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Asia Weekly

Arts and BooksOctober 13 - October 19

Our guide to the best art, books and films in Asia

New Books Asia

Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Discussion of US foreign policy tends to centre around Iraq and Iran, but relations with North Korea are just as important, says John Feffer for Inter Press Services.

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China Books and Chinese Artists

Has the Asian art bubble burst?

Is it a coincidence that following the Wall Street "meltdown," the recent art auction by Sotheby's in Hong Kong "bombed?" ask Frederik Balfour and Nandini Lakshman in BusinessWeek.

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Reviews on China Art, Japan Art, Korea Art

The art of the towel

Dinner at his boss' house one evening turned into a fateful night for Isamu Sasagawa, says Louis Templado in the Asahi Shimbun. After watching his superior nonchalantly fold his damp hand towel into the shape of a rabbit, Sasagawa knew where his future lay. Eight years later, the 40-year-old is something of an expert in oshibori (hand towel) origami, notes Templado, able to crease a damp piece of cloth into up to 150 different figures, which he has diagrammed in his two-volume book Cho Ukeru Oshibori-hiyoko no Tsukurikata (How to Make Super-Cool Hand Towel Chicks).

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Up and Coming Asian Artists

Say it, spray it

When graffiti artist "B-brother" Chang picks up a can of spray paint, it's like a dare, says Ralph Jennings for Reuters.

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Asian Cinema and Asian Filmmakers

Wa Pei (Painted Skin)

With a storyline revolving around kung fu, ghosts and other supernatural treats, audiences expecting supernatural stylings would be forgiven for being disappointed with Gordon Chan's Wa Pei (Painted Skin), a film that, despite its otherworldly leanings, is a "romance through and through," says movie review website A Nutshell Review.

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Movie News Asia

Short cuts

Thieves pilfer police goods - Authorities arrested five people in connection with stealing Hong Kong police gear to sell to filmmakers, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

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Asia Architecture

To build or not to build?

When American architect Daniel Libeskind made a public declaration that architects should think twice before working in China, he fanned the flames of an age-old debate over the ethics of designing for regimes with sub-par human rights records, says Robin Pogrebin in The New York Times.

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Asian Art Connoisseur

Collector's Corner

Chinese artist Zhou Jirong's works focus on urban landscapes and a sense of alienation, says Beijing's Red Gate Gallery.

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Music Around the Region

Music to North Korean ears

Music can help open the minds of repressed North Koreans, a defector told the audience at his piano recital at the US State Department, reports Foster Klug for The Associated Press. Kim Cheol-woong, who uses a pseudonym to protect those he left behind in North Korea, is the son of a "prominent" North Korean and a former first pianist of the State Symphony Orchestra.

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