The Power of Culture

Perihan Magden is both loved and feared in Turkey. Every morning she shakes her readers awake every morning with dead-sharp analyses and witty remarks. However, she must also pay the price.

Aurelio Martínez is one of the most important ambassadors of the Garifuna music that is slowly but surely overtaking the world.

In her house in Havana, curator Sandra Ceballos organizes artist in residence projects and pioneering exhibitions.

Against all odds, the Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina sometimes tries to correct the traditional image of Africa in the media.

Poet Togara Muzanenhamo sees an opportunity in Zimbabwe for a new generation of performance poets, but he prefers to remain on the sideline himself.

According to Nigerian/American curator Okwui Enwezor, photography plays an important role in African society.

Claudio Valdés Kuri is considered one of the best Latin American theatre directors. His group Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes attracts packed houses all over the world with its headstrong productions.

Indian theatre-maker Roysten Abel created in 1999 an Othello adaptation that has since become a success throughout the world.

The Brazilian documentary maker Felipe Peres Calheiros recorded a unique trip of descendants of runaway slaves.

Now that there is more peace and quiet in his native country, film maker Amor Hakkar sees space for the personal in Algerian cinema. In La Maison Jaune he shows the mourning process of a rural family which suddenly loses its eldest son.