A Challenge to Families and Educators Brian Linden argues in this Peninsula Pulse article for a greater understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed by the rise of China. [ more ]   Shangri-la or Bust- Buying a home on the SE Tibetan Plateau How the Lindens first came to pursue their dreams of opening a retreat for artists, friends and clients in China's SW paradise. [ more ]   Bali and the Threads of Life American foundation (scheduled to visit Linden Gallery in fall of 2006) helps preserve Indonesian weaving traditions. [ more ]   Skirting landmines in Cambodia Shane Linden writes about his experiences with landmines in Cambodia [ more ]   An Interview with Brian Linden The Business Pulse of Door County: Linden Gallery The Peninsula Pulse interviewed Brian Linden recently, in order to find out what makes this successful Asian art gallery in Ellison Bay...so successful! (PHOTO: Brian Linden models a Turkoman warrior hat and 19th century Mandarin summer dragon robe.) [ more ]   The Defiant Taxi Driver Enter a taxi and be prepared to hear about the good and bad of Chinese society! [ more ]   Martial Arts Training in China Brian and his two sons are studying Shaolin Style martial arts with one of Jiangxi's leading masters. [ more ]   A Sister City Profile- Old Lady Zhou Brian uncovers treasures in Old Lady Zhou's courtyard home. [ more ]   My Date with a Forger- the Search for the Elusive Pee-pee Powder Brian searches for the formula that helps turn contemporary porcelain vases into exquisite ancient replicas. [ more ]   My Education in Forgery Brian spent his winter months searching the markets for old ceramics with one of Jingdezhen's leading forgers. [ more ]   The Language of the Kimono A vintage Japanese kimono and obi exhibition and sale is scheduled for the weekend of September 4th and 5th at Linden Gallery in Ellison Bay. Kimono and obi (both words are plural without an “s” on the end) from the collection of Robin Cahill – an authority on the subject of Japanese fashion – will be featured, and Cahill will be present at the gallery from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday to discuss kimono and obi fashions, as historically worn by geishas, the samurai class and common women in Japan (an obi is the traditional sash worn at the waist of a kimono). [ more ]   Reasons for a “Sister Region” Relationship with China's Porcelain Capital, Jingdezhen In 1634, while Jean Nicolet landed on Rock Island in his attempt to find an all-water route across North America to Asia, tens of thousands of pieces of exquisite porcelain, originating in Jingdezhen, China, were arriving in Europe. (Photo: The Jingdezhen artifact on the left is at least 300-400 years old – when the firing of pottery in a kiln produced less-than-perfect results, the ruined pots were cast aside into mounds. Over the centuries, the broken pottery and kiln shelves or wadding (material separating the layers of fired pottery) mixed with dirt and solidified into the kind of archeological object seen in the photo. Ellison Bay Pottery and Linden Gallery have both devoted expansive gallery space to Jingdezhen ‘mini-museums,’ with examples of the area’s pottery.) [ more ]   Jingdezhen Update 18-2, with one abstention. That was the final vote in late May on the proposed sister-city/region relationship between Door County and China's historic porcelain capital, Jingdezhen. With this vote, the Door County Board almost unanimously agreed to pursue a cultural relationship with one of the leading art centers in Asia. (Photo: Brian Linden with a collection of Jingdezhen dignitaries during a visit in November 2003.) [ more ]   Afghani Art Debuts at Linden's: Photos from Our Sept. 27 Event! Abdul Wardak, a refugee from war-torn Afghanistan now living in Chicago, has recently become one of the premier providers of superior Afghani rugs and textiles to Linden’s of Ellison Bay. The gallery held an exhibit of Afghani arts and crafts the weekend of September 27 and 28. On display were many items from Wardak’s newest Kabul shipment, such as an exquisitely crafted 19th century Bokharan wedding gown, silver and gold tribal jewelry, and a collection of new and antique hand-knotted carpets. Here is a brief selection of photos taken on the evening of the 27th, after Mr. Wardak spoke to a crowd about the current arts situation in war-torn Afghanistan. [ more ]   Pearls of Wisdom Miss Cai smiled before passing the needle. Her face, tanned a light brown by the south China sun, recognized the reticence with which I cradled the injector. She guided my hand to the deeply creviced shell, encouraging me to carefully insert the needle directly under her fingers. [ more ]   Traveling the Once-Forbidden City of Jingdezhen In January of 2001, renowned American ceramicist Wayne Higby set out on a journey reminiscent of Marco polo. Traveling to the once-forbidden city of Jingdezhen, he was welcomed into the homes and studios of China's reigning masters of porcelain, whose legacy descends from the Song Dynasty (960 A.D.). Higby was allowed to acquire 52 masterpieces in contemporary Chinese porcelain never before seen in the Western World. These museum-quality works are now showing and available for purchase at Linden's of Ellison Bay. [ more ]   Dinner, Walk and a Funeral?! I never met Mr. Liao, either before or after his death. His stern face, captured so austerely in the faded black and white photo, and punctured by wisps of incense filtering skyward, looked down upon my white hooded head as I bowed three times in front of the crowd. His coffin sat in the street caressed by the occasional bitter rain. [ more ]   Afghan Rug Design: From War to Peace A Central Asian Bazaar ran Friday, September 24th through Sunday, September 26th at Linden Gallery. Tents filled with selections of fine rugs, jewelry, textiles, furniture, and carvings transformed the lot of the gallery into an exotic outdoor shopping market. Traditional Afghan beverages and foods were served on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, featuring an outdoor shish kabab. [ more ]   Opening the Kimono – An Exhibit of the Geisha An exhibit at Linden's of Ellison Bay helps trace the evolution of the kimono and how it moved beyond a simple word for clothing to become a process of dressing that produces, according to scholar Goldstein-Gidoni, “a cultural idiom called the Japanese woman.” [ more ]   "Go ahead, drive on them, it adds to their patina." Abdul Wardak began to purchase woven rugs, jewelry and crafts to decorate his Chicagoland home. "I bought a few items at the beginning and accumulated them through the years. Eight years ago, I decided to make it a wholesale business, to help the refugees, too. That is how the business started. It has done well." Find out more about Afghan art in Brian Linden's most recent Door Voice article... [ more ]   Ming Tombs, 2003 After a long, cold day of crawling through dilapidated courtyards and gliding over sawdust-encrusted ice, Jeanee and I faced our greatest challenge over bowls of fried tofu. Balanced on our hotel desk, next to an old 18th century Bodhisattva, sat a pile of business cards from the day's adventure. [ more ]   The Politically-Incorrect Furniture Dealer "Chinese, Korean, Japanese - they all look the same to me," laughed the politically-incorrect Mr. Kim as we dodged cow dung and shards of glass outside his furniture warehouse in Shandong Province. "I take what is popular, have it built in my warehouse, box it up and ship it around the world. I really don’t care what style it is or where it goes." [ more ]   The Lindens' Jan. '03 Buying Trip How do the Lindens find the exquisite artwork displayed in their Ellison Bay gallery? They travel, of course. From Burma to Thailand to Korea to Japan to China, every winter Brian and Jeanee hit the road and ship back container loads of fine Asian treasures for your viewing and buying pleasure. This year they focused on China and Southeast Asia, spending a month seeing old friends, making new friends, scouring the back roads and alleys, finding the pieces of Asian art that would tantalize their 2003 visitors with possibilities. [ more ]   "Linden, with an 'L,' like Levin." After seven August days in 1984 on a crowded and hot train, we sat just south of Lake Baikal, the Mongolian grasslands beckoning the Chinese train home. It was midnight, seemingly all border crossings during Brezhnev's and Andropov's regimes took place during the dark to minimize any possible spying by the passengers, and as the Soviet border police and I were marching through the rocks to a tin-covered outbuilding, I remembered my last experience with the Soviets two years previous. [ more ]   Garuda: To Fly or Not to Fly Author’s Note: The setting for the following story has been changed and set in Jakarta. The story happened in the region and reflects an experience that may not be too unique for other travelers. [ more ]   From Communism to Christianity _ A Lesson in Chinese Storytelling He Qi knows Chairman Mao's face - the heavy cheeks, the mole, they all became second nature to He. He jokes that he probably knew Mao's face better than his wife, Jiang Qing, who spent most of her time basking in Mao's power but outside his presence and embrace. [ more ]   Freezing near Afghanistan with Michener's Poland James Michener never made it to Afghanistan. He never wrote about the Silk Road. In 1984, one of his novels, Poland, lined the shelves of the leading US bookstores, but it was just outside Afghanistan, on a clear and cold night, that Michener may have found his most appreciative reader. Poland perhaps saved my life. [ more ]   Reporting on Chinese Ancestors on a Cold Winter Day The Chinese pride themselves on being the best businesspeople in the world. This is a quality, whether valid or not, that makes each purchase in a Chinese market a challenge. I cannot help but feel cheated when a Chinese vendor agrees to a price without a few groans of pain and stories of starving family members. Fortunately for my conscience, these stories are often interrupted by the ringing of the merchant's shiny new Nokia cell phone! [ more ]   Negotiations in Chinese Vernacular Antique markets in China are intimidating. Scholars, surfacing from fifty-years of hibernation from Socialist Realism, comb each piece looking for recently uncovered Han or Tang dynasty items. Reproductions of such pieces may have been made in the mid-Qing dynasty, thus being over two hundred years old themselves. Chinese 'high art' in many cases was a system of replicating the skills of the past. Reproduction was thus viewed with great esteem. Finding treasures is always a challenge. [ more ]   Tibet, Dogs, Death and Hope "Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman, pass by." – Wm. Butler Yeats. Dogs – 85 big dogs, small dogs, nice dogs and definitely mean dogs. If any image comes close to transcending my memories of Tibetan beauty and spiritualism, it is the dogs. [ more ]   'It is right to rebel': Chairman Mao The red star remained, although the Chairman’s shadowed profile had become bleached with age. Under his portrait were his famous words encouraging the Chinese masses to rise up in revolution. I climbed over the threshold and entered a courtyard full of Mao and Lenin statues, Socialist-realism paintings and porcelain soldiers. A smiling man beaconed me in, "Welcome to the Cultural Revolution." [ more ]   Li River Scenery to be experienced in Guilin on Plein Air tour Local painters will take artists to their favorite scenic spots!     "Explore. Dream. Discover." – The Linden Centre Even with two successful galleries and the rare chance to divide their time between China and Door County, the Lindens had yet another goal – to establish an elegant base for learning, sharing, and exploration among the communities of China. [ more ]