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Many of those who visit the Dominican Republic for its golden sandy beaches, tropical forests, and adventure in Jurassic Park-esque settings discover that it's also home to a world of rich culture, intriguing history and especially some world-class contemporary art.

One of the DR modern art scene's most famous figures was the late Cándido Bidó, whose work earned him international fame in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. His works were highly sought after by foreigner collectors s

Visitors to Costa Rica’s northwest Guanacaste region probably don’t realize the area was once a thriving community for the indigenous Chorotega tribe. Indigenous history and traditions maintain a low profile in the Central American country, yet if you look closely they are all around you.

Spreading across Costa Rica’s entire northern Pacific zone, Guanacaste, for instance, is called the “Chorotega region” after its original inhabitants. The Nicoya Peninsula is named for a Chorotega chief who rule

I'm something of a language geek, and I'm particularly fascinated by the linguistic patchwork of Europe. I mean, many of us know about Spain's regional languages like Catalan, Basque, and Galician. But when it comes to, say, Germany, Italy, or France, I've found many people tend to assume everybody speaks only German, Italian, and French.

They forget , though (or maybe never knew), that such countries were formed from a, yes, patchwork of regions with sometimes quite distinct cultures and lan

Why is that? Well, Peru offers a New Year’s experience to appeal to virtually any and every type of traveler. It’s famously filled with the mystical and the historic. It also offers high culture, unsurpassed ecotourism, and adrenaline-pumping adventure. Add in a plethora of superb hotels, restaurants and spas, and it all adds up to a special occasion you’ll never, ever forget. Another year? Bring it on.

Top Peruvian New Year’s Traditions

To ensure a new year full of good luck and prosperity,

Mr. Le Tien Tho-Chairman of the Vietnam theater artist-says: To promote and preserve traditional stage arts need to build and determine which is the national target, it is the heritage chemical. In particular, must be associated traditional stage arts to tourism, there are exchange programs, introducing traditional art with international friends …

To do this, first of all, the performing arts have to innovate by improving infrastructure, building and program content appropriate time to perform wi

Most tourists to Costa Rica never see San José. They are whisked off from the Juan Santamaria International Airport outside the city to the “pretty” sights of the country; or they fly into the northern Guanacaste international airport at Liberia and don’t go anywhere near the Central Valley. That’s too bad. San José has a lot to offer … from museums to art galleries, plazas, walking boulevards, shady green parks, hidden architectural gems and great restaurants … you just have to know where to lo

Q: What has Shakespeare got to do with Gdansk?

A: The fact that the first Shakespeare theatre built in Gdansk, was during the dramatist's lifetime! . Professional English actors have been coming here each summer from 1600 to 1650, bringing with them his masterful plays. As the result in about 1611, a theatre was built along the lines of those in London. It was equipped with three gallery tiers for the audience (similar to the London's Globe), had an open stage and an open-air courtyard. The thea

If you enjoy visiting art museums, Paris really is the place to go. In the last 20 years or so, Paris museums 
re-organised their collections and the musée d'Orsay became the  receptacle for art dated between 1848 and 1914.

The Gare d'Orsay

The building that houses the collection used to be a train station and hotel, which due to its proximity to the Louvre needed to be built sympathetically. Its inauguration in 1900 revealed a very fine building where the stone façade hid the metal structure

by Nellie Huang

Dry, fiery and dramatic: the landscapes of the Spanish island of Lanzarote are like no other. Born through volcanic eruptions millennia ago, the northernmost of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa has since been sculpted by the hands of Mother Nature. Today, the island is home to beautiful beaches as well as stunning volcanic caves and formations.

But amidst the grey volcanic ash and lime-green lagoons of Lanzarote, I’m surprised to find the presence of art. Not just an

With summer in full swing, this year's series of Dragon Boat Festivals is underway today throughout coastal China; called Duan Wu Jie in Mandarin, they're normally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Historically, this festival marked the beginning of summer and was celebrated to honor the gods in hopes of a good season. While Hong Kong is said to be the best place to go to take part in the festivities, each major coastal city on the mainland holds its own colorful and exciting races

For art lovers, there is a museum in
downtown San José that you won't want to miss. Unique in its history, it used to be the terminal of Costa Rica’s old international airport, at the east end of where
Sabana Park
is today.


The
Costa Rican Art Museum (Museo de Arte Costarricense)is housed in a beautiful Neoclassical-style building built in the late 1930s. The gorgeous building, a work of art in itself, stages a permanent display of 3,200 national treasures in all media by Costa Rica’s most celeb

by Nellie Huang

So what has Malaga got to do with world-renowned artist Pablo Picasso? Malaga is, after all, a place on Spain's Costa del Sol more famous for beaches, historical buildings and bullfighting than say, art. Picasso, on the other hand, is a painter and sculptor who gave the modern art world Cubism and a wide variety of other avant-garde art styles.

It comes as a surprise to many that not only is Malaga the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, it is also home to a plethora of Picasso-relat

A fun outing in the center of San Jose is to go to the Gold Museum, now called the Central Bank Museum, below the Plaza de la Cultura.

It had been years since I had visited the museum, but it remains still one of the highlights of touring Costa Rica’s capitol city. Located conveniently under the Plaza de la Cultura’s east end, just behind the National Theatre and the Grand Hotel, the museum is a cool refuge of culture in a concrete jungle.This year celebrates the 30^th anniversary of the museum. I

We all love to travel; it’s an innate part of being human, getting out there and exploring the world around us. We hold within us the desire to explore our surroundings from a very young age, perhaps even starting from the first time we learn to comprehend what is around us as a baby, wandering into places we shouldn’t purely because we want to see what’s there. It is a desire that never quite leaves us, even when we grow and mature over the years, it’s just always there: that yearning, the wand

Let's face it: there's an audience for anything. What some tourists find unpleasant, others may say it's their cup of tea. That same formula also applies to cultural activities and touristic attractions such as museums, even the more unconventional ones.

The Dog Collar Museum, Leeds (UK): The name says it all and attracts nearly half a million pet lovers every year! Located in Leeds Castle, the museums displays more than 100 items dating back centuries and celebrates the last owner of the estate,

On our way to Central America, we arrived today in Mexico City, specifically the southern neighborhood of Coyoacán, which was once its own town. We’d been hoping to visit this very picturesque area of the city, as it’s the place where artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), known far and wide for her close-set eyebrows and loud, colorful dresses, lived and died.

The Mexican poet, photographer and above all painter was also known for her realistic works. Though many would call her a surrealist, her can

Sometimes the best vacation is one where you don't go anywhere at all. For the last three years Ray and I have been spending a week in Palm Springs just like the other tourists going to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Sonny Bono started the film festival 23 years ago and it keeps getting better every year.

San Diego is best known for beautiful beaches and its world-famous Zoo, but we also enjoy a rich cultural life – including great theatre.

Since mid-November, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR has been wowing audiences at La Jolla Playhouse. I saw the show about a week ago and was positively stunned by the music and the drama.

The show reminded me why I loved all of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s earlier works, but the credit for this production of Superstar goes

When in Hong Kong, learn about something very Chinese. The Hong Kong Tourism Board offers a kaleidoscope of free cultural programs to help tourist learn about local culture, and one of them is a Cantonese opera appreciation class. This is an old and highly respected art form that blends Chinese legend, music and drama into an exciting performance style, rich in symbolic meaning. The class guides people through the Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s Cantonese opera Heritage Hall and its numerous displ