Stories about Arts & Culture from December, 2011
Online Highlights from the Portuguese-Speaking World in 2011
2011 has been another year in which bloggers and activists from a number of Portuguese-speaking countries have come together to report, translate and promote blogs and citizen media from all over the world. This article selects the highlights in the coverage of Lusophone countries on Global Voices over the last year.
Africa: 10 West African Club Tracks
This is Boima Tucker's 2011 10 club friendly Afropop tracks: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one song dominate a nation’s psyche like Junior Freeman and African Soldier’s “Dumyarea” did in Liberia this summer. Maybe it was because it was an election season, and all the politicians co-opted the song...
Ghana: Azonto Dance Craze Goes Global
A Ghanaian dance called Azonto is making waves around the world and threatening to spawn its own YouTube industry as dance enthusiasts try to out do each other by posting the most hilarious and most accomplished Azonto moves on the video channel.
Cape Verde: The Musical Legacy of Cesária Évora
After the death of Cesária Évora, symbol of Cape Verdean music, on December 17, there was an abundance of tributes and declarations by her faithful audience from almost every corner of the globe. With the singer and Cape Verde in the spotlight, the blogosphere discussed who might take her place as musical spokeswoman for the country.
Dominican Republic: The History of Bachata
Deepak Lamba Nieves, PhD student who investigates Dominican transnational migration, writes about the show in Boston of famous bachata singer Luis Miguel del Amargue, and also about the history of this music genre [es].
Cuba: on writer Achy Obejas
Montague Kobbe profiles Achy Obejas, a Cuban-American writer who “constantly challenging her readers to (re)think their positions in relation to the most basic principles that govern our attitudes towards each other.”
Puerto Rico: The Latest from El Macabeo
Orlando Vélez from the blog El Punto [es] interviews the lead singer of the salsa band Orquesta El Macabeo [es] about their most recent album “El Entierro” (The Burial).
Puerto Rico: The Local Music Scene Live
The music blog Puerto Rico Indie has launched “Archipiélago,” a series of videos of live sessions of some of the “best artists in the local music scene” in Puerto Rico. “Archipiélago 101″ features the band Campo-Formio.
Lebanon: Electric Xmas Decorations
From Lebanon, Habib Battah draws our attention to Christmas decorations in Lebanon, where the decorations are lit and and the electricity in the street lamps is switched off during the night, and on during the day. Check out the photographs accompanying the post.
Southeast Asia Indie Music
Southeast Asia Indie aims “to unite and promote the great indie scenes in the Southeast Asian Region: Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.” It specializes in releasing free digital mp3 compilations and singles that include indie tracks from the region.
Peru: Afro-Peruvian Christmas Music
Christmas, a Christian celebration that arrived in Perú with the Spaniards at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was adapted over the years by different Peruvian communities. The black community also managed to incorporate its own individuality in the festivities, expressing its particular experiences in the artistic creations made to honor the holiday.
India: A Photo Journey to Hatu Temple in Himachal Pradesh
Photo Journey captures the Hatu Temple, situated in Himachal Pradesh, India, in all its glory.
Sri Lanka: When Santa Looks Scary
indi.ca feels that Sri Lanka's Santas are invariably scary – offers a few pictures to illustrate the same.
India: Old Indian Photos
Old Indian Photos – an amazing archive of photos from India, right from the 1800's. Go, take a peek.
Cuba: Dance Flash Mob in Plaza Vieja
To celebrate the end of the year long activities around the 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Unicef, ballet and dance students worked together to produce a colorful flash mob in the Old Square of La Habana as seen in this video.
Video Highlights: Protests, Elections, Culture and GV
A selection of Global Voices' recent and interesting stories including video from Middle East and North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, selected by Juliana Rincón Parra.
Czech Republic: A Tribute to Václav Havel
A tribute to Václav Havel, by Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame: “[…] Havel has been an unusually strong moral autority that has influenced even people such as me who ultimately found out that they disagree with him about many pretty fundamental things. He's been proposed for a peace Nobel...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Garlic Wars
With tensions high between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of a still unresolved territorial dispute, the appearance of Azerbaijani garlic in Armenian supermarkets has made some local media hysterical.
Jamaica: debating Caribbean art publishing
The ARC magazine blog reports on a recent panel on art publishing in the Caribbean, hosted by the National Gallery of Jamaica, with video clips of the discussion.
Cuba: thinking about the film festival
Havana Times asks whether the Havana Film Festival has strayed from its original ideals — “Much has happened since its inception in 1978, since which time its revolutionary and emancipatory ideals have faded considerably” — and wonders if the festival could once more “encourage revolutionary and popular cinema (in the...
Jamaica: when poets join academia
UK-based Jamaican writer Kei Miller muses on the consequences of poets joining the academic world. “Poetry is certainly not known for its plain-spoken-ness and in fact is accused, just as much as the academy, for its obscurity and its pretensions. And this is as it should be!”
