Orientations

Orientations is a bimonthly print magazine published in Hong Kong and distributed worldwide since 1969. It is an authoritative source of information on the many and varied aspects of the arts of East and Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, from the latest scholarly research to market analysis and current news.

We are pleased to have Bing Zhao, Research Director of the East Asian Civilizations Research Centre (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and regular contributor to Orientations to be our guest editor on this special issue focusing on archaeological finds of Chinese ceramics in East Africa, and to share her knowledge of the interchanges and influences between China and Africa. Although many of heard of Zheng He’s voyages during the Ming dynasty through the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and along the east coast of Africa, and may have seen numerous depictions of giraffes on Chinese paintings in museums around the world, the lack of any significant collections in East Africa does not bring this region of the world to mind when thinking of Chinese art. Since 2021, we have devoted one issue per year to Asian art in areas of the world less well known for it.

We interview Jacqueline von Hammerstein-Loxten, owner of C.T. Loo’s Pagoda Paris, on the birth of the building and her future plans. A part of Loo’s immense success was his wide and complex network of suppliers and collectors. We unravel his professional life and attempt to separate fact from myth. Many museums in the USA and Europe were clients of Loo, one of which is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. A few years prior to the opening of the museum in 1933, trustees went on a buying spree and Loo was one of the dealers they worked with, purchasing more than 100 objects from him including two temple rooms and numerous iconic sculptures. Recent provenance research by the museum on these objects can be found on its website. Lastly, we delve further into the Chinese Temple Room and the Indian Temple Room, their connections with Loo, and how he capitalised on the popularity of period rooms in museums in the late 19th to early 20th century. Regardless of the controversary surrounding his business practices, he has undoubtedly made a lasting impact on tastes in Asian art in the West and its presentation.