Stories about Arts & Culture from September, 2021
COVID Couture: Trinidadian creative Sonja Dumas responds to the pandemic with a feel-good dress that has a deeper meaning
"I made [the dress] to cheer up myself at a depressing and challenging moment of our human history."
Preserving Africa’s musical heritage by combining traditional folk music with modern sounds
There has been a lot of renewed interest among African musicologists, historians, and enthusiasts to record, digitize, and archive traditional music and ancient sounds from indigenous communities in Africa.
Critical thinking is crucial to progressive art: Bosnian musicologist Amila Ramović
Amila Ramović, assistant professor at the department of music theory and pedagogy at the Music Academy of the University of Sarajevo, talks about critical thinking through art.
Life during the pandemic: An interview with former refugee, exiled cartoonist Eaten Fish
"I would like to tell other fellow artists that they should never stop trying, they should never stop searching and they should never be afraid of sharing their opinion."
Dissenting artist Ai Weiwei on Hong Kong: art would not be art if it cannot be done in the face of tyranny
'Art would not be art if it cannot be done in the face of tyranny… the artworks which fight for freedom are precious efforts of the human spirit.'
Retelling indigenous Tamang people’s torment and trauma through sacred seeds, handmade paper and slates
Nepali artist Subas Tamang uses the seeds of the Damocles tree, handmade paper from the bark of paper plants, and slates to tell the stories of the indigenous Tamang people.
Jamaican activist filmmaker takes on extractive industries in the Caribbean
"In 2020, there was a very popular narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic was saving Planet Earth [...] I created GEFF 2021 to counter this narrative, because it is simply untrue."
The construction of Chinese patriotic masculinity: ‘sissies will ruin the nation’
The Chinese regulators have banned effeminate images and idols on both television and video streaming sites since September 2, 2021.
Chinese soft power in Kyrgyzstan grows through culture and language
Still looking to publicize its language and culture in Central Asia, China is using the instrument of Confucius Institutes to strengthen its soft power in Kyrgyzstan
‘If you thirst for freedom, seize it!’: The songs of the Belarusian uprising
The songs of protest that have become some the most vital symbols of the 2020 Belarusian revolution are varied in their origins and surprising in their complexity.
Artists join activists in protest to save a water reservoir in Kazakhstan's capital
A group of contemporary artists and activists joined forces to protest the urban developments at the Malyi Taldykol water reservoir in Kazakhstan's capital city.
The origins of ‘liming’ in Trinidad and Tobago
"A most interesting ‘thread’ bringing out all kinds of intriguing prejudices (positive and negative) and biases."
Literary translation from South Asia lags in international markets
Global Voices talked to Jenny Bhatt, an Indian American writer, literary translator, and book critic about her recent literary translations and South Asian literature's prospects in the international market.
Is a revival of Tatar selfhood possible despite Russia's identity politics?
Can the political limitations on the use and teaching of native languages in Russia propel the revival of Tatar national identity?
