The Works：Magna Carta in HK, Art Gallery Week, Nils Karten's collages and in the studio: trumpet s

The 800-year old Magna Carta or “Great Charter” signed by the highly unpopular King John of England in 1215 as a solution to a political crisis under considerable pressure from a group of rebel Barons. The charter established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, should be subject to the law. Not many of the specific provisions of the Magna Carta are in law today, but the principles underlying it remain a cornerstone of British political life and the Common Law system, and its influence has spread around the world. From Wednesday to Saturday this week, one of just four surviving copies of the Magna Carta is on show in Hong Kong.
For art lovers, the third Art Gallery Week which runs until this Sunday has much to offer, including more than 20 new exhibition openings and 40 free public events. With over 50 galleries taking part, the event also includes talks and public tours by curators and collectors.
Among the 20 new exhibitions opening during Art Gallery Week is German artist Nils Karsten’s first solo exhibition in Asia. Called “Cutting Room”, the exhibition showcases more than 40 of his collage works. Karsten says that for him the laborious process of cutting a variety of images from magazines, books, photographs, propaganda materials and so on, becomes a meditative ritual. The cut-out images are then re-arranged to form a new narrative. Karsten says his goal is to “own all images”.