Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Fair Observer's exploration of human creativity in all forms including literature, theater, film, opera, art, sculpture, music, dance, cuisine and travel.
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Argentina / Bogota / Catholic / Colombia / Dylan Herrera / Gay Marriage / Gay Rights / Heterosexuality / Homosexuality / Latin America / Peru / Politics / Roman Catholic Church / Spain / Venezuela / Focus Article / Arts & Culture / AmericasA campaign against discrimination has been launched by gay activists in Colombia. Denying civil rights to a specific group in society, resembles the struggle against anti-Semitism and the African-American civil rights movement. In 2005, the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in Spain approved gay marriage. The big question was whether the approval was going to be the small landslide that would cause the avalanche in Latin America, the stronghold of the Catholic Church. December 2009 saw Mexico City become the first city in Latin America to approve gay marriage; although, this approval does not apply for all states in the country. The leading step taken by Mexico City...
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Al Nasser FC / Arab Spring / Dissent / Nasrawi Revolution / Politics / Prince Faisal / Prince Nawaf / Revolution / Saudi Arabia / Saudi Football Federation / Shia Minority / Soccer / Wahhabism / Women's Soccer / Focus Article / Arts & Culture / Middle EastSaudi Arabia is seeing an emergence of political dissent from soccer fans. The country may be on the verge of licensing women’s soccer clubs that currently operate in a legal nether land. Soccer, alongside minority Shiite Muslims and relatives of imprisoned government critics, is emerging as a focal point of dissent in Saudi Arabia; an oil-rich kingdom that, despite banning demonstrations by law, is struggling to fend off the waves of change sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. Nasrawi Revolution Fan pressure is evolving as a potent tool in the absence of the right to protest. It follows intermittent demonstrations, and at times deadly clashes with security forces, in the...
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360° Analysis / April 6th / Arab Spring / Cairo Art / Egyptian Revolution / Egyptian Uprising / Essam Hanafi / Hosni Mubarak / Makhlouf / Marie-Jeanne Berger / Arts & Culture / Middle East / AfricaMarie-Jeanne Berger looks at the (post)revolutionary art scene rising from the streets of downtown Cairo. I’ll Die Anyways “I feel lucky that I as an artist haven’t been persecuted during the time of Mubarak,” says Egyptian cartoonist Makhlouf. “Not like [assassinated Palestinian cartoonist] Naji al-Ali, or [imprisoned and released illustrator] Essam Hanafi. But I also think that if it happened, it means you are stronger than them. I’ll die anyways. If I die and am influential in society, that’s okay.” Makhlouf, who uses only his first name, is the co-founder of Tok Tok, an illustrated magazine. The publication is one of many local initiatives...
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360° Analysis / China Press Freedom / Hu Jintao / Karl Marx / Politics / Professor Zhan Jiang / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Zhan JiangChina’s idea of the free press differs from the Western idea of an independent fourth column. Professor Zhan Jiang looks at how a Marxist model of press freedom can be developed under the existing system. During and after the 18th Party Congress, party and state leaders restated that China should be ruled by law and governed according to the Constitution. They also said that the supervision of power should be tightened, including oversight through public opinion by news media. “Four Rights” The 17th Party Congress report of 2007, mentioned citizens’ “Four Rights” — the rights to stay informed about, participate in, express views on, and oversee...
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360° Analysis / cyber attacks / Lenta.ru / Politics / Russia Internet / Svetlana Bocharova / Europe / BRIC / Arts & CultureBy Lenta.ru -By Svetlana Bocharova As the Russian Internet is actively moving from the periphery to the avant-garde of socio-political life, the government brands it “the main threat to the wellbeing and stability” of Russia. Analysts from the human rights group Agora have released a new report about Internet freedom in Russia. The full text of the document can be found on the site eLiberator. According to the head of Agora, Pavel Chichikov (who also curates the topic of internet freedom in the Presidential Council on Human Rights), the project was designed to monitor violations by the government and consult Internet users and sources. The number of Internet freedom violations is growing...
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360° Analysis / Alessandro Sallusti / Il Giornale / Italy / Media Freedom / Ossigeno per l’Informazione / Politics / Silvio Berlusconi / Steven Ellis / Europe / Arts & CultureBy Steven EllisAmong other threats to press freedom, journalists in Italy continue to face potential prison time for defamation, a situation which is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. When Italy’s highest tribunal upheld a 14-month prison sentence last fall for criminal libel against Alessandro Sallusti, editor of the newspaper Il Giornale, the move not only drew international condemnation, but raised hopes that it might prompt long-overdue reforms to Italian defamation law. Like many European countries, Italy allows those aggrieved by the publication or broadcast of allegedly defamatory statements to pursue remedies through a civil action or to file a criminal...
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360° Analysis / Iraq Invasion / Iraq War / Poetry / Reel Festivals / Reel Iraq 2013 / Arts & Culture / Middle EastSarah Zakzouk’s review of Reel Words, an evening of Iraqi and British poetry in London commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the Iraq war. Reel Words, an evening of poetry in translation, was but a small element of the Reel Festivals lineup. This year’s festival, Reel Iraq, was comprised of a series of cultural events marking the ten-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by US and UK forces. Dubbed ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’, America and Britain’s stated mission was to liberate the Iraqi people from despotism, and disarm Saddam Hussein of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Serving as a poignant reminder of the consequences of the invasion,...
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360° Analysis / Chris Ogbondah / Nigeria Media Freedom / Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) / Politics / ThisDay / Arts & Culture / AfricaAlthough Nigeria’s civilian government has adopted many methods of suppressing the free media from its military predecessors, Chris Ogbondah argues that the crushing brutality of the dictatorship years has subsided – albeit with disturbing exceptions. This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. Physical attacks on media houses, as well as the assault and killing of journalists, highlight the recurring violence against Nigerian journalists and partly explains why the Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), listed Nigerian police as one of the worst 40 press predators in the world in 2010. For example, on August 30, 2003, security officers of...
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Argentina / Buenos Aires / Joseph Knobel Freud / Julián Chappa / Psychoanalysis / Psychologist / Sigmund Freud / Focus Article / Arts & Culture / AmericasJulián Chappa talks to the great nephew of Sigmund Freud. A glimpse at the Freud family and its legacy. This is the last of a two-part series. Read part one here. Julián Chappa: You have three relatives in Buenos Aires who share the surname Freud. Could you please tell us a litlle bit more about them? Joseph Knobel Freud:I have many more relatives who have the surname Freud in Buenos Aires. Those three are the ones who are directly related to me. In fact, my mother Clara Freud had a sister who had two children that currently live in Buenos Aires. It is fair to say that I don't have a very strong relationship with them, but they are my cousins nonetheless. My mom also...