Chinese Calligraphy Sijin Chen and Hongfei Finley Zhang CHINA Calligraphy is the quintessence of Chinese culture. It was first used to record events and what people wanted to say. In writing, people strive to make the scripts look beautiful and elegant. To meet special needs, they are written in artistic styles. The writing of Chinese characters has been developed into a special high-level art. Chinese calligraphy has flourished for several thousand years. Like painting, sculpture, poetry, music, dance, and opera, it is a full member of the family of the arts. Oracle Script Bronze Script Large Seal Small Seal Clerical Script Cursive Script Brush The brush is the traditional writing implement in Chinese calligraphy. The body of the brush can be made from bamboo, or rarer materials such as red sandalwood, glass, ivory, silver or gold. Calligraphy brushes are considered as an extension of the calligrapher’s arm. Today, a pen may be used. Ink and Inkstick The ink is made from lampblack (soot) and binders, and comes in inksticks which must be rubbed with water on an ink stone until the right consistency is achieved. Cheaper, pre-mixed bottled inks are now available, but these are used primarily for practice as stick inks are considered higher quality and chemical inks are more prone to bleeding over time, making them less suitable for use in hanging scrolls. Learning to rub the ink is an essential part of calligraphy study. Traditionally, Chinese calligraphy is written only in black ink, but modern calligraphers sometimes use other colours. Calligraphy teachers use a bright orange or red ink with which they write practice characters for students to trace, or to correct students’ work. Made from stone, ceramic, or clay from the banks of the Yellow River, inkstone is used to grind the solid inkstick into liquid ink and to contain the ink once it is liquid. Chinese inkstones are highly prized as art objects and an extensive bibliography is dedicated to their history and appreciation, especially in China. Shuka Ya Kufuma (Bedsheet) Victoria Mugisha and Divine Ngunyanya CONGO Instructions Step 1: Take a plain fabric of the size you want to make as a bedsheet (or cushion). Step 2: Draw the kind of art you want on it. Step 3: Choose the colour of wool cotton you want to use on it. Step 4: Insert the cotton into a needle then you start sewing, following the pattern of art you have designed on the bedsheet. Dances in Ethiopia Israel Mohammed and Anan Adam ETHIOPIA Ethiopia has one of the oldest and best preserved cultural dances in the world. There are well over 80 ethnic groups each with its own languages and dances. Today, I will share some of the major cultural dances that include the Guraghe, Amhara, Somali, and Tegre ethnic groups. Eskista: This is a traditional Ethiopian dance performed by both men and women. The dance is known for its unique emphasis on intense shoulder movements. It is characterized by rolling the shoulder blades, bouncing the shoulders, and jilting the chest. Wolaita: People living in Southern Ethiopia dance with distinctive waist movements. Compared to Northern Ethiopian dances like Amhara, which mainly require moving upper body (e.g. neck, shoulder, and chest), the further people go to Southern Ethiopia, the more movement of lower body their dances require. Guragigna: The Gurage people are famous for their hard work, and their dancing portrays an image of hard working people. Different from other dances, women dance with long pants and cover their hair with a scarf for this fast tempo dance. With upbeat music, dancers keep steps without rest like a marathon runner. Oromia: Oromia dance styles differ from place to place. Some of its famous dances are “Shoa Oromo” and “Halar Oromo.” Shoa Oromo has unique clothing as well as dance steps. Women wear two-piece leather decorated with shells. Men wear animal fur like lion’s mane on their heads and use sticks for dancing. Most surprising about this dance is the women’s very fast and sharp neck motion. You will never forget it once you watch it! Hong Kong Comics Brian Hui, Samuel Mok, and Jacqueline Wong HONG KONG, CHINA We chose four characters of the comics because all the authors who created these comics were from Hong Kong. They all use Hong Kong as the background for their stories. As Hongkongers, we feel a sense of belonging to the comics because we lived in the same place as the authors. Therefore, we chose these four comics to represent Hong Kong and we would like to share them with people around the world. McMug is a set of comics about Hong Kong. It was written by Brain Tse and drawn by Alice Mak. The story surrounds a cartoon pig called McMug, and was published in 1988 in Hong Kong. The set of McMug comics uses a simple way to present the local characteristics of Hong Kong. In addition, most of the conversation in this comic is written in Cantonese. The theme of this comic is the current trends (the ills of the day) of Hong Kong. Therefore, this set of comics is popular among the people who grew up in Hong Kong. In other words, it means that it is not easy for non- Cantonese speakers to understand the content since it has a lot of Cantonese idioms. Ms. Alice Mak Ka-pik is the author of McMug. Mr. Brian Tse Lap-man (her husband and business partner), is a long time children’s literature writer. She did not receive any formal training, except watching her older brother take drawing lessons. She considers herself an illustrator because she draws only the pictures, but does not write the stories. Panda-A-Panda, a character in the comics, is a panda with an adorable outlook. It does not have any hearing impairment, but sometimes it pretends to be deaf. It loves to use a humorous way to present the irony of the ills of Hong Kong. Jiang Zaixuan (Siu Hak), the painter of Panda-A-Panda, was born in Hong Kong. He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, one of the world’s 25 best design schools, with a Bachelor in Graphic Design in 1996. He works as a local illustrator, comic writer, animator, and screenwriter. Manday Cat describes the daily life of youth and the amazing fun she experiences when she gets into society. Manday Cat (also called Mandy) is a famous local Illustrator. She graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University program in Journalism and worked as a reporter and editor. She drew comics for magazines and newspapers. Her books describe the funny things that happen in the life of boys, girls, and cats. Lobintan (Street Vendor) comics are about the lifestyle of Lobintan, which is always related to her family and friends. For example, last year, Lobintan had her own child, and her whole book of comics was all about how she and her husband take care of their baby. Lobintan called herself Lobintan because she loves to shop in the store beside the street. Since she has had her blog, her goal is that when people look it up and they love it, they can stay and read or just go to the street vendors. Bollywood Joan Cherian and Noor Chhatwal INDIA Bollywood is the name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. It is considered to be the largest in the world in number of films produced, and maybe also the number of tickets sold. Bollywood films are usually musicals. Indian audiences expect a melodramatic movie that includes songs, dances, love interest, comedy, and dare-devil thrills, all mixed up in a three-hour long extravaganza with intermission. Such movies are called masala movies. 1900-1920: Silent Beginning As the 20th century rolled in, Bollywood began creating motion pictures. The films began, as most did, completely silent. The first official movie and featured film was Raja Harishchandra created in 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke. Dadasaheb continued to create movies and is well-known for helping pave the path to movie success. 1930s: Movies are Heard More than 200 movies a year were being produced by the 1930s. In 1931, Alam Ara was directed by Ardeshir Irani. This film became the first Indian film to have sound. The film was a great success and the demand for musicals and talkies began to grow. This era was filled with sound; most films were musicals with dozens of songs, sometimes up to 40 songs in one movie. 1930-1940: The Depression Musicals and romantic themes became popular, but a new theme emerged that aimed at societal issues and the fight for India’s independence. Opinions, beliefs, and stories about life were expressed in hopes of bringing about change. A popular and heart-breaking film was Devdas produced by Pramathesh Barua and released in 1935. Movies continued to improve in quality and in 1937 Kisan Kanya was created as the first coloured film. 1940-1960: Golden Age Surprisingly, black and white was still common and colour didn't gain popularity until the 1950s. India gained independence on January 26, 1950 and this freedom played a major role in Bollywood movie themes. Referred to as the "Golden Age" people now felt free to express their opinions and attack societal issues. As the 50s progressed, people produced films aimed at the largest group of people: the working class. During this time, some of the most famous and inspiring movies were produced, such as Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), and Awaara (1951).