BY GINO GONZALES

In so many ways, the dress of a nation reflects the psyche of its people. Beyond expressing the changing silhouettes and ideals of beauty, it also presents the internal struggles between polar forces that constantly shape a nation’s history.

BY MARIA KAR-WING MOK

China Trade art, in particular trade paintings or export paintings, have always been regarded as a commodity, produced on an assembly line. In recent years, the Hong Kong Museum of Art has been engaged in research that helps defy this notion and redefines the nature and features of trade or export paintings.

BY KURT BEHRENDT

Many of the finest Tibetan Buddhist art works ever pro­duced are tantric, or Vajrayana, in nature. This article examines select works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

BY LOUIS NG

Hong Kong Palace Museum’s inaugural director details the museum’s mission and activities in addition to his plans for the institution.

BY ARTS OF ASIA

This landmark issue, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Palace Museum, celebrates the HKPM’s Grand Opening scheduled for mid-2022.

BY ALEXANDRA VON PRZYCHOWSKI

Housing an excellent collection of arts from Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas, the Mu­seum Rietberg in Zurich is one of the leading museums in Europe for the arts of non-European cultures.

BY SUSAN TOSK and DAVID COLE

As Japanese artisans have often done throughout history, they refined and perfected the quality, beauty and craftsmanship of the bonbonnière. The most precious metals were used in the creation of the container—a pure silver box with details of a family crest in pure gold.