Aaina Bhargava

Hong Kong

Arts and Culture Editor at Tatler Asia

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Articles

Frida - Hong Kong Ballet 香港芭蕾舞團芙烈達

3 weeks ago | artomity.art | Aaina Bhargava

When Columbian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa was a child, she thought pantings could come to life and that at night, the objects and figures in them would walk out of frame. “I would look at the painting, look away, and then look back and it felt like they moved. I thought they had a soul,” Lopez Ochoa recalls. “The artist made a decision and froze a certain moment in time [in the painting], so I know they have a present and future.
How Art Basel Hong Kong is reclaiming overlooked artists’ legacies

4 weeks ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

Art Basel Hong Kong is back with its gargantuan offering of contemporary art by known and rising artists from the region and beyond. Among the multitude of paintings, installations, sculptures and multimedia works presented by over 240 galleries from 42 countries and territories, historical artworks are emerging as highlights. This is perhaps partly indicative of an economic slowdown that favours safer and more conservative collecting choices over riskier contemporary art purchases.
Art Central: Nadim Abbas plays with space and mediation

4 weeks ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

The former Royal Air Force Officers’ Mess is a quaint 20th-century colonial structure with subtle but distinctive features: a faded laurel green roof, pale blue shutters and doors, towering old trees, steep stone staircases and a grassy courtyard-like space. Nestled in the hills off Kwun Tong Road, the building is home to Baptist University’s Academy of Visual Arts, where the high-ceilinged, spacious rooms lend themselves to learning about and creating art.
In India's Art World, It's Boom Times. But 'Not Everything Is Hunky-Dory,' Experts Say | Artnet News

1 month ago | news.artnet.com | Aaina Bhargava

Last month, India’s cultural season culminated with the largest and most international edition of the India Art Fair since its founding in 2008. Over 120 exhibitors, including 26 newcomers, participated in the New Delhi–based event, which drew record attendance. The fair’s growth has come amid major developments in the country’s cultural landscape. Art centers and exhibition spaces have been opening, galleries are expanding, and a major new art fair has launched.
In India’s Art World, It’s Boom Times. But ‘Not Everything Is Hunky-Dory,’ Experts Say

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Aaina Bhargava

Speaking of Words: Can We Reconstruct the First Language? Speaking of Words By MICHAEL FERBER In earlier columns I tried to say something reasonable about what the oldest living language might be (there isn’t …
Discover Bouie Choi’s intricate wood paintings at Art Basel Hong Kong

1 month ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

Artist Bouie Choi Yuk-kuen is in the midst of a creative dilemma when I arrive at her studio, tucked away on the eighth floor of the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei. “I can’t decide what to do with this now,” Choi says, referring to a large wooden panel upon which she has etched the image of a bird. “It’s a black-faced spoonbill, a migratory bird that’s found in Hong Kong and a few other places.
Can AI-driven art offer real social commentary? This artist thinks so

1 month ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

“Operating at the intersection of art and technology” is a near-ubiquitous phrase, often trotted out to define the work of digital artists. Ambiguous and overused, yes, but it’s also where South Korean media artist Inhwa Yeom draws the most freedom. “I don’t think you should have to choose between learning one or the other,” says Yeom. “They’re both just forms of expression.”For Yeom, “new” and “old” are equally fraught. “I don’t even like to call myself a ‘new’ media artist,” she says.
Reina Sugihara

1 month ago | artforum.com | Aaina Bhargava

Reina Sugihara, Quiet Ending, 2024, oil and wax on canvas, 16 × 12″. Reina Sugihara fantasizes about breathing like a bird—having constant access to fresh air, as she told me, and being able to inhale and exhale deeply as if it were second nature. Inherited from their dinosaur ancestors, the nine to eleven air sacs attached to birds’ lungs allow for oxygen storage enabling effortless and effective breathing.
Chinese and Latin music - an unlikely perfect match?

1 month ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

Gia Fu first came across the classic 1957 film Mambo Girl during her short tenure interning at director Wong Kar-wai’s production company, Jet Tone Films. While managing the company’s social media, Fu had access to an archive containing materials for Wong’s films, including Latin songs the auteur director had featured in soundtracks for Happy Together (1997) and In the Mood for Love (2000).
Playing at Coachella 2025, EDM duo Indo Warehouse spotlight South Asian culture

2 months ago | scmp.com | Aaina Bhargava

At a live DJ event one Friday night in January, roughly 600 people at Soho House Hong Kong in Sheung Wan grooved to electronic dance music (EDM) interwoven with a distinctly South Asian sound. Periodically, Bollywood anthems such as Patakha Guddi and Chaiyaa Chaiyaa, and Maghron La from season 15 of TV music show Coke Studio Pakistan, emerged over the house beats. The crowd’s approval shone as they enthusiastically sang along to the recognisable hits.