Arts

The National Museum of History in Tapei in October launched a project called NMH Grand Hotel in partnership with celebrated Taiwanese fashion designer Justin Chou. (Courtesy of Justin Chou)
Arts

Taiwan museums shake off fusty image to lure new audience

Pandemic demands that art and cultural world finds new ways to survive

5 February 2021
From left, Hayboogie, Popper88, Kaspy, Fish, and Gerin: Performance artists who have kept dancing through protests, a pandemic and now a recession. (Photos by Paul Yeung)
Arts

The electrifying passion keeping Hong Kong's street dancers moving

Pandemic adds to problems performers already face in unforgiving city

4 February 2021
Actors Miller Khan, left, from Malaysia, and Amanda Manopo, from Indonesia, appear in a scene from the second season of the TV series "The Bridge." (Courtesy of Double Vision)
Arts

Malaysia breaks new ground for Viu, HBO and Southeast Asian TV

First Asian adaptation of 'The Bridge' offers realistic portrayal of the region

3 February 2021
Penned by husband and wife team Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, the historical novel “Beads on a String” captures southern Siam at the turn of the 19th century. (Courtesy of River Books)
Arts

BOOKS: 'Beads on a String' by Paul and Yuangrat Wedel

Historical novel dramatizes Thailand's absorption of its southern provinces

30 January 2021
Uniqlo's collaboration on T-shirts with the Louvre will feature motifs by British designer Peter Saville.
Consumer

Uniqlo lands Mona Lisa T-shirt deal with the Louvre

Masterpiece-decorated apparel to hit store shelves next week

30 January 2021
Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, pictured in Germany in 2019, says the World Health Organization cannot be counted on to properly investigate the origins of COVID-19.
Arts

Ai Weiwei, 'Coronation' filmmaker, questions WHO's Wuhan probe

Exiled artist speaks ahead of COVID lockdown anniversary

22 January 2021
Melbourne-based didgeridoo player Mitch Tambo's cover of the hit Australian song "Absolutely Everybody" has appeared on music charts globally, including in the U.K., the U.S., Europe, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. (Photo courtesy of Mitch Tambo)
Arts

Australia's Mitch Tambo marries ancient traditions with modern pop

First Nations artist is a songwriter, dancer and didgeridoo player

20 January 2021
Thai metal sculptor Saruta "Pin" Kiatparkpoom stands between her two welders at her workshop in outer Bangkok. (Photo by Pattrica Lipatapanlop)
Arts

Thai designer crafts beauty from waste

With goals of art and sustainability Pin gives new life to steel scrap

18 January 2021
Masataka Hosoo, president of Kyoto-based textile maker Hosoo, was a musician when he was younger. He now sells nishijin kimono fabric overseas, where it adorns high-end boutiques and hotels. 
Business trends

Fresh talent brings new thinking to Kyoto, city of tradition

Young entrepreneurs are reviving ancient crafts in Japan's cultural capital

17 January 2021
Sopha Nem and Dina Sok, the protagonists of the documentary “Cirque du Cambodia,” perform at Angkor Wat. (Courtesy of Joel Gershon) 
Arts

From Cambodian rice fields to the big top

Documentary records five-year quest to join leading international circus

16 January 2021
An insider's insider in the energy field, Daniel Yergin writes in his latest book that oil will remain "the primary fuel that makes the world go around.” (Amazon, Getty Images)
Arts

BOOKS: A skeptical look at the global green agenda

In his new book, energy expert Daniel Yergin argues that the rise of Asia will reinforce the future of fossil fuels

15 January 2021
Tamish Aswani, far left, and Giorgi Krisno, far right, have led their small team in building AGLXY into a nationally recognized brand. (Photo by Marcel Thee)
Arts

Indonesian street fashion brand reaches for the stars

Ageless Galaxy offers style and exclusivity, at sky-high prices

13 January 2021
“The events are driven by a rejection of mainstream art,” says Thanom Chapakdee, one of the main forces behind the art-activism scene in northeastern Thailand. (Photo by Fabian Drahmoune)
Arts

Artists lead push for change in Thailand's northeast

'Edgy' festivals reflect local support for democracy campaigners

9 January 2021
Built in Japan in 1953, Shofuso (Pine Breeze Villa) was dismantled and brought to the U.S. the following year. The striking blend of traditional and modern aesthetics continues to captivate visitors to the house's current site in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. (Photo by Constance Mensh, courtesy of the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia)
Arts

Model Japanese house in US park offers cultural lesson

Philadelphia exhibition celebrates links over 150 years

6 January 2021
Travel writer Pico Iyer published two books on Japan in 2019. He describes them as being “part of the same book,” expressing opposite sides of life as a member of a Japanese family while remaining a perpetual tourist. (Courtesy of Derek Sharpton)
Arts

BOOKS: Iyer delivers double dose of Japan

Author of ‘Video Nights in Kathmandu’ offers deep awareness of what passes for home

1 January 2021
Exhibits at Kongo Gumi's processing center in the Osaka Prefecture city of Sakai show traditional construction methods for temples and shrines. (Photo courtesy of Kyosuke Ogame)
Companies

Japan's oldest company defies time with merit-based succession

1,400-year-old contractor survives on expertise in building temples and shrines

31 December 2020
Mishima Japanese Candle Shop, in Hida, Gifu Prefecture, where artisans have made their waxy wares by hand for more than two centuries. (Photo by Kentaro Hagihara)
Arts

Japan's 'mingei' elevate the everyday to art

New book celebrates country's enduring folk-craft tradition

25 December 2020
The success of girl-group Dolla -- from left, Angel, Syasya, Tabby and Sabronzo -- is defining Malaysian pop. (Courtesy of Universal Music Malaysia)
Arts

K-pop mania poses hard questions for Malaysia

Groups seek local identity in the face of opposition from Islamic conservatives

23 December 2020
There are a number of performances involving the Gundam statue at a newly opened attraction in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Media & Entertainment

18-meter moving Gundam robot towers over Yokohama port

Japan's Bandai anime character also coming to Shanghai in 2021 in bid for new fans

19 December 2020
Crime busters F.H. Batacan, left, and Laurel Flores Fantauzzo. (Courtesy of the authors and Soho Press)
Arts

Philippine women solve crime literature mystery

New genre emerging as writers explore Southeast Asian culture of violence

18 December 2020
In his latest book, Sebastian Strangio illuminates the unique challenges facing the countries that are close to China, and exactly what is at stake for each. (Courtesy of Sebastian Strangio)
Arts

BOOKS: 'In the Dragon's Shadow,' by Sebastian Strangio

Southeast Asia's foreign policy challenges in the 'Chinese Century'

16 December 2020
A detail of the cinematic release poster for "Roh." Completed in 2019, the film did not debut in Malaysian cinemas until August 2020 after they were re-opened following COVID-19-related closures. (Courtesy of Kuman Pictures)
Arts

Malaysian Oscar hopes rest on low-budget horror film

Supernatural focus reflects trend in Southeast Asian literature and cinema

12 December 2020
"As I am Japanese, I am an outsider in the contemporary art world founded by the West," says Takashi Murakami, posing last month in front of his Haha Bangla Manus in Tokyo. "It is a big disadvantage for me to stand on the same stage as them. How can I be singular among their rules?" (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Arts

Japan's Takashi Murakami faces his biggest setback

A cry from the soul of one of the world's most expensive living artists

8 December 2020
NiziU, a nine-member all-female pop group, made its debut on Dec. 2.
Media & Entertainment

K-pop recipe for success drives NiziU to quick fame

All-girl group takes leaf from BTS and other South Korean idol bands

5 December 2020
A rare imperial embroidered Chinese dragon robe is displayed during a photocall for the Asian Art Week sales at Bonhams auction house in London on Nov. 2.
Opinion

China's billionaires set to dominate the world's art market

Asian buyers becoming more sophisticated as fortunes pile up

4 December 2020