Asian Markets by Peter Steinhauer

The photographs contained within Peter Steinhauer’s Asian Markets are illustrated in a dynamic, multimedia presentation. This app features color photographic images along with richly recorded stereo sound of activities of that particular image within the markets. Using the app, viewers can listen to the audio recording that accompanies each photograph, and zoom in to view the details in the images. This app is a “work in progress”, and will be regularly updated with new images and sound as Steinhauer continues to travel and add new work to this project.

This multimedia presentation is also specifically designed to accompany Steinhauer’s Asian Markets exhibitions worldwide, commencing with the inaugural exhibition at Contemporary by Angela Li in Hong Kong opening November 2013.

In this ambitious project, Steinhauer present the essence and energy of Asian Markets, the last bastions of Asian cultural centers. Steinhauer seeks out these markets to capture the vibrant visuals, cacophony of sounds, smells, movements and people to chronicle the role these markets play throughout Asian history and culture. The result is innovation in Steinhauer’s vision as an artist, adding human social interaction as a new dimension to his traditional focus on urban landscapes, movement, architecture and man-made structure.

While Asian Markets generally serve similar purposes, that is, the gathering place for trade, they are unique in the way that each are woven deep into the fabric of the cultures where they exist. For centuries, they have been a focal point for people of villages and in cities to go to for food and trade, but almost equally as important, they are a place of gathering for socializing. Yet, they each tell a silent story about the place where they exist. The architecture tells the story of a certain time in history, the goods on display represent the product of land and sea, the marks and texture on the structure reveal its age.