Ancient adventurers have often spoken of a mystical land of perfect harmony and eternal bliss nestled in the forbidding remoteness of the Tibetan Plateau – the legendary Shangri La. No one has managed to pinpoint its exact location on a map. In the local belief system, Shangri La may well not be a place at all but rather the mental state of a pure and exalted body, speech and mind. Fascinated by this concept, the photographer and author Mahendra Singh set out on his quest. Most of it currently occupied by China, the Tibetan Plateau has been significantly distorted over time under state pressure. Therefore, the author traveled through some of the last surviving remnants of authentic Tibetan life found in the valleys of Ladakh and Spiti; often and justifiably referred to as ‘Little Tibet’. He traveled through remote valleys, ventured across stark landscapes and visited the improbable green oases of human habitation, culture and religion, to bring together this comprehensive portrait of the region through his vivid photographs and meticulously researched text. This book aims to take the readers on a journey of discovery and reflection, and hopefully, a little further along the path to finding their own Shangri La.

Its dry climate means that Egypt boasts an exceptionally rich heritage of preserved ancient textiles. Since 1996, the international research group Textiles from the Nile Valley has been studying these Roman, Byzantine and early-Islamic textile artefacts, many of which have found their way into European and North American museum collections.

The research group, consisting of curators, archaeologists, textile conservators and scientists, organizes a biennial conference at Katoen Natie HeadquARTers in Antwerp, and publishes a series of unique books on the importance of Egyptian textiles.

This latest volume brings together the findings from the 11th conference, which was held from 25 to 27 October 2019. The focus is on the history of textile excavating and collecting, which goes back to the late 19th century.

The book contains 18 text contributions describing recent fieldwork, conservation treatments and scientific research worldwide, in collaboration with major universities and museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

The book is being published to mark the 12th international scientific Textiles from the Nile Valley Conference, which is taking place from 12 to 14 November 2021 in Antwerp.

Text in English and German.

Yaozhou ware is one of the finest Chinese celadons, made in north China over a period of 700 years, from the 7th to the 14th centuries. Their style developed and changed over time. In the Tang dynasty (618-906) black, brown, lead glazed and black-on-white painted ceramics were made. During the Five Dynasties period (907-960) a technical peak was achieved, and white-bodied wares with beautiful blue-green glazes appeared. During the Northern Song and Jin dynasties (906-1279) more olive-toned celadon glazes became the norm, their intricate decoration and lustrous surfaces supplying a unique aesthetic. At the end of the Jin dynasty the kilns declined and started to manufacture folk ware.

Yaozhou Wares from Museums and Art Institutes Around the World gathers illustrations and descriptions of some of the finest Yaozhou wares in private and public collections around the globe. The account considers ceramics in sections, according to their form and decoration, and includes the finest-quality ‘official wares’ requisitioned for imperial use. Copious illustrations are augmented by a scholarly essay. Highlighting over 400 pieces of Yaozhou ware, the book contains 711 color and 3 black-and-white illustrations from 56 major museums and art institutes, and will inspire collectors, students and anyone with a love for Chinese ceramics.

The Kedara Kalpa is a relatively little-known Shaiva text; and only slightly better known than it are the two dispersed series of paintings to which this study is devoted. But both raise questions that are at once elegant and deeply engaging. Ostensibly, they treat of a journey by five seekers who set out to reach the realm of the great god, Shiva – walking barefoot through icy mountains and deep ravines, frozen rivers and moon-like rocks, running on the way into temptations and dangers the like of which no man before them had encountered – and, in the end, succeed. But as one goes through the narrative, the text visualised with brilliance sometimes by members of a talented family of Pahari painters, one begins to wonder. Is this a parable of sorts? Or the description of a long, unending dream from which one never wakes? Or, one wakes up like those five seekers and then, at the very next moment, slips back into that real / unreal world again? Is there something that hides behind all that one sees? Is this journey real, or is it only in the mind?

It is for each reader to decide, the authors appear to say.

“…it’s the colorful photographs (over 500!) of one-of-a-kind Hopi and Moroccan-inspired mosaic pieces featured in her memoir, out in October, that truly command attention, from ammonite fossils and ivory animal renderings to stunning lapis, coral, and turquoise designs.” — Natural Diamonds

North African-born Eveli Sabatie had a long-time fascination with Native American culture and history. As a young woman, she left her home in Paris in 1968 to move to San Francisco, hoping to learn more. A chance encounter with a Hopi traditionalist led to an invitation to Arizona, where she apprenticed with a master Native American jewelry-maker. For her, this was the beginning of a new world.

Art can never be fully divided from the artist’s voice, nor the natural world. When Eveli encountered red jasper while roaming the Arizona mountains, she knew she had to incorporate her local geology into her work. Yet raw materials are just one of many ways in which the world around Eveli shapes her art. This book is a direct and personal exploration of Eveli’s work, following her arc of growth, challenges and internal workings.

Eveli’s jewelry is entirely created by her, from gathering material to fabricating the body of the piece, doing the lapidary work and finally adding stone settings and finishings. She works in a rustic, ancient environment, often choosing to use rudimentary and home-made tools over commercial techniques. This book explores her creative process through five sections: THE JOURNEY, a biographical overview of her time at the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona, where she apprenticed under Charles Loloma; CLOUDS AND RAIN, exploring the influence of the Hopi and the desert on her work; BEING HOME, which talks in greater detail about Eveli’s relationship with the environment; BEING HUMAN, a philosophical study of humanity through jewelry; and BRANCHING OUT, which features Eveli’s other artworks, which are sought after by collectors from around the world.

This is a profound reflection on the earth, through the medium of jewelry.

This book documents a collection of approximately 90 Paracas textiles. The collection consists of cloaks, ponchos, tunics, as well as some smaller fragments such as ribbons. Originally housed at the Ethnographic Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, the objects were returned to Peru during 2019 and 2020. Paracas textiles tell the story of the people living in Peru more than 2000 years ago and how they saw and viewed the world. In cultures without a written language imagery is very important. Textile pictures were created from the depths of the human senses, from thoughts and dreams. The makers of the Paracas textiles depict fantastic stories from their time and culture about creation, death and thoughts about life.

Kerstin Paradis Gustafsson has studied, inventoried and analyzed the Paracas textiles for decades, and cracked codes about how they were made. She also has pioneering theories about what they want to say and how the unbroken thread symbolizes life. In this text, Kerstin documents and explains the secret behind these fantastic 2000-year-old textiles.

This volume documents the show The Song of the Stars, a solo exhibition of paintings by French artist Fabienne Verdier (b.1962) at the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar. Her work is presented alongside ancient and modern art in the museum’s permanent collection, creating a kind of dialog between the two. The central body of work reproduced here, Rainbows, was inspired by the range of color and the aura of light in the Issenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald, one of the highlights of the museum’s holdings. In 66 works in the Rainbows series, Verdier reflects on the depiction of death no longer seen as an ending but rather as a trace of energy that is released for the living. The connection between man and cosmos, and the vital energy of the universe, is the theme at the heart of this work.

Text in English and French.

To document and preserve an ancient craft tradition in danger of disappearing, Douglas Brooks apprenticed with five master boatbuilders in Japan between 1996 and 2010, building a different traditional wooden boat with each. His research and experiences were presented in his landmark 2015 publication, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding. This book documents his most recent apprenticeship, building a cormorant fishing boat with 85-year-old master craftsman Seichi Nasu, in Gifu, Japan.

Using trained cormorants to fish has a 1,300 year history in Gifu, and is done at night from special river craft called ubune, literally “cormorant boat.” The boat features an extended bow with pivoting boom from which is hung an iron fire basket to light up the water and attract fish, which are then retrieved by the enthusiastic birds.

Together with Mr. Nasu, then 85, Brooks worked with several volunteers over a two-month period to build the 42 foot craft, a design largely unchanged for centuries. As in his previous publications, readers are introduced to important aspects of traditional Japanese boatbuilding, including design and measurements, workshop and tools, wood and materials, joinery and fastenings, and above all, secrets of the craft.

Hailing from the cultural realm of India, the mandala signifies in its original sense a sacred circle. It serves as a meditation aid and at the same time reflects an ancient symbolism of strictly geometric basic forms accompanied by an interpretation of its sacred content. As an expression of the awareness of higher affinities, the symmetrically arranged geometry can be found in a variety of pictorial works and the architecture of various epochs and cultural realms, for example in medieval book illumination, the floor plan of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, in Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, or in various objects of the indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Based on these and other masterpieces from renowned museums and private collections and illustrated in fascinating photographs of unique buildings and rituals, this publication offers an impressive first analysis of the phenomenon of sacred geometry in art and architecture and their underlying ideologies.

Text in German.

Hailing from the cultural realm of India, the mandala signifies in its original sense a sacred circle. It serves as a meditation aid and at the same time reflects an ancient symbolism of strictly geometric basic forms accompanied by an interpretation of its sacred content. As an expression of the awareness of higher affinities, the symmetrically arranged geometry can be found in a variety of pictorial works and the architecture of various epochs and cultural realms, for example in medieval book illumination, the floor plan of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, in Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, or in various objects of the indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Based on these and other masterpieces from renowned museums and private collections and illustrated in fascinating photographs of unique buildings and rituals, this publication offers an impressive first analysis of the phenomenon of sacred geometry in art and architecture and their underlying ideologies.

This issue of Metaphysical Art – The de Chirico Journals no. 21/22 (2022), centers around Giorgio de Chirico’s correspondence with his friend Fritz Gartz (1909–1911), which has been transcribed and translated into English. A related essay by Simonetta Antellini discusses de Chirico’s writing style and use of the German language. Other essays include Fabio Benzi’s examination of Florence’s cultural milieu in the years 1910–1911, which analyzes the musical, artistic, literary, and philosophical context in which Metaphysics was born. Elena Pontiggia presents a large and previously unpublished collection of letters written by de Chirico to his mother Gemma Cervetto, which has recently been acquired by the Foundation. Riccardo Dottori’s article offers a new interpretation of the painting Serenata (1910), based on a fresh literary source: On the Cave of the Nymphs by the ancient Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry. Completing this volume is a narrative essay by Italo Calvino entitled Cities of Thought (1983), translated into English and introduced by Anne Greeley, which was published alongside a major Paris retrospective of de Chirico’s metaphysical works.

“This monograph offers vivid explanatory captions, but there is little additional text to distract from the powerful images that put a human face on conflict.” — Communication Arts
“Tomasevic’s images sear themselves into your consciousness. I have never seen such powerful imagery that not only captures the horror of war itself but also its heartrending impact on innocent civilians, on our sense of our own humanity. But they do much more than that. They have an iconic quality as if created with a painter’s eye for detail, composition and contrast.” – John Green, Morning Star

“This powerful, terrible book conveys a Dantesque vision of our humanity. Admiration for Goran Tomašević, a wonderful Caravaggio of photography!” – Francis Kochert, Académie nationale de Metz

Goran Tomašević is a living legend. Not only has he survived for 30 years in crisis zones, but he has mastered the supreme art of photography, interpreting the world in a humanistic way, following in the footsteps of Robert Capa and James Nachtwey. This powerful, terrifying book conveys a Dantesque vision of our humanity. Current circumstances lead us to believe that this madness will go on and on. Goran is just 13 years old when his father gives him his first camera – an ancient FED 5V. And with it, his life begins to become a constant adventure, described in the 444 pages of this book. The quality of his reportage and the power of his images enabled him to join the Reuters agency in 1996 and, over the next 20 years, to become one of the most awarded photographers in the world. His œuvre can be called a photographic synthesis of the arts, an eminent contribution to the great path of photo reportage and an indispensable history of the last 30 years. Goran Tomašević’s credo:

“If you want to present the facts authentically, you have to be where they are. That’s the challenge.”



Text in English, German, and French.

In previous studies, Jan Strybol pointed out that – contrary to popular belief – sculpture flourished in northern Nigeria. Wood sculptures could be found just about everywhere, with the exception of part of the Far North. In this study, the author first examines the sculptural traditions of a number of peoples in central Nigeria, more specifically from the Jos Plateau and from the Middle Benue Valley to the source area of the Taraba River. These peoples can be described as non-centralized communities where art was mainly produced in perishable materials by part-time artists, in contrast to the centralized empires in the South (Ife, Benin) where full-time specialist sculptors created complex artefacts in durable materials (stone, bronze, iron).
Perhaps the most familiar ethnic group in the Central Benue region to lovers of African art are the Mumuye. Since the end of the last century, as a result of the advance of world religions, the traditional rites of the Mumuye have rapidly disappeared and with them the Mumuye sculptural tradition so much admired in Europe and America.
In addition to wood sculptures, Jan Strybol also pays attention to objects in bronze, iron, terracotta and other materials. These art forms have been very underexposed until now and have almost completely vanished. Finally, the author also delves into the artistic achievements of some little-known remnant groups within the Mumuye territory, which can boast of a rich art tradition.

A comprehensive and practical guide to the many extraordinary sights of Libya. From the best preserved towns of the whole Roman empire, to ancient Arab souks and medinas, and the magnificent desert landscapes, oases and prehistoric rock paintings of the south, Libya is one of the most dramatic and least known countries of the Mediterranean. Proud, warm and welcoming, Libyans are perhaps the most engaging hosts in the Middle East.
Libya has been so little visited by Westerners over the last decades that it remains an unspoilt and fabulously welcoming country. As a result, however, finding one’s way around is not as easy as in more familiar destinations. Wendy Gower has lived and worked in Libya for almost nine years, and has explored the whole country thoroughly. She brings a wealth of experience – and undimmed enthusiasm – to her guidebook, and the traveler will find her a stimulating and reliable companion.

Ganesh Haloi, born in Jamalpur, Mymensingh (now in Bangladesh), moved to Calcutta in 1950 after the Partition of India. Witness to India’s resilient culture, its freedom and struggle for its secular modernism, Haloi is among the artists of the generation who have played a significant role in the shaping of Indian modern art. 

Haloi has cultivated a singular vocabulary of abstraction and landscape. This painterly world is textured with knowledge references that the artist is attuned to over decades — from archeology, ancient architecture, art history to sacred philosophy and poetry. His works are exercises in bringing life to the genre of landscape painting through the assembly of disparate symbolic forms.

With extensive essays by eminent art critics interspersed with folios of many previously unpublished works from throughout his life, this monograph documents Haloi’s earth-toned abstract vocabulary that has drawn over time on a vast breadth of iconography, ideas, and movements.

Published in association with Akar Prakar, Kolkata & New Delhi.

Experience the less explored nooks and pockets of Britain’s capital through the eyes of a passionate local. With its labyrinth of characterful streets and alleys, charming squares, open green spaces, monuments and museums, public artworks, bustling markets, and tempting boutiques and restaurants, London is a walker’s paradise. Whether you’re a first time visitor or longtime local, the city offers endless surprises – fascinating sights and stories, both ancient and modern, hidden in plain view. London insider and native Nicola Perry leads you away from the famed attractions on 33 strolls through the city’s most interesting enclaves, sharing entertaining insights, historical anecdotes, and engaging tips at every cobblestoned turn. Each walk burrows its way into the heart of a neighborhood, crafting and curating a path that reveals its individual essence and personality. Also available: 111 Coffee Shops in London That You Must Not Miss ISBN 9783954516148 111 Places in London That You Shouldn’t Miss ISBN 9783740816445 111 Shops in London That You Shouldn’t Miss ISBN 9783954513413

Longquan wares were made mainly in Zhejiang province over a period of over sixteen hundred years, from the 3rd to the 19th centuries. There are two outstanding features of the beautiful Longquan ceramics, one is that the body is made of porcelain, and the other, that the glaze contains kaolin in its composition. This gives Longquan ware unique color and quality. The body is smooth and dense, the glaze either unctuous or shiny, the color a myriad shades of kingfisher blue and jade green. The result of development of porcelain technology at Longquan was a tough, attractive, and versatile celadon material that was ideally suited for export. Longquan vessels found their way to a variety of markets around the world, from royal palaces to common dwellings. During the Yuan dynasty a peak in quantity was reached, with more than 150 kiln sites overall. Many new decoration techniques and forms of mass production for global exports emerged, until production almost expired entirely during the late Ming dynasty, due to a range of still-debated reasons. It is readily apparent that the Longquan kilns in Zhejiang province produced a wide range of wares, in vast quantities, over a period of more than 500 years. During the Southern Song period premier kinuta ceramics glazed with shimmering pale bluish-green colors attracted the highest approbation. During the early Ming dynasty the Daoyao kiln manufactured superlative imperial ceramics for the imperial household. However, despite their great beauty and perceived worth, Longquan ceramics have never been regarded as one of the “Five Great Wares”. This book combined some of the rarest and most exquisite Longquan wares of over 270 pieces from museums and Art Institutes around the world.

“The magnificent photos invite you to enjoy the luxurious ambience, the views and the very special flair and to let the constant rattling of the train wheels carry you to distant lands.” — Lovely Books

“Hopefully history’s extravagant chariots serve as inspiration for the trains of the future. Newly published book Luxury Trains is full of elegant examples of how to travel in real style.” — Hoom Magazine
“Transports you back ot the golden age of travel, with pictures of 25 of the most elegant trains in the world.” — Good Housekeeping UK

Luxury trains have always fascinated and excited our imaginations. A great source of style, romance and exoticism, they have long held starring roles in literature and in Hollywood movies. This wonderful book evokes long-lost days of travel, where trains marked international railway history, from the Orient Express to the Train Bleu. Today, train companies around the world are creating new palaces on rails and these pages offer a journey into that extravagant and luxurious world.

Whether comfortably seated in the restaurant car of the Venice Simplon – Orient-Express as you glide past the Venetian Lagoon, traveling through the Highlands of Scotland on the famed Royal Scotsman, or admiring the ancient splendors of Machu Picchu at the Hiram Bingham bar aboard the Andean Explorer, this book traverses the globe in celebration of these wonderful locomotives. A superb gift for the travel enthusiast and anyone interested in the decadent features of these trains.

This double volume devoted to Yves Dana, a Swiss sculptor of Egyptian descent, is the ideal continuation of a 2015 publication by 5 Continents Editions. His sculptures present themselves to contemporary viewers as if they were the archeological finds of ancient civilisations, and it is possibly from this very trait that they derive their extraordinary strength.

The chronological narrative follows the works created by Dana since 2017 and calls the reader’s attention to the dialogue between the artist and his medium, which finds its voice in the creative process. In the interview with Marc-Alain Ouaknin included in this volume, it becomes clear that to Yves Dana his task is first and foremost observing what nature has to say — observing with his eyes, but also with his hands.

Text in English and French.

Flourishing in East Java, Indonesia, between the late 13th and the early 16th centuries, art from Majapahit had a decisive influence on the development of Southeast Asian culture: its highly distinctive style was characterized by the subtle balance between form and decoration and by a rich iconography strongly influenced by Sivaism and Buddhism. Today, these Majapahit artworks still constitute a highly interesting field of research, but they have been surprisingly far too little studied or published worldwide. This volume presents an exceptional selection of 86 Majapahit terracotta sculptures covering a wide range of sophisticated iconography—animals, images of motherhood, divinities—all drawn from popular legends of the period and part of a broader narrative series waiting to be discovered.

In 1924, five young Italians founded the Studio Ars et Labor Industrie Riunite (S.A.L.I.R.) with the aim of modernizing the ancient art of glass-decorating: Giuseppe D’Alpaos, Decio Toso, Guglielmo Barbini, Dino Martens, and Gino Francesconi. In 1928, the emergence of Franz Pelzel, a Bohemian glass engraver, and Guido Balsamo Stella, an all-round artist, marked the start of the production for which S.A.L.I.R. is most remembered today: contemporary glass-engraving. After Balsamo Stella’s departure in 1932, Franz Pelzel took the lead role of designer, occasionally also executing designs by other reputed artists. Based on the factory’s archives, Marc Heiremans illustrates the artistic evolution of S.A.L.I.R. through numerous drawings and period photographs. As well as being a catalogue raisonné, it is also an in-depth study shedding light on paramount developments in Murano’s glass-making history.

The architect Paul Tissier (1886-1926) turned his short life into a multi-faceted artistic adventure. A student at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, where he founded the Association symphonique, he became president of the famous Quat’z’Arts ball. His talent as a watercolorist and draughtsman made him a witness to the ruins of the 1914-1918 war. Whether in the devastated regions or on the Côte d’Azur, he developed a unique catalogue of modular houses inspired by the region, combining traditional architecture with modern design. In 1923, Tissier was entrusted by the Société des grands hôtels de Nice with the organization of exceptional festivities based on themes such as Russia, the Far East, Ancient Rome and Latin America, as well as underwater kingdoms and many other fantasies revolving around childhood, fashion and cubism. With his wife Gisèle, he was responsible for both the scenography and the staging: splendidly colored painted canvases, extravagant costumes, spectacular dances, processions, naval jousts, fireworks and illuminations… A shooting star, Paul Tissier created almost 100 festivities across Europe in three years, before suddenly passing away. This first monograph draws on the 400 set elements and 2,000 graphic documents that survive in his archive, taking us to the heart of the excesses of the Roaring Twenties.

Text in French.

The hidden art of London is for the ever-curious roamer of both the back streets and the familiar places you never quite see – churches, gardens, graveyards, pubs. What little garden finds the poet John Keats sitting in the corner of a bench? Which abandoned building tells the story of a great Roman Road?
There are always marvels hidden in plain view – the back corner of a museum containing great sculptures by Rodin or the naked, street-corner golden boy, who marks where the Great Fire of London finally petered out. A famous literary cat or a painting by Hogarth on the bend of a stairs in an ancient hospital.
This guidebook takes you exploring London beyond its most famous sights to find the art we have never quite noticed before: the hidden statues, paintings, and murals that have escaped from the official museums, and often live unnoticed lives in tucked away places.