Arts

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. His latest work, "Memoria," is one of the most anticipated films of 2021. It is his first film shot entirely outside Thailand. © Kick the Machine
Arts

Acclaimed Thai film director revels in historical parallels

With his new film, Apichatpong delves into Colombian jungles and primeval memories

13 July 2021
Thai activist and intellectual Sulak Sivaraksa speaks at a demonstration in Bangkok in November 2020 calling on King Maha Vajiralongkorn to cede control of a royal fortune valued in the tens of billions. Although he has been charged four times under Thailand’s lese majeste law, which criminalizes criticism of the monarchy, Sulak remains defiant.
Arts

Thailand's octogenarian intellectual rages on

Buddhist nonviolent activist Sulak Sivaraksa finds hope in student protests

12 July 2021
Tokyo's National Art Center is holding a comprehensive overview of Japanese fashion since World War II.
Arts

Tokyo exhibit traces fashion trends from 1940s till today

Japanese styles revealed in retrospective of clothing, magazines and videos

11 July 2021
In his latest book, "Toxic," author Richard Flanagan writes about the "slow, rolling destruction" he says Tasmania's salmon industry is wreaking on the environment. (Nikkei montage/source photos by Penguin Books and Getty Images)   
Arts

Book review: Acclaimed Australian author takes on local 'salmon barons'

Richard Flanagan lifts lid on dark side of Tasmania's lucrative fish farming industry

11 July 2021
Family members preparing an infant's body for burial inside their shelter. (Image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio)
Arts

Ai Weiwei and the Rohingya: humanity first

Dissident Chinese artist's new film exposes personal horrors of refugee life

9 July 2021
Director Ash Mayfair on the set of "The Third Wife." Despite being nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, the film never saw a full cinema run in its home country.
Arts

The 'New Wave' filmmakers challenging Vietnamese society

Censorship is unavoidable in what remains rigidly conservative country

7 July 2021
Tenor Ziwen Xiang (left), and soprano Bizhou Chang as the tragic romantic couple Rodolfo and Mimi. (Photo by Laine Rettmer)
Arts

The ex-Goldman Sachs banker who turned "La Boheme" into a movie

COVID pandemic helped forge a new take on a classic opera

3 July 2021
Four of the Chinese survivors of the Titanic sinking, who were identified by new documentary, "The Six." (Courtesy of “The Six”/ LostPensivos Films)
Arts

Chinese survivors of 'Titanic' disaster identified at last

Documentary reveals racist treatment of forgotten passengers

1 July 2021
Japanese artist Kazuki Umezawa asked Ricoh's engineers to give a volumetric aspect to his anime-inspired drawings. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Arts

Japanese tech powers the creation of art -- and profits

Expert engineering is redefining the creative process

29 June 2021
Haruki Murakami, right, who serves as the DJ for the radio program "Murakami Radio," and musician Miu Sakamoto. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo FM)
Arts

Haruki Murakami on life as a radio DJ

Japanese author believes COVID has made his fiction even more relevant

26 June 2021
The late Myanmar artist Bagyi Aung Soe sought to transcend the Western influences that dominated artistic themes in the country and create illustrations with accessible materials, such as simple markers and pens. His work is being shown at the Centre Pompidou in Paris through Aug. 23. (Photo by Sonny Nyein, courtesy of the Centre Pompidou)
Arts

International exhibition puts spotlight on Myanmar artist

Centre Pompidou mounts retrospective of works by Bagyi Aung Soe

16 June 2021
The immensely popular "Bir Zamanlar Cukurova" (Bitter Lands; left) and the recent hit "Marasli" (The Trusted) about an ex-SWAT team member fighting drug barons, have been subtitled, dubbed, adapted and exported to more than 150 countries, making Turkey the world's second-largest exporter of television content.
Arts

Turkish dramas are rewriting the global entertainment script

Different lifestyles and habits a smash hit with world audiences

13 June 2021
Kaoru Takamura's novel "Lady Joker" is well worth the wait for anyone interested in a panoramic portrait of modern Japanese society, including its dark corners, as well as fans of intelligent mysteries. Shown at right is Ezaki Glico President Katsuhisa Ezaki, whose kidnapping in 1984 helped inspire the novel. (Nikkei Asia montage/photo by Kyodo)
Arts

Books: Hit Japanese mystery novel proves life is stranger than fiction

'Lady Joker' delves into bizarre kidnapping and corporate extortion case of the 1980s

10 June 2021
Michael Smith's new book, "The Last Correspondent: Dispatches from the Frontline of Xi's New China," is an important contribution to a divisive, and damaging, debate in Australia. (Nikkei Asia montage; source photo by William Hui)
Arts

Book review: Correspondent's account highlights mystery of explusion from Shanghai

Reporter's forced exit from the country raises key questions about deterioration of Sino-Australian ties

6 June 2021
Malaysian artist Hong Yi -- better known as "Red" -- sits in front of her artwork featuring 50,000 matchsticks that she set fire to for Time magazine in April. (Photo by Annice Lyn and Jessie Lyee)
Arts

Malaysian 'painter without a brush' sees a better future

Art and politics of 'Red' Hong Yi highlight climate change, race and ethnic heritage

4 June 2021
Saudi filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour earned wide acclaim with her 2013 film "Wadjda." In her latest film, "The Perfect Candidate," al-Mansour focuses on the everyday frustrations still faced by women in the kingdom. "We are very sassy. We are very strong, so don't take us for granted," says al-Mansour.
Interview

Saudi Arabia's feminist filmmaker unveils her latest jab

'The Perfect Candidate' director Haifaa al-Mansour on why she's feeling optimistic

3 June 2021
Minoru Onoda, "Work 61-14," 1961, oil and glue on plywood, 91.8 x 133 cm. (Courtesy of the Estate of Minoru Onoda and Himeji City Museum of Art)
Arts

Japanese artist's work highlights legacy of Gutai avant-garde

Onoda retrospective celebrates 'negation and rebellion' through ever-propagating circles

26 May 2021
A protester marches at the Plastic Free Parade in Jakarta in 2019. A new Indonesian documentary sheds light on the environmental and health impact of plastic waste -- as well as offers potential solutions.
Arts

Indonesian documentary declares war on single-use plastics

'Pulau Plastik' shines light on pollution in world's biggest archipelago

22 May 2021
Myanmar's junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, presides over an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on March 27. Like Thai leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who also came to power through a putsch, he comes from a martial culture that believes generals are the best guardians of the country’s national ideology.
Arts

Book review: Thai, Myanmar militaries bounded by politics, power, profit

Sense of entitlement has given generals the upper hand

19 May 2021
For Australian opera singer Cathy-Di Zhang, who has spent most of the past year singing around the house while making loaves of sourdough, the chance to perform before a live audience at the Castlemaine State Festival was a huge emotional relief. (Photo courtesy of Castlemaine State Festival)
Arts

How an Australian arts festival shined through COVID-19

The biggest attraction was being able to join a live audience

16 May 2021
Kuala Lumpur-based singer Alena Murang's new album "Sky Songs," released on April 1, is a musical and linguistic tribute to the people of the Kelabit Highlands of northeast Sarawak. (Courtesy of Alena Murang)
Arts

Borneo's Dayak culture rebounds through film and pop

Hit zombie movie and singer bring the island's indigenous people to the world

12 May 2021
The "clone" of the Shaka (Sakyamuni) triad statue of the Horyuji temple, left, and its super clone at the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum in the city of Nagano. (Photos by Taro Yokosawa) 
Arts

Japan's art 'cloning' technology set to revamp global museums

Tokyo University of the Arts researchers recreate statue as it was 1400 years ago

8 May 2021
In the Malaysian-Taiwanese film “Miss Andy” (2020), the character Evon (Lee Lee-zen), left, develops an attraction for her co-worker, Teck (Jack Tan), who is among the few people who treat her with respect. (Courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)
Arts

Overseas release brings Malaysian LGBTQ film to the screen

Unwanted at home, groundbreaking movie 'Miss Andy' wins fans in liberal Taiwan

7 May 2021
Staff members show works by Japanese artist Mika Tajima to potential buyers at Art Basel in Hong Kong in 2019. Art Basel is one of the world's most prestigious modern and contemporary art exhibitions. 
Arts

Japan sculpts new tax rules in push to become Asian art hub

Tokyo eyes new galleries and fairs, though topping Hong Kong seen as unlikely

30 April 2021
Daniel Barenboim, a world-renowned conductor and pianist, will tour Japan in June.
Arts

Daniel Barenboim: one must not neglect the cultural side of our lives

Politicians have underestimated challenge of reviving ravaged world arts community

28 April 2021