Stories about Arts & Culture from February, 2008
Hindi: No smoking and Cricket Auctions
Amit Gupta takes us on a tour of the latest from the Hindi blogosphere, including bad news for male smokers, good news for cricket fans in Hyderabad, and hopeful news regarding the effort to curb the spread of AIDS.
Morocco: Hijab as a Choice
Much has been said about "the veil," or hijab. Perhaps too much - mention it, and suddenly everyone - Muslim or not - is an expert. In Morocco, hijab is certainly a choice. Young and old alike don the headscarf, and in big cities, seeing it is as common as not seeing it. Although in rural areas it is more prevalent, all women have (legal) freedom of choice whether or not to wear it.
Trinidad & Tobago: Music Festival
“It seems to defeat the purpose of competition when it seems no matter how hard you try…you could still end up tied with fellow competitors in the top three. Wither, then, the prestige and the incentive?” Discover TnT Blog is a tad disappointed with the Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival.
Iran: A cartoon about elections
Nikahang, journalist and a leading cartoonist, has published a cartoon about Iranian elections.
Jordan: Wikipedia and Prophet Muhammad
Another storm is brewing in the Arab world regarding the depiction of Prophet Muhammed in drawings after Wikipedia refused the demands of more than 180,000 people who called for the illustrations to be removed. Here's the latest buzz from the Middle East.
Trinidad & Tobago: Cultural Preservation
“Even as we fret about the loss of our historic architecture, we are losing the architects of our history”: Blogging from Trinidad & Tobago, The Liming House writes about the importance of preserving “our collective memory.”
Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere
According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.
Burkina Faso: Comedy Festival in Ouagadougou
QuophyBlogeur writes about Burkina Faso's first comedy festival [Fr], and its “magic to break from the monotony of life and overcome life's most difficult situations.”
San Francisco Gay Choir, in Arabic
Zizou from Djerba blogs about the San Francisco Gay Choir‘s performance of Safeer El Layl, quite possibly the world's first gay-themed choral number to be written and sung in Arabic.
China: Political Mistake
Zengying blogs about his experience of making a serious “political mistake” in a local T.V station at the end of the 1990s. It was about a T.V drama which had been shown in the central television station. Eventually he found out that the mistake was the pronunciation of the name...
Japan: Edo-period Monster Paintings
Edo from Pink Tentacle introduces Edo-period monster paintings by Sawaki Suushi.
Nigeria: Nigerian upcoming designer, Toju Foyeh
Bella Naija features an upcoming Nigerian designer, Toju Foyeh: “What inspired you to start designing? When I was younger I used to go through my mum's magazines. Stuff like Harpers and Queens, Tatler and Vogue and I thought fashion is something I would like to do some day. I was...
Uganda: Bloggers tangle with mainstream media
The blogren had their collective eye on Uganda's mainstream media this week. One blogger "treads where the brave dare not go" by posting photos from a tragedy near the capital, while another criticizes the government paper for its seeming support of rapists.
Argentina: Free Hugs in Buenos Aires
La Espada Vengadora [es] announces that the “Free Hugs” campaign will be arriving to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday, and is something must needed in this violent world.
Morocco: Fun Day at the Fair
From Morocco, Maryam takes her little one to the fair – and shares some pictures with us.
Iran: Virginia Tech shooting as a piece of Theatre
Kosoof,a leading photo blogger, has published photos of a theatre group protesting against bad conditions of their workplace in Tehran. This group wants to play Cho's Manifest, the story of Virginia Tech shooting.
Russia: Degrees of Responsibility
Marat Gelman - LJ user galerist, Russian art dealer and, allegedly, Victor Yanukovych's “spin doctor” in 2004 - describes his recent brush with Russia's multilevel reality and inspires readers to comment on how much Putin's regime has to do with uncivilized behavior of certain individuals.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sarajevo Photos
55 wonderful photos from Dragan Popovic's 2005 trip to Sarajevo – and much, much more.
Sri Lanka: On Architecture
Beyond Borders explores the idea of architecture in the context of boundaries and culture.
Middle East: Protesting Love
Valentine's Day has come and gone, but in the Middle East, the debate still continues on whether it is an occasion which should be celebrated or shunned. With both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait warning against Valentine's Day celebrations, bloggers had a lot to talk about.
Palestine: Celebrating Valentine's Day
The meanings of Valentine's Day, like love, are multi-faceted. This year had the Palestinian blogosphere thinking about making creative connections, communicating across borders and boundaries, meaningful expressions of love and giving, hard losses, and questions of respect, writes Maya Norton.
