Artist’s mission brightens poor neighborhoods

Mitch Moxley — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:58:40 +0000

Photographer Kaid Ashton plans to paste his artwork in 20 derelict districts around the world

In a slum hidden behind a corrugated wall in downtown Manila, kids play in rubble, addicts pass through a meth house, and the dozen or so families who call this place home get on with their lives -- doing laundry, making meals, playing pool and cards.

On a wall that divides the slum from a development next door is a series of photos -- profiles of people from different corners of the globe. They are the work of Kaid Ashton, a 29-year-old Canadian street artist who is making the world’s slums his canvas.

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Gulou: The heart of old Beijing still beats

Mitch Moxley — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:45:00 +0000

Around the centuries-old Drum and Bell towers, rickshaw drivers ferry tourists past hidden courtyard homes, fruit shops, kebab stands and trendy cafes and bars. Old folks in red “security volunteer” armbands monitor the goings on. A group of men take lunch over stiff glasses of baijiu (white liquor), while a woman hauling a squeaky cart calls out for recycling.

This narrow warren of hutong alleyways called Gulou, a charming 12.94 hectares in the middle of the Chinese capital, is one of Beijing’s most endearing neighborhoods, offering a glimpse into the city’s fading past.

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The threatened culture of China's Nu River

Mitch MoxleyMitch Moxley — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:02:43 +0000

Mitch Moxley glimpses an ethnic way of life that could be lost if a power consortium has its way and uses Yunnan's Nu River to produce electricity

Mitch Moxley

The Nu River flows from the Tibetan highlands through western Yunnan, cutting between two mountain ranges before rushing through Burma into the Andaman Sea. Home to a third of the country’s ethnic groups, it was here that Christian missionaries from Burma first entered China, and today communities of ethnic Nu, Tibetans and Lisu remain passionately Catholic.

The Nu is one of the country’s most remote and fascinating regions, with unrivalled scenery -- steep gorges, snow-capped peaks, terraced rice plantations -- and a diverse ecosystem of 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish.

It’s also one of only two major rivers in China yet to be dammed. But that may not last.

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Recent Posts by Author

Artist’s mission brightens poor neighborhoods

Gulou: The heart of old Beijing still beats

The threatened culture of China's Nu River