Culture from the global south is often presented as traditional, insular and non political. Brazilian popular culture in particular is still packaged in the exotic cliches of the Girl from Ipanema and the Rio Carnival. Tropicalia blows away these stereotypes.
Cuban cinema first came into its own after the 1959 revolution with the creation of the Cuban film institute, ICAIC. The British Film Institute has put together a selection of ICAIC films which is currently touring the country.
RumbleRenegade TheatreOn tourwww.rumbletour.co.uk "Fight, dance and passion" are promised, but much much more is delivered in Renegade Theatre’s breathtaking, breakdancing reinvention of Romeo and Juliet.
It's a hot night in the centre of the Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah. Tonight the peace is disturbed not by the Islamic call to prayer or Israeli gunfire but by the sound of hip-hop music.
What a year 2006 is turning out to be for any socialist who wants to see politically charged or socially aware cinema.
Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic ImaginationTate Britain, Londonuntil 1 Maywww.tate.org.uk The exhibition explores the taste for gothic art at the end of the 18th century and 19th century. The above painting is by poet and artist William Blake’s The House of Death. The pictures at the exhibition represent the belief that humanity was taking its destiny into its own hands, but also the fear of the terrible possibilities that existed with new technology.
Gladiator Games tells the story of Zahid Mubarek, who was murdered in his cell at Feltham young offenders institute in March 2000 by his cellmate, a known violent racist.
Bookmarks bookshop1 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QE020 7637 1848www.bookmarks.uk.com
This exhibition of 30 photographs from the archives of Novosti RAI, the Soviet Press Agency is a must see. It charts the history of Russia from the 1917 revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Marriage of Figaro, first performed in 1786, is arguably Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most overtly political opera. It is based on a drama by radical French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.
The photographer Walker Evans was one of a group who worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the US during the depression-hit 1930s.
