How are the performing arts faring more than eighteen months into the COIVID 19 pandemic? The Cultural Frontline brings together four global theatre directors to discuss the impact on their industry. Having embraced digital innovation whilst their doors have been shut, we hear how it feels to be performing live again, and how the plays being staged reflect the unprecedented times artists around the world have been living through.Joining Chi Chi Izundu to discuss the state of theatre now are Rwandan theatre director and curator of the Ubumuntu International Arts festival, Hope Azeda, Indian playwright, theatre director and lecturer Abhishek Majumdar, the artistic director of the Kiln theatre in London, Indhu Rubasingham and General Director of the Municipal Theatre in Santiago Chile, Carmen Larenas.Producer: Lucy Collingwood(Photo: Audiences return to live performance. Credit: Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto/Getty)

As the Paralympic Games take off in Tokyo, presenter and former Team GB sitting volleyball player Kat Hawkins, hears from some of the most exciting artists with disabilities globally.Madison Ferris, star of New York’s Broadway, made headlines when she became the first leading actor to take the stage in her wheelchair. She talks about the extent to which theatre is evolving to become more diverse.American author and teacher Rebekah Taussig discusses writing characters with visible disabilities into stories on the page and screen, and her own book Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body.British dance group Atypical with Attitude, whose members are neuro-diverse or live with a disability, talk to BBC reporter and former dancer Anna Bailey about breaking down barriers in the dance world. And Pakistani-Qatari comedian and disability rights activist Nawaal Akram, who has muscular dystrophy, on finding material for her comedy in frustrating moments and using her performances to change attitudes.Presenter: Kat Hawkins Producers: Paul Waters, Kirsty McQuire, Olivia Skinner and Lucy Wai Reporter: Anna Bailey(Photo: Madison Ferris. Credit: Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)

American photographer Tyler Mitchell was 23 years old when he photographed Beyoncé for the front cover of American Vogue in 2018, becoming the first black American to do so in the magazine’s history. He’s gone on to photograph Vice President Kamala Harris for Vogue and to exhibit his work in the United States and internationally. He talks about the images that have made him one of the most exciting photographers of his generation. Sheetal Mallar started her career as a model in India, Italy and the United States before becoming a full time photographer. She talks about what her time in front of the camera taught her about how to take great photos. Russel Wong is one of Asia's most famous celebrity photographers and is so well known, he played himself in the movie 'Crazy Rich Asians'. He explains how he gained rare access to photograph the world of Kyoto’s Geishas.Presenter: Tumi Morake Producers: Olivia Skinner, Paul Waters, Sharanjit Leyl, Lucy Collingwood, Kirsty McQuire(Photo: Tyler Mitchell. Credit: Tyler Mitchell and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York)

On this week’s Cultural Frontline we consider the pleasure and the pain of literature in lockdown from the perspective of both writers and readers.Meron Hadero, the first Ethiopian writer to win The Caine Prize for African Writing, tells presenter Datshiane Navanayagam how she found refuge on the page in the pandemic and why she is drawn to write about displacement.The award-winning Australian novelist Tara June Winch reveals the impact of the coronavirus on her writing routine.The British actor and Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke discovered the essays of the late British author Jenny Diski during lockdown. Emilia speaks to poet and academic Dr Ian Patterson, who was married to Jenny, to discuss the power of cultural escapism in isolation.And, after revisiting her own early work during the pandemic, the renowned Russian author Ludmila Ulitskaya looks back on the radical reading that made her a writer in the Soviet Union.Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producers: Kirsty McQuire, Olivia Skinner, Paul Waters(Photo: Meron Hadero Credit: Meron Hadero)

Farah Bashir, author of Rumours of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir, shares the particular challenges for girls growing up in a conflict zone.Bjorn Andresen, Swedish teenage star of the 1971 film, Death In Venice, talks about how being dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world”, blighted his childhood. He’s revisiting his early role and its impact on his life in a new documentary called The Most Beautiful Boy in the World.Japanese-American artist Ei Arakawa on his new artwork, Mega Please Draw Freely, at the Tate Modern gallery in London. It’s breaking down the boundaries between artists and audience – with children and young people featuring strongly on both sides.And Turner Prize-winning Colombian artist Oscar Murillo and Argentinian political scientist Clara Dublanc on their collaboration with 100,000 international school children for their Frequencies exhibition in Hackney in London.Presenter - Chi Chi Izundu Producer - Paul Waters, Olivia Skinner, Kirsty McQuire(Photo: Farah Bashir. Credit: Shahbaz Khan)

As pandemic restrictions ease in different countries, musicians from across the world discuss how performing live gives them a special connection with audiences.Cellist and singer Abel Selaocoe talks about his Proms concert, called Africa Meets Europe, coming up in London in August – and how he first got involved in music as a boy in Sebokeng, South Africa. Egyptian-Australian oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros shares how he’s tried to maintain contact with his fans despite lockdown. His latest album is called Hope In An Empty City.Sudanese jazz musician and radio presenter Islam Elbeiti tells how being a female bass player appearing on stage can be challenging in a conservative society.And Israeli musician Kutiman shares three lessons he’s learned about reinventing his art in isolation. His single, Guruji, is out in August.Presenter: Chi Chi IzunduProducers: Paul Waters, Kirsty McQuire & Olivia Skinner(Photo: Abel Selaocoe. Credit: Mlungisi Mlungwana)

As the Olympics start in Tokyo, we’re focusing on Japanese artists who are examining history, re-inventing tradition and telling new stories.Visual artist Meiro Koizumi tells presenter Mariko Oi about the importance of capturing lost war stories and his artistic take on the Olympic torch relay. Koizumi’s prize-winning video installation The Angels of Testimony brings to life the darker side of Japanese history. Centred around a 99-year-old veteran’s experiences of perpetrating violence in China during WWII, young people are filmed performing his shocking words on the streets of Tokyo. Studio Ghibli is one of the biggest names in animation, famous for films such as My Neighbour Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. Since the company’s founder Hayao Miyazaki retired in 2014, his son, Goro Miyazaki has emerged as a new leading creative force at the iconic Japanese anime house. Our reporter Anna Bailey speaks to Goro ahead of the release of his third film, Earwig and the Witch. Japanese singer Hatis Noit creates atmospheric, multi-layered music using her soulful voice. One of her most haunting tracks is the piece she created in response to the Fukushima disaster. She performed the piece, Inori, at a ceremony when many of the evacuated residents were allowed to return home. Hatis talks to Mariko about her belief in the power of the human voice and her musical tribute to Fukushima.As international teams gather in Tokyo to compete, one artistic project is representing more than 200 countries in the form of Kimono. Every traditional Japanese robe has been beautifully crafted to reflect the climate, culture and countryside of each place. Designer Maki Yamamoto speaks about the details and purpose of the Imagine One World Kimono Project. Presenter: Mariko Oi Producer: Lucy Collingwood, Anna Bailey, Kirsty McQuire(Photo: Shop curtains, themed on sports and culture, and produced by six overseas artists who competed in the Olympics and Paralympics are displayed at an underground passageway ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 19, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Credit: Toru Hanai via Getty Images)

This week, The Cultural Frontline is looking at a precious and vital resource: water. Chi Chi Izundu is finding out how issues of water scarcity, water sanitation and climate change are inspiring artists and musicians.The Malian musician Inna Modja tells Chi Chi Izundu about an epic project to combat drought: the Great Green Wall. Spanning eleven countries in Africa’s Sahel region, the Great Green Wall is an initiative to grow an incredible 8000 kilometre wall of trees. Inna Modja talks about the film she’s made about the project and how the musicians she met on her journey along the wall inspired her. Indian musician and activist Ditty combines her work as a musician with a career as an urban ecologist. She explains how the women working to collect and preserve water in northern India inspired her collaboration with the band Faraway Friends and their new album, Rain is Coming. Nigerian writer Ben Okri has collaborated with British artists Ackroyd & Harvey to create an installation made entirely out of grass and float it down a river in London. He talks about how the living work of art will make us think about climate change. Guatemalan artist Maria Diaz discusses her art installation made of oversized rain-sticks. Nostalgic for the rain of her homeland, whilst living in California with the threat of drought, Maria Diaz created this immersive piece to raise awareness about the importance of the vital resource, water.(Photo: Inna Modja. Credit: Marco Conti Sikic)

This week The Cultural Frontline is looking into the art world’s latest phenomenon…NFTs or Non Fungible Tokens. And if you’re wondering exactly what that means, join Sophia Smith Galer to find out more about this new form of digital art. NFTs hit the headlines this year when an NFT artwork by the American digital artist Beeple sold at auction for a record breaking $69.3 million. So what are NFTs and how do they work? NFTs use a lot of energy which is bad for the environment, but they can open up new possibilities for artists. Tim Schneider, Art Business Editor at Artnet News, explains the pros and cons. Despite million pound sales from the likes of Canadian singer Grimes and American celebrity socialite Paris Hilton, the majority of artists commanding high sales from NFT artworks are men. Scottish art collector and co-founder of international collective Women of Crypto Art Etta Tottie and Senegalese artist and member of Her Story DAO Linda Rebeiz explain how they’re working to make the world of NFT art more diverse. Artists can sell NFTs via online platforms and they are attracting a new type of buyer: young, digitally savvy and familiar with crypto currency. Now the art world is getting involved with an exhibition of NFT art at UCCA Lab in Beijing and the launch of Institut, an “art world” platform to exhibit and sell NFTs. American writer, artist and NFT expert Kenny Schachter explains how the traditional art world feels about this digital disruption. NFTs have made headlines for big sales and celebrity connections but one creative couple in Indonesia is using an NFT to raise money for charity. In April 2021, the Indonesian navy submarine, KRI Nanggala 402, sank off the coast of Bali, killing all 53 crew members. Sound designer Ruanth Chrisley Thyssen and illustrator and influencer Cindy Thyssen have joined forces do something to mark the event with an artwork, 53 Never Forgotten.(Photo: NFT titled 'CryptoPunk 7523' by Larva Labs. Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

This week on The Cultural Frontline, South African comedian Tumi Morake is looking at what makes us laugh globally and asking if comedy is the best way to approach uncomfortable topics. Ventriloquist and comedian Conrad Koch and his outspoken puppet Chester Missing are well known in South Africa. Conrad Koch uses Chester Missing to explore South African history and discuss issues of race and colonialism. He explains why he wants to use comedy to start difficult conversations. Has a song, a poem or a book ever changed the course of your life? Canadian-American actor, writer and comedian Seth Rogen shares the science fiction book that inspired his comedy writing, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Stand-up comedy didn’t exist in China until recently but the success of comedy TV programmes, like the popular talent show Rock and Roast, has meant that the popularity of stand-up is soaring. Two women who have been pioneers in China’s comedy scene, Norah Yang and Maple Zuo, talk about cultural differences and the unique stand-up scene in China. Canadian comedian Vance Banzo has used his solo stand up career to reconnect with his Indigenous heritage, often opening up conversations with his audience. He tells Tumi about his work with the award winning TV sketch comedy foursome, Tallboyz and explains why he wants to see more Indigenous Canadian comedians in the spotlight.(Photo: Seth Rogen. Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for CTAOP)