“Hanifa Alizada, a photo-artist and art teacher at Kabul University, has been refused a visa to enter Canada to deliver a speech about life for Afghan women and to exhibit her work at a symposium [in Ottawa] Jan. 22-25.” No reason has been given.
Tag: 11.25.14
A Literary Love Letter, With Despair And Grief, To Moscow
“The nature of the Russian regime did not change when Peter the Great made his subjects shave their beards and moved the seat of government from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Nor did it change when Lenin moved it back to Moscow. Nor has it changed since; it still ‘wants everything to tremble before it.'”
How Did West Virginia Deal With Its First Queer Film Fest?
“Historically, both Appalachians and LGBTQ folks have been disenfranchised by society. Both have preconceptions that people believe about them that are largely untrue or at least unfounded. So we wanted to bring these two groups of people in the same space to recognize the similarities between themselves and create a conversation using film as the vessel.”
So Why Did Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Archives Go To Texas?
“The Ransom Center already has extensive archives on writers Jorge Luis Borges, William Faulkner and James Joyce. Other Nobel laureates included in its collection are Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. Monday’s announcement had raised eyebrows in Colombia.”
Study: Link Between Mental Sharpness And Cultural Activities In Seniors
“Internet use and engagement in various social activities, in particular cultural activities, appear to help older adults maintain the literary skills required to self-manage health.”
Venezuela Presents A Hugo Chávez Ballet
“The state-sponsored work, Ballet of the Spider-Seller to Liberator, is to show at a Caracas theater on Saturday in homage to Chávez’s life from poor boy selling homemade spider-shaped sweets in his rural hometown to president for 14 years.”
Shakespeare First Folio Discovered In Small-Town French Library
“The book – one of only 230 believed to still exist – had lain undisturbed in the library at Saint-Omer in the north of France for 200 years.”
Chris Ofili’s “Holy Virgin Mary” Doesn’t Seem So Shocking Anymore – Why?
You may remember that when the Nigerian-British artist’s rendition of the Madonna was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999, following uneventful showings in Europe, all hell broke loose (as it were). Now the piece is back in New York, attracting no particular controversy. Alastair Sooke considers what’s changed over the past 15 years.
Happy People Aren’t Always Great At Empathy
“Recent research … suggests that people who are generally cheerful are not so great at reading other people’s negative emotions, though what’s especially interesting is that they think they’re very good at it.”
Jian Ghomeshi Drops Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Against CBC
After a month of allegation after allegation of the popular radio host’s aggressive or violent behavior toward women – not to mention leaks from within the CBC about its decision to fire Ghomeshi and the difficult working environment for his staff – he has given up his $55 million suit and agreed to pay the CBC’s legal bills.