Tuesday, September 01, 2009 BEIJING: Going green is the only option for Chinese art lover and part-time artist Ma Yihua.Passionate about ancient bronze pieces, the civil servant from Beijing uses old newspapers to recreate the costly classical art, some as old as 2,000 B.C.An art enthusiast from an early age, the self-taught painter and sculptor spends his free-time studying traditional Chinese craftsmanship.More than twenty years ago, an exhibition in Beijing gave him an idea.Ma Yihua said, "I happened to visit the History Museum of China. There was a special exhibit on Chinese bronze. All the pieces dated back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. I thought the bronze pieces' design, carving and colours were beautiful. I thought maybe I can make one myself."But work in bronze came with a high price-tag, so Ma needed a cheaper substitute.Taught by older generations to recycle all unused goods and materials, Ma's grandmother used to make containers out of old newspapers mixed with water and glue. Remembering how sturdy the containers were, Ma tried the technique to make bronze replicas.Ma Yihua said, "I don't think to make art you need to use very expensive materials. Making bronze using garbage shows my intelligence and creativity."The 55-year-old will soon retire from his government job, planning to show his pieces around China to inspire others to make "green" and inexpensive art.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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