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Arts + Culture – Articles, Analysis, Comment

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The design and colours of the bead work convey particular messages. Author Supplied

Maasai beads: the interplay between Europe and Africa

Colourful glass beads and red blankets play an important role in Maasai culture. But their origins are surprising, and provide an interesting insight into cultural exchanges between Europe and Africa.
‘The Dictator’ (2012) by Sacha Baron-Cohen plays on the fact that kitsch is used by dictators and fundamentalists to redefine our world. Zennie Abraham/Flickr

How kitsch consumed the world

Kitsch has slowly become the main cultural reference for all that surrounds us, and thrives in propaganda.
Members of the Black Bloc light flares as riot police arrive during a street protest against the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

How Black Blocs have changed protest movements around the world

Black Blocs sprung from an anarchist movement in western Germany. Anti-capitalism and anti-government, the original Black Blocs marched against nuclear energy and neo-Nazis.
In India, a light complexion is associated with power, status and beauty, fueling an innovative and growing market of skin-bleaching products. Adam Jones/Flickr

Bleached girls: India and its love for light skin

Indian girls grow up in an environment where they are constantly reminded that fair is beautiful.
Disney’s retrograde princesses have seen some improvements in recent years, but they still send mixed messages about what female leadership looks like. JLinsky/flickr

Teaching little girls to lead

Princesses are not great role models if we want to raise empowered daughters.
Trinidad’s semi-professional cricket, long a feeder for Caribbean cricketers to play broad, has lost of its lustre. Tom Hodgkinson/flickr

Can Caribbean cricket get its (political) groove back?

Once a sport associated with anti-colonialism, cricket in the Caribbean has become a career path for young men with dreams of wealth and glamour.
The Mummy, in its 2017 rendition, rehashes an 80-year-old franchise focused on revived Egyptian corpses. AlloCine

Why we love (and fear) mummies

Mummies are scary but they also fascinate us, giving us the feeling that we can vanquish time by preserving our most perishable feature: flesh.
Truong Tan’s catalogue for his first solo exhibition in 1994 documents his tentative exploration of performance art and frequent use of ropes. Photo by Truong Tan used with permission.

The pioneering queer artists who opened Vietnam to gay culture

LGBT rights are a work in progress in Vietnam. But artists are in the vanguard of the movement, pushing for public acceptance.