Liu Kang: Essays on Art and Culture

Book excerpt: Liu Kang: Essays on Art and Culture is a testament to the inexorable passion of an artist who knew no boundaries. This collection of essays, which Liu Kang wrote over 44 years, offers an insight into the artist’s myriad interests: interior design, music, literature, dance, photography, medical science, and the visual arts. Beyond these topics, Liu Kang’s contributions as a first generation Nanyang artist and art educator come to the fore through his thoughts and ideas about art societies, exhibitions, artists, the development of art education, and the growth of art in Singapore and the region. Liu Kang wrote his essays in Chinese. They have been translated into English for this volume, and are accompanied by commentaries that help contextualise one’s reading. This volume also contains snapshots of the artist’s life—from old photographs of Liu Kang travelling or painting, to that of the people he wrote about in his essays.