Stories about Arts & Culture from February, 2012
Kyrgyzstan: Street art in Bishkek
Schwartz takes a walk around Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, offering photographs of graffiti, taken in March 2011.
Southeast Asia: Restoring Historic Towns
Dr. Apiwat Ratanawaraha writes about several projects in Southeast Asia that seek to restore historic towns and promote cultural tourism. Some of the ongoing projects are located in Singapore’s Boat Quay, Malaysia’s Georgetown, and Thailand’s Chiang Mai
Puerto Rico: Life One Photo a Day
Jose Marti offers a glimpse of life in San Juan through his online photography project "Photos of Today."
Trinidad & Tobago: Seeing Siparia
MEP Publishers visits Siparia, a vibrant community that has had a fascinating part to play in the island's history.
Trinidad & Tobago: Cocoyea Craftiness
The cocoyea (pronounced Ko-ki-ye) is “the mid rib of the coconut leaf that is stripped with a knife” and has many uses, from bird-catching to kite-flying; in this post, Simply Trini Cooking explains how to make a broom out of it, which he calls “an integral part of our culture.”
Mexico, USA: Journalist and Author Sam Quinones Starts Blogging
Author and journalist Sam Quinones has started a blog about “Los Angeles, Mexico, migrants, culture, drugs, neighborhoods, border, and good storytelling.” You can also follow him on Twitter: @samquinones7.
Argentina: Musician Luis Alberto Spinetta Dies
Luis Alberto Spinetta, "El Flaco", one of the most influential rock musicians in Argentina, died on February 8 from illness; Spinetta had lung cancer, diagnosed in July, 2011. The Twitter hashtag #ChauFlaco quickly started trending, bringing together the tweets of those wanting to express their emotions on the news of the death of one of the most legendary Argentine rock stars.
Malaysia: Organization Advocates for Human Rights Through Video
KOMAS is a Malaysian organisation that uses video production as a tool to educate and advocate for human rights in the areas of non-discrimination, citizenship, voter education and documentary filmmaking.
Armenia: Eurovision Hopefuls
Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts the video and lyrics of a song by Armenian rock band Dorians. One of the three most likely contenders to enter this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the blog says that the group is also his favorite to represent Armenia in...
Trinidad & Tobago: Carnival Must-Haves
Travel blogger Rishi Sankar lists nine items every man should have for Trinidad Carnival.
Palestine: A Blogging Initiative for Jerusalem, the Praying City
Palestinian bloggers have joined hands to blog for their country, in a blogging initiative led by Abir Kopty under the theme: “For you, oh praying city, we blog.” In the following post, Kopty writes in Arabic about social media utilization in the Palestinian cause, and coordinating it with offline events on the ground.
Jamaica, St. Vincent: Happy Earth Day, Mr. Marley
Geoffrey Philp and Abeni both pay tribute to the late reggae icon Bob Marley on his birthday.
Cuba: Bloggers on SOPA, Culture and the Democratization of Knowledge
Unlike many SOPA/PIPA critics in the United States and around the globe, Cuban bloggers did not focus on the technical implications of the proposed laws. Both independent and state-affiliated Cuban bloggers saw SOPA/PIPA as a powerful statement about how legislators (and the music and film industries) value culture and creativity as part of U.S. society.
Mozambique: All Aboard the Musical Marrabenta Train!
Southern Mozambique hosts one of the continent's best kept secrets, the Marrabenta Festival, an event which celebrated five years this month. Highlight of the Festival is a musical train journey in which musicians and revelers travel to the outdoor finale, picking up people along the way.
Azerbaijan: Qubanin Ag Almasi and Eurovision
Gultekin Garadaghly posts a rendition of Qubanin Ag Almasi, an Azerbaijani folk song. The YouTube channel of the young musical video blogger from Baku also features a cover of Drip Drop, her country's 2010 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as last year's winning Running Scared. Azerbaijan host...
What Makes Vietnamese Coffee Unique?
Nathan Beyerlein writes about the coffee culture in Vietnam and learns the difference between Vietnamese coffee from its Western counterparts.
Bahrain: Celebration and Criticism Greet “Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012″
February 2 saw the official launch of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, which has been both welcomed and criticised by Bahrain's netizens. As the celebration was taking place, opposition protests were broken up elsewhere in the capital.
Kazakhstan: Astana, urbanist haven of state corporatism
Molapse provides his analysis of the Kazakhstan's capital city, a newly built Left Bank of Astana, with a mix of artistic culturology and anthropology.
Global Voices Podcast: Occupy This!
Welcome to another edition of the Global Voices podcast. In this episode we talk through some of the ideas and issues surrounding the global Occupy movement and protests, as we listen to recordings from our team in different parts of the world.
United States: The Art of the Occupy Movement
Actors, visual artists, writers and musicians pay homage to the #Occupy muse and are calling for an international day of creative action on February 12, 2012.
Common Language in Southeast Asia
What should be the common language in the Southeast Asian region? Thai, Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Melayu? Kaewmala discusses this issue.
