Within a Sky Full of Earth

ESTREIA MUNDIAL EM HONG KONG E MACAU
A história deste livro começa no dia em que a China venceu a disputa pela organização dos Jogos Olímpicos de 2008. Liu Heung Shing, agora com 56 anos de idade, um veterano da revista Time, explica que a partir desse momento a primeira questão em que pensou foi qual seria a imagem do país e de que maneira ele iria ser visto por todas as pessoas que o iriam visitar durante os Jogos Olímpicos. Daí nasceu a necessidade de criar um documento para a compreensão de todo o caminho que a China e as suas gentes percorreram para chegar até aos dias de hoje, um país aberto ao mundo.
A editora alemã TASCHEN responde assim à curiosidade despertada pelas Olímpiadas com uma grande antologia de fotografia que percorre toda a existência da República Popular da China, desde 1949, mostrando a face de todas as suas disputas internas, até aos acontecimentos mais recentes, como o terramoto de Sichuan e o elevar da Tocha ao Monte Everest. O responsável por este ambicioso empreendimento é Liu Heung Shing, foto-jornalista chinês nascido em Hong Kong e formado nos Estados Unidos, onde ganhou respeito como fotógrafo na prestigiada revista Life.
Em 1992, Liu, recebeu o prémio Pulitzer de fotografia, partilhado com os seus colegas da Associated Press, com uma reportagem sobre o desmembramento da União Soviética. "China: Portrait of a Country" parte de um percurso inverso, o de ligar todas as linhas da história registadas dentro das objectivas fotográficas e a partir daí, pela costura de imagens nunca antes vistas pelo resto do mundo, definir com testemunhos reais o retrato de todo um país.
Na China pós-Mao, o líder do governo central Deng Xiaoping incitava os seus concidadãos a "procurar a verdade perante os factos". Levado por este lema, Liu, parte na sua intensa procura, que durou mais de quatro anos, contactando e pesquisando os arquivos de muitos fotógrafos, muitos deles já reformados, que guardavam os seus negativos como relíquias em caixas de sapatos debaixo da cama. Talvez com receio de que o trunfo guardado fosse desconfortável à luz do dia. Pelo pó e pela “verdade” a selecção não deixou nada de lado, não se limitou pela perspectiva de reprovação das autoridades oficiais. Visitar visualmente a história da China era uma tarefa difícil até aqui, é certo que as imagens valem mil palavras e é por aí que se tornam claros todos os pequenos e grandes indícios da construção de uma nação.
Hoje a o grande continente é uma das economias de topo a nível mundial com uma ascensão vertiginosa de sucesso nos últimos anos. Este livro procura acima de tudo apresentar toda essa transformação, unindo todos os seus vértices. Pelos olhos de 88 fotógrafos chineses, Liu leva ao mundo uma viagem visual através dos 60 anos da República Popular, ilustrando pelas suas páginas todo o seu curso humanista e mostrando como o povo chinês floresceu, apesar de uma longa austeridade e privação sofridas nas décadas anteriores.
Com uma edição extremamente cuidada e ao longo de 424 páginas, a editora lendária alemã, que escolheu as cidades de Hong Kong e Macau para o lançamento mundial desta obra, marca um ponto de viragem na sua já longa carreira, entrando na edição de documentos históricos de objectiva relevância. Com este livro e de olhos postos no esplendor olímpico, que festeja acima de tudo a interligação de povos, o universo chinês irá porventura despertar para uma nova era.
Em última instância este é um trabalho que homenageia os fotógrafos chineses e o poder de captação que a pertinência da Fotografia estabelece como plena forma de arte e de vida.

No próximo Domingo, apartir das 18 horas, numa organização conjunta entre a TASCHEN e a Bloom, Liu Heung Shing irá estar presente em Macau na Bloom Yellow situada no Albergue em São Lázaro para apresentar “China, Portrait of a Country”.
[EDIÇÃO TRINLIGUE: INGLÊS, FRANCÊS E ALEMÃO]

I was born at the dawn of the People's Republic in Hong Kong, which was then still under British rule. This was not the place in which I passed my formative years. That was to be China, for my parents sent me back to the Mainland in the early 1950s, not much more than a mere toddler, whose first hours of "play"were devoted to participating in the Destroy Four Pests campaign aimed at ridding the country of enemies of the food chain. Initially, the four pests were defined as being rats, sparrows, mosquitoes and flies. Later, it was realized that sparrows ate worms and, therefore, were not a pest. As a consequence, the sparrow was replaced by the flea. The People's Daily reported that on April 19th, 1958, three million Beijing residents had spent the entire day catching 83,249 sparrows. At the time of this national folly, it was suggested that four sparrows would consume sixteen ounces of grain, which was equal to one person's daily food ration. This was a major part of my primary school education. I regularly turned in my homework - matchboxes brimming with mosquitoes and flies that I killed with vigorous diligence, though I only caught a couple of sparrows - but no matter how much effort I expended, the grade I was awarded for "political behavior"was rarely higher than "C". The Destroy Four Pests campaign turned out to be a disguise to turn people's attention away from severe food shortages.

In 1960, as the situation grew worse in the wake of the miserable failure of the Great Leap Forward, my father arranged for me to return to Hong Kong. China was in the throes of a three-year famine (1960-1962) in which 30 million people reportedly died of hunger.

Back in Hong Kong, I studied English and learned local Cantonese dialect and during the summer breaks,my father taught me how to translate Associated Press (AP) and Reuters English wire stories into Chinese. As the foreign editor of international news of Ta Kung Pao, a Beijing supported daily newspaper, he would come home venting his frustrations, such as when Beijing censored the story that the American astronauts had landed on the moon!
Liu Heung Shing • Excerpt from the book 'China. Portrait of a Country'
[FOLLOW READING HERE]

Liu Heung Shing will be in Macau at Bloom Yellow on this coming Sunday.

Liu Heung Shing (B. 1951.)
Editor of China, Portrait of a Country, a large format book of photography to be launched worldwide in 28 of July,2008, in six languages by the legendary german publisher TASCHEN.
Currently Liu serves as a senior advisor to CAA. (Creative Artists Agency ,Los Angeles, USA) Advisor to Shanghai Special Olympic 2007, and Shanghai World Expo 2010.
Liu joined News Corporation (China ) in Sep. 2000 to 2005 as Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications. In this capacity, Mr. Liu was responsible for government and press relations and marketing for News Corporation in China.
Liu serves as Director of Business Development for Time Warner in China from Oct.1997 to Aug.2000. During this period, he had coordinated the organization of the Fortune Global Forum in Shanghai, in 1999. The forum is the largest gathering of business executives of Fortune 500 companies.
Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Liu work as editor-in-chief and launched a regional Chinese language Life/Style monthly magazine entitled The Chinese, 中月刊, which was widely distributed in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Prior to this, Mr. Liu serves as foreign correspondent/photo journalist for TIME Magazine and later The Associated Press in Beijing (1979-1983), Los Angeles (1983-85), New Delhi (19851-89), Seoul (1989-1990) and Moscow (1990-1993).
Liu is the author of China After Mao (Penguin 1982), and USSR: Collapse of an Empire (Associated Press 1992). Noted Sinologist Simon Leys (Pierre Rickman) commented China After Mao, ”Liu Heung Shing’s Photographs are shortcuts to reach a complex and elusive truth.”
He shares the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, on the coverage of the Soviet Union. He was awarded by Overseas Press Club in 1991 for his best coverage of the Soviet Union. In 1989, Liu won Picture of the Year awarded by University of Missouri for the coverage of Tiananmen Incident; and in the same year, he was named Best Photographer by Associated Press Managing Editors.
Liu is a graduate Cum Laude of Hunter College, New York City University. He speaks fluent English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Fijian dialect and some French. He was born in 1951 in Hong Kong. Recent exhibitions include Dialogue with Civilization, Forbidden City, Beijing, China, October 1- November 1, 2004. Paris Photo magazine in 2005 named Liu Heung Shing one of the 100 most influential figures in contemporary photography.

Last May, Karen Smith has given an interview for the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games' TV Channel, on a talkshow called 'China Through My Eyes', who invites foreigners to talk about the city of Beijing and the Chinese country. This is an excerpt of it:

You have organized exhibitions for many contemporary Chinese artists since you came to Beijing, for example, Ai Weiwei and Liu Xiaodong. So how many exhibitions have you organized?
More than ten, but not all by myself. In the early 90s, I was more a coordinator than a curator. Most of my work was just to introduce artists to galleries. I started to work on my own around 1998, organizing exhibition tours around art galleries in northern cities of the UK.

Exhibition tours about contemporary Chinese art?
Yes. But back then most of the artists were figure painters or figure photographers.

Early this year, you were listed as one of the earliest "Foreign Pushing Hands" for contemporary Chinese art by Chinese print media. Do you know what "pushing hand" means? It means you've helped Chinese artists become more international -- you've paved their way to the world. So how do you see this title?
I'm really honored. I guess that's maybe because in the days when I first came to China, few people in western countries were interested in Chinese art. Today, we see a lot of young westerners here investigating the contemporary art of China, but back in the old days, there were only a few of us. And to make matters worse, most went back home in the early 90s. I'm among those who have stayed here the longest.

Since there are "foreign pushing hands," there must also be "Chinese pushing hands." How many Chinese are doing similar work as you?
I think there must be quite a few. As far as I know, Gao Minglu, Fei Dawei, and many others have been doing this since the 80s. And today, people like Huang Zhuan have also done a lot of work. Their research, papers, and exhibitions are very important.

Contemporary Chinese art is more and more recognized around the world, and more and more people are starting to notice Chinese artists and their work. Do you remember the situation when you first came to China?
The reason why people tend to keep their distances from "contemporary" or "avant-garde" art is that they never had the chance to understand it. Unknown things always cause insecure or uneasy feelings. Just like if you don't know a person, you may have some imaginary doubts about that person. But after you get closer to him or her, you may find that he or she is not as weird as you thought. Contemporary art is the same. Since the 80s, many Chinese artists have started to study art, and have tried to discover new ways of expressing themselves, their culture, or Chinese art as a whole. Chinese avant-garde art started to take on a fresh new look in the 90s, especially after China's WTO accession. A lot of new media, including websites and magazines, began to introduce art, and people here began to understand that art is an important part of their daily lives.

Did you feel alone when you first came here?
I was not alone, actually. I had partners. But back then, the only visitors to our exhibitions were professionals. Ordinary people or outsiders seldom had the interest or opportunity. But today, we have more and more outside visitors. That's good.

What changes have occurred in the Chinese art circle since you came to China?
Individuals are much stronger today. In the early years, conversations about art were mostly restricted within the art circle, since artists knew outsiders would not be interested in what they were doing. But today, the "groups" have broken up into "individuals," and individual development and positioning has turned out to be very successful. It's very different from the situation in the 90s. There are more and more famous artists today.

How about your work? Is there any difference?
There are many differences, actually. In 1998, when I started to arrange exhibitions all by myself, as I mentioned just now, presenting an exhibition in a foreign country was a very rare and precious opportunity for a Chinese artist. But today, they have more and more opportunities to present exhibitions both in China and in foreign countries. Meanwhile, the quality of the work is better and better, too. More foreign galleries also have come to China. They are very attractive to the artists here, by the way. Besides, the artists have more choices now. They have different themes and come up with different works of art all the time.

So every new exhibition will be a new challenge for you -- to meet new people and learn about new ideas.
Yes, totally. The projects have become bigger and bigger and more and more complicated and professional, since each artist has to think about his own personal development.

Actually, "art curator" is a new phrase for most of us. Only several years ago, we had no idea what art curators did. But today, as avant-garde art becomes more and more popular, people have started to turn their eyes to the organizers of the exhibitions. More and more "famous art curators" are appearing in China. Could you say something about your daily work?
As an art curator, you have to have a good sense of art. For example, since my field is contemporary Chinese art, I have to know what everybody is doing here, and which works are good or bad. Art curators are not as free as some artists or other people may think. Each gallery has its own orientation, you know. And we have to think about this and decide whether it is necessary to cooperate with them. For example, commercial galleries may want something that they can sell, instead of things just for exhibition.
Before I start working, I have to know what the artist has been doing recently and what theme would be the best for his exhibition. Instead of looking around their studios, I prefer to talk with them in person and to learn about their recent concerns, so as to see what kind of new works I can extract from their ideas and how to express them in the exhibitions. [...]
[THE WHOLE INTERVIEW IS HERE]

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism. However, this is not true in the case of music as many pieces are still being released which are generally considered avant-garde in popular culture. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde and still continue to do so, tracing a history from Dada to the Situationists to postmodern artists such as the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E writers in the 1980's to many art collectives in the "post-postmodernist" times of today.
[SOURCE WIKIPEDIA]

A fascination for the contemporary art of China. What might inspire this? Newness, spirit, energy, diversity, the subversion of a system by society’s underdog - for history repeatedly tells of the fate of artists in so-called repressive regimes. Perhaps the fascination is bound up in all of these things. Perhaps none of them at all, for how many would believe us, if we said that it is the sheer quality and diversity of the art being produced in China now?

For western people, steeped in the history of western art, the fascination should be with witnessing the evolution of the contemporary as thought and expression, of witnessing a fundamental shift in thinking and perception by China’s growing body of artists, that is coupled with the kind of zeal that produced myriad schools of art in Europe at the turn of the century. Bearing witness to history in the making, born of the foresight suggested by the past, now draws the gaze of a growing number of western viewers. We can only read about developments in western art in historical accounts in books - the works themselves are so often denied their original, historical impact when placed in contemporary settings - and try to imagine the exuberant mood of a time in which art was suddenly so radically different from its immediate past; art that caused chaos in the salons and museums as it shocked patrons and public alike.

From the perspective of the present, it is hard to grasp the venom that was unleashed at the work of Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Cubism, let alone the Surrealists, yet whether we like the works or not, all acknowledge the contributions these artists made to art history and to the evolution of western culture. The parallel here is the creative spirit and energy of a specific time, at which a certain set of circumstances, events and philosophising aligned themselves to allow a particular environment for aesthetics. In short, it is the artistic and creative possibilities that are unleashed by a period of rapid and dramatic social and economic change; 1990s China just as turn of the century Europe.

A fascination with contemporary art from China is like that of a parent watching the struggles of a child as it grows to maturity; the crossing of each barrier, the conquering of every obstacle, gives rise to intense joy in new discovery and achievement, that builds on all that has gone before. Western art continues to dominate world trends but perhaps Chinese artists, free from the weight of an academic history of artistic development, manage to escape this complexity and touch base with simpler, more essential truths.

Today, few places in Asia remain more mysterious than China. Even in this modern age of globalisation where cultural boundaries are being reduced by the march of mass media, China retains its own distinct and complex characteristics as almost no other nation. Whilst Chinese culture remains steeped in the creative aura of its ancient civilisation, the contemporary art of the middle kingdom stands apart. The reason is both natural, modern rebellion against tradition and an enforced socio-political break in the middle of this century. Post 1979, these combined to set the stage for a contemporary art that would be a dynamic and reflective aspect of the modern period. And so it is; reflective of the tremendous change sweeping through the annals of this long-standing culture; dynamic because it represents a spiritual and social awakening that is currently unique to China alone.

In the mid-1980s, art that was being produced throughout China was doused in Western thought and culture that surged in as the long-closed door began to open. Just ten years on in the mid-1990s, it is possible to see that the manifest forms and styles of expression that appeared in China’s new art, were, and remain, inextricably tied to the traditions of Chinese life; the tangible aspects of Western materials and approaches are but grafts onto an ineluctable body of Chinese thought and philosophy. This Chineseness is the appeal, strength, and significance of China’s contemporary art.

Art in China of the 1990s and the beginning of the millennium is increasingly marked by a profound diversity. There is realism, academicism, expressionist styles, abstract compositions and a mixing of media, all existing side by side. There are equally great works being produced in oil on canvas, ink on paper, in print-making, sculpture and photography. As the outlook of artists matures, it looses none of its vital impetus. What could be more fascinating to all who seek the thrill of art at the cutting edge?
BY KAREN SMITH
[© 2008 China Avant-Garde Inc.]

Karen Smith will be in Macau at Bloom Yellow in Albergue. Tomorrow at 18.30!

Mighty Tuesday #1 - 18.30
Nine Lives, The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China, by Karen Smith
Book Presentation with the Author / Updated Edition by Timezone 8 • Published in Mar 2008

In the early 1990s, the idea of contemporary art in China simply did not compute to a foreign audience. But in 1993, ten contemporary Chinese artists debuted at the 48th Venice Biennale.

They were immediately hailed as progenitors of a Chinese 'avant-garde.' Their brightly colored, Pop Art-inspired paintings played with socialist motifs, parodied Mao, and gave a visual expression to the feelings of disaffected Chinese youth. They were everything western audiences expected of contemporary art from the People's Republic of China. But a number of critics were rather guarded in their opinions. Was this another flash-in-the-pan phenomenon just as Soviet art had been in the 1980s? Could a Chinese avant-garde maintain a distinct identity of its own and shake off its penchant for imitation? The answer is clearly "yes."

The emergence of a market for their art transformed the lives of these avant-garde pioneers from rags to riches, from outcast to hero, from social pariah to cutting-edge cool in a Chinese society adapting to a new era. They did not change but China has changed. The ideology they once had to fight now propagates a cultural climate of laissez-faire that is tantamount to encouragement. Set against China's official program of modernization, Nine Lives paints a compelling picture of artists working beyond the pale of official culture, who started a new cultural revolution that is sweeping China today.

Nine Lives introduces nine artists (Wang Guangyi, Geng Jianyi, Fang Lijun, Gu Dexin, Li Shan, Zhang Xiaogang, Xu Bing, Zhang Peili, and Wang Jianwei), their personal histories and views on China today. Karen Smith's highly accessible introduction to an emerging art scene in a society unknown to most of us makes good reading not only for art-world insiders, but for anyone curious about recent history and its effect on the booming Chinese society. The book opens with a glossary for readers unfamiliar with Chinese history and culture, and a time line placing each of the nine artists within the context of the Chinese art world and political history.

Karen Smith was born in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. She graduated from Wimbledon Art School in Fine Art. In 1988, she moved to Asia curious to explore its practically unchartered art scene. She calls Beijing her home, where she lives since 1992, and is one of the foremost authorities on China’s contemporary art scene, both in China and abroad. Karen Smith also curates exhibitions, including The Real Thing, Tate Liverpool, 2007, and Chinese Photography and Video, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, amongst others. She is also on the advisory board of Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Beijing.

Timezone 8 Limited is a Hong Kong based publisher, distributor and retailer of books on contemporary art, architecture, photography and design.
In collaboration with Asia Publishers Service • HONG KONG

THE BOX is Kung Chi Shing and Peter Suart. The duet was formed in 1987. Both found the project as a means to escape. It doesn't matter if they go by the same door, but together they make a 'bomb'. THE BOX is a theatrical music ensemble who presented concerts and music theatre works alone and in collaboration with visual artists, choreographers, theatre folk and musicians in Hong Kong and Taiwan. For their 20th anniversary, they played Bluebeard at the Kwai Tsing Theatre in HK.
First time in Macau together, Peter Suart and Kung Chi Shing, a classical music professor, will perform a selection of material from their twenty-year history; Suart on voice (sung and spoken), keyboard and percussion, and Kung Chi Shing on violin and flute. The music is dark, bizarre, lyrical and beautiful.
Words in English.

THE BOX at Bloom Yellow
Sunday, the 27th of July
ALBERGUE • ST. LAZARUS DISTRICT
Just follow the plenitude and you get there.
[DOWNLOAD POSTER]

July 26 - Saturday
The City as a Subject for Literary Expression
Talk + Creative Writing Session by Hong Kong writer Xu Xi

In collaboration with the Department of English of the University of Macau the writer from Hong Kong, Xu Xi, is coming to Macau. The program is a 2 in 1. A session on Creative Writing and a Talk focused on her work and experience as a writer on an urban tissue. You are welcome to attend the two events, the admission is free. We believe that it will a great and unforgettable experience from the "pioneer writer from Asia in English", that were the words used by The New York Times to stage Xu Xi. It will happen this coming Saturday once more at Bloom Yellow. The Creative Writing will start at 3 pm and the Talk at 6 pm. Don't miss them!

Focused on urban, congested life, Xu Xi, a Chinese-Indonesian native of Hong Kong, writes from within, zooming in on her own life in the city and its vanishing culture and sensibility. This surreal example of post-modernity transformed into a 21st Century Communist Chinese city informs her latest book, Evanescent Isles: From My City-Village, a collection of personal essays.
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XU XI (pronounced “Shoe-See”), is one of Asia’s leading English language writers. Author of seven books of fiction & essays, and editor of three anthologies of Hong Kong literature in English. Awards include an O. Henry prize story, shortlisted for the inaugural MAN Asian Literary Award, Cohen Award from PLOUGHSHARES for best story, a NYFA fiction fellowship, the South China Morning Post story contest winner, among others. Her work is taught, broadcast and anthologized internationally. Her language is described as “uncluttered” and “arrestingly poignant.” She is, above all, uncompromising.
[APPLY NOW FOR THE CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP - LIMITED AVAILABILITY]

Co-organized by the Department of English of the University of Macau.
MORE INFO AT: www.xuxiwriter.com
[SPECIAL THANKS to ANDREW MOODY, GLENN TIMMERMANS and XU XI who made this event possible.]

S. Lázaro | Ilustrador Peter Suart apresenta “The Master and Margarita” na Bloom
O bem só existe porque o mal anda por aí. Considerado um livro dos demónios, “The Master and Margarita” é a obra-prima de Mikhail Bulgakov. Peter Suart, artista britânico com fortes ligações a Hong Kong, vem hoje a Macau explicar porque é que o escritor do início do século passado é incontornável. E falar das razões que o levaram a ilustrar as palavras do russo maldito.


O encontro com a obra de Bulgakov aconteceu há já alguns anos. Peter Suart identificou-se com a abordagem do mundo feita pelo escritor e dramaturgo russo, um mal-amado de Estaline. Gostou do tom – da ironia e do sentido de humor. Um dia, o artista britânico multifacetado que cresceu em Hong Kong recebeu uma proposta de uma editora de Londres: ilustrar “The Master and Margarita”, obra-prima de Mikhail Bulgakov. No processo, encontrou semelhanças com a sua própria forma de encarar o mundo. E de o passar para o papel.
“É a obra-prima de Bulgakov e tem uma história muito peculiar: em parte, diz respeito a um escritor que não consegue ver o seu livro publicado”, resume Peter Suart ao Hoje Macau. “E é isso que acontece ao livro de Bulgakov, que foi publicado apenas depois de o escritor ter morrido. Há um curioso eco entre o livro e a vida, o que é muito interessante.”
Esta coincidência (ou não) entre a criação e o criador é importante, porque a obra representa uma “vitória” de Bulgakov. Não em vida, já na morte. O livro foi amaldiçoado, à semelhança do seu autor. “The Master and Margarita” começou a ser redigido em 1928. Dois anos depois, o autor queimou o primeiro manuscrito, quando uma outra obra sua foi interdita. Em 1935 voltou a dedicar-se à construção das personagens. Diz-se que Margarita foi influenciada pela sua terceira mulher, com quem tinha casado três anos antes, e que acaba por desempenhar um papel fundamental para que o livro seja concluído. Seguiram-se mais duas versões – partes da final foram ditadas por Bulgakov à mulher.
O mestre morreu sem que tenha tido tempo para concluir a obra. Margarita fez o resto. Só em 1989 é que a Rússia publicou o livro na sua versão integral, sem quaisquer censuras.

Do Yin e do Yang

Oitenta anos depois de ter começado a ser escrita, “The Master and Margarita” continua a ser uma obra que incomoda. Pelos temas que aborda, intemporais e transversais – o bem e o mal, a inocência e a culpa, o racional e o irracional, a ilusão e a verdade. Jerusalém consta da obra e Moscovo também.
A Peter Suart agrada-lhe particularmente a visão de Bulgakov em relação a Jesus, na medida em que o entende como ser não divino. “Em parte, foi por isso que gostei tanto do livro. A descrição que faz do dia da morte de Jesus é muito convincente - e eu sou uma pessoa sem fé. Bulgakov apresenta Jesus enquanto um homem com um contexto muito especial, o que vai de encontro àquilo que penso.” Sobre certos domínios da vida do escritor não se sabe muito e o ilustrador não tem a certeza de que Bulgakov fosse totalmente alheio a convicções de índole religiosa. “Os pais tinham fé. A posição dele não é explícita neste âmbito. Mas, por aquilo que se vê no livro, é muito clara a representação de Jesus como um ser humano.”
O artista tem noção de que se trata de uma “questão muito sensível”, esta da materialização do filho de Deus. Por isso, garante “respeito” na abordagem que vai fazer hoje à tarde, na Livraria Bloom, no Albergue de São Lázaro. “No entanto, não vou deixar de dizer o que penso. E eu considero que é muito importante sermos capazes de falar abertamente sobre estes assuntos”, defende.
A dicotomia entre o bem e o mal são temas que não podem escapar a uma abordagem sobre “The Master and Margarita”. “É um dos problemas mais antigos. Há um parágrafo neste livro em que se defende que não pode haver o bem sem que exista o mal. É o conceito de yin e yang – não podemos ter um sem o outro.” O ilustrador concorda com esta perspectiva, mas acrescenta que, “na vida, tenta-se minimizar a existência do mal”.
Peter Suart lembra que estes conceitos nem sempre foram bem interpretados por quem lê Bulgakov. “A forma como encarou este tema deve ser entendida como uma metáfora, como uma forma de pensar o mundo, não como uma verdade literal.” As leituras feitas sobre o demónio ultrapassam Estaline e a sua época. Há menos de dois anos, o museu baptizado com o nome do escritor, em Moscovo, foi vandalizado por fanáticos que alegaram que “The Master and Margarita” é obra do diabo.
“Bulgakov não condena a figura do diabo no seu livro. A forma como escreve sobre ele é muito invulgar – é uma figura com charme, civilizada. Mas isto não significa que o mal seja bom. É apenas algo enigmático.” Por isso - e pela fidelidade das imagens às palavras – o ilustrador também não sataniza o diabo. “Não há uma posição moral directa no conjunto de ilustrações.”

O livro que pede para ser ilustrado

Suart, autor das narrativas dos seus livros desenhados, explica que não foi difícil ilustrar “The Master and Margarita”. É um escritor “fantástico e com um grande sentido de humor”. E acrescenta que “tem uma escrita muito visual e a narrativa é muito completa – é um livro que pede, ele próprio, para ser ilustrado.” E já o foi muitas vezes, com outras interpretações que não a do artista britânico. O que diminui, de algum modo, a responsabilidade final do ilustrador.
Até que ponto as imagens, de leitura mais imediata do que as palavras, condicionam o leitor? “Há várias versões do livro. Claro que se as pessoas lerem aquela que ilustrei primeiro, o peso das minhas imagens será maior. Mas, quando se pensa no processo editorial desta obra, a minha versão é apenas uma entre muitas, pelo que a minha responsabilidade não é assim tão grande”, esclarece, ressalvando que, “fundamentalmente, a ilustração tem um dever para com o leitor”. Peter Suart fez “muita pesquisa sobre o livro” para chegar à conclusão de que deveria associar as imagens às estações da Via Sacra.
O ilustrador conta ainda que, embora tenha começado a escrever os seus livros antes de ler Bulgakov, algumas das suas ideias estão no trabalho do escritor russo. Talvez seja a transversalidade das ideias. Suart não se afasta do escritor da Rússia de Estaline no que diz respeito “à natureza de Jesus e Maria”.
Peter Suart nasceu na Jamaica e cresceu em Hong Kong. Partiu para o Reino Unido para estudar. Em 1985, regressou à então colónia britânica para trabalhar enquanto artista plástico, músico, escritor e actor, mas em 1999 voltou para Inglaterra. É autor de uma série de livros ilustrados, “The Tik and Tok Adventures”. Fala fluentemente cantonês. A palestra de hoje, com início marcado para as 18h00, será feita em língua inglesa.
[POR ISABEL CASTRO NO HOJE MACAU]

APPLY FOR CREATIVE WRITING SESSION WITH XU XI.
[LIMITED AVAILABILITY • CHECK POST BELLOW]

It happened last year in March, the month we started this website, Peter visited us to present his first comic book, The Black Book of Falling. It was at the tiny Bloom Red, where at the time we still had space to squeeze everybody in. Now books conquered all of it. But we have Bloom Yellow and the beautiful venue at Albergue. It was a joy to have meet Peter and to listen to him last year. Will be a pleasure to have him with us again for a great event on one of the eternal books: "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.
[DON'T MISS IT! IT'S TOMORROW AT BLOOM YELLOW, FROM 6PM ON.]

Book Presentation
Liu Heung Shing at Bloom Yellow in Macau for the book launch of "China: Portrait of a Country"
August 03, 2008 • Bloom Yellow, Albergue - Calçada da Igreja de S. Lázaro, 8, Macau

Celebrate the launch of China, Portrait of a Country at Bloom Yellow, located in the lovely Albergue, a hidden paradise within the city! Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Liu Heung Shing presents his new book with never before seen pictures and music from each decade between 1949 - 2008.

Begins at 6:00pm
• MORE EVENTS ON CHINA: PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY HERE
[DOWNLOAD INVITATION]

Due to limited seating availability you have to sign in for our special event this coming Saturday at Bloom Yellow. It's the Creative Writing Session with Hong Kong writer, Xu Xi, that will go from 3 to 5 pm. We have already some requests, so if you are interested just drop us an email now or send an SMS to +853 66800024 stating your name and contact. That's all! Hurry up, you cannot miss this one.

XU XI is the author of seven books of fiction & essays, and editor of three anthologies of Hong Kong literature in English. A Chinese-Indonesian native of Hong Kong, the city was home until her mid-twenties, after which she led a peripatetic existence around Europe, America and Asia. She now inhabits the flight path connecting New York, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
The New York TImes named her a pioneer writer from Asia in English and the Voice of America featured her on their Chinese TV documentary series "Cultural Odyssey." Singapore’s Business Times dubs her passion "Asia as it is today – gritty, modern and confused." According to reviewers, her work explains "the paradox that is Hong Kong" that avoids "the sex and drug and triad stereotypes... portraying the city more accurately and realistically for it." Her "new and innovative diasporic global language" is "uncluttered" and "arrestingly poignant." She is "an alchemist of observation" whose sensibility is "generous and compassionate."
Awards include an O. Henry prize story, shortlist for the inaugural MAN Asian Literary Award, Cohen Award from PLOUGHSHARES for best story, a NYFA fiction fellowship, the South China Morning Post story contest winner, among others. She has also been writer-in-residence at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, Chateau de Lavigny in Switzerland, Kulturhuset USF in Norway, the Jack Kerouac Project of Orlando and the Anderson Center in Minnesota. SUNY Plattsburgh, where she earned her BA, accorded her their distinguished alumni award in 2004.
For eighteen years, the author had a second career in international marketing and management with various multinationals. In 1998, she finally surrendered completely to the writing life. She holds a MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and teaches on the MFA in writing prose faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.
In 2009, she will be the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa's nonfiction program.
[MORE AT: XU XI OFFICIAL SITE]

XU XI CREATIVE SESSION • FREE ADMISSION • LIMITED AVAILABILITY • APPLY NOW!

From all the magazines that arrived to Bloom Yellow in our new quest, icon was one of those that stood out from the rest. Clean and beautifully designed, it's one of the world's finest architecture and design magazines, with a whole content to keep an eye on. Every month there are interviews with the most exciting architects and designers in the world, insights to the best new buildings, analyses to the most interesting new cultural movements and technologies, and reviews on an eclectic range of exhibitions, books, products and films.
Magnificent and accessible, rigorous and insightful, icon shows you exactly what's happening in architecture and design today, and what it means for the future.
Since the first issue in 2003 they've won a dozen awards, including magazine of the year (twice), best architectural journalist and best critic at the International Building Press awards, and best designed business-to-business magazine and best use of typography at the Magazine Design Awards. If we could sell a lot icon's every month we were doing a very good action and Macau, for sure, would be a better place to live. So please come and get it. Order and subscribe it! Indulge yourself!
We have started with the August issue, the 062 edition of icon, it comes with a colourful cover hand-stained by Fernando Brizio. Inside, the Portuguese designer talks about his work and his debt to Buster Keaton. Also profiled this issue is Junya Ishigami, widely tipped as the next big thing in Japanese architecture and a young master of post-SANAA minimalism. And icon explores Dominique Perrault’s Ewha Womans University in Seoul, a glass-and-steel chasm dressed up as a hill.
Meanwhile, has design photography lost touch with reality? Computer rendering and photo retouching have become so prevalent that some designers no longer want their products to look real – they ask them why. In news, there’s new work from Álvaro Siza, Zaha Hadid, Jurgen Bey and Tom Dixon, and Andrea Branzi talks about the crisis in architecture. In review, there’s psychosis at the Hayward, a musical building in New York and an expensive piece of gadgetry in a pint glass.
Is that enough for a magazine?
MORE AT icon'S WEBSITE

A TALK BY PETER SUART
Mikhail Bulgakov started writing The Master and Margarita in 1928. The first version of the novel was destroyed (according to Bulgakov, burned in a stove) in March 1930 when he was notified that his play The Cabal of Hypocrites was banned. The work was restarted in 1931 and in 1935 Bulgakov attended the Spring Festival at Spaso House, a party said to have inspired the masked ball of the novel. The second draft was completed in 1936 by which point all the major plot lines of the final version were in place. The third draft was finished in 1937. Bulgakov continued to polish the work with the aid of his wife, but was forced to stop work on the fourth version four weeks before his death in 1940. The work was completed by his wife during 1940–1941 and she tried endlessly to publish it.
A censored version (12% of the text removed and still more changed) of the book was first published in a Moscow magazine.The text of all the omitted and changed parts, with indications of the places of modification, was published on a samizdat basis. In 1967 the publisher Posev (Frankfurt) printed a version produced with the aid of these inserts. In Russia, the first complete version, prepared by Anna Saakyants, was published by Khudozhestvennaya Literatura in 1973, based on the version of the beginning of 1940 proofread by the publisher. This version remained the canonical edition until 1989, when the last and complete version was prepared by literature expert Lidiya Yanovskaya based on all available manuscripts.
The Mikhail Bulgakov Museum in Moscow was vandalized on December, 2006, allegedly by a religious fanatic who denounced The Master and Margarita as being satanic propaganda.

In 2007 Peter Suart illustrated the book for The Folio Society in London, and it is from this work that this talk as sprung. Peter will show his illustrations for the book and discuss Bulgakov’s vision of Jesus as a non-divine seer; Faust, Science and the whirlpool of good and evil; The life and work of Bulgakov.
The session will close with a look at the presence of some of these ideas in Peter Suart own series of illustrated books, the Tik and Tok adventures, published by MCCM Creations. That's how we will get the spell that could have change the whole human History if published in its time.
[CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ZOOM IN OR DOWNLOAD THE POSTER HERE]

The Master and Margarita, a Talk by Peter Suart
BLOOM YELLOW • ALBERGUE • ST. LAZARUS CHURCH BOULEVARD • JULY 23 • WEDNESDAY • 18:00

Peter Suart will be in Macau at Bloom Yellow, on the 23rd of July, for a Talk about Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Base on this book, written under the censorship of Stalin's regime between 1928 until the night of the author's death in 1940, when he dictated his latest notes to his wife, and only published in its full version after the Perestroika in 1991, the presentation by Peter Suart will lead to different subjects through religion to science and to creative power under the jug of dictatorship. And how this amalgam of different tensions builded the vision of his own expression through art. Peter Suart lives in the countryside in England where the nature empowers a life full of things to tell.
[SEE OUR FULL SCHEDULE HERE]

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.
MILAN KUNDERA

Samizdat was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc countries. Copies were made a few at a time, and those who received a copy would be expected to make more copies. This was often done by handwriting or typing. This grassroots practice to evade officially imposed censorship was fraught with danger as harsh punishments were meted out to people caught possessing or copying censored materials.

I myself create it, edit it, censor it, publish it, distribute it, and [may] get imprisoned for it.
Samizdat definition by Vladimir Bukovsky

Essentially, the samizdat copies of text, such as Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita or Václav Havel's writing The Power of the Powerless, were passed among friends. The techniques to reproduce the forbidden literature and periodicals varied from making several copies of the content using carbon paper, either by hand or on a typewriter, to printing the books on semi-professional printing presses in larger quantities. Before glasnost, the practice was dangerous, since copy machines, printing presses and even typewriters in offices were under control of the First Departments (KGB outposts): for all of them reference printouts were stored for identification purposes.
Etymologically, the word "samizdat" is made out of "sam" ("self, by oneself") and (Russian: shortened "izdat"izdatel'stvo, "publishing house"), thus, self published. The term was coined as a pun by Russian poet Nikolai Glazkov in the 1940s, who typed copies of his poems indicating "Samsebyaizdat" ("Myself by Myself Publishers") on the front page in an analogy with the names of Soviet official publishing houses, such as Politizdat or Detizdat ("literature for children").
[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

Pinga água por todo o lado. Ele levanta a cabeça para ver a chuva que cai sobre o alpendre. No pátio, no exterior, estão dispostas peças de máquinas agrícolas e uma charrua desmontada que já não serve. Dois cães mostram-lhe os dentes. Volta a entrar em casa. O tecto é muito alto, de alto a baixo a divisão está cheia de fardos de palha. No centro deste celeiro sombrio, uma mesa de cozinha comprida à volta da qual está sentado um grupo de raparigas, cada uma com uma expressão diferente no rosto, e nos olhos, nariz, pestanas, faces, cantos da boca, orelhas, restos de farinha. Amassam a massa entre as mãos cantando, mergulhadas numa profunda tristeza. Na frente de uma jovem esbelta de longas tranças, está pousado, em frente de um espelho, um candeeiro a óleo protegido por uma bandeira. Uma camarada desfez-lhe as tranças e penteia-lhe o cabelo. Ele aproxima-se institivamente do espelho e vê a tesoura cortar os cabelos compridos. Ouve os cães a ladrar.
GAO XINGJIAN em UMA CANA DE PESCA PARA O MEU AVÔ

“Uma Cana de Pesca para o meu Avô” é uma colectânea de seis contos de Gao Xingjian, escritor chinês Nobel da Literatura.
A vida é uma coisa estranha. Composta por fragmentos, momentos, lembranças, pessoas conhecidas e desconhecidas, tocamo-la mas raramente a compreendemos. Mas para quê compreendê-la? Por que não observá-la e contar as suas histórias? As histórias da vida. É assim este livro que já vai na sua 10a. edição e que faz parte do Plano Nacional de Leitura português. Os contos variam entre o lirismo e o absurdo (foi com a publicação de peças de teatro inspiradas em Becket que Gao Xingiian se afirmou), e neles são visíveis os sinais de exílio e perseguição, as alusões aos tempos terríveis por que os chineses passaram. Mas há também um sinal de esperança e crença na “bondade do coração humano”: “tudo isso pertence ao passado. Temos de aprender a esquecer”. Este livro não tem regras. Estas histórias não têm importância. Não existem por aqui heróis. Nem anti-heróis. Este livro contém beleza. Estes são alguns dos atributos que fazem de “Uma Cana de Pesca para o meu Avô” um objecto literário peculiar.

SOBRE O AUTOR
Gao Xingjian nascido na China Oriental em 1940, perseguido pelo regime, enviado para um “campo de reeducação” durante a revolução cultural e exilado em Paris desde 1987. Romancista, pintor, dramaturgo, encenador, crítico literário e poeta. As suas peças de teatro são interpretadas em todo o mundo e as suas tintas-da-china circulam nos quatros do planeta. O seu magistral romance, A Montanha da Alma, já publicado neta mesma colecção, teve, aquando da sua publicação em França em 1995, um excelente acolhimento, tanto por parte da crítica como dos leitores, Gao Xingjian recebeu no ano 2000 o Prémio Nobel da Literatura pelo conjunto da sua obra.

Uma Cana de Pesca para o meu Avô, de Gao Xingjian • CONTOS • DOM QUIXOTE

CARLOS PICASSINOS DE VOLTA?
Segundo apurou o JTM, Carlos Picassinos, actualmente em Barcelona, mas ainda ao serviço do Hoje Macau, poderá estar de regresso ao território e ao mesmo periódico onde exercia a função de jornalista até há uns meses, mas, desta feita, para o cargo de editor executivo.
Confrontado com o possível regresso do jornalista, que se destacou na área da cultura, o director do Hoje Macau, Carlos Morais José, preferiu abster-se de comentários, ainda que tenha reconhecido ao JTM ter-se encontrado recentemente com Carlos Picassinos na cidade espanhola.
Carlos Morais José frisou, porém, que o Hoje Macau continua em fase de consolidação desde que se fundiu com o suplemento do “Tai Chung Pou” e que, portanto, possivelmente só em Setembro é que estará “sedimentado” por completo. Por agora, o projecto Hoje Macau continua “pujante”, sublinhou.
[NO JTM DE ONTEM]

Sátira política, fantástica e lírica, "Margarita e o Mestre" esteve proibida na URSS durante quase 30 anos. Uma obra-prima do romance do século XX

Mikhail Bulgakov escreveu "Margarita e o Mestre" em segredo, ao longo de onze anos, entre 1929 e 1940, numa Moscovo em que as suas peças eram insultadas (e depois proibidas) pela crítica oficial mais diligente, e os seus amigos iam desaparecendo, exilados ou executados - aquilo a que se veio a chamar terror estalinista.
Enquanto escrevia, noite após noite, Bulgakov sabia que ia morrer, como o seu pai morrera, de uma doença hereditária dos rins. Previu mesmo o ano em que morreria, 1939. Falhou por meses. Morreu, de facto, a 10 de Março de 1940, ainda não tinha cumprido 49 anos.
Duas semanas antes, já cego, e sem poder sair da cama, ditou as últimas emendas ao romance a Elena Sergueievna Shilovskaia, sua terceira mulher - a Margarita do livro, a sua Margarita. Tinham-se conhecido em 1929, casaram-se três anos depois, foram inseparáveis até ao fim.
Com uma fé inabalável no futuro, ela guardou tudo o que ele foi escrevendo, obras (manuscritas, banidas) e cartas. E depois da morte de Bulgakov passou quase 30 anos a lutar pela publicação de "Margarita e o Mestre". Em 1966, o romance veio pela primeira vez à luz, na revista "Moskva", com passagens censuradas. Só no início dos anos 70 foi publicado em livro. Elena morreu, pouco depois.
Aclamado como uma obra-prima um pouco por todo o mundo, quando as primeiras traduções começaram a ser publicadas, "Margarita e o Mestre" continuou, no entanto, sujeito a uma circulação restrita na URSS da Guerra Fria. Tornou-se um romance de culto genuinamente popular, passado de mão em mão, pago a peso de ouro no mercado negro. Só com a perestroika - a que se seguiu, em 1991, o centenário do nascimento de Bulgakov - foi oficialmente "reabilitado". Lido hoje, permanece dificilmente classificável, livre e absoluto, portanto.
Sátira política das misérias do aparelho estalinista, com seu séquito de siglas, funcionários, delatores, trafulhas e mentirosos de meia-tijela, que escondem divisas estrangeiras nas canalizações da casa-de-banho e se esgadanham por mais uma salinha, mais um metro quadrado nos apartamentos comunitários? Romance fantástico que convoca o diabo, com sua corte de saltimbancos, para semear o caos na capital da revolução, e retoma o mito de Fausto no feminino, fazendo de Margarita rainha-anfitriã de um grande baile satânico? História de um amor além da morte, ferozmente lírico e nunca sentimental, o de Mestre e Margarita? Fábula metafísica, que evoca Cristo e Pilatos no lugar vazio deixado pela erradicação oficial do bem e do mal?
"Margarita e o Mestre" será tudo isto e o que cada leitor quiser, ainda. Escrito em segredo, e proibido tantos anos, é uma prova de que toda a arte é íntegra ou não será. Ou de que - como diz o diabo de Bulgakov - "os manuscritos não ardem".
[ALEXANDRA LUCAS COELHO / PÚBLICO]

"Margarita e o Mestre", de Mikhail Bulgakov • RELÓGIO D'ÁGUA

BULGAKOV COUNTDOWN #2
«One day, two members of the reigning literary elite meet in a park to discuss problems with the subject matter of one of their poems - it's not atheistic enough, says the elder, and thus not worthy of publishing (this being Soviet Russia, under Stalin's rule). No sooner is the question (and denial) of the devil raised, than the two are greeting by a tall, dark stranger who appears out of the blue and proceeds to describe how one of them will die. And, albeit under fantastic circumstances, it comes true.
Pretty soon, the stranger and his motley troupe - a clownish bloke with a broken pince-nez, a fang-toothed redheaded goul, and a large, talking black cat who walks on his hind legs - occupy a townhouse in the centre of Moscow from which they direct a chaotic spell over the city. Anyone it seems who gets in their way - usually members of the cultural privileged classes - either vanishes, winds up in the sanatorium, or is vanquished to another part of the country.
Who are they? What are they doing? All of this is unravelled (and exploded) the further into the book one reads. We meet the eponymous Master, a discouraged writer whose seminal work on Pontius Pilate is lain to waste by the bureaucratic tendrils of the sycophantic literary scene, and his faithful lover, Margarita - a married woman who would do anything to be free of her chains and reunited with him.
The Master and Margarita is a wild, throw-the-rulebook-out-the-door tale which manages to weave outrageous satire with eloquent speculation on morality. Bulgakov's novel confidently navigates between deft, fantastic comedy and touching, emotional drama - without one disregarding the power of the other. Written under the tyrannical reign of Stalin from 1929 until Bulgakov's death in 1940, it is both a response to the madness of that period and a triumphant individual statement.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something fantastic and unpredictable to consume them. It is truly a book that can be read and re-read numerous times, with each pass being as fulfilling as the next.»
Text by Matt Cahill • Toronto • Canada
[ABOVE THE PENGUIN VERSION SHOWING THE PAINTING "An Englishman in Moscow" BY Kazimir Malevich]