· December, 2013

Stories about Arts & Culture from December, 2013

Ukrainian Protesters Play Lennon's “Imagine” Live to Riot Police

  29 December 2013

On December 18, 2013, American musician and composer Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono) shared a photo on his Facebook wall, depicting a pianist playing John Lennon's famous song “Imagine” to the rows of Ukrainian riot police. In a week, the photo has gathered over 16,900 likes...

South Korea: Reason Behind Movie ‘The Attorney's Box Office Smash

  28 December 2013

South Korean movie ‘The Attorney’ which depicts the early life of ex-President Roh who started as a civil rights lawyer resisting against dictatorial regimes, has drawn over 4 million admissions in just ten days of screening. Movie critics even comment [ko] that its popularity in Korea is more explosive than that...

Celebrating Christmas (Bara Din) in Bangladesh

  27 December 2013

Karim at Amader Kotha writes about how Christmas is celebrated in Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country: The Christian community in Bangladesh may be a minority when compared to the number of people following other religious pathways in the country, nevertheless Christmas in Bangladesh, which is a public holiday, is celebrated...

Dishing on Sino-American Relations

  27 December 2013

Chinese food culture constitutes a significant part in the Chinese language. Below is a part of an online fictional story on a conversation between Obama and Xi Jinping on Sino American relation explained and translated by Mary Ann O'Donnell: With respect to the importance of Sino-American relations, we will eat...

Accenting the Positive on the Russian Internet

RuNet Echo  27 December 2013

BestPozitiv.ru, also known as “Tol'ko Pozitiv” (Only the Positive), is a Russian website that promises to “fill you with positivity every day” by bringing its viewers “the most interesting” videos, GIFs, photographs, lists, and other multimedia “that the Internet has to offer.” The site aggregates everything, from memes of cute...

Debate on the Translation of Christmas into Chinese

  26 December 2013

Ann O'Donnell explains the debate about the translation of Christmas, whether it should be “holy birth festival” or “Jesus birth festival”. For those advocating for the rectification of the Chinese translation, believe that the expression “holy birth festival”, which also means “the Sage’s birth festival” should designate Confucius’ birthday.

#askPussyRiot Wants Your Questions

RuNet Echo  26 December 2013

After almost two years in federal custody, Pussy Riot's two most famous members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, will hold their first post-prison press conference [ru]. The event will be hosted by the online TV station Dozhd and take place on Friday, December 27, 2013, beginning at 2:00 PM Moscow time (5:00 AM...

South Korean Military Bans ‘Arirang’, Country's Iconic and Beloved Song

  24 December 2013

South Korean Military is infamous for banning books, films and songs which they find ‘controversial’ or ‘subversive’ and their recent decision to ban the nation's most beloved and historically important songs, ‘Arirang’ (which even has the famed nickname of ‘unofficial national anthem of Korea‘) met with fierce backlash. The military explains it...

Podcast: Contemporary Art in China

  24 December 2013

Sinica podcast discusses contemporary art scene in China, including what it means to be a Chinese artist in today's China and how different things have changed in the past 20 years. 

Video:Mo Money, Mo Fazhan

  24 December 2013

Laowai Style's Jesse Appell addresses the question about China's economic development with his new rap song “Mo Money, Mo Fazhan(Development)”. The rap cover topics ranging from urbanization, to hukou reform, SOEs, and tainted milk powder. Watch the video below.