From Pittsburgh To China: Culture Both Past And Present
SHANGHAI (KDKA) --- BNY Mellon is sponsoring an exhibit from Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum in Shanghai, China.
Warhol comes to China with a splash of glitz and glitter -- his work a celebration of celebrity, mass culture and consumerism -- the same allures that now entice the Chinese people.
China still tries to hold on to the traditions of the past.
The past is represented in the markets of old town, where Shanghai's poor sell their trinkets and are to tourists and foreigners.
Everything is for sale from birds to fish -- to every old artifact that claims to be antique -- and all can be had for agreed upon price.
Old men set up a card tables in the street and play Mahjong for hours.
Over at People's Park, they still practice the fluid mediation of Tai Chi and a man sings opera in a shady grove.
The old China, however, is giving way to a new one.
China is under-going a staggering economic expansion that shows little signs of slowing down.
The country is marshaling its people, natural resources and mountains of cash to pursue its goal but there are danger signs ahead.
The buildings keep going up and even though there are concerns that China is over-built and its economy is over-heated, the air in Shanghai, Beijing and other industrial cities is a so dirty people wear surgical masks to screen out particulates.
Still, China presses on and if Warhol's art hints at the dangers of modern culture -- it appears too late for China to turn back the clock.
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