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The New Chinese Year starts today represented by the year of the Rabbit. The Rabbit is considered the luckiest of the 12 animals that comprise the Chinese Zodiac.   St. Paul the Hermit in the Desert, Maarten de Vos (1532–1603) (after) and Sadeler family (active 16th C–17th C), B.M.815 Many moons ago in ancient China. The Jade Emperor decided to hold a Great Race between the 12 most iconic animals within his kingdom. The animals were told that the order they completed the race would determine the name of each year of the zodiac. The race tested the skills of each animal and showcased the ..read more

Halloween brings with it stories of ghosts, ghouls and witches. Dipping into the history books we find that one of the Scottish ancestors of Museum co-founder John Bowes was burnt at the stake after being accused of witchcraft. Whether John or indeed his French wife, artist and co-founder Joséphine Bowes, knew of the story is not recorded anywhere. But, in the collection there is a painting (not on display) by Joséphine which evokes the archetypal image of a witch and her familiar. It’s called Old Woman Beside a Fire (J.VII). We need to go back in time to 300 years or so before John Bowes was ..read more

My studio, TechxArtisan, is a creative technology studio in Guangzhou. In January of 2021, as we familiarised ourselves with the New Media Art industry, we collaborated with several artists who were using interesting technologies such as machine learning, computer vision and 3D printing in educational institutions in China. It was still the first year of the pandemic then. Many exhibitions in China were affected and cancelled. Business was challenging but this gave us plenty of time to try out new things and to experiment with technologies like LED control and object detection. However, it was ..read more

‘I want to know one thing. ‘What is colour?’ Pablo Picasso   Asking ‘what colour?’ or ‘what’s your favourite colour?’ is a challenging question to answer. In my experience this frequently asked seemingly simple question never elicits an accurate response.  Saying orange is your favourite colour doesn’t really mean anything because it’s a very vague answer. By example, a collection of 100 carrots do not share a uniform orange colour. The addition of a noun, for example slate blue or cherry red, still doesn’t give a clear indication of colour. All are too ambiguous and inconclusive ..read more