Telling the truth – Social investigation by Nordic filmmakers

Nordic documentary filmmakers have earned a fine reputation for taking a critical look at a wide range of subjects. Since 2006, the top award-winning documentaries from the Nordic Documentary Film Festival (NORDOX) have been screened in Beijing every year.

Mapping the seventh ring – Exploring the city’s garbage

A new Google map of Beijng shows 400 strange spots marked in a ring around the city. Each is one of the dumps on which millions of Beijingers depend to keep the city clean.

Thr Price of beijing underground

For aspiring photographers – or more accurately, artists – there are usually two roads to building a career. They can start as the assistant of a successful photographer, or they can start building their underground.

Tales of the Bund – Filmmaker’s new experiment in documentary

The Bund, located on the western bank of the Huangpu River, is the epitome of modern Chinese history, a museum of Western architecture and the icon of Shanghai.

Imagining behyond form – Frank Gehry brings first exhibition to Beijing

The 81-year-old Pritzker Prize-winner is that rare kind of architect who has garnered both critical acclaim and popular fame. Some say his designs are “exaggerated,” “crude” or “weird,” while others say Gehry is a genius and architectural icon.

Life on the other side – Spanish photographer’s world of light and shadow

Many people see photography as a way of looking at the world. For Spanish photographer Alberto Garcia-Alix, it’s a way of life.

Today Art takes on globalization

The 21st century has seen more events that are shocking than pleasantly surprising: the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a destructive “war on terror” in Afghanistan and Iraq, nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula, global natural disasters, diseases and economic recession.

Pinter’s absurdist masterpiece revived in Beijing

Noble laureate Harold Pinter has a long history of shaking up society’s households. In 1964, his domestic gender warfare play The Homecoming became the center of incredible controversy in the theater scene.

New twist on old tales – Monaco’s ballet reinterprets the classics

For most theater managers, reproducing classics is one of easiest ways to guarantee attendance. But artists who try their hand at reproduction face greater risks.

Beats of the land – Artist’s persistence saves ethnic heritage

Percussion instruments are the oldest of any traditional instrument in China.
The earliest archaeological evidence of Chinese percussion music was discovered in Shanxi Province, where massive drums were made to celebrate the triumph of Li Shimin’s army durig Tang Dynasty (618-907). Drumming in Shanxi Province can be dated back centuries earlier to Xinjiang County, the ancient name of Jiangzhou, in present-day Shanxi Province.