How many of us, in thinking of Oriental femminine fashions, imagine that sensual form-fitting dress with its revealing side-slits, its high neck and prominent buttons? It is a part of fashion history which, despite its ancient roots, owes its fame to more recent times and, re-markably, to the world of the cinema. The Changshan or Qipao, as we know it today, was born in the 1920s in Shanghai and quickly became the emblematic dress of urban women, the star of the metropolitan “catwalks” of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwain. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, when it was taken up by stars of Hollywood films, it soon became all the rage in the West as well. One example was Jennifer Jones wearing one in Love is a Many Splendored Thing in 1955. In fact, the film went on to win an Oscar for best costumes. Before 1920, the Changshan was simply the female version of the traditional Changshan, the male blouse typical of the Manchu - it was flowing with long wide sleeves, hiding the wearer’s figure. Quite different from it’s relative the Qipao, which became so famous and widely imitated. Despite the invasion of cheap copies of the dress, Shanghai is still a great place to get an original high quality custom made Qipao.
After a short break for a restyling of the exhibition spaces, the Capsule Shanghai gallery reopens its doors with a new collective exhibition featuring works by eight artists.
Bringing together a selection of three hundred works from the Centre Pompidou collection dating from 1895 to the present day, a new presentation in fifteen sections highlights the multiple faces of the art of portrait.
On the occasion of the centenary of the publication of the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, the MAP in Shanghai celebrates the artistic movement founded by the poet André Breton with a major exhibition organized with the National Galleries of Scotland.
The Yoruba tradition in the paintings of Babajide Olatunji
With a degree in botany from the Obafemi Awolowo University of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Babajide Olatunji is a self-taught artist who has exhibited in various cities around the world.