Arts & Culture News - Page 30

Following social media influencer Oli London's claim of being 'transracial', a look at why the term is racist and transphobic

Race and gender have very different histories, understandings, experiences, and implications in the face of discrimination. The very idea of being able to transition to a different race discredits trans and gender diverse people’s experiences of gender affirmation. It also undermines the importance of cultural connections for many communities.

Palestinian twins turn decommissioned Boeing 707 aircraft into restaurant in Israel-occupied West Bank

The twins said they hoped to run a restaurant out of the plane since around 2000, but the launch faltered with the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

In Syria, volunteers prepare for tourists' return to one of the oldest Christian settlements

Before Syria's war, Maalula drew in thousands of visitors a year, to visit its churches and monasteries and to hear its inhabitants speak Aramaic.

Cannes 2021: How Mark Cousins stands out among cinephiles, as someone who lives and breathes cinema

To Cousins, cinema is an unstoppable artform — one forever mutating, adapting and evolving.

As Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird turns 61, a look at why the novel still attracts criticism over its take on racism

For long, Lee's story has been criticised for its 'white saviour' narrative, a debate that recently resurfaced following the decision of an English school teacher in Edinburgh to cancel the novel from his curriculum for being allegedly 'problematic.'

At an old people's home in Cameroon's economic capital, hope and comfort for the elderly

To have children, to be old and alone, is a rare but often crushing status in Cameroon.

In a Cuban swamp, coalmen work day and night to revive the traditional way of making charcoal

For now, production from the Cienaga de Zapata project is modest: some 600 tons in its first year, with a goal of 700 tons this year.

Ridley Jones, Netflix's animated series for preschoolers, boasts female lead and non-binary bison Fred

There are overt lessons to be learned, as when overeager Ridley pushes for more responsibility before she’s ready to handle it. But the writers don’t beat the drum for gender equality, allowing Ridley’s exploits to make the point.

As US reopens, secondhand clothing business expected to double as many go on a wardrobe purge

The post-pandemic shopper is more environmentally conscious and is showing a greater appetite for clothes that have good resale value, rather than disposable fast fashion.

Explained: The technical reason behind why films made for Netflix look more like TV shows

Most made-for-Netflix productions don’t look like the cinema we’re used to. Why?

Accounts of major university queer rights groups in China blocked from WeChat, prompting protests and fear of censorship

Chinese social media firms frequently censor content deemed to be politically sensitive or inappropriate, with censors previously targeting LGBTQ-related content on video streaming apps and foreign films.

Disneyland Paris criticised after staff orders woman to stop breastfeeding her baby in public; theme park issues apology

In its first Twitter response to the incident on 5 July, Disneyland had struck an unapologetic tone, saying only that mothers had the use of special rooms "with suitable and comfortable material such as special breastfeeding seats".

Gender-ambiguous Australian author Eve Langley is ripe for rediscovery with new biography illuminating her difficult life

Born in remote New South Wales in 1904, Langley is best known for her first novel, The Pea Pickers (1942). It follows the journey of two young women who cross-dress so they can work as agricultural labourers in Gippsland during the Depression.

Mukesh Batra to write book on his chain of homeopathy clinics, journey as an entrepreneur

The book will also explore the business decisions that were taken at Dr Batra's during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Storytelling and healthcare: How childhood trauma can get in the way of describing symptoms, medical history well

Every patient is forced to be a storyteller; a health-care professional’s job is to make them an excellent one.

Explained: Revenge travel, and the dangers it poses in a country still battling the coronavirus pandemic

Revenge travel is the urge to travel after being in lockdown for an extended period of time.

In Romania, a monument 'ambulance' breathes life into historical buildings that suffer decay

Since it launched, Ambulance for Monuments has rescued 55 historical structures, including medieval churches, historic fortification walls, old watermills and ancient UNESCO World Heritage Sites, from descending into complete ruin.

Harvard to repatriate civil rights leader Standing Bear’s tomahawk to Nebraska tribe

Larry Wright, Jr, chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, said Tuesday the return of the historic weapon is a powerful symbol of homecoming for the tribe.

An Oral History of the COVID-19 Crisis: 'Death had taken hold everywhere I looked and leaned'

This account is part of Firstpost’s Oral History Project of the COVID-19 Crisis in India. The Oral History Project aims to be an ongoing compendium of individual experiences of the pandemic, with a focus on one significant day in our respondents’ lives during this time.

'I feel the pain of having nowhere to go': A Manipuri trans woman recounts her ongoing lockdown ordeal

Siku, a Nupi Manbi (trans woman) from Manipur, found her job and life in Bengaluru suddenly at end with the lockdown. Having returned to Manipur, however, Siku has had an especially difficult journey that is nowhere close to its end.

Dior hosts its first post-COVID-19 shows in Paris, showcasing fall-winter haute couture collection

The show opened with a range of black-and-white checks and tweeds with matching boots — some looks embroidered with feathers for a tweed effect.

Paris couture returns after COVID-19-imposed hiatus with Belgian designer Pieter Mulier taking on Alaïa's legacy

Mulier subsumed his own ego to the history of the house. He literally held the show outside the front door, as if to acknowledge he was just entering.

Famed British seascape by JMV Turner to be auctioned; the painting is expected to sell at a whopping US $8 mn

The seascape canvas is on display alongside over 650 other paintings, sculptures and decorative arts in Sotheby’s multi-roomed exhibit.

Dear Miss Metropolitan: Author Carolyn Ferrell's second is a harrowing novel; reading it is an endurance test

Ferrell tells the story of three young girls, Black and biracial, who are kidnapped and thrown into the basement of a decaying house in Queens. Once there, they are tied down and tortured and raped for a decade, reminiscent of the kidnappings in Cleveland from 2002 to 2013.

The Instagram myth of holistic living: How Belle Gibson crafted her 'wellness guru' persona from falsehoods

Home Videos Shorts Live TV