Stories about Arts & Culture
2 November 2019
For the first time ever, a doctoral dissertation was defended in the Quechua language in Peru
"In 468 years, no one had defended a doctoral dissertation in any indigenous language in our country. Roxana Quispe did it this year. She wants promote Quechua in academia."
30 October 2019
Zanzibar zooms in on the future of visual arts in Africa
Visual Arts Festival Zanzibar brought together artists from Zanzibar and across Africa for a week of conversations, workshops and panels on the current state of visual arts.
25 October 2019
The struggle of the Bolivian feminist chola is now online
Yolanda Mamani, a feminist chola who started fighting for her rights as a child domestic worker, now take her talkative style to her radio show, blog and YouTube channel.
24 October 2019
Kanye West's use of Jamaican symbols sparks national dialogue on ‘branding’
"Successive political administrations have never fully appreciated the economic value of the brand ‘Jamaica’ nor the symbols that [represent] that brand including its flag and its coat of arms..."
Portuguese rapper causes controversy for portraying domestic violence in music video
Dozens of women's rights associations criticized the rapper Valete, who responded saying the controversy was "empty".
21 October 2019
First Thai female Theravada monk named one of BBC’s 100 most influential women
Dhammananda’s efforts to re-establish the Theravada bhikkhuni (female monastic) lineage in Thailand have been met with resistance from both the laity and monks who are against ordaining women.
20 October 2019
Tweeting South Asian art
“Positive representation of Desi artists is incredibly necessary to create a progressive, culturally evolving society.”
12 October 2019
Arts festival caught in the crosshairs of Azerbaijan's ‘national mentality’
One mural depicting the body of a transgender person drew so much attention that it was painted over once the festival ended — in a not so artistically-friendly way.
9 October 2019
A burqa controversy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
The government needs to come out of the thinking covering women in an abaya or chadar will protect them from harassers.
2 October 2019
Bearing witness to Putin's rise to power
Interview with Vitaly Mansky, a former film director with Russia's state TV, about his latest documentary — on Putin's rise to power, exactly 20 years ago.
27 September 2019
The little-known beauty of rice sheaf artistry from India and Nepal
The tradition of decorating houses with rice sheaves woven into beautiful forms is slowly disappearing.
18 September 2019
Popular Twitter thread highlights dozens of examples of Japan's ‘Bubble-era’ PoMo architecture
Every corner of Japan features examples of postmodern architecture.
Once hotbeds of political resistance, Czech secondhand bookstores are slowly disappearing
The few surviving "antikvariat" have turned into nostalgia museums.
17 September 2019
Rediscovering the riches of St Petersburg's Muslim heritage
"Muslims are not just guests in this city, but were once its masters and some of its earliest inhabitants."
16 September 2019
Street-side vendors of Zanzibar’s iconic ‘kanga’ textiles forced to close up shop after 30 years
Kanga sellers in Stone Town, Zanzibar, were told their street-side stalls are "unauthorized informal businesses" that clutter passageways, impinge on Stone Town's original charm and reduces its value.
12 September 2019
A beloved Trinidadian vendor regains his rightful place selling nuts at cricket matches
A sponsorship deal that granted a snacks company exclusive product rights at a regional cricket tournament results in cricket fans getting passionate — about their nuts vendors.
7 September 2019
Overnight music hit turns rappers into social justice heroes in Turkey
With over 10 million views and still trending, the song 'cannot stay silent' is making a deafening noise in Turkey and liberating the minds.
4 September 2019
Painting the fears inside us all: A conversation with Syrian artist Rashwan Abdelbaki
Abdelbaki's art expresses what he sees as the “negative effects of racism, religion, and politics that are all striving to divide us and destroy our faith in humanity.”
2 September 2019
Decolonising and demystifying Central Asian literature through translation
"Central Asian literature is still exotic; people appreciate its rareness more than its literary merits. I want readers to move away from thinking 'how unusual!' to thinking 'how beautiful!'"
This heavyweight contender from Cameroon fights his way to the big screen in ‘Fast and Furious 9′
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter from Cameroon will feature in the “Fast and Furious 9” cast as the second African to appear in the...
