Arts News

Baryshnikov, Youssou N'Dour among top art prize winners

By AFP

Paris - The Russian ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov and Senegalese music star Youssou N'Dour were among the winners of one of the art world's richest prizes Tuesday.

Big names flock to Cuba's first contemporary art space

By AFP

Havana - For decades, Cubans have been used to the revolutionary slogan "La lucha continua," or "the struggle goes on.

Alien Trump descends on Mexico in artist's billboard

By AFP

Mexico - His skin is blue, his face contorted and his eyes bulge from his head, but the hair is unmistakable: that alien in the giant billboard over one of Mexico City's busiest roads is Donald Trump.

'Fighting for their fate': Chinese kids adopted by MMA club

By AFP

Chengdu - The 13-year-old fighter in training starts his day at 8 a.m.

S. Korea former presidential aide jailed over artist blacklist

By AFP

Seoul - A top aide close to South Korea's disgraced former president was sentenced to three years Thursday for blacklisting nearly 10,000 artists seen as critical of Park Geun-Hye's government.

Art seeks to heal wounds in divided Cyprus

By AFP

Paphos - Inside an art gallery on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Selma Bolayir draws a large yellow sun on a black-and-white picture of a South Vietnamese soldier who appears to be crying.

'Parthenon of Books' — monumental artwork protests censorship

By AFP

Kassel - It looks like the monumental temple standing imposingly at the Acropolis in Athens. But this replica in central Germany is not built with marble, but books that have been or remain banned.

Austria's fantastical factory of 'raw art'

By AFP

Vienna - Nestled in the hills of Austria sits Gugging, an artists' colony with a difference where the worlds of psychiatry and art collide -- with spectacular success.

Israel minister says state won't fund shows with nudity

By AFP

Jerusalem - Israel's outspoken culture minister is threatening to withhold funding from two productions showing at a top festival because they contain nudity, provoking mockery and claims of censorship.

Arts figures condemn raid on top Moscow theatre in fraud probe

By AFP

Moscow - Prominent Russian arts figures including the Bolshoi theatre chief on Wednesday condemned investigators for raiding a top Moscow theatre and the home of its outspoken director in a fraud probe.

Visual artists demand 'fair' share of sales

By AFP

Geneva - When Canadian Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak sold her print "Enchanted Owl" in 1960, she pocketed $24, but when the piece was resold at auction in 2001 for nearly $59,000, she received nothing.

Opera troupe tours rural China defending a dying art

By AFP

- For the 50-year-old Chinese opera performer, every aspect of the dimly-lit backstage room was a reminder that things had changed.

Ancient sacred art resurrected in city of Jesus' birth

By AFP

Bethlehem - Down a Bethlehem alleyway, sunlight illuminates a golden icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, signalling the revival of an ancient art being practised in the workshop inside.

Taggers' delight: Vietnam city turns into graffiti canvas

By AFP

Ho Chi Minh - Shrouded by fumes and surrounded by spray cans, Vietnamese graffiti artist Kong conjures his latest masterpiece, a monkey clutching an aerosol, a colour-splashed act of rebellion in a communist country where the youth are expected to follow strict soci...

Taggers' delight: Vietnam city turns into graffiti canvas

By AFP

Taggers' delight: Vietnam city turns into graffiti canvas

By AFP

French 'human hen' artist has a crack at hatching eggs

By AFP

Paris - The French artist who recently spent a week entombed inside a rock will attempt an even more bizarre feat Wednesday -- sitting on a dozen eggs until they hatch.

France's classic 2CV car gets special edition — in wood

By AFP

Paris - A wooden replica of Citroen's iconic "2CV", crafted by a French cabinetmaker using a mix of lumbers including apple, pear and cherry, is ready to hit the road.

Desert X exhibition reflects earth, sky, state of world

By AFP

Los Angeles - A house clad in mirrors pops out of the California desert. It blends into the landscape, reflecting a kaleidoscope of the urban grid and arid valley of Palm Springs -- to the delight of photographers and selfie-seekers.

Ai Weiwei slams 'shameful' politicians ignoring refugees

By AFP

Prague - Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Thursday slammed "shameful" politicians who ignore refugees as he launched a giant art installation centered on their fate at the National Gallery in Prague.

Arts save young Mexicans from crime

By AFP

Mexico - Ex-drug addict Fernando Rivera lived through hell as a youth from a poor and violent suburb of Mexico City -- until art saved him.Now, aged 24, he smiles as he shows the mask with a skull design that he wears when he creates paintings with a spray-can....

Hockney touches up tabloid logo ahead of retrospective

By AFP

London - British artist David Hockney has turned his digital hand to Friday's masthead of The Sun, telling the tabloid of his painting and smoking habits ahead of a retrospective in London.

Oscar buzz dead, China clips 'Hooligan Sparrow' wings

By AFP

Bejing - Ye Haiyan, one of China's most prominent women's rights activists, huddled in her unheated apartment on the outskirts of Beijing, waiting to learn if the documentary that propelled her to international fame would receive an Oscar nod.

S. Korea minister resigns after arrest over arts blacklist

By AFP

Seoul - South Korea's culture minister resigned after being arrested Saturday for allegedly creating a "blacklist" of nearly 10,000 artists who voiced criticism of impeached President Park Geun-Hye.

S. Korea minister resigns after arrest over arts blacklist

By AFP

Seoul - South Korea's culture minister resigned after being arrested Saturday for allegedly creating a "blacklist" of nearly 10,000 artists who voiced criticism of impeached President Park Geun-Hye.

S. Korea minister resigns after arrest over arts blacklist

By AFP

Seoul - South Korea's culture minister resigned after being arrested Saturday for allegedly creating a "blacklist" of nearly 10,000 artists who voiced criticism of impeached President Park Geun-Hye.

Ethiopian photographer seeks new portrayal of Africa

By AFP

Addis Ababa - Surrounded by untidy stacks of paper and abandoned half-empty coffee cups, photographer Aida Muluneh chain smokes cigarettes in her Addis Ababa office and rails against the negative portrayals of Africa by foreigners.