DANCING DREAMS

An exhibition at the Museum of East Asian Art (MEAA) shows the winning entries from an international photographic competition celebrating Chinese culture. We have chosen some of our favourites to include here –and you can head to the museum in Bennett Street to see the full selection of winners

An image entitled The Dancing Dreams of a Mountain Girl depicts a young mountain girl dancing for her grandmother while she works making toy tigers in a small rural village in China. This is the overall winner of an international photo competition celebrating Chinese culture. The judges felt the image by Chinese photographer Li Huaifeng captures “a moment of joy – almost other-worldly vision of the child in the sun’s rays. It is as if Grandma is watching the child in a hologram.”

They added, “The image is highly atmospheric and a well-caught moment, contributing to giving us, the viewers, a privileged place inside a home that’s doubtless very different from our normal experience.”

The winning images from the competition will be exhibited at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, the only museum in the UK solely dedicated to arts and culture from East and South East Asia, until 14 May. The Awards, in association with the Lau China Institute, King’s College London, invited photographers to tell Chinese stories, imagining, interpreting, and inspiring connections between Chinese culture and the rest of the world, and received almost 2,000 entries from professional and amateur photographers from any location, background and nationality.

Now in their second year, the Awards launched four new categories including ‘Water’, as 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger and water is integral to Chinese culture through the religions of Confucianism and Taoism.

The remaining categories were ‘Home’, ‘Work & Play’, and ‘Environment’. The other category winners were: Family Stuff –The Golden Anniversary Couple by Huang Qingjun, Seasonal Sea, an environmental image by Yang Tongyu and Seeking by Huang Jianjun.

Yintong Betser, founder of the Global SinoPhoto Awards, said, “We are delighted by the number and quality of the entries in this, only our second year. The entries represent a diverse snapshot of Chinese culture, enriched through the creative and innovative lenses of our talented entrants. In addition, we were delighted by the high level of entries to the ‘Water’ category from many non-China locations, as this element represents the ultimate life source according to Chinese philosophies and is a way for all cultures to share their inspiration and delight for this element.”

The images will be exhibited at other locations throughout the year including at the World Architecture Festival China in Chengdu in November, which is the China branch of the World Architecture Festival, the British company EMAP, as well as at the Lau China Institute, King’s College London. n

The Winners of the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021 exhibition is at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bennett Street, Bath until 14 May.

Dancing Dreams of a Mountain Girl by Li Huaifeng, overall winner of the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021

Casablanca Mono Decor Porcelain tiles by Mandarin Stone

Selling Vintage Wine...

Interest in wine as an investment has never waned and continues to show remarkable appeal at auction.

Nowadays, coverage on the internet ensures that anyone interested can easily find out about wines coming up for sale and with good cataloguing they don’t even have to visit the saleroom, which is especially useful for faraway markets.

The red wines of Bordeaux have some great wines that can command huge prices but it isn’t all about France... some Penfold wines from Australia and some Robert Mondavi wines from California also have a following and can too command high prices, and one must not forget vintage port which consistently sells for good prices.

Wine is a fascinating subject, out of perhaps half a million vineyards worldwide only a few hundred will command an investment or high quality drinking premium. The skill is determining that which is investment wine which may never be drunk but could be drunk, and that which is drinking wine but could be laid down for investment purposes.

Condition for achieving a high price also depends upon its recent and past storage. A cool cellar partially or wholly underground, facing South which has not been disturbed is ideal. Lawrences Wine Expert Chris Chanter has emptied garages, lofts, stables and even a piggery that produced wines that fulfilled storage criteria that enabled bidders to be confident that the wine was in good condition. In ideal conditions wines can keep for 50 years and in the case of fortified wines much more.

As always, knowledge is key so dust off those wine bottles or dig out your cellar and let Lawrences Wine Expert, give you free advice and valuation.

T: 01460 73041 E: enquiries@lawrences.co.uk

FREE VALUATIONS AVAILABLE: In Person | Online | Email | Phone | WhatsApp

Home visits available on request.

Lawrences

AUCTIONEERS

The Linen Yard, South Street, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 8AB.

lawrences.co.uk