Art Beat

Tonight on the NewsHour: Fathy Salama

By Arts Desk

Jeffrey Brown profiles Fathy Salama in our series about the Kennedy Center's Arabesque art festival. Salama began playing the piano at age 6 and performing at Cairo clubs at 13.

Conversation With Author Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket

By Arts Desk

Through a series of unfortunate events, apparently, Daniel Handler did not grow up to be a musician. Instead, he -- or rather, one Lemony Snicket -- grew up to write the wildly popular series, "A Series of Unfortunate Events."…

Paper Profits: Origami Meets Science

Robert Lang, who studies lasers, gave up his Silicon Valley job to concentrate full-time on his life lifelong artistic interest in origami.

From Lebanon, Songs of Love and Strife

By Arts Desk

In another in our series about the Kennedy Center's Arabesque art festival, Jeffrey Brown profiles Lebanese folk singer Marcel Khalife, who for nearly 40 years has been rousing audiences with songs about love and strife, politics and injustice.

Three Women, Three Portraits of Cairo

By Arts Desk

Azza Fahmy is a jewelry maker taking from the past to create beautiful new objects. Karima Mansour is a dancer struggling to find acceptance in her own country. Lara Baladi is an artist who sheds a dark light on life…

Al-Bassam Theatre Finds Modern Inspiration in Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’

By Arts Desk

Here's the second in our broadcast series on Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World, which began Monday at the Kennedy Center. Tuesday evening, Jeffrey Brown profiled Kuwaiti writer and theater director Sulayman al-Bassam.

Arabesque Opens at the Kennedy Center

By Arts Desk

Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Monday. Here's the first in a series of broadcast reports, which aired Monday evening on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Harlem Renaissance Visits Oklahoma City

"The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line," W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1901 in the Atlantic Monthly. What soon followed was an intellectual and artistic revolution that was first embodied in the Harlem Renaissance.

Amazon Unveils the Kindle 2

On Monday, Amazon introduced the latest version of its electronic book reader, the Kindle 2, which is thinner and lighter than the original, has an added joystick, more battery life and a function that reads books aloud.

‘People’s Poet’ Robert Burns Turns 250

By Tom LeGro

The image of poetry fans gathered in a pub enjoying bagpipes, haggis, drinks and verse is a very Scottish one, but Scotland's national poet Robert Burns has fans worldwide who know there's no better way to honor the man and…