Featured stories about Arts & Culture
Stories about Arts & Culture
18 September 2018
In Syria, regime loyalists use art as a tool of war
"Since the early days of the revolution, the Syrian regime has idolized and romanticized a military state"
13 September 2018
Japan’s vending machines strike again—this time with pizza and crepes
There is one vending machine for every 23 people in Japan and they still never fail to surprise.
10 September 2018
Jamaica finds new appreciation for beloved cultural icon and language activist, ‘Miss Lou’
"Underneath her wily comedic style, she forced the society to face unpleasant truths. But it is the unapologetic championing of the Jamaican language that so endeared her to many Jamaicans."
23 August 2018
Blooms of fire: How Japan celebrates summer with ‘hanabi’
The summer months of July and August in Japan are famed for their fireworks, known as 'hanabi' (花火) in Japanese. Here are some photos.
Tajikistan releases whistleblower but leaves conviction in place
The #FreeKhayrullo campaign did its job and the government backed down. Now fearless Mirsaidov says he will appeal the conviction.
The artist ‘Headache Stencil’ uses graffiti to criticize military rule in Thailand
"If people see my work and start noticing that things aren’t fair, I’ve achieved my aim."
22 August 2018
A new law threatens artistic expression in Cuba
"Your censorship is in the closure of concerts...It was always there, you only legalized it. Then you accuse us of politicizing art...Stop already with the repression...."
19 August 2018
Fans around the world celebrate as Akira turns 30
On July 16, 2018 netizens around the world marked the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Akira, a groundbreaking film that revolutionized animated movies forever.
15 August 2018
#FreeKhayrullo: Human rights groups demand justice for Tajik journalist facing trial
A bold and popular journalist is appealing a 12 year-sentence he received after speaking out against official corruption.
14 August 2018
A Brazilian animation about drag queens is singled out, criticized on moral grounds
"If Super Drags is a cartoon for adults why is the Brazilian Paediatrics Society worrying itself?"
12 August 2018
His world was what it was: the enigma of V.S. Naipaul
"There are books of Naipaul’s I hope never to read again, and books of his without which I can’t understand the world I was born into."
3 August 2018
No Shame: How an online initiative in Kazakhstan is helping youth protect their sexual health
UyatEmes.kz is out to tackle the stigma that surrounds sex education in the former Soviet republic.
2 August 2018
Juliana Mbengono Elá Avomo: Bringing arts and culture to the youth of Equatorial Guinea
"Given the inequalities that we experience between women and men, I feel obliged to reclaim my rights and I do it through my literature."
27 July 2018
From state censorship to western stereotypes, an interview with Iranian artist Maryam Palizgir
Maryam Palzigir's experience fought against both state censorship of artistic expression in Iran and now Western stereotypes of Iranians in the U.S.
26 July 2018
Go sightseeing in Japan, right on YouTube
What makes the videos useful for travelers or anyone interested in Japan is each video includes annotations in English, with time stamps, of what particular sightseeing spot is on screen.
24 July 2018
Why Bamyan province brings out the best of Afghanistan
"These pictures give us a clear message: security, awareness and gender equality. I wish to have such gatherings in all provinces."
20 July 2018
“Because we're here. Because we exist”: Nofi ‘Black and Proud’ challenges representation in French media
"I want us to be unavoidable. So we can offer an answer to this question of representation." Global Voices interviews the founder of Nofi, the first French black media channel.
14 July 2018
What's the story behind the samurai walking a cat, anyway?
The image depicting a shoeless samurai walking an armored cat pops up on social media from time to time.
11 July 2018
Iranian authorities arrest ‘Instagram celebrities’, in effort to assert control over social media
Iranian authorities announce plans to filter Instagram because of the evils of "Instagram celebrities". A few days later, the state broadcaster reveals the arrest of several "Instagram celebrities."
7 July 2018
Censorship in Uzbekistan: The more things change, the more they stay the same?
We last spoke with Umida Akhmedova before Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov died in 2016. Is life any easier for artists now he is gone?
