It’s all HAPPENING

Round-ups from across the region: up-and-coming Korean artists; the secrets of hotel branding; and Asia-Pacific hospitality updates

K-Art

Korea’s artists are producing meticulously crafted, technically advanced work that’s beginning to catch collectors’ eyes, writes Diane Mehta

The late Nam June Paik, a Dadaist and the inventor of video art, set the stage for Korean artists to thrive, moving their emphasis towards investigating media culture and experimenting with different disciplines. This approach has been readily embraced by Korea’s younger generation of artists and today it is the work by more experimental hands, including Doho Suh, Lee Bul and Kang Hyung Koo, which is increasingly sought after by collectors.

Kang Ik Joong, a protégé of Paik, is typical of the younger, conceptual artists committed to highly technical and experimental work. Joong tilts to small-format, large-scale art, incorporating visual references to moon jars – a nod to traditional Korean ceramics, says Heakyum Kim, a specialist in Korean art at Christie’s. Joong has created large-scale mosaics composed of thousands of tiny drawings by children, as well as sound paintings made with tiny speakers embedded behind three-inch canvases. Joong’s style stems from Korea’s history of teaching craftsmanship, says Jane Yoon, owner of Arario Beijing gallery. The result is a tendency for technique-oriented artwork – a split from Western trends, which value concept over execution.

An emphasis on craft has imbued Korea with a meticulous but expansive style.

Hyungkoo Lee, who creates little skeletons based on cartoon characters, fabricates and studies every bone structure. Sangah Choi creates hand-cut and hand-painted paper sculptures that resemble pop-up books. Osang Gwon makes life-size sculptures of people, covered by thousands of photographs that create a photo-real but distorted representation. Lee Bul’s work has included karaoke video installations with fibreglass pods. His work has seen gallery-goers watch strange or awkward videos as they sing along to a soundtrack of their selection.

As futuristic as they seem, works by these cutting-edge artists, says Ingrid Dudek, senior specialist of Asian contemporary art at Christie’s, are often expressions of nostalgia – a longing for a so-called authentic Korean culture after the Korean War and Japanese colonisation. Art-world phenomenon Doho Suh, whose last work sold for US$500K, fits this profile. The longing for tradition, combined with a criticism for the same, appears in Suh’s Some/One, a massive emperor’s coat made out of military dog tags. While his Korean background defines Suh, it doesn’t make him a blue-chip artist. “Some people get into Doho Suh for the craftsmanship, some because of the idea of memory and being between places, and some because of the idea of the individual versus the group,” says David Maupin, owner of New York’s Lehmann Maupin Galleries. For Suh, a combination of meticulousness, combined with a more conceptual Western sensibility, has seen him launched into the major leagues.

“The open secret is the huge success of Korea,” urges Maupin, who says Korean art is undervalued.He may be right, but for Korean artists who think out of the box, there’s clearly plenty of demand.

It’s the Brand, Stupid

CONNECT talks to two industry veterans – Ross Klein, Global Head, Luxury & Lifestyle Brands, Hilton Hotels, & Eva Zieglar, Global Brand Leader, Le Méridien and W Hotels Worldwide – about the art of branding hotels

CONNECT: IS THE BRANDING PROCESS SIMILAR, WHATEVER THE PRODUCT?
ROSS KLEIN: Branding is essentially about connecting an audience to a particular product and creating a conversation with the consumer. Regardless of the industry, this principle remains the same. I think the most challenging aspect of my career is convincing others, and myself, of the similarities between retail and hospitality marketing – and that what I’ve tried in one industry could be applied to another.
EVA ZIEGLAR: You have to identify a target audience – to which you connect an offer in a way that creates an emotional connection that drives price premium and loyalty beyond reason. Those principles are always the same. However, branding a product is very different from an experience.

C: WHAT ARE THE STEPS INVOLVED IN CREATING A HOTEL BRAND?
EV: First you have to identify the status quo – what works, what doesn’t, where do we have to take it, what are the strategic priorities? The starting points for Le Méridien and W Hotels were very different. W started from scratch in 1998, and grew step by step over the last 10 years; the priority was to transform a New York phenomenon into a global powerhouse.

Le Méridien has a 35-year history. Our vision was to transform it from a collection of products into a leading-edge lifestyle brand. To relaunch a brand, you have to define the strategic elements, define and test the experience world, then implement the whole thing. Le Méridien was a stand-alone brand, integrated into the Starwood structure. This gave us the chance to evaluate the portfolio into brand enhancers, neutrals and eroders. Then we consolidated the portfolio, from 135 hotels to 105. We took the dust away from the diamond and made it shine.

C: HOW DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE YOUR VARIOUS BRANDS?
RK: While the number of brands in the Hilton family is growing, each has a very distinct personality that appeals to different groups of travellers. The creation of our Luxury and Lifestyle brands portfolio further helps us distinguish this segment from the rest. This is now made up of four distinct offerings: Waldorf Astoria, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Conrad Hotels and Resorts, and Denizen Hotels. The former is the ultimate prestige brand and embodies the core values which the other Waldorf hotels evoke: timeless, cultured, legendary. Conrad Hotels & Resorts is known for being the global, modern, luxury brand of the Hilton family, attracting a discerning, business-skewed clientele. Denizen Hotels, Hiltons’ latest addition, extends the brand offer to the burgeoning lifestyle sector, aimed at both business and leisure travellers and responding to the current requests made by Hilton loyalists.
EV: We ask: what are the three things that differentiate this brand from another? For Le Méridien we wanted to be different in the arrival experience with our “Transitional Portal” [the hotel entrance, decorated with the artwork of emerging artists] and the LM100 family [a community of creative experts and cultural innovators, curated by Jérôme Sans] to create experiences for the brand.

From the cuisine side, our differentiation approach is through coffee culture. The creative guest is the person who hangs out around coffee to debate, socialise. We looked into Le Méridien’s past and we saw that there was already a sensitivity to design, architecture, cuisine, art. The problem was that nothing was done across the brand. So we said: ‘OK, what we can credibly deliver is culture, in a new perspective, that feels chic.’

C: WILL THIS GO OVER GUESTS’ HEADS?
EV: There are certain elements that are subconscious, that one doesn’t register. On the other hand, when you go to a W Hotel, guests pick up that it smells a certain way, and they may start to associate W with that scent. That doesn’t mean they will discuss it with their friends, but it will inspire a certain level of associated comfort.

HERE TO STAY

Hospitality updates across the region, by Peter Myers

On Business

Travelling light is so passé. Now it’s all about the featherweight traveller. The Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai (www.fourseasons.com) is the first to celebrate the trend; frequent guests here can leave an entire wardrobe in a portable closet until their return at no additional charge.

You will probably still need to lug your computer around though – unless, that is, you’re a guest at Sheraton resorts (www.starwoodhotels.com) in the Maldives, Hua Hin or Pattaya. Their new Link@Sheraton lobby lounge spaces invite guests to interact while they work on free computer stations.

The first of six planned China hotels, high-rise Radisson Plaza Hotel Tianjin (www.radisson.com) recently opened. Top-end facilities include a heated swimming pool and extensive conference facilities.

As good as new, the InterContinental Bangkok (www.intercontinental.com) has just finished a US$426 million refurbishment. Arrive via a glistening new driveway and be greeted in the lobby by a glass-enclosed Concierge Lounge. After a quick change in a refurbed guestroom, mosey down to the brand spanking Grossi Trattoria for its family style Italian cuisine.

How Responsible

In anticipation of another adrenaline-charged night race this September, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore is flagging off six Formula 1 cocktails between now and 28 September. As part of the hotel’s Community Footprints Programme, just under US$3 from each G-Force, Gravel Trap, Jump Start … you get the picture … will be donated to the Singapore Children’s Society (which helps protect and nurture children who have been abused, neglected and/or come from dysfunctional families). For reservations, contact +65 6434 5288 or email rc.sinrz.restaurantreservations@ritzcarlton.com

Also doing their bit for the world’s young, The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts have launched a global initiative in support of UNICEF’s immunisation and malaria programmes for vulnerable children in developing countries. “We Invite You to Linger” (www.luxurycollection.com/linger) offers guests a one-night complimentary stay for every two-, three- or four-night reservation at any of the group’s 70+ affiliate properties. For every package booked, the hotel will make a US$1 donation per room night.

On Leisure

Within reach of Delhi’s centre, the new Kerry Hill-designed Aman New Delhi is, according to the marketing collateral, a “contemporary oasis of breezy rooms and state-of-the-art leisure facilities.” Look out for “olive-hued Khareda stone … warmed by handmade rugs in muted earth tones and dark wood panels accentuated by discreet lighting”. Once you’ve acclimatised, jump in an Ambassador; the resort has commissioned a fleet of the Indian-made automobiles for local sightseeing.

With an initial focus on the pool and garden, the 1905-built Manila Hotel (www.manila-hotel.com.ph) is embarking on the third major refurbishment of its history. The pool has been expanded and reconfigured to include a new children’s pool and wet play area, while a new veranda takes advantage of the second-storey deck (where soothing foot massages are available). However it is the gardens here that seriously wow. The whole area is protected by timber trellises laden with colourful flowering vines and punctuated with ‘traveller’ palms. Newly planted fiery red gingers, orange heliconias, bromeliads, philodendrons and dwarf bamboos flank the original trees and shrubs.

NEW ZEALAND SKI DRIVE

CONNECT recommends a hot winter deal for tough times

Jucy Rentals is offering customers the chance to take advantage of a ‘Ski for Free’ deal this winter. For all bookings made for travel between now and September 30, customers will receive a free adult lift day pass for Treble Cone Ski field in Wanaka (for each day the vehicle is hired). Starting from US$20 per day, it means customers can drive around New Zealand and visit the ski fields for five days for approx. US$100 all up.

“We know that in these tougher economic times people are looking for a bargain and we believe that this is a great holiday option that won’t break the budget,” says Tim Alpe, Jucy’s founder and CEO.