Hong Kong a record sixth Olympic medal. The 34-year-old also joins Haughey as the only Hong Kong athletes with two medals to their name.

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Main Photo | credit Charlotte Graham “What have you done for yourself?” It was a simple question. One that was posed to Chris Day by his wife as they discussed Chris’ life and career as a heating and plumbing engineer in the United Kingdom. Chris’ answer? “Well, you know, we’ve got a nice house and […]

The post An Exploration of The Transformative Glass & Ceramic Artist Chris Day appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

What is art? This is a question Carolyn Mara has been challenging for the better part of two decades. Whether it’s with the lens of her camera or with the end of her mop, she’s explored what it means to create art while pushing the boundaries of abstract expressionism. Mara first rose to prominence after […]

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Besides being the world’s biggest sporting event, the Olympic Games are a celebration of the human spirit, togetherness, fairness, excellence and world peace. Its traditions symbolise oneness and connect the technologically advanced modern age to an ancient but glorious past. Thousands of athletes from around the world give their all to win a medal at the event which is held every four years. The participants script history with their grit while the Games themselves tell a story of their own. Here are a few interesting facts about the Olympic Games, its athletes and traditions.

What the rings and colours represent

The five interlocking Olympic rings — blue, yellow, black, green and red — represent five main continents. The colour of the rings, which are on a white background of the Olympic flag, were selected because every country has at least one of the colours in their respective national flags. The Olympic flag is based on a design by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, and was presented before the public in 1913 and was first hoisted at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

Today, there are seven official versions of the Olympic rings which include the main flag, five monochrome ones in each of the five colours and a black-and-white version where the rings are in white on a black background.

The torch and the flame

Contrary to popular belief, the Olympic torch relay has no historic origins. It is a modern-day idea by university lecturer and sports theorist Carl Diem that was first used at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and has since become one of the most famous sporting traditions. Even the Olympic Flame made its debut in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

The relay torch carrying the Olympic flame is expected to be always lit from the moment it is ignited in a ceremony at Ancient Olympia, Greece, till the time it reaches the final destination — a cauldron in the Olympic stadium of the host city.

It is designed to whether all odds and has been carried underwater during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. However, there have been several instances when it went out due to man-made or natural reasons. As a backup plan, a second torch carrying the flame from Olympia is always at hand to quickly reignite the extinguished main torch.

Pigeons were killed at the 1900 Paris Olympics

It was the only time in the history of the games that live animals were killed for sport. Pigeon-shooting was an event of the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. Belgium’s Leon de Lunden shot 21 of the 300 birds to win the event. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) no longer recognises the event. There were several other odd events at this Olympics, including standing broad jump, standing high jump, underwater swimming contest, and croquet, the last of which was attended by just one fan. None of these events has ever made a return to the Games.

Medals cut in half

Even though American pole-vaulter Bill Sefton took the gold in the pole vault event at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a new chapter in sportsmanship (and friendship) was scripted by Japanese athletes Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe. The two, who were tied for second place, were asked to compete in a tie-breaker. However, they refused and decided to share one-half of the silver and bronze medals.

They cut the medals in half and fused one half of the silver with that of the bronze to make what is today known as “the medals of friendship". Nishida’s half-bronze and half-silver medal is displayed at Japan’s Waseda University.

Women representation

The 1900 Paris Olympics were the first Games which witnessed women participation in the events. But it was only in the 2012 London Olympics where every participating nation had women athletes in their contingent. At the same Games, judoka Wojdan Shaherkani of Saudi Arabia became the first woman from her country to participate in Olympics.

Rectangular medals

The 1900 Paris Olympics is the only Summer Games in which the shape of the medal was rectangular. Designed by Frédéric Vernon, the obverse of the medals showed a winged goddess holding laurel branches in her hands with the city of Paris and the monuments of the Universal Exhibition serving as the backdrop. The reverse depicted an athlete standing on a podium, striking a victorious pose while holding a laurel branch in his hand before a stadium and the Acropolis of Athens.

New sports and one that changed track

Figure skating is the oldest sport on the Olympic Winter Games programme but was introduced during the 1908 Summer Games held in London. It was held once more in a summer edition — the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. It has since been part of the Winter Olympics, starting with the first edition which was held in 1924 at Chamonix.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will witness the addition of four new events to the Olympic calendar. These are karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing. It will also be the first time since 2008 that baseball and softball are part of the Olympics.

The ‘Tarzan’ who was a champion Olympian

American actor Johnny Weissmuller, who is best known for playing Tarzan in a series of Hollywood films in the 1930s, is recognised as “swimming’s first superstar” because of his feats in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics.

He won the gold in the 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and the 4x200m relay team event at the 1924 Paris Olympics besides pocketing a bronze medal in the water polo competition. Four years later, in Amsterdam, he won the gold in the 100m freestyle and the 4x200m relay team event.

‘Superman’ George Eyser

Disabled athletes participated in the main Olympic Games before the Paralympic Games were introduced in 1960 in Rome. Among the most inspiring of such athletes was American George Eyser — the first person with a prosthetic leg to compete at the Olympic Games. Eyser had lost most of his left leg in an accident in his childhood. Wearing a wooden leg, Eyser took part in the gymnastics event at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics and won three gold medals in a space of a single day. He won three more medals to end his tally at six.

Even after the establishment of the Paralympic Games, some Paralympians have participated in the Olympics. Two such names are South African swimmer Natalie du Toit and Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka.

It is not entirely gold, dear Scrooge!

The last time a medal that was completely made of gold was presented to a champion at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Since then, the “gold” medal consists of only six grams of gold plating over 92.5 percent silver. The silver medal is entirely made of silver while the bronze contains red brass, which is 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. Gold medals were first awarded in the 1904 Olympic Games at St. Louis, US. All medals are designed by the host city.

Only one stadium has hosted the Olympics twice

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the only Olympic stadium to have hosted two Summer Olympics. The first of the Games was hosted here in 1932 and the next in 1984. It is set to create history once again in 2028 when it will become the first to host the Games three times. The stadium was built in 1923 in the memory of American soldiers who fought in World War I (1914–1918) and is recognised as a National and California Historic Landmark of the country.

The marathon man

Marathon has been part of the modern Olympics since the first Games in 1896. But it traces its origin to 490 BC when a Greek soldier named Pheidippides ran a distance of around 40 kilometres from Marathon to Athens to inform the Athenians of the victory of their soldiers against the invading Persians. At the end of the run, he collapsed and died but not before completing the task he was entrusted with.

The legend of Pheidippides spread far and wide and thus was born the long-distance race. Initially covering almost the same distance as Pheidippides’ run, a marathon was standardised in 1921 at 42.195 kilometres.

One of the most celebrated runners of the modern Olympics was Ethiopian legend Abebe Bikila, who became the first Black African to win a gold medal when he won the marathon event at the 1960 Rome Olympics. What makes his feat even more inspiring is that Bikila ran barefoot. Four years later, and 40 days after surgery, he repeated the feat — this time with shoes on — to become the first to win the marathon twice.

First time Olympics postponed

The Games have never been postponed ever since the beginning of the modern Olympics in 1896. In a first, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had to be postponed by a year. The reason being — the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Olympics had been cancelled during World War I (1916) and World War II (1940 and 1944). Since authorities of the world’s biggest sporting event count every fourth year since 1896 as an Olympiad, the Tokyo Games is thus officially recognised as XXXII Olympiad.

First Olympics with medals from recycled materials

The 2020 Tokyo Games are the first in history in which medals made of recycled materials are being handed out. Under the “Tokyo 2020 Medal Project”, authorities collected used small electronic devices from the people of Japan, which were then used in the creation of the approximately 5,000 medals, which have been designed by Junichi Kawanishi.

(Main image: Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP)

(Featured image: Issei Kato / POOL / AFP)

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Young, ambitious, educated and wealthy, a new generation of art collectors is taking the art world by storm.

Snapping up more works than ever before, a new and sharp-eyed generation of buyers is taking risks on emerging names and investing heavily in blue-chip artists. Beyond potential financial gains, these ambitious, educated and wealthy young people are also drawn to the prospect of joining the exclusive club that is the art world.
“The growth has just been phenomenal,” says Charlotte Raybaud, head of evening sale, 20th-century and contemporary art at Phillips Hong Kong, of the number of young art aficionados entering the market. “It’s also undeniable that art has become a very valuable alternative investment. While you should always collect [based on] your passion, it’s hard to not pay attention to the big prices that are being achieved at auction and in galleries.”

Today, young collectors aren’t just buying more art but they’re also willing to shell out more than any other demographic. According to UBS and Art Basel’s 2020 global art market report, among the high-net-worth individuals surveyed, millennials – defined at being under the age of 38 – spent six times more on art than collectors above the age of 55 in the past two years. Compared to older collectors, millennials were also more optimistic about art as an investment and were more likely to sell works from their collection compared with older collectors.

A recent report titled The Next Gen Art Collectors 2021 by art-market data company Larry’s List echoed this sentiment. It highlighted the fact that young collectors, who they define as being largely under the age of 40, like keep their collections “dynamic” through upgrading, rebuilding and refocusing. While collectors reselling artwork is common, their research discovered that young buyers’ activities are now more transparent than before.

Among the list of leading young art patrons profiled in the report is Ning Chong, co-founder of The Culture Story, a boutique art space and advisory based in Singapore. Like many young collectors, she comes from a family of art patrons. Her father, former stockbroker Chong Huai Seng, began buying art in the 1980s. Today, the family collection of more than 300 works includes major street artists such as Futura, Jason Revok and Timothy Curtis, as well as Singaporean names like Jahan Loh and Wong Keen. “We buy art because we love it, but at the same time you have to know what you’re acquiring, so we do have one eye on future prospects,” says Chong. “Buying art can be tricky. The timing matters and you need to have some insider knowledge of what’s going on.”

In recent years, Chong has observed an increasing number of newcomers entering the art market for various reasons. “Today,” she says, “even if you’re not into art, you can get pulled into it, either by your peers or your own curiosity. Or maybe your favourite fashion brand is involved in art so you follow its activities. Social media also obviously plays up the appeal of art as a potential alternative asset class to grow your wealth.”
Many collectors are investing in a lifestyle that’s associated with being part of the art world. “There is a rise in collectors wanting the whole package,” says Raybaud. “You want to have the designer furniture at home, the watch on your wrist and the beautiful paintings. Even if there isn’t necessarily a monetary gain, then at least there’s an aesthetic gain where collectors can live with very beautiful works.”

Another upside of investing in art is the social aspect of a field in which you can form relationships with artists, join museum groups or support foundations, all of which can be important aspects of the collecting journey for many young buyers. This is one of the factors that makes it more appealing than other assets, such as stocks or real estate. “It offers a very big social benefit. You can go to art fairs and openings and do studio visits with artists,” says Chong. “You meet different types of collectors and exchange stories on art they regret buying, what they love or what they’ve chased down. This is all part of what makes the community tick.”Getting to know artists is particularly important to some collectors, such as Shanyan Koder, founder and director of the private art advisory Shanyan Koder Fine Arts and founder of the online art platform HUA, which showcases Chinese contemporary art. “I think it's so important to understand the story behind any artwork,” says Koder. “So, if you meet the artist, you meet the creator of the artwork in the flesh and it brings the entire artwork to life. You understand the context in which it’s created and the history of the person. It creates a bond.”

The daughter of Canning Fok, group managing director of Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate, Koder grew up surrounded by art. Her family’s collection includes masterpieces by the likes of Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Dali and Warhol, as well as Chinese modern masters such as Sanyu. Her own personal collection focuses more on established contemporary names including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and London design duo Patrik Fredrikson and Ian Stallard, as well as contemporary Chinese artist Zhuang Hong Yi.Currently, she’s eying NFT-backed digital art to add to her collection. Her platform Hua is also collaborating with art consultancy Crysalis to release a new collection of digital works by Gao Brothers and make NFTs available.

“This has everything to do with the evolution of the art world into the digital age. I love the concept, I think it’s forward thinking,” says Koder, explaining that NFTs appeal to both young and seasoned collectors. Today as galleries launch NFT trading platforms and auction houses are live-streaming major sales, the art world is increasingly shifting online, making art a more appealing investment for digital-savvy young collectors. They no longer have to venture into austere white-cube galleries or old-style auction sale rooms and can instead purchase art at the click of a button.,“Art isn’t as exclusive as it was in the past,” says Koder. “Now, it can be viewed on social media – everyone’s sending images across WhatsApp and WeChat, so it’s much more accessible. That’s given the young generation an opportunity to go in and participate.”

Along with embracing technology, auction houses are finding creative new ways to reach a younger demographic. Many auction houses are partnering with celebrities and brands. Sotheby’s, for instance, has previously collaborated with Highsnobiety, the digital platform focused on streetwear, and Christie’s has partnered with Supreme. Last month, Sotheby’s linked up with Mando-pop megastar Jay Chou, a major influencer with more than 6.4 million followers on Instagram, who curated its inaugural Contemporary Curated: Asia sale. The auction featured notable brand-name artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gerhard Richter, Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama, alongside in-demand younger talents like American painter Loie Hollowell and Japanese artist Yukimasa Ida. More than 25 percent of buyers at the evening sale were aged 40 or below. According to Sotheby’s social media played a large role in marketing the sale, which was also live-streamed on Jay Chou’s Kuaishou account and attracted some 18 million views.

It isn’t just auction houses that are harnessing the power of social media. “We have a huge increase in museum shows and gallery shows, which are becoming more and more prevalent on social media,” says Raybaud, who explains that this can inform young collectors acquisitions. The Art Basel market report also noted that many millennial buyers use Instagram, for instance, as part of their collecting process. According to the Larry’s List report, a number of artists that appeal to millennial collectors are themselves active on social media.

It’s also no surprise that young collectors are often drawn to artists from their own generation. Young collectors pay a huge amount of attention to museum shows, adds Raybaud, giving the example of two young artists who fared well at Phillips’ recent spring sales: Loie Hollowell, who’s currently exhibiting in the Long Museum in Shanghai, and Indian figurative painter Salman Toor, who showed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York earlier this year. Both garnered a great deal of interest and set new records. At the upper end of the market, Raybaud says that if younger collectors lack the budget to take home major works by big names like Yoshitomo Nara, for example, whose paintings can sell for millions, they may chose a more affordable work by the same artist.

As the landscape of the art world continues to transform, young collectors are poised to become an even more powerful force in the market. While Koder describes herself as a “romantic” who isn’t buying for investment, she nonetheless says, “There are opportunities for growth as in any asset class. I think one of the most interesting things about art is that most artworks are unique (unless you’re buying in additions or prints), so you just need more than one interested buyer for the price to go up, so to speak … The potential is only on the upside.”

(Hero Image: The street artist Futura, with works from Constellation at the Culture Story)

The post Brave New World: Meet the New Generation of Art Collectors appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy nominations were announced by father-daughter duo Ron Cephas Jones and Jasmine Cephas Jones on July 13. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by actor and stand-up artist Cedric the Entertainer and will take place in Los Angeles’ Microsoft theatre on September 19.

The ceremony will go live on CBS at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET (5.30 am IST on 20 September) and it can be streamed on Paramount+. While last year's show was completely virtual, 2021 will have a limited live audience in the form of nominees and their guests.

[caption id="attachment_1811071" align="aligncenter" width="1069"] A still from The Mandalorian. Image: Courtesy IMDb[/caption]

In what seems like a promising race to the finish, HBO and HBO Max together received 130 nominations. Giving tough competition was Netflix, which tailed close with 129 nods. While Disney Plus received 71 nominations. Quite expectedly, Netflix’s The Crown and Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian remained hot favourites, getting 24 nominations each. Another Disney Plus show — a Marvel spin-off WandaVision — got 23 nods, while Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale received 21, followed by Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso, which got 20. 

Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso. Image: Courtesy IMDb

The nomination list also came with its share of surprises and snubs. The much-criticised Emily In Paris was nominated in the Outstanding Comedy Series category alongside favourites Ted Lasso, PEN15, The Flight Attendant and Black-ish. No nomination for Nicole Kidman’s performance in The Undoing also raised eyebrows. Many were also disappointed with Don Cheadle getting a nomination for a meagre appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

[caption id="attachment_1811068" align="aligncenter" width="699"] Lily Collins in Emily in Paris. Image: Courtesy Netflix[/caption]

Mj Rodriguez created history by becoming the first transgender artiste to earn a nomination in a major acting category. Rodriguez was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Pose. Chinese-American Bowen Yang secured a spot in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, making him the first SNL featured player to get a nomination in an acting category. British actress Michaela Coel’s brilliant performance in I May Destroy You got her a spot in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie race. Netflix blockbuster Bridegerton earned a total of 12 nods, including one for British actor Regé-Jean Page in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category.

[caption id="attachment_1811072" align="aligncenter" width="983"] A still from WandaVision. Image: Courtesy Marvel Studios/Marvel Studios - © Marvel Studios 2020/IMDb[/caption]

Apart from the limited live audience, this year’s Emmy’s will be different from its predecessor in one more way — it will be more inclusive for gender non-conforming individuals. The Television Academy's Board of Governors recently announced this change, which means that a nominee or winner can request to be addressed with a gender-neutral title like ‘Performer’ on their nomination certificate and Emmy statuette.

Here’s the complete list of 2021 Emmy nominations: 

Outstanding Drama Series 

The Boys 

Bridgerton 

The Crown 

The Mandalorian 

Lovecraft Country 

Pose 

The Handmaid's Tale 

This Is Us 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series 

Rege-Jean Page, Bridgerton 

Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us 

Billy Porter, Pose 

Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country 

Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason 

Josh O'Connor, The Crown 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series 

Emma Corrin, The Crown 

Olivia Colman, The Crown 

Uzo Aduba, In Treatment 

Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale 

Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country 

Mj Rodriguez, Pose 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 

Michael K. Williams, Lovecraft Country 

Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale 

Max Minghella, The Handmaid's Tale 

O-T Fagbenle, The Handmaid's Tale 

John Lithgow, Perry Mason 

Tobias Menzies, The Crown 

Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian 

Chris Sullivan, This Is Us 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 

Gillian Anderson, The Crown 

Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown 

Emerald Fennell, The Crown 

Ann Dowd, The Handmaid's Tale 

Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid's Tale 

Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale 

Madeline Brewer, The Handmaid's Tale 

Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country 

Outstanding Comedy Series 

black-ish 

Cobra Kai 

Pen15 

Emily in Paris 

Hacks 

Ted Lasso 

The Flight Attendant 

The Kominsky Method 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 

Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso 

Anthony Anderson, black-ish 

Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method 

William H. Macy, Shameless 

Kenan Thompson, Kenan 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 

Aidy Bryant, Shrill 

Jean Smart, Hacks 

Allison Janney, Mom 

Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant 

Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 

Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live 

Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live 

Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso 

Brendan Hunt, Ted Lasso 

Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso 

Jeremy Swift, Ted Lasso 

Paul Reiser, The Kominsky Method 

Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Hacks 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live 

Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live 

Aidy Bryant, Saturday Night Live 

Rosie Perez, The Flight Attendant 

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks 

Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso 

Juno Temple, Ted Lasso 

Outstanding Limited Series 

Mare of Easttown 

I May Destroy You 

WandaVision 

The Queen's Gambit 

The Underground Railroad 

Outstanding Television Movie 

Uncle Frank 

Sylvie's Love 

Oslo 

Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia 

Dolly Parton's Christmas on The Square 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie 

Paul Bettany, WandaVision 

Hugh Grant, The Undoing 

Ewan McGregor, Halston 

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton 

Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie 

Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown 

Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You 

Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit 

Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision 

Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie 

Daveed Diggs, Hamilton 

Jonathan Groff, Hamilton 

Anthony Ramos, Hamilton 

Thomas Brodie-Sangster, The Queen's Gambit 

Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown 

Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie 

Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown 

Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown 

Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision 

Phillipa Soo, Hamilton 

Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton 

Moses Ingram, The Queen's Gambit 

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 

Courtney B. Vance, Lovecraft Country 

Charles Dance, The Crown 

Don Cheadle, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 

Timothy Olyphant, The Mandalorian 

Carl Weathers, The Mandalorian 

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series 

Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid's Tale 

Mckenna Grace, The Handmaid's Tale 

Claire Foy, The Crown 

Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us 

Sophie Okonedo, Ratched 

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series 

Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live 

Chris Rock, Saturday Night Live 

Dave Chappelle, Saturday Night Live 

Daniel Kaluuya, Saturday Night Live 

Dan Levy, Saturday Night Live 

Morgan Freeman, The Kominsky Method 

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series 

Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live 

Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live 

Issa Rae, A Black Lady Sketch Show 

Jane Adams, Hacks 

Bernadette Peters, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist 

Yvette Nicole Brown, A Black Lady Sketch Show 

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series 

A Black Lady Sketch Show 

Saturday Night Live 

Outstanding Variety Talk Series 

Conan 

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah 

Jimmy Kimmel Live 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 

Outstanding Competition Program 

The Amazing Race 

Nailed It! 

RuPaul's Drag Race 

Top Chef 

The Voice 

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program 

RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race 

Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye 

Nicole Byer, Nailed It! 

Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, Top Chef 

Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O'Leary, Shark Tank 

Main image: Courtesy Netflix; Featured image: Courtesy IMDb

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Imbibed amidst an immersive patchwork of sounds, scents, and flavours, the latest edition of Krug's much-loved multi-vintage Champagne strikes a chord that is as joyful as it is delicious.

I'll be the first to concede that there's nothing quite like "the intangible quality...of taking in the terroir" but insofar as virtual tastings are concerned -- essentially the status quo for drinks industry pundits in 2021 -- the recent unveiling of Krug's latest Grande Cuvée proved to be oddly visceral and thrilling (in some ways, even touching). Every year since 1843, the eponymous makers of prestige Champagne have released a new assemblage of reserve wines, always consisting of the classic Champenois trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier; and always left to age sur lie for 7 years.

Dispensing first with the formalities, the 169th Edition is a "generous expression" of 146 wines made in 11 different years (Krug bottle single vintages relatively infrequently), the oldest of which harkens back to the turn of the millennium. It is, however, the 2013 vintage that -- to butcher a musical analogy -- really sets the bassline: with intensely "luminous and pure" Chardonnays; racy Meunier; and Pinot Noir that extrudes a long, treacle finish. It is in a word, unsurprisingly, 'scrumptious': at its best harmonising alongside sharp aged cheese; aromatic seafood dishes; maybe even a cheeky slice of tarte tatin.

Unsurprisingly, the hallmarks of this Grande Cuvée (namely quality, consistency, and complexity) remain present year in, year out; but it's Krug's highly intuitive method of presentation that helps to immerse drinkers in the art of crafting prestige Champagne. With the jubilant voice of Olivier Krug pouring into their ears -- livestreaming in from the Maison's ancestral holdfast in Reims -- participants in these 'Encounters' were able to hear the story of the 169th Edition in a style that takes you beyond the spoken word. An "audio pairing" composed by Belgian musician Ozark Henry (and fed through to listeners using 8D technology) chronicles, in sonic form, the entire journey of the latest Krug edition: from plot to tasting, and finally harmonious blending together at the hands of Cellar Master Julie Cavil.

As ever, these 'Encounters' ended with a culinary presentation (in Hong Kong, presided over by Island Shangri-La's Uwe Opocensky) inspired by the tasting notes for the current edition -- langoustine and freshly jetted oysters seem to be much-favoured accompaniments this time round -- followed by a round of questions for the Maison's patriarch, Mr. Olivier Krug. On whether he was excited for a resumption of global travel -- to better present this 169th annual bottling -- he expressed optimism. Until then, you could do a lot worse than sipping to a soundtrack.

The 169th Edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is now available at various retail partners throughout Hong Kong, including Watson's, The Fine Wine Experience, CitySuper and Avize Wine Cellar. To learn more, visit Krug online.

The post What to Stream on Netflix Hong Kong in July 2021 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Imbibed amidst an immersive patchwork of sounds, scents, and flavours, the latest edition of Krug's much-loved multi-vintage Champagne strikes a chord that is as joyful as it is delicious.

I'll be the first to concede that there's nothing quite like "the intangible quality...of taking in the terroir" but insofar as virtual tastings are concerned -- essentially the status quo for drinks industry pundits in 2021 -- the recent unveiling of Krug's latest Grande Cuvée proved to be oddly visceral and thrilling (in some ways, even touching). Every year since 1843, the eponymous makers of prestige Champagne have released a new assemblage of reserve wines, always consisting of the classic Champenois trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier; and always left to age sur lie for 7 years.

Dispensing first with the formalities, the 169th Edition is a "generous expression" of 146 wines made in 11 different years (Krug bottle single vintages relatively infrequently), the oldest of which harkens back to the turn of the millennium. It is, however, the 2013 vintage that -- to butcher a musical analogy -- really sets the bassline: with intensely "luminous and pure" Chardonnays; racy Meunier; and Pinot Noir that extrudes a long, treacle finish. It is in a word, unsurprisingly, 'scrumptious': at its best harmonising alongside sharp aged cheese; aromatic seafood dishes; maybe even a cheeky slice of tarte tatin.

Unsurprisingly, the hallmarks of this Grande Cuvée (namely quality, consistency, and complexity) remain present year in, year out; but it's Krug's highly intuitive method of presentation that helps to immerse drinkers in the art of crafting prestige Champagne. With the jubilant voice of Olivier Krug pouring into their ears -- livestreaming in from the Maison's ancestral holdfast in Reims -- participants in these 'Encounters' were able to hear the story of the 169th Edition in a style that takes you beyond the spoken word. An "audio pairing" composed by Belgian musician Ozark Henry (and fed through to listeners using 8D technology) chronicles, in sonic form, the entire journey of the latest Krug edition: from plot to tasting, and finally harmonious blending together at the hands of Cellar Master Julie Cavil.

As ever, these 'Encounters' ended with a culinary presentation (in Hong Kong, presided over by Island Shangri-La's Uwe Opocensky) inspired by the tasting notes for the current edition -- langoustine and freshly jetted oysters seem to be much-favoured accompaniments this time round -- followed by a round of questions for the Maison's patriarch, Mr. Olivier Krug. On whether he was excited for a resumption of global travel -- to better present this 169th annual bottling -- he expressed optimism. Until then, you could do a lot worse than sipping to a soundtrack.

The 169th Edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is now available at various retail partners throughout Hong Kong, including Watson's, The Fine Wine Experience, CitySuper and Avize Wine Cellar. To learn more, visit Krug online.

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