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In a country famous for its many festivals, the Ati-Atihan Festival on the island of Panay near the geographic center of the Philippines stands out not only for its devotion to the Santo Nino, or Holy Child, but because of its claim of being the country's oldest festival. Believed to date from 1212, this festival grafts the veneration of the Santo Nino onto a kind of thanksgiving commemorating the 'voluntary' gift of land from the indigenous population to their 'brothers' from present-day Borneo. This article traces the 'Mardi-Grasization' of the festival through an examination of its more extravagant, public, and theatrical elements, while considering what this weeklong event means for its tens of thousands of active participants., Billed as the 'Filipino Mardi-Gras' on numerous websites, the Ati-Atihan Festival in the provincial town of Kalibo juxtaposes the sacred and the profane as devotees of the Santo Nino (the [...]

The signature dances of the mountain-dwelling indigenous people of the Cordillera region in the Philippines circulate nationally and internationally as emblematic of Filipino culture, even as the diverse cultures of origin have been increasingly subjected to economic, political, and cultural domination by Tagalog-speaking lowlanders. Through an examination of how dance is situated on its home ground in and around the region's largest city, Baguio, this article demonstrates how indigenous dance based on traditional forms serves a range of masters and a variety of functions, while ultimately providing a space for indigenous people to reclaim, rediscover, and celebrate their culture. William Peterson is a senior lecturer and director of the Centre for Theatre and Performance at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Theatre and the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Singapore (Wesleyan University Press, 2001) and has published widely on theatre, politics, and religion in Singapore, the Philippines, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. He extends special thanks to the University of the Philippines (Diliman) and Aquinas University of Legaspi for their support with this research., The indigenous people of the mountainous highlands of the Cordillera region in the Philippines have long served as emblematic of a proud and fiercely independent culture that has resisted colonization. [...]

The Singapore Arts Festival celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2007, an appropriate milestone for taking stock of the country's premiere cultural event. Under the leadership of Goh Ching Lee since 1999, the festival has sought to carve out a distinctive identity that is Asian and cutting-edge, while providing a model for other arts festivals in the region. By programming international work and commissioning Singaporean work that is slick, glossy, and easily transferable across cultural and geographic boundaries, the festival may be pointing toward a future in which the work circulating at international festivals assumes a form and content that is, in the words of George Ritzer (2007), increasingly 'grobal,' that is to say global and accessible, but increasingly devoid of content and removed from any concrete or stable cultural, political, or social context., International Context: Going 'Grobal' 'We have reached a stage in our economic and national development when we should devote greater attention and resources to culture and the arts in Singapore. [...]

Historical plays by Kone Kouka portray how Maoris responded to social disruptions in the 20th century. Like most Maoris, Kouka believes the present is based on the past and his characters coexist in modern and traditional worlds.

The production of 'Desdemona,' which was inspired by William Shakespeare's Othello, by the Singapore theater group TheaterWorks is examined. The work includes performers from different countries each performing in different cultural fashions. The reaction of audiences and critics to the play is also examined.

New Mexico, particularly Santa Fe and Taos, have been a haven for artists and the arts since the days of World War I. Current art galleries in New Mexico, such as Laura Carpenter's gallery in Santa Fe and Ray Graham's gallery in Albuquerque, are discussed.