BRIC POP: The Blog

I’ve been a way for two weeks sorting out some work stuff (like a new job!), so I’ll do some quick BRIC Pop news roundup, then I’d like to dig into some old research I had done on the music of Xinjiang (think of it as the bluegrass of China) being given a modern techno update.  Cool stuff.  But first, here are some things we missed.

• China is trying to do the same thing with creative industries that it did with manufacturing industries, as seen in this report from the Christian Science Monitor.  I like 798 and the Shenzhen graphic design scene, but I found this stuff tends to get overcommercialized and oversponsored in about 3 seconds.  The real creative types are there, and I’m not sure they want to be corralled into a works scheme.

• As if Bollywood weren’t silly enough — hey, let’s put Chris Kattan there!  Ugh.  I predict there about 5-7 more pieces of post-Slumdog hackery to come from here and there until everyone gets sick of it and tries to do something original.  I hope.

• I used to have to defend Brazil in the BRICs the most, but given Joe Biden’s recent undiplomatic rant, I’ve been lately having to turn those energies toward Russia.  A really bad year economically, leading some to question whether they still matter, but I still think the creative upside is huge.  Like these guys.

• I think these designs for a new Museum of Image and Sound are totally cool.  Rio tends to be more architecturally conservative than São Paulo, but this should really shake up Copacabana:

Image from O Globo, via Made in Brazil

Stay tuned for a different take on western China, and some of my favorite BRIC brands.