Stories about Arts & Culture from October, 2007
Ukraine: Construction in Kyiv; Catherine II in Odesa
Ukrainiana writes about “sardine-packed construction” in Kyiv and the dedication of the monument to Catherine II in Odesa – and posts videos of the related violence.
Ukraine: History of Music
Ukrainian Musical Matters posts a concise but comprehensive review of Ukrainian music – from 20,000 years ago to the present.
Ukraine: Sean Carr
Ukrainian Musical Matters writes about Sean Carr, lead singer of Death Valley Screamers and Yulia Tymoshenko's son-in-law.
Ukraine: Svyatoslav Vakarchuk
Ukrainian Musical Matters writes about Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, lead singer of Okean Elzy band, his political views and political involvement.
Saudi Arabia: Featuring Artists
Saudi blogger Dua'a promises to feature artists from Arabia in her new blog United Bloggers of Arabia.
Japan: Kameda hits below the belt
(In)famous for their big mouths and bad behaviour, coupled with showy performances such as singing karaoke after their victories in the ring, the Kamedas have become the media's favourite boxing family. After the title match on Oct. 11, however, the family found themselves in the middle of harsh media bashing.
Tajikistan: Cultural Starvation
C opines on the cultural environment in Tajikistan after visiting a concert of the new pop-band and says that cultural life in this country is stewing in it own juice and lacks diversity.
Kyrgyzstan: Modern Horse Games
CXW takes a look at the new type of sports entertainment in Kyrgyzstan, a horseball, which is a modern version of the local traditional sport of kok boru.
Israel: New Design Blog
A new blog on design and aesthetics has been launched by Israeli blogger Ziva. Husband Harry makes the announcement here.
Russia: Mikhalkov's “12”
Ntalia Anonova reviews Nikita Mikhalkov's “12”: “The movie isn’t some exotic, tourist-y, BBC “country profile”-y jaunt through an ethnic conflict. It crushes you, resuscitates you, crushes you some more.”
Russia: Murals at Babushkinskaya
Moscow Through Brown Eyes posts pictures of the new murals at one of Moscow's residential neighborhoods, created by Russian and Dutch graffiti artists.
Russia: Bukovsky on Putin's Prison Slang
Former dissident Vladimir Bukovsky says president Vladimir Putin doesn't understand the prison camp slang he sometimes uses, Window on Eurasia reports.
Russia: Miss Russia 2007
The Turkish Invasion blogs about Miss Russia 2007 contest.
Lebanon: Polemic and nature
Moustafa from Beirut Spring's blog noted in one of his latest posts that Lebanon is “dropping French.” Somehow that claim is true; Lebanese francophone blogs are few and different from those in English, and are also less popular. However, they present a face of Lebanon that we would like to...
Japan: Design Week 2007
Pingmag shows how the design week exhibition (Oct 31 to Nov 4) would look like.
China: Graffiti Found
Meckleychina found some graffiti in Shanghai Yangpu district. (via shanghaiist)
Russia: Artists for Khodorkovsky, Against Putin
Robert Amsterdam reports on a classical music concert in Paris in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other political prisoners, and on the anti-Putin part of the Russian community of “cultural figures.”
Russia: Campaign Singing
Elections in Russia reports on the singing dimension of this year's campaign.
Poland: Islamic Cultural Center in Krakow?
The beatroot writes about plans to build an Islamic cultural center in Krakow.
Brazil: “Haiti is here, Haiti is not here”
Haiti has become a regularly commented on issue on the Brazilian blogosphere. The special connection between Brazil and Haiti was initiated in 2004, when Brazilian troops started to participate in MINUSTAH — the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. Last week the UN decided to extend its presence in the...
Lebanon: Arts and Artists
The Lebanese blogosphere is not solely composed of political blogs you know, and thank God for that. Some artists are using blogs to display their paintings, music and other artistic creations. Moussa Bashir tours the blogosphere, opening up a whole new world of culture and arts.
