The six week residency in Seoul

The six week residency in Seoul will run from November 25 andwill be hosted by the National Art Studio of the KoreanNational Museum of Contemporary Art.The residency isaimed at an emerging or mid-career artist between the agesof 24 and 49 years working in genres such as painting,drawing, photography, media, screen or installation arts x2013,but not in industrial or ceramic arts.Asia:NZ will coverthe Rosetta Stone software cost of a return airfare, insurance and a daily stipend.The Museum of Contemporary Art will cover the cost ofaccommodation.Professional practising artists with arecord of achievement in the preferred genres of artspractice are invited to submit a written application toAsia:NZ by no later than 5pm on Friday, September 29,2006.Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or permanentresidents. For further information, contact Asia:NZ culturedirector Jennifer King at 04 4708704 or emailjking@asianz.org.nz.Chinese pianist to honour NZcomposer An acclaimed young Chinese pianist will premierea composition by a New Zealand composer on his tour of NewZealand next month.Sun Yingdi will give six recitals insix cities from October 7 to 19, featuring music by Liszt,Mozart and Ravel as well as include a piece by Wellingtoncomposer Jack Body. I am really excited about thiscollaboration, Body said. This is an excitingopportunity to bring a part of contemporary Chinese culturetogether with the dynamic communities and cultures ofAotearoa. Born in Shanghai, Sun who is only 25, rose tointernational prominence last year when he won theprestigious 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competitionin Utrecht. The prize included a demanding two-yearextensive concert tour including performances throughoutEurope, Asia, North America, and South Africa. Ourcommunities are connecting with Asia in all sort ofwonderful ways, said Asia:NZ culture director JenniferKing. Sun Yingdi will be known as one of the 21stcenturys greatest pianists, and we are pleased to supporthis upcoming tour. Suns tour will begin in Hastings,sister city of Guilin, Guangxi on Saturday, October 7, andcontinue on to Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, Wellingtonand Blenheim. Master classes will also be held in somecentres.His New Zealand tour Rosetta Stone Latin America Spanish is made possible by theMinistry of Culture of China, the Chinese Embassy, Asia NZFoundation and Capital Theatre Productions. For furtherinformation, contact Dawn Sanders on 027 283 6016 or byemailing Action-Sanders@xtra.co.nz.There once was aplace called BurmaBy Maxe FisherRomantic visions ofbygone times when the royal barge would float gracefullydown the Ayeyarwaddy River in a tropical fuchsia sunsetintermingle with call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,largely under house arrest since 1989. Similar visions ofthe glorious temple plains of Bagan mix with images of MiGfighter jets taking off from Mingaladon Airport in Yangon.Or is it romantic visions of monks and nuns strolling acrossthe all teak U Bein footbridge near Amarapura with theirvibrant robes flowing in the hot breeze that mix with imagesof political detainees in Insein Prison? Having recentlyparticipated in the Burma Studies Conference in Singaporethis July, the diversity of presentations attested to theconstruct that defines notions of Burma and the BurmeseDiaspora. Being a region or a country renamed as Myanmarin 1989 and ruled essentially under siege since then by thecurrent military junta, the conference equally highlightedan underlying commonality amongst all participants, thedesire for change, the hope for open and transparentknowledge, and the need for a much better context underwhich to live, work, study Rosetta Stone English and play: basic human rights.The conference was a lively and significant mix of knownand new researchers from around the world with perhaps thelargest number of Burmese scholars from both within andaboard. Entitled Communities of Interpretation, the forumdefined and delineated new readings of Burma through itshistory, health, archaeology, visual arts, environment,literature, the economy, education, and politics, to name afew.