Discordant brass notes escape from a rehearsal room in Sliven’s gypsy ghetto, as 15 local boys prepare for band practice and take a break from the poverty-stricken life of the slum outside. "Now boys — one, two, three…," band leader Angel Tichaliev calls out and the tunes merge into a bold, lively melody that resonates …

Ten out of 200 artists, including from Egypt, Algerian and Iran, were chosen for this year’s Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition to compete for the £25, 000 biannual Jameel Prize for Islamic-inspired contemporary art. “The nominations were from a much wider span than those of the 2009 prize, stretching from North America to France, Algeria, …

A judge on Monday handed 12-year jail terms to two men convicted of killing popular Algerian singer Lounes Matoub, an avid Berber campaigner. Matoub, who was known for promoting Berber culture and seeking official recognition for his people and their language, was gunned down aged 42 near the Kabylie region’s capital Tizi Ouzou, east of …

Thieves and art dealers are the usual suspects, but mildew and flashbulbs are just as dangerous for some of the Philippines’ beleaguered cultural treasures. From a 30,000-year-old skull fragment of one of its first human inhabitants to imposing churches built during Spanish colonial rule, the Southeast Asian archipelago has a stunning display of artifacts showcasing …

By John Radcliff “Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within,” said Claudia Johnson, professor of English Literature at Princeton. Such sentiment has been illustrated at Shubbak (Arabic for ‘window’), London’s first ever celebration of contemporary …

I will feign deafness if I ever hear someone criticizing the concept of a fine dining Mexican restaurant in Egypt. Tex-Mex fried mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings from Chili’s is not really Mexican, and lord were we missing something on the city’s dining scene until Maria’s came along. I was a little surprised at first …

By Sankalita Shome Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian Nobel Laureate in Literature, is no stranger to Egypt; he was great friends with renowned Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi and the words that he penned for Egypt seem almost prophetic in the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution. He said of Egypt that it is “the land where the …

CAIRO: “Would they call us traitors? Would the government spy on us upon our return? Would the local press try to manipulate our actions to tarnish our image?” These were the types of questions the popular band Wust El Balad and their manager Rami Heikal wrestled with when deciding whether to travel to Ramallah and …

Acclaimed choreographer Roland Petit, whose creations dazzled stages from Paris to Hollywood and inspired dancers, writers and designers has died. He was 87. The Paris National Opera said Petit’s wife, Zizi Jeanmaire, informed them that the choreographer died on Sunday in Geneva. No cause of death was given. Jeanmaire, ballerina turned music hall performer who …

Talk about great timing. Abu Dhabi-based Twofour54 couldn’t have picked a better moment to partner with international film festival concept Tropfest to create Tropfest Arabia 2011, a short film festival for aspiring filmmakers from the region. Twofour54 is a government initiative aimed at developing a sustainable Arabic media industry across all platforms. Founded by Australian …

Room 217 in the Gran Hotel La Perla, swankiest hotel in northern Spain’s bull-running city Pamplona, has barely changed since Ernest Hemingway last slept here. There are a few alterations the American writer might have abhorred — a plasma television, air conditioning, and a price of up to €1,800 ($2,500) a night during the San …

One of Latin America’s most admired folk singers, Facundo Cabral, was killed Saturday when three carloads of gunmen ambushed the vehicle in which he was riding, prompting expressions of anguish from across the region. Authorities said the performer’s concert promoter was apparently the target. Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said the Argentine singer and novelist was …

By Maha ElNabawi What’s in a name? That which we call Meetphool.net – potentially the most revolutionary website to hit the performing arts sector in Egypt and likely the entire Mediterranean region. The website is suffused with the traditions of theatre. According to their website, Meetphool derives its catchy name from “the fool” – a theatre …

CAIRO: Egyptian officials say archaeologists have unearthed the first basilica erected in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Antiquities authorities say the basilica is dated to the Roman era and was built on the ruins of a temple from the Ptolemaic reign that ended with the death of Cleopatra. A statement Thursday says two parallel …

By Chitra Kalyani It’s astonishing that stand-up comedy did not gain stage-presence in Egypt up until a few years ago. Local talents at the “Freedom of Funny” show far outstripped the highlight of visiting artist Ronnie Khalil’s “Brezidential Brobosal” at Sawy Culture Wheel on Thursday. Musical duo High on Body Fat, composed of the portly …

Influential US artist Cy Twombly, who died Tuesday aged 83, was a key figure in the post-war abstract art world with a career spanning six decades. Renowned for his vast canvasses adorned with scribblings, the artist let his creations speak for themselves, rarely giving interviews or appearing in public. The director of the Lambert collection …

Ballet can now be counted amongst the artistic disciplines touched by Egypt’s recent revolution. The January 25 Revolution has prompted a wave of cultural production, much of it inspired by scenes and experiences from the lead up to Hosni Mubarak’s ouster on February 11. “The Pyramids and the Revolution,” a ballet adapted from famed French …

By Ted Anthony/ AP It’s convenient to assign J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8,” one of this summer’s biggest movies, an easy, modular genre: Intrepid small-town kids encounter the unknown, engage it, handle it far better than the adults and find that their emotionally sensitive behavior brings their community salvation. Call it the E.T. Effect. Look closer, …

A community opera involving hundreds of children and written by the author of "Billy Elliot" has been canceled after the writer refused to remove lines spoken by a gay character in which he calls himself "queer." Education officials said the school removed 300 pupils due to appear in the production because of offensive and derogatory …

Actress Bai Ling said she is confronting a dark chapter from her past: sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of Chinese army officers. Bai, 44, who was a soldier in a People’s Liberation Army performance troupe from age 14 to 17, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that she …

  F ive years ago, former war reporter and documentary filmmaker Ibrahim El-Batout was another aspiring filmmaker with an atypical vision deemed incongruous with the homogenous local film scene. A couple of years later, El-Batout became the most influential independent filmmaker in the country, turning the industry on its head and paving the way for independent …

CAIRO: In the salons the tassel-loafer lounge lizards glad-hand groupies. Revolution? A bump in the road, they bluster. The tables will turn, you’ll see. Or will they? The government is calling the bankers’ bluff. Send the players to the video store to find out which hand to play this week. In The Cincinnati Kid (Steve …

CAIRO: Egyptian and French archaeologists have unearthed a 2,700-year-old stone gate belonging to Nubian King Shabaka while digging near Luxor’s Karnak temple, the ministry of antiquities said on Sunday. The gate, which was found to be "in good condition," once led to the room holding the king’s treasures, the ministry said. "It is the first …

Three years ago, a little indie film with no stars called “Ein Shams” (Eye of the Sun) came out of nowhere to take the Egyptian film industry by storm, challenging censorship, sidestepping shooting permissions’ circle of hell and ultimately becoming the first independently-financed film to acquire a commercial screening in Egypt. Over the past three …

CAIRO: About a month after the protests started in January, Mariam El-Hitami was speaking with a friend of hers who had been active in the demonstrations and was recovering from a rubber bullet that hit his left eye. “Let us build Egypt,” El-Hitami, one of the organizers of Egypt.Now, remembers Jawad Naboulsy telling her. Friday, …

By Chitra Kalyani Since marketing his first single when he was 15, electronic artist Neobyrd has figured out the formula. “To get signed you need to spend 40 percent [of your time] doing music, and 60 percent marketing yourself,” said the artist at the launch of his album “Transbyrd” at Cairo Jazz Club on Monday. It …

As tear gas fired by riot police lands inside their Syntagma Square camp, the brains behind a pirate radio station broadcasting Greek Indignants’ dreams of a new revolution vow to stay the course. The music is hardly cutting edge, coming straight from the era of the uprising against the US-backed Greek colonels — "Riders on …

With his distinctive light blue eyes and soft demeanor, famed Egyptian sculptor Adam Henein stood observing the towering metallic figures. The statues, numbered at about 20, directed their gaze at the horizon of the desert in which they were standing. It was early June on a balmy summer’s evening when the sun started to set, …

PARIS: French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, known for her books on art and history and for saving the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam, has died at the age of 97, her editor Telemaque said Friday. In a career spanning more than half-a-century, Desroches-Noblecourt also helped preserve the mummy of King Ramses II, …