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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China / Chomsky / Freud / Japan / Laos / North Korea / Politics / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaFair Observer's five best articles of February. By February, the new year loses its newness and 2013 is no exception. While all of us have settled into 2013, the world continues to be as eventful as ever. Italy has had yet another election. Kerry is off on his first foreign trip as Secretary of State. Karzai is asking the US to curtail its role, and the conflict in Syria shows no signs of resolution. The world economy is wobbly with the Eurozone in deepest distress. At Fair Observer, we try our best to make sense of the world and please find our best articles for February below. As always, we want to know what you think and please email us at info@fairobserver.com to tell us how we can...
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360° Analysis / Bangladesh / India / Laws / New Delhi / Politics / Rape / Woman's health / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaLaws on rape do not usually refer to the “moral character” of the victim, presumably because it is generally not relevant to the crime. Moreover, the phrase itself is an anachronism, besides being vague and hard to pin down. But it is time that rape laws did refer to a woman's moral character – specifically to prohibit references to it in court during prosecution of cases involving rape. On February 2, 2013, the Indian government passed an Ordinance tightening rape-related laws – hopefully, a first step towards their comprehensive reform. A key measure has been the amendment of the Indian Evidence Act (1972) to disallow evidence, or cross examination, on the...
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architecture / brazil / drug trafficking / Rio de Janeiro / Rocinha / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AmericasAn insight about some of the elements peculiar to the realities of favelas in Brazil. The vast majority of women who live in Rocinha, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, have their toenails painted. Different colors, shades and designs. Usually, they wear flip-flops, casual and simple clothes, and their hair tied. Almost no make-up. But the toenails are there, showing themselves to everyone. That’s a fact that only those can perceive who actually go to Rocinha, one of the most famous favelas in Brazil. This is the kind of news that media doesn’t talk about; there are no articles on papers either. It’s a detail about the community that lives there, nowadays reaching a number of...
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360° Analysis / clash of civilisation / India / Politics / Rape / society / turning point / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaThe traditional feudal society behind the façade of a modern liberal democracy has been revealed after the Delhi rape. It has also highlighted the increasingly bitter clash of civilisations within a civilisation. Although column inches, candles and slogans have been liberally expended over yet another tragic case, it is far from a turning point in India’s inexorable slide towards medievalism. The deteriorating statistics on reported rape cases (Graph) (which themselves represent only about 10% of actual rapes) is only one facet of India’s regression. Increasing corruption, institutional decay and wanton use of state power are all visible symptoms of this trend. Perhaps...
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360° Analysis / Cultural identity / Cultural Psyche / Global Security / Guns / security / United States / Arts & CultureOur collective narrative is more and more dominated by fear and instability. Amy Edelstein explores how we need structural changes to reduce the influence of such elements in our collective psyche. A combination of advanced technology, a 24 hour media cycle, and troubled, alienated youth has splashed the unthinkable too frequently across our minds’ eye. We’re becoming no strangers to eruptions of fear in our youngsters, to shadowy threats in fleeting moments of our common patterns of life. We are not prepared by acts of war nor trained for acts of valor. Oddly, we now live with the unthinkable in neighborhoods where Mr. Rogers used to only button his cardigan, change his shoes,...
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360° Analysis / Democracy / government / India / New Delhi / Politics / Rape / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Karan KharbThe gang rape case in New Delhi unveils the government's incapability to impose law and order. The gang rape of a hapless girl in a bus on busy roads of India’s capital city New Delhi on December 16 is just another slap on the face of Indian democracy. Crime in the city has become a way of life leaving citizens to fend for themselves. Before we are able to recover from one sad occurrence, a new menace is lurking to pounce. Anti-corruption crusaders had squarely accused as many as fifteen ministers of the Manmohan Singh government for corruption. Not one of them has dared to sue the accusers for false allegation or defamation. Nearly a third of the Lok Sabha members are...
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360° Analysis / Evolution / Internet / Phones / social networking / Tattoos / Technology / Umbrella / Arts & CultureBy Ivo OliveiraAn approach to how technology evolves having internet as its main driver The (number of) technological breakthroughs that we have witnessed in the last thirty years is impressive, to say the least. The rate of the development is rising constantly; not only we advance more and more in shorter periods of time, but the impact of new technology in our daily lives is also greater than ever. The pace is incredible. By the time you think you have grappled with the ultimate piece of equipment, or you finally have the money to buy it — before you can even brag about it to your friends — a new state-of-the-art piece is out. You won’t be able to survive without it in the future...
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21st century / 360° Analysis / hipster / Internet / isms / jeanette winterson / literature / posers / Samuel Beckett / Science Fiction / WWW / Arts & CultureThe technological age, where ink has been substituted by software, has brought literature to a crossroads. The era of digital omniscience – the precepts of its zeitgeist – has changed literature. The technological component, its praxis, has deeply transformed the way we create, communicate and read literature. It is the hostile takeover by the electronic medium, where the reader has become a surfer to whom a novel or a poem is, more than anything, downloaded. But even through mouse clicks and pdfs, literature is a beacon in this transformation; it casts a critical eye on these paradigm shifts and provides a perspective which will convey meaning in and for the future. The...
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360° Analysis / Berlin Wall / Canvas / Graffiti / Street Art / Vandalism / Europe / Arts & CultureYessi Bello explores the premise that graffiti is a valid form of political activism as opposed to a form of vandalism. The article outlines the reasons why graffiti should be considered as an art form serving as a political commentary of the time, using the Berlin Wall as a case study. This article is the last of a three part series. Read part one here. The Internationalisation of The Wall Outside Germany, Berlin represented the struggle between capitalism and communism and the diverging cultures which these entailed. In fact, it was the atypical division of the city that constituted its biggest attraction for foreigners. There are many reasons as to why West Berlin became such an...