Flamenco's Foreign Saviors

From The New York Times: "Flamenco remains a quintessential component of Spanish culture, embedded in the Gypsy community of the Andalusia region. 

But economically, it depends more and more on foreigners, who come to Spain both to learn the vigorous stamping and clapping of the dance and to recruit Spaniards to teach and perform abroad. Meanwhile, tough times are choking off the flow of new blood from the country where flamenco was born."

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Slovenian Artist Helps Boy With Muscular Dystrophy Live Out His Dreams 

Via Visual News: When psychologist and artist Matej Peljhan met 12 year old Luka it was a meeting of the minds. 

At age 10, Peljhan had lost his right arm and an eye to an accident with explosives; he trained as a clinical psychologist and has worked with children with special needs. Luka was born with the degenerative disease muscular dystrophy, and has just enough motor control in his hands to draw and to operate his wheelchair. 

Through this fun photography project, Peljhan helped Luka’s dreams come true. Rather than working some photoshop magic, he used real props to make Luka look like he was break dancing, skateboarding, swimming, shooting hoops, walking up stairs, and flying away with a red balloon. 

Check out more of Peljhan's interesting work here. 

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From Australia - Hiatus Kaiyote

Listen to the interview on PRI's The World (below) with the soulful Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote, and then hear one of their songs (left). Though they're a relatively new band, they're already developing a following and earning rave reviews from heavy hitters such as Erykah Badu.

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Art in the Streets in Libya

From Huffington Post: "College students in Tripoli gather together with professors and local street artists to construct a giant mural spanning the walls facing one of Muammar Gaddafi's former compounds. Painting images of hope, peace and unity onto the outdoor structures, the team of Libyan artists reappropriate their city's walls, demonstrating how creative expression can positively impact their country."

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