Cuban artist Tania Bruguera’s new exhibition looking at neighborly behavior and the movement of people will leave you in tears. Her interactive installation at London’s Tate Modern features a crying room, where a menthol-based organic compound fills the room and makes visitors cry in a bid to create empathy with …

The lyrics of some of Elton John’s biggest hits — “Rocket Man,” “I’m Still Standing,” and the Princess Diana funeral version of “Candle in the Wind” are going up for auction as the British musician’s longtime collaborator clears out his archives. Songwriter Bernie Taupin, the man behind more than 40 …

Charlie Branda is not an artist. When she opened an art studio on a stretch of asphalt known as Sedgwick Street, the 53-year-old mom and former commercial banker simply wanted to get to know her neighbors and to connect two sides of a thoroughfare that divides black and white, haves …

Tennis great Serena Williams goes topless and sings “I Touch Myself” in a video to promote breast cancer awareness month. With her hands covering her breasts, Williams writes in the Instagram post that the video took her out of her “comfort zone.” But she said she wanted to do it …

Twice a week, a group of women gathers in downtown Leesburg, Virginia, to get their hands dirty. They’re taking an art class at the Clay and Metal Loft. The studio was founded by two local artists and serves two purposes: it’s a work space for producing and selling pottery and …

French singer Charles Aznavour has died at the age of 94, French media reported on Monday, citing his spokesman. Aznavour, who was born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian parents, sold more than 100 million records in 80 countries. He was often described as France’s Frank Sinatra. Aznavour began …

French singer Charles Aznavour, who stole the hearts of millions with decades of haunting love songs, has died aged 94, his spokeswoman said on Monday. Aznavour passed away overnight at one of his homes, in the village of Mouries north of the French port city of Marseille. The singer, who …

2018 marks the 120th year of the world-famous Paris Auto Show. Car manufacturers parade their products, which have dramatically changed through the years in response to, among other things, rising oil prices and climate change. Even women’s participation has evolved from objectified accessories to full-fledge participants. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports. …

Nobel Prizes are the most prestigious awards on the planet but the aura of this year’s announcements has been dulled by questions over why so few women have entered the pantheon, particularly in the sciences. The march of Nobel announcements begins Monday with the physiology/medicine prize. Since the first prizes …

Traditional two-handled ceramic jars known as amphoras were used extensively in ancient Greece to store and transport a variety of products, especially wine. These days they are more likely to be found in shipwrecks than in stores. But wine-filled amphoras are once again being found on the sea floor, not …

The Catholic Church is closing parishes across the American Midwest and Northeast in response to years of flagging attendance. Changing demographics and an overall trend of secularism is partly to blame, but repeated cases of sexual abuse in the church have not helped. Reporter Teresa Krug reports from the Midwestern …

Sedgwick Street in Chicago is a thoroughfare divided by race and socio-economics. The area was settled by German, Irish and Sicilian immigrants. But in the 1950s and ’60s, when the original settlers began moving out, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans and so-called hippies started moving in. Today, Sedgwick Street remains a social …

Some animals, like mantis shrimp and chameleons, can see more shades and colors than humans. But a few people also have this ability. They have a condition called tetrachromacy. Concetta Antico, an artist from San Diego, is one of them. Genia Dulot spoke with her about what it’s like to …

It may be the world’s only museum that looks at the lives of children who grew up during wars. Founded in 2017 in Sarajevo two decades after the end of the Bosnian War, the War Childhood Museum opened its newest temporary exhibit earlier this month in Washington. Azra Dolberry spoke …

Legendary Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush, whose passionate, jazzlike music influenced artists from Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton to the rock band Led Zeppelin, died Saturday at the age of 84, his longtime manager said. Rush succumbed to complications from a stroke he suffered in 2003, manager Rick Bates said. …

Paul McCartney has written a children’s book called Hey Grandude!, a name the 76-year-old former member of The Beatles says came from one of his grandchildren. “I’ve got eight grandchildren and they’re all beautiful and one day one of them said to me ‘Hey Grandude!’ I said ‘What?’ and I …

When Barbra Streisand started writing lyrics for her new political song, “Don’t Lie to Me,” she initially aimed for “very subtle” references to President Donald Trump. But she couldn’t help herself. “I just went ballistic,” she said. “Don’t Lie to Me,” released Thursday, finds a passionate Streisand questioning the nation’s …

Fashion designer Ellen London uses textiles from all over the world in her designs, sometimes mixing them — combining a Thai fabric, for example — with one from the U.S. Appalachian region. “I believe that textiles and fashion have an idea to teach people about understanding and connection of different …

Washington, D.C., is not a fashion town. Residents are known for dressing conservatively, if not for wearing clothes that are downright stodgy. But a computer engineer-turned fashion designer believes the nation’s capital is one of the best locations for fashion. VOA’s June Soh met DC Fashion Week founder Ean Williams …

An Bui and his siblings emigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the late 1980s. Several years later, his parents followed them to Richmond, Virginia. VOA’s Hung Lai visited the family’s restaurant, which helped make their adopted city one of the nation’s ultimate destinations for beer lovers. …

The city of New Orleans has unveiled a smartphone app tour of sites involved in the slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries, including the pre-Civil War years during which the city was the nation’s largest slave market.  The project, officially launched on Thursday, is affiliated with New Orleans’ …

Earlier this year, two artists in Leesburg, Virginia, founded an art space where they could work and teach other art lovers as well. Part retail business, part studio, Clay and Metal Loft helps aspiring local artists gain the skills and confidence needed to start their own business. But, as Faiza …

The National Gallery of Indonesia is usually associated with such artists as Raden Saleh, Affandi and other icons of the nation’s artistic history. This month it plays host to the works of asylum seekers and refugees in an exhibition entitled Berdiam/Bertandang, which means Stay/Visit. With about 13,800 people identified as …

After a months-long ban because of its lesbian love theme, the Kenyan film “Rafiki,” which means “friend” in Swahili, premiered for the first time in Nairobi following a Kenyan high court decision to allow the screening of the controversial film. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …

The late reggae legend Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” For a young Kurdish immigrant living in San Diego, Marley’s observation rings true. Blind since birth, the young musician says music washes away his pain. VOA’s Lukman Ahmad visited …