Stories about Arts & Culture
19 January 2020
Zanzibar says goodbye to legendary ‘king of kidumbak,’ musician Makame Faki
Legendary Zanzibari musician Makame Faki Makame has died at the age of 77. He was hailed as the king of kidumbak and a master of taarab, Zanzibar's "national sound."
14 January 2020
‘An interplay between Western and Eastern Cultures': Two art exhibitions on cultural collisions
In October 2019 in Brooklyn, New York, two women artists from Iran and Pakistan exhibited new bodies of work in which they portrayed the interplay between Western and Eastern cultures
6 January 2020
‘Byzantine Pompeii’ archaeological discovery in Greece will be moved to make way for the Thessaloniki subway
"What the metro construction procedures have brought to light is Byzantine Pompeii! Do you understand? And do you plan to remove it and reattach it later? Are you crazy?"
2 January 2020
Long live Večerníček: The enduring appeal of a 55-year-old Czech children's television show
The show's format has remained virtually unchanged and become a shared childhood reference for millions of then Czechoslovaks, and now for Czechs.
31 December 2019
A journey through Uzbek national identity on the Tashkent metro
In the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, the metro is much more than just a means of transportation — it's an open history textbook.
Comics fans in southern Europe celebrated the triple anniversary of cult publications in 2019
Comics fans in several southern European countries celebrated three golden jubilees in 2019: the 50th-anniversary publication of Italian comics series Alan Ford, the ‘Yugoslav Asterix’ Dikan, and Serbian magazine Stripoteka
All I want for Christmas is a free Hong Kong: How activists used festive cards to get the word out
People volunteered to translate holiday greetings into different languages and write letter templates for people of different backgrounds.
27 December 2019
A look at the 2020 Taiwan presidential election through an online poster design challenge
As the election nears, netizens are election posters through the hashtag #GraphicDesignForDemocracy.
26 December 2019
From Kenya to Ethiopia, these men received divine dream ‘maps’ to carve caves
Throughout history, many have questioned the veracity of divine intervention through dreams, but prophets from Islam, Judaism and Christianity have all testified to messages from God through dreams for millennia.
23 December 2019
Latest offering from Russian cult novelist Pelevin divides and confuses critics
Viktor Pelevin's latest novel, a tale of 'weapons-grade memes', is creative but widely seen as overambitious.
21 December 2019
After costume controversy at Miss Universe, Jamaicans celebrate Miss World win
The furore surrounding a Miss Universe national costume that played up the horrors of slavery is assuaged by the #BlackGirlMagic of Toni-Ann Singh copping the 2019 Miss World title for...
19 December 2019
Cultures clash after release of Trinidadian soca music video featuring cricketer Ali Khan
“In ‘Me Gusta’, Destra is trying to represent something global, and other cultures are reading it in different ways.”
Global Voices quinceañera: Spotlight on Caribbean women's stories
From public breastfeeding to fighting period poverty, here are some of the ways Caribbean women stood up for themselves in 2019. Part 2 of 5.
18 December 2019
In the frenzy over the new $100 bill, Trinidad & Tobago's banking sector reveals its disrespect for an age-old practice
As Trinidad and Tobago makes the changeover to a new $100 bill, the country's Banking Association president declares the age-old cultural practice of "sou-sou" to be illegitimate, provoking an outcry.
2019: A year of flipping scripts and changing narratives in Africa
2019, a year of changing narratives in Africa: Revolutions. Internet shutdowns. Tree-planting. Migration. Feminist songs. Media crackdowns. Cyclones and climate change. Opposition rising. Cultural icons dying. Illness, cures, and healing.
16 December 2019
The intertwined origins of ‘kawaii’ and Japanese queer culture
"A major part of Rune's work that's rarely discussed is the work he did for the magazine Barazoku [...],the first mass-market magazine that catered to same-sex attracted men in Japan.
13 December 2019
Interview with Aleksandra Lun, a Polish native who became a celebrated Spanish-language writer
"A language is simply a world that you choose to live in. If you live in that world, you own its language."
10 December 2019
A 1990s Macedonian film set in 2019 foreshadows a xenophobic future
Like other sci-fi before it, it imagined the present year as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
‘Creating Suspension Between Contradictory States': An interview with artist Parastou Forouhar
"I try to create the potential for suspension between contradictory states that will emotionally and psychologically engage viewers and make them ask questions."
Popular ‘Nausicaä’ animated movie from Japan performed as kabuki play
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, one of Japan's most popular animated films, will be performed as a kabuki play in December, 2019 in Tokyo.
