Stories about Arts & Culture from May, 2009
Azerbaijan: Nationalism fatigue
Fighting windmills? Take a pill, a new English-language Azerbaijani blog, comments on last weekend's Eurovision Song Contest held in Moscow. The blog laments the nationalism and petty antics displayed by both Armenians and Azeris towards each other during the international music competition.
Egypt: El Korba Annual Festival Allows City's True Beauty to Shine
El Korba, one of the oldest Cairene districts, celebrated its fifth peace festival on Friday. Many Heliopolis and Cairo residents from different districts await this annual event, where they can enjoy themselves and indulge in the beauty of the all time over crowded Heliopolitan district - which is closed to traffic on the day. Entertainment and cultural activities are the order of the day, when peace and diversity meet in one place.
USA: National Ethnic Media Awards Winners 2009
New America Media in the United States announces the winners of the 2009 Ethnic Media Awards. Pro-migrant blog The Sanctuary takes best ethnic blogger award.
Japan: Video by Eric Testroete
Eric Testroete has posted ‘This is Japan!’, a fantastic video using hundred of images from a three week stay in Japan. [via watashi to tokyo]
Myanmar: 150th Anniversary of the Founding of Mandalay City
Mandalay, the last royal capital of Myanmar, celebrated its 150th anniversary with a three-day festival event from May 14 to May 16. GV Author TAN translates a few posts written by bloggers from Myanmar who had witnessed the event.
Israel: Eurovision Peace Duo Push for Another Way
Can music help bring us closer together? Noa and Mira Awad hope their message from the Eurovision Song Contest reaches far and wide. Gilad Lotan updates us about the journey of those two musicians and reactions to their performances in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
Japan: Ueno as a World Heritage site
A UNESCO panel has recommended postponing listing of the National Museum of Western Art and the surrounding buildings in the Ueno area as a World Heritage culture site. Blogger Dragon says that countries with the means to preserve its own heritage sites should give way for less resourceful countries. Taito...
Lao dialects
Caroline Finlay gives a general background on the numerous Laotian dialects.
Disabled Congolese Find Ways to Thrive
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, life for the disabled or physically impaired is wrought with difficulties. With no state support and few employment prospects, individuals with disabilities face numerous challenges. This article explores the innovative ways some disabled Congolese earn their living.
Europe: Alexander Rybak
Natalia Antonova writes on GlobalComment about Alexander Rybak, this year's winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Political Eurovision
As voting for the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Moscow, bartlemot tweets that the telephone number to vote for the Armenian entry in Azerbaijan was censored. In a second tweet, the same user says that instead of displaying a telephone number in the lower section of the screen it...
Video: 48 Hour Young Lions YouTube Contest and others you can join
Tonight could be your chance to make it big in the online video field, almost anywhere you live. All it takes is 48 hours to make, upload and get as many votes on your video, and you could go to the Cannes Film Festival. If you can't make it on time, don't worry: following is a list of other contests open for participants from all around the world.
South Africa: “Cape Africa” Time
Koluki writes about the exhibition of contemporary African culture in Cape Town, South Africa, “Borrowing its title from the acclaimed novel by Capetonian author Alex La Guma, A Walk Into the Night is an innovative project inspired by the history of the Cape Town Carnival.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Seeing the Signs
“It matters not how many skyscrapers, malls, American chain restaurants or chemical plants a country has…if [it] possesses at least five or more of these signs of underdevelopment and tyranny, then it is still a third world country at the very core”: Alien in the Caribbean sees many of those...
Armenia: Eurovision Reaction
Ianyan rounds up the reaction to Armenia's entry in this year Eurovision Song Contest currently under way in Moscow. The blog says that the two singers, Inga and Anush, could be described as “traditional Armenian wear meets Star Wars meets Diva Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element.”
Russia: Eurovision
“Suddenly it is that time of the year again – the time when one cannot help but feel that one is, was and will always remain a European,” writes Josefina of Russian Blog in her post on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Siberian Light posts an overview “of every single...
Saudi Arabia: Thoughts from a London Trip
Saudi blogger Prometheus [Ar] is just back from the UK and shares his impressions from his visit and the people he saw there in this post. During his visit, he tells us about the books which are banned in our countries and are available in London, and the open heated debates between the media and politicians which are beamed on television screens. Read to the end to see his final conclusion.
Japan: Marriage Hunting!
Since autumn of last year, in Japan, a new term has been floating in the air. It is konkatsu 婚活 (an abbreviation of kekkon katsudô 結婚活動), based on the popular phrase shûkatsu (就活 job hunting), it may be roughly translated as ‘marriage hunting’. Konkatsu is not merely a new word,...
Azerbaijan: Shameful…
Fighting windmills? Take a pill, a recent addition to the English-language Azeri blogosphere, comments on the notion of “Ayibdi,” or “shameful.” The blog wonders why the word is used in connection with limiting individual freedoms but not to decry corruption or the lack of democracy in the country.
Cuba: Cultural Events on World Day Against Homophobia
Bloggers Cuba [es] publishes information regarding the cultural events to take place on the World Day Against Homophobia on May 16 and 17.
Russia: Translation of Baymurat Story
Jost A Mon translates Roman Gruzov's Bolshoi Gorod text (RUS) about Baymurat, “an unlikely star” of the Russian internet, mentioned on GV back in April – here: “… a poorly dressed Tajik gastarbeiter who brilliantly performed the song ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the Hindi film ‘Disco Dancer’ with such...