The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Asia’s coming out: Shanghai International Debutante Ball 2013 Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:23 AM PST  The ladies formally "come out" to society in a ceremony. — Pictures courtesy of Shanghai International Debutantes Ball Earlier this year, Shanghai played host to the country's first International Debutante Ball, with 13 young women from around the world formally introduced to the city's social scene. Next January, expect to see more glitz and glamour at the event as a bevy of new debutantes "come out" to society, decked out in high jewellery creations by Chaumet and wearing couture gowns made by Chinese homegrown talent Tina Fu.  Vivian Chow Wong: Directly linked to the original 1780 ball. According to Wong, "Shanghai has what it takes to be the leading 21st century metropolitan city", and this Asian leg of the international debutante ball season differentiates itself from the others for several reasons: 1) The ladies come out at 10pm as was the custom in King George's time. 2) The debutantes come out wearing a real diamond-studded tiara at every ball. 3) All the gowns are designed "made-to-measure" for each debutante. 4) It is the only major debutante ball that has an alternate ball — "The May Ball" — to raise funds as a private charity.  Top Asian hairstylist Kim Robinson putting the finishing touches to the debutantes' hair earlier this year for the photo shoot. R: What are some of the criteria in your selection of debutantes? VCW: In general, a debutante of the Shanghai International Debutante Ball should be a young lady from a family of prominence in society. Preferential considerations will be given to debutantes whose parents or ancestors are known to have carried out exceptional civic duties in their respective communities. She must have a sound reputation and maintain a clean record. She can be an achiever in her own rights. Ideally, she has attained a certain level of accomplishment in a particular field, notably in the arts or a sport generally associated with the nobility. She must be free of any controversy and scandal. Parents of a debutante must be free of any controversy, scandal and criminal record. R: Tell us something interesting which you've come across when selecting debutantes. VCW: While I do not penalise girls carrying a Birkin, I do draw a line at any debutantes using crocodile bags (unless proven to be vintage). So far the girls I met have been very well mannered. I make a lot of enquiries before meeting them so no time is wasted on either side. R: Any names of who will appear at the next ball? VCW: I am sorry, this is confidential until the day of "coming out". The whole point of "coming out" is about the "first time". You will know on January 12, 2013. R: Are debutantes born or made? VCW: Born. Definitely. I believe in fate and destiny. I believe everyone is born to fulfil a certain kind of life. R: Why create an Asian edition when most of the debutantes from last year were non-Chinese? (Most of the debutantes from last year's ball were European.) Last edition's Debutante of the Year Larissa Scotting. In time, when the Asian countries are open to the idea of debutantes, we hope to have a more even balance of ethnic attendance. R: Will there be more Asian entrants this year? VCW: There will be mainland Chinese girls. This was lacking in the last one. Not that there were none [who would have been eligible], I just did not come across one, then. R: How relevant is the notion of the debutante and the debutante ball today? Is it archaic? VCW: Debutante ball is a form of immersive art. As long as there are girls aspiring for a white wedding, there will be a need of a debutante ball. R: There are plenty of other society events in Asia where young socialites are shown to high society — tell us what makes your event different from theirs? VCW: My ball is an annual event with strictly laid out structure and rules. It is also directly linked to the original 1780 ball by way of the London Season's Queen Charlotte's Ball. It is a private event, it has no committee and is not involved with any charity as I have my May Ball to compensate for the charity element. The Shanghai Ball is also a bona fide international ball with British aristocrats officiating. R: Tell us more about some myths or false ideas people might have about the Debutante Ball and/or about debutantes in general? VCW: The Debutante Ball is not a match-making ball. At least not in the British sense. It is originally meant for young ladies, even married ones, to be presented at Court, although we no longer present girls to a Monarch, the London's Queen Charlotte's ball and the Shanghai Ball follow the British system. R: What do you think is the difference between English high society and Chinese high society? VCW: This is a tricky question. Hong Kong is very different to Shanghai to start with. All I can say is, for me, until there is a formal ball for young ladies to "come out" from, the area of "society lady" remains very blurry. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Chinese art star Yue brings ‘laughing men’ to Europe Posted: 18 Nov 2012 05:13 AM PST PARIS, Nov 18 — The painted grins are stretched so wide they seem to hurt. And that is pretty much what Yue Minjun intended, the Chinese artist explained at the Paris opening of his first major show in Europe. A former electrician turned contemporary artist, Yue shot to international attention in 1999 when his signature laughing-man self-portraits made a much-noted eruption at the Art Biennale in Venice. "If I paint laughter it is because I feel pain towards human life," the 50-year-old, one of China's most bankable art figures, told AFP through an interpreter. "I found a comical way to express something tragic." Where does this sense of tragedy come from? "It's first and foremost a perception of human life. But it's also a feeling towards the world we live in," he offered.  "Yue Minjun — L'ombre du fou rire" exhibition poster.©All Rights Reserved "It's the first time I've seen so many of my works displayed at the same time," he told AFP. "It's also the first time I get to examine myself. "I spotted quite a few clumsy touches in my paintings," he quipped. "I said to myself I must be one of those painters who does not know how to hide. I say things in a direct and simple way." Yue's cartoon-like characters are cast in contorted poses, or scenes that reference the Cultural Revolution, like the 2000 "Memory 4", where a crowd of people inside a man's skull tout what looks like Mao Zedong's Little Red Book. "Sunrise", painted in 1998, features a crowd of laughing faces lifted towards the rising sun. "A lot of visual memories stem from my childhood," he explained. "It was the socialist experience. When I was a child, a great many works used to depict happy people, full of confidence, living an ideal life." Goya and Manet inspiration Other works reference the European art canon, such as the 1995 "The Execution", inspired by Goya and Manet, in which both the half-naked victims and gunmen are bent with laughter in front of what look like the walls of Beijing's Forbidden City. Seen as one of his most political works, "The Execution" fetched €3.74 million (RM14.5 million) at auction at Sotheby's in London in 2007. But the artist does not like to be described as "political". His critique is about culture, he says, namely the way that "in traditional Chinese civilisation the individual is not important". Born in Daqing in northeastern China, Yue grew up under the Cultural Revolution, working first as an oil field electrician before enrolling to study art in 1985 in Hebei province. In 1991, he joined an artist community in a village near Beijing. Still reeling from the fallout of the Tiananmen Square massacre two years earlier, he and other artists founded a current known as "cynical realism", now one of the most influential contemporary art movements in China. Fondation Cartier director Herve Chandes said mounting the show was a challenge, since Yue's works were spread out across Asia, Europe and the United States — and the artist kept little trace of their whereabouts. For the Paris show, Yue loaned around 100 preparatory sketches, which had never before been shown outside the studio he shares with a handful of assistants near Beijing. The exhibit also features snaps of Yue, taken by his brother, which he used to paint his emblematic alter-egos. A slideshow reveals the artist dressed only in underpants, laughing and pulling faces as he lunges out at the camera lens. Today Yue is still painting laughing men — but is also exploring new avenues, for instance in a series of portraits obtained by rubbing one canvas up against another. "Usually paintings are passive. Here I want to make them active, I want them to do something." But whatever he does, Yue is not out to comfort the viewer. "There are artists who paint calm things to bring you tranquillity. I try to stimulate people with my paintings to help them find strength." — AFP/Relaxnews |
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