Stories about Ideas from February, 2013
Latin America Turns to iPhone App to Take Hammerhead Sharks Off the Chopping Block
Countries across Latin America are on a mission to get hammerheads onto the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) list for protection. They’re armed with a new iPhone app that promises to make fin identification quick and easy. Listing the sharks would help fund financially strapped programs in Latin America and restrict global trade.
Kallun: A Platform of Angolan Slang
The Plataform KALLUN (meaning slang), founded by Leocarpo Mário, is a recent collaborative project with the ultimate goal of gathering in just one place all the slang with Angolan origins. Kallun enables interactive search of terms and their meanings.
Costa Rica: Time of the Vanquished
In the post titled “Time of the vanquished” [es], the blog Furia raises profound reflections about what happens when quietness comes. It concludes its reflections by saying: “in order to conquer the silence of the serenity, the vanquished ones invent new ghosts that whisper in their ears. To win, to...
#Wikimodernism: Catalan Modernism, from the Classroom to the Web
The mystery behind the dreamy aesthetic of Barcelona's fantastic architecture is only a click away. Art history students in Barcelona are trading in traditional homework to share their learning about Catalan Modernism with the world.
Being Fat, Talking Fat in South Korea
Many reports have been made about South Koreans’ obsessions with body image, some with shallow understanding of Korean culture. Youtube user durkeeinkorea in this video shares his experience in Korea where people are very ‘open about talking others weight’ and ‘calling someone fat’ in public happens frequently, with no harms intended.
Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood or the CIA?
The Muslim Brotherhood will soon confuse the world, if it decides to go ahead with a name change. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains: @Bassem_Sabry: My friend @HaniSabra has just noticed the new name being considered by the MB, “The Comprehensive Islamic Authority,” has the acronym “CIA.”
Panama: TV Nostalgia
With a nostalgic touch, the blog El Panameño reviews [es] some 70s and 80s TV series, and challenges readers to see if they can match the titles with the posters included in the post.
As Japan's Star Fades, Many Struggle for Hope
As Japan's economic growth continues to shrink each year, the Japanese, who find themselves more and more disconnected from their families and friends thanks to grueling works days and the Internet's erosion of personal relationships, are finding it difficult to put on a happy face.
Haiti: The Politics of Identity
Tande blogs about “the relationship between cultural identity and belonging” and recommends a Haitian musician whose work goes beyond the identity politics and “offers a compelling example of how some of these tensions play out.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Suggestions for Carnival
Mark Lyndersay offers some suggestions to the National Carnival Commission Chair, Allison Demas, after her first Carnival in office.
Brazilian Artists Idealize their Mona Lisa
Digital arts gallery Urban Arts and It’s Noon launched an online challenge that has attracted artists from all over Brazil: If you were Leonardo da Vinci, what would your Mona Lisa look like?
Are Korean Drivers The Worst?
Asians have often been pegged as bad drivers. ROK Drop blog debunked this ‘Bad Asian Drivers’ stereotype with statistics.
Bangladeshi Artists Capture Shahbag Protests in Cartoons
The protests in Shahbag square in Bangladesh's capital city, where thousands of people have gathered to demand death for war criminals, rage on for a 12th day. Several artists have put pen to paper to capture the movement in cartoons.
“A Thousand Europeans Staring Back at You”
The Portuguese website Variações Sobre a Europa (Variations on Europe) [pt] invites one thousand citizens to create a digital avatar and to participate with their opinions for the construction of a democratic Europe.
China: Foreign Men Are More Romantic
Rensi from ChinaSMACK translates a forum post about various myths or beliefs that Chinese girls have about foreign men.
Hand-painted Ads in Guinea-Bissau
In Guinea-Bissau “there is a real market of experts on painting wall advertisements”, says landscape architect Manuel Bivar. In 2011, he shared a collection of photos featuring hand-painted ads from Guinean shops on the African contemporary culture website, Buala.
Listening to Colours
Original de Vilaweb. Neil Harbisson és primer ciborg reconegut oficialment per un govern i el protagonista del documental guanyador al Festival Sundance 'Cyborg Foundation', del cineasta català Rafel Duran. Harbisson va néixer amb acromatòpsia, una condició que li impedeix distingir els colors. Aquest artista visual i compositor, amb l'ajuda d'un enginyer, va inventar l'Eyeborg, un dispositiu que li serveix per percebre les freqüències que emeten els colors.
Mexico's Social Media Love Revolution
By knowing the negative image Mexico has in international media, some people from the international community living in Mexico got tired of seeing how the positive side of the country gets lost and created the hashtag #ForTheLoveOfMexico.
Levitating Around Singapore
Jayden Tan and Jeff Cheong have been ‘levitating’ around Singapore and they are even teaching students about the secrets of levitation photography. Their project has been gaining attention in Singapore and many people have already noted the creativity of their photos.
“Radical Imagination” in the Context of Global Protests
The development of digital communication has allowed the voice of the people to be carried further, whilst at the same time liberating words, images, ideas and actions that were previously restricted to specific areas. The virtual world is ultra-connected, full of ideas and teeming with innovative entrepreneurial initiatives. People in the real world then use this digital interconnection to protest, organise and express dissident ideas.
Cultural extravaganza in Latin America! Comic books and beyond
Follow us as we visit the arts and the projects that are bridging the gaps and establishing new channels of communication in Latin America. We talk about comics, artworks, collaboration, projects and collectives that are remixing what we know about ourselves in Latin America. Cultural extravaganza guaranteed!