ARTS & CULTURE

El Sistema Brings Forth Genius in Every Child

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Simon Rattle, the former chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and now conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has said that El Sistema in Venezuela is “The most important thing happening in classical music today in the world”. Julian Lloyd Weber, the renowned cellist, has said, “It’s surely the most extraordinary musical phenomenon of our times”.

It seems like whenever I switch on Mezzo, the superb French TV classical and jazz channel, I see either conductors, Valery Gergiev, maestro of the Mariinsky or Gustavo Dudamel, chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gergiev, along with Rattle, are probably the world’s top conductors and Dudamel, close behind them but only 39 years old, is a graduate of El Sistema.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 25 August 2020

Collage of pictures (left) of Senator Kamala Harris, official US Senate photo (Source: Wikimedia) and (right) her parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris. (Source: San Jose Mercury News).

From Lotus Goddess to Holy Basil: Transnational Racio-scapes in US Presidential Politics

By Radhika Parameswaran and Pallavi Rao *

BLOOMINGTON, USA (IDN) – On June 27, 2019, the night of the second Democratic primary debate, Donald Trump Jr. shared and deleted a tweet posted by the right-wing provocateur Ali Alexander. Alexander’s social media post alleged that presidential candidate Kamala Devi Harris was “not an American Black” because she was half Indian and half Jamaican. Trump Jr.’s spokesperson then offered a dubious defense of his boss claiming that he had not intended to endorse racism, but had simply been surprised to learn about Harris’s Indian background.¹

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 21 August 2020

Photo: Bronislaw Malinowski with Trobriand islanders, 1917 – 1918. | Wikicommons/LSE Library Collection. Some rights reserved.

Chronicles of Culturological Quackery

Viewpoint by Martin Paleček*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News

Hradec Králové, Czech Republic (IDN) – The concept of culture as a ‘driver of societies’ that has become the lucky charm of nationalists has its origins in the oeuvres of some prominent academics.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 August 2020

Photo: "The Guardian of Time", a sculpture by Lebanese artist Tony Farah outside the lower cave at Jeita. CC BY-SA 3.0

Embedded in Beirut: A Communion with Ancestors

Recollections by a Nigerian journalist who toured Lebanon two years ago

By Louis Odion

*The writer, Fellow of Nigerian Guild of Editors, is the Senior Technical Assistant on Media to President Muhammadu Buhari.

ABUJA (IDN) – Many wished they were allowed to capture the moment with the camera, but the literary amazon from Borno beheld a different picture in the officially restricted space. She saw politics in the classification of the Jeita Grotto as the "world's 15th wonder" and not within the first 10.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 06 August 2020

A Train Tour for Children of the World into 2030

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Grenada, Mr Denis G. Antoine, has authored an extraordinary children's book: Get on Board, Dear Children of the World. He served as a Vice President of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly, marking the 70th anniversary of the world body.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 09 July 2020

Image: Cover of Bolton's book. Credit: The writer

Bolton's Book Fires Blanks at the Trump Administration

Viewpoint by Charlotte Munns

Charlotte Munns is a London-based freelance writer who has specialized in English Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, New York

LONDON (IDN) – John Bolton's 'The Room Where It Happened' opens with a bizarre epigraph touting the British triumph over Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo. To liken Bolton's 'tell-all' memoir of the Trump administration to the actions that destroyed an empire is a stretch, to say the least.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 July 2020

Photo: The shooting dead of popular Ethiopian political singer Hachalu Hundessa has sparked unrest in the country. Hundessa is considered a voice for Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromo, during years of anti-government protest. He is a Nobel Peace laureate. Source: DW Africa.

Murder of Popular Protest Singer Swells Opposition Against Ethiopian Leader

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ethiopian protest singer and revered musician Hachalu Hundessa sang about love and unity, recalled his friend Amensisa Ifa, raising issues that many would not dare to bring up.

He addressed issues of marginalization – capturing the struggles and frustrations of his Oromo people who faced efforts by successive Ethiopian regimes to destroy the Oromoo language, exploit its precious resources, and expropriate Oromo lands into an expanded Addis Ababa.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 July 2020

Photo (cropped): Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. Source: Wikipedia Com-mons.

Remembering Ludwig van Beethoven – A Genius with a Disability

By Heike Kuhn

The writer, Dr Heike Kuhn, is Head of the "Human Rights Gender Equality, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Bonn, the capital of divided Germany. The other part of the BMZ is in Berlin, the capital city of unified Germany since 3 October 1990.

BONN (IDN) – The year 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous composer and pianist‎, well known all over the world. He was a genius with a disability. Germany's UN City Bonn is very proud of its famous son, born here, next to the river Rhine.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 04 May 2020

Photos: Three African artists who have passed away: (left to right) South Sudan's Dr. Mansour Khalid; Sierra Leone's Abou Whyte; Cote d'Ivoire's Rose Marie Guiraud, a distinguished African dancer.

Africans Mourn the Passing of a Distinguished Thinker and two Outstanding Artists

By Lisa VIves, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – While the rate of fatalities in Africa is still much below that of developed countries, every life lost is a library gone, according to a saying. Here are three noted Africans who passed this year just as thousands of lives were tragically lost to the coronavirus worldwide.

Dr. Mansour Khalid, a prolific author in both Arabic and English, exposed all the ailments of Sudanese elites that led to the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. These ills are vividly elucidated in two books –The Government They Deserve: The Role of the Elite in Sudan’s Political Evolution in 1990, and The Paradox of Two Sudans: The CPA and the Road to Partition in 2015.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 28 April 2020

The Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is an historic monument and home to art from around the world, including the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's most famous masterpiece. Source: UN News © Eric Ganz

The Power of Art in A Time of Coronavirus Crisis

By Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS (IDN) – As billions of people find themselves either in lockdown or on the front lines combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the first celebration of World Art Day on April 15 is a timely reminder that "art has the power to unite and connect in times of crisis", the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

"Bringing people together, inspiring, soothing and sharing: these are the powers of art, the importance of which has been made emphatically obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic", Audrey Azoulay said in her message.