Arts Dec 13

When documentary filmmaker Brent Huffman first visited the Buddhist archaeological site of Mes Aynak in eastern Afghanistan in June 2011, he was awed by the 2,600-year-old city, how it stretches for 100 acres, encompassing artifacts, monasteries and more than 200…

Arts Dec 13

A painting of French writer and film director Marguerite Duras by Swedish neo-modernist painter Carl Kohler is on display at Umea University Library in Sweden. The exhibition of his work runs through Jan. 28.

Arts Dec 12

Art Beat talks to playwright Cheryl L. West and actor Cleavant Derricks after opening night at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where her play "Pullman Porter Blues" is enjoying strong reviews.

Arts Dec 12

Ravi Shankar, the Indian musical icon who made the sitar famous, played with the Beatles and helped introduce "world music" to the masses, died Tuesday at age 92 in a San Diego hospital.

Arts Dec 12

People attend the 34th Transmusicales festival in Rennes, France, last week.

Arts Dec 11

Extended interviews, slide show: "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

Arts Dec 11

This week's contest was a joke. Seriously, dude? A chair? We'd never seen this trick before, but many of you had. Some of you even pointed us to this video, which explains how Mr. Deepak Sharma -- if that's…

Arts Dec 11

A visitor looks at "White Hole" by Mariko Mori in "Rebirth," an exhibition of the artist's work at The Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Arts Dec 10

A view of the Hubei Provincial Library in Wuhan, China, which opened Saturday. According to government officials, the $125 million library is the largest among its public libraries, can house 10 million books and accommodate 6,300 readers.

Arts Dec 07

David Denby writes about the immediate moment in his role as film critic for The New Yorker. He also looks at the much bigger picture in his latest book, "Do the Movies Have a Future?"…