Stories about Culture
1 July 2020
Remembering the heartbreaking words of Yugoslavia's war-struck ‘Lost Generation’
"Never in my life [did I imagine] I would shoot at someone or that someone would shoot at me. How can this be? It's not right."
30 June 2020
Short film demonstrates what it can be like to be black in Japan
A boy must endure and somehow learn, own his own, how to deal with the racist taunts of his new classmates.
In the Czech Republic, controversy over a newly re-erected Catholic monument ends in flames
The reinstatement of a Catholic monument in the middle of Prague historical center brings back a passionate debate about Czech identity and opposing views on historical heroes and villains
29 June 2020
Protest art in the streets of Tripoli: An interview with Lebanese artist Batool Jacob
Batool Jacob paints on topics related to the Lebanese protests through a feminist and libertarian lens.
Milada Horáková: 70 years after her sham trial and execution, Czechs reflect on their communist past
A creative visual campaign reopens old wounds as Czech society reflects on their communist past and the victims of Stalinist sham trials, including the feminist Milada Horáková.
27 June 2020
Taking down statues: France confronts its colonial and slave trade past
Amid global action against racism, France has been divided for several weeks over what to do about statues of historical figures that are connected to slavery and colonialism.
25 June 2020
History repeats itself: Chinese state terror and the dismantling of Uyghur neo-Jadidism
One of the many casualties of the Chinese state's assault on Uyghurs is the climate of progressive and education and culture fostered and funded by Uyghur entrepreneurs.
Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part II)
"For Czech society, accepting that a non-white person can be Czech is too unusual and often not digestible."
24 June 2020
Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part I)
The Czech society started discussing ethnic discrimination and diversity after the fall of Communism, which had erroneously claimed to have eradicated racism.
Old statues, new maps
"It's not an action that Columbus' local devotees ever imagined enacting: for them, the old map not only rules, but should always rule, no matter how much blood drenches it."
20 June 2020
Viktor Tsoi: The undying icon of Soviet dissident rock
Fans of Soviet rock star Viktor Tsoi mark his birthday, June 21, remembering his freedom-loving songs that still resonate three decades after his death in 1990.
18 June 2020
No medicine, no healing: Sudan’s pharmaceutical crisis
Since 2016, medicine prices in Sudan have risen exponentially. To make matters worse, the government’s central bank lacks the foreign currency necessary to import essential drugs from abroad.
17 June 2020
Jamaica’s Brian Heap, Caribbean regional winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, talks storytelling
"Jamaican language [...] is designed to subvert the English language. I love its frequent juxtaposition of archaic English words and African expressions and syntax, [...] used to sometimes devastating effect."
Speaking with Jamaica’s Brian Heap, Caribbean regional winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
"Jamaica is so rich in stories [...] It’s so important for us to delve into the inner life of Jamaican subjects."
16 June 2020
How can Nepal's literary tradition make its mark on the global scene?
Director of Global Literature in Libraries Initiatives shares insights into how Nepali literature can reach wider audiences.
A new game plays with ideas about how disinformation works in East Africa
"Chose Your Own Fake News" is an online game that teaches new internet users how to be more discerning about the information they receive and encounter in digital spaces.
‘Where is the center of the story?': Revisiting the traditional view of Russia's Muslim communities
Global Voices spoke to academic Danielle Ross about her challenging view of the history of Islam and Islamic reform in Russia.
15 June 2020
Going far together: The East African diaspora steps up to address COVID-19 in their home region
To tackle the lack of information about COVID-19 and a shortage of PPE, members of East Africa’s diaspora in the US are taking action to help their homelands from afar.
13 June 2020
Between Kolkata, Saint-Petersburg and Paris: An interview with novelist Shumona Sinha
"Literature does not pretend it can change the world, but it can unveil the human condition, plant seeds of hope, of dreams of a better world...."
11 June 2020
War in Darfur: Wanted by the ICC, militia leader Ali Kushayb surrenders
Ali Kushayb, a renowned war criminal wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan, finally surrendered himself after years in hiding to the courts on June 9,...
