/ARTS WEEKLY/ ARGENTINA: Voices for Hire

Light-headed from so much panting, the woman takes a break. She removes her headphones and leaves the sound studio to get a drink of water, but she is gone just a few minutes because in Argentina the high demand for film and video dubbing is keeping voices like hers busy.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ MUSIC-CUBA: Rap on the Offensive

Rap music in Cuba has made it past the initial phase of rejection and incomprehension that its controversial and critical lyrics produced, and continues to gain space in national culture. And now has its ninth festival - with local and international artists - under its belt.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC: Label Link Gives Dancehall Reggae New Life in U.S.

In 1991, dancehall reggae cracked North American charts in a way Bob Marley could only dream of during his heyday in the 1970s. But after two years, U.S. music fans tired of the latest overseas novelty and it would be a decade before the Jamaican beat would make an impact in the United States.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MALAYSIA: Film Dares to Venture into Race Relations

Malaysia's obsession with the 'Malaysia Boleh' or 'Malaysia Can Do It' culture has sent its citizens up Mt Everest, across the English Channel and soon into space, albeit on a Russian rocket.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ TV-CHILE: Revenge of the Puppets

Beyond the ongoing Chilean television network wars, pitting dramas against reality shows against variety programmes in which, critics say, vulgarity is the norm, the surprise hit this year has been the puppet-driven "31 Minutes" news show.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BRITAIN: Old Magic Gets a New Touch

The story of Aladdin, one of the many exotic tales to be found in 'The Thousand and One Arabian Nights', and his journey from poverty to the Sultan's palace has fascinated readers for generations. Aladdin's luck in finding a magic lamp, which in turn would grant his every wish, is the stuff of legend.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CHILE: Reality TV Too Real, Too Late

"Reality shows" have reached Chilean television en masse this year, a bit late in comparison to other countries, with critics saying they add little to already poor local programming. But one show has sparked controversy related to human rights violations committed during the Pinochet dictatorship.

/ARTS WEEKLY/LITERATURE-VENEZUELA: Prize Goes to the Dogs and Cats

This year's Rómulo Gallegos International Prize for the Novel, awarded by the Venezuelan state, could be among the strangest in its history, with the 100,000 dollars in prize money ending up in the hands of a foundation that protects the dogs and cats on the streets of Caracas.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-JAPAN: New Documentary Revisits Costs of War

A new documentary on the horrifying experience of female high school students who were forced to work as nurses for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II is the latest reminder of the hopelessness of war.

/ARTS WEEKLY/JAMAICA: Scorned Statue Shows Public’s Unease at Nudity – Sculptor

Life has not been the same for Jamaican sculptor Laura Facey-Cooper since her statue, Redemption Song, was unveiled here at Emancipation Park on Aug. 1.

/ARTS WEEKLY/GERMANY: Chinese Summer Comes to Berlin

On a blazing hot afternoon, perspiring visitors ascend the steps to Berlin's imposing Altes Museum with its Greek columns. The museum is exhibiting art works spanning some 2,000 years of Chinese history.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BRITAIN: New Way to Tell an Old Tale

It was eventful that a theatre company found itself situated around the corner from a museum devoted to atrocities committed during the brutal civil war in Cambodia.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC: Exhibit Poses, Probes, Ponders Fela Kuti

The New Museum's current exhibit on the Nigerian musician and outspoken activist, Fela Kuti, is a fascinating exploration of the complicated - and often problematic- legacy of a musical revolutionary.

/ARTS WEEKLY/INDIA: Astrologers, Seismologists Put their Heads Together

The worlds of astrologers and seismologists are normally poles apart, but not at a recent workshop in India where they tried to combine their divergent disciplines to forecast earthquakes and natural disasters.

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE-UGANDA: Beauty with a Purpose

The turn-up to beauty pageants, which the majority of Ugandans used to frown on, now includes professionals, cabinet ministers and even religious leaders.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-BRAZIL: Fragments Create a Unique Whole

A slow, monotonous beginning gives way to surprising plot turns in "O homem que copiava" (The Man Who Copied), the latest film by Brazilian director Jorge Furtado.

ARTS WEEKLY/ARGENTINA: Art Becomes an Investment Option

The fine arts market is an increasingly attractive option for the portion of the Argentine middle class that has maintained its savings and investment capacity. These art lovers are opting to purchase a painting instead of trusting their cash to a bank or risking it on the stock market.

/ARTS WEEKLY/US: Exhibit Holds Mirror to Follies of U.S. ‘Empire’

The U.S. public may be happily impervious to world opinion - only about 14 percent even hold passports - but a new museum exhibit here forcefully brings home the good, bad and ugly perceptions that define the last "superpower" for the other six billion people on the planet.

/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-PAKISTAN: Reviving the ‘Rabab’ Far from Easy

According to sixty-something Gul Mohammad, the 'rabab' is the 'king of Pashto music', and without this traditional string instrument, "Pashto music would be lifeless".

/ARTS WEEKLY/MALAYSIA: Support Grows for Fined Theatre Group

The muzzling of the works of a popular theatre group, whose satirical spoofs about Malaysia's politics and politicians were drawing in the crowds, is generating a backlash of protest from arts groups, activists and patrons alike.

/ARTS WEEKLY-MUSIC/UGANDA: Message of Abstinence Getting Through

"Whenever I appear on the stage and confess that I have never had sex in my life, my goodness, people laugh and fall on their knees. Even someone, who initially appeared composed, just bursts out laughing," says 26-year-old Ugandan musician, Richard Kaweesa, who is urging youth to abstain from sex before marriage.