This gallery contains 13 photos.
Liverpool is the textbook case of an entire city rejuvenated through culture. Once a bustling and affluent port and manufacturing centre in Britain, the city went into sharp decline from the mid-1970s due to the advent of containerization and neo-liberalism … Continue reading
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I love art, and I love cities. As a cultural policy-maker in a past life, my role was to examine how art could be used to transform cities, and to apply what I uncovered to Singapore. I loved my job. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Over the holiday weekend, I had the opportunity to reflect upon time, upon travel, and on my journeying this past year. What I discovered was that I am often struck by places of instability and ambiguity, in which the past … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
I’ve always been anxious about time. I can’t sit still without hearing it whirring past me inexorably. And I stress myself out with thoughts like: Am I spending my time right? Should I be doing something else more useful with … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
OK, so here’s the thing. I’m tired of New Yorkers, Londoners, and just about everybody else telling me that New York has better food, better service and cheaper prices than London. Because that is just nonsense. London has much better … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Over the weekend, I finished reading celebrity philosopher, Alain de Botton’s (2002) excellent book, The Art of Travel. In it, he very humorously and counter-intuitively examines why and how we travel, using his own experience, and excerpts from travel narratives … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Marc Augé (1995), in his seminal book Non-places: introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity, sheds light on the concept of “non-places,” noting that: “[i]f a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Since my late teens, I have had an enduring fascination with the Middle East, particularly its art, architecture and urban landscape. Every year, I make a pilgrimage, of sorts, to Dubai. The intent is to see how it’s changed, while … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
I recently finished reading Edward Said’s memoir, Out of Place (he wrote the seminal book, Orientalism, on Western conceptions of the Middle East). His main theme – how being out of place can be a defining factor in one’s life … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Following on from my previous post, I thought I’d extend my musings on the theme of water and the city, and accompany these with photography on the subject. Having grown up in an island city that is also one of … Continue reading
