Around the Nation

Here are a few arts and culture stories from public broadcasting stations around the nation.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

– Photographer Marcus Bleasdale has been capturing brutal violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo for years. In contrast, his most recent project spotlights a symphony orchestra in the capitol city, showing the power of art in times of conflict.
[via Need to Know]

– Read about Chicago’s Lookingglass Theater Company, winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Regional Theater. It’s the fifth time the award has come to a theater in the Windy City.
[via WBEZ]

– Cultural critic and Stanford professor Terry Castle recently published a collection of autobiographical essays called The Professor. Listen to Castle read one of those essays, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” about her friendship with Susan Sontag.
[via KQED]

 
– Years ago, Leslie Kelen, executive director of Utah’s Center for Documentary Arts, organized a photography exhibit that he felt expressed the power of ancient petroglyphs and pictograms found throughout the southwest. He tells|Capturing_the_Power_of_Rock_Art Colorado Public Radio about how his collection grew and what messages rock art conveys for him.
[via CPR]

 
– Portland-based artist Kyle Durrie leads Oregon Public Broadcasting through the process of using a letterpress to make prints. She’s currently converting a van into a mobile press studio in order to hit the road this summer.
[via OPB]

 
– The Oblivion Project represents an unlikely love affair between Tango and Detroit, Mich. Listen to the band that has become the foremost Tango sensation in the Midwest.
[via WDET]

 
– The prevalence of gun and knife shows in North Texas has inspired one artist to create his own kind of show. Listen to a story from KERA’s Art&Seek about the project.
[via KERA]

 
– Werner Herzog spoke with Kurt Andersen about his newest film, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which explores the legendary 30,000 year old cave paintings in Lascaux, France.
[via Studio 360]

 
– Listen to Texas poet Tomas Q. Morin read his award-winning poem “Laika” about “the first species from Earth to go into space and die in space”.
[via KUT]

 
– Butoh, the contemporary dance born in Japan, is gaining popularity in Tucson, Ariz. Dancer Jodi Netzer describes why she is drawn to the form.
[via Arizona Public Media]