Art and Music

I entered the art studio where I had agreed to help set up for an event that was to take place there the following day, and I was quickly whisked away under the wing of the main organizer. She was a Chilean artist, probably in her mid to late 30s, who seemed to be one [...]

“Music chronicles the times: the feeling of the times, the emotion of the times,” spoke Snorri Helgason while sipping from a mug of coffee inside of a Reykjavik cafe. “It just makes people feel good,” he continued as he set down the mug, “that is what music does for me, and I hope my music does to others.”

In his native Iceland, Snorri Helgason rose to stardom fast as the front man for the pop band Sprengjuhöllin. Their first album spent 27 weeks at #1 on the country’s music charts. This is the story of how Helgason rose from the ashes after obtaining national stardom, and has taken his show on the road to stages all over the world.

“Improvision,” was scrawled on a large slab of cardboard that was taped to the door of a bar. The place was packed, I could see the actors doing their show through the window. A good scene, or so it seemed at the time. I walked in and grabbed a beer. It soon became apparent that [...]

CARTAGENA, Colombia- They call themselves the Asociacion de Artista Escemico de Cartagena, but visitors to this city best know them by their trademark black painted faces, black clothes, and black props. They are a troupe of performance artists that mime out caricatures from Cartagena’s history in the streets for pocket change. Doing their act solo [...]

ZIPOLITE, Mexico- The buzzing sound of tattooist at work can be heard all up and down the beach of Zipolite. In this small town on the Oaxaca coast, which is basically just two streets laying parallel to each other and a 2 km beach, there are three formal tattoo studios, two artists tattooing on the [...]

The following is a photo entry from Chaya Shepard about visiting the artisan workshops and woven tapestry stores in Teotitlan, Oaxaca. This is a spinning wheel in front of a loom in the entrance of a home in Teotitlan. This is a typical style loom in the city. They have two foot pedals that the [...]

They travel as a family through the world selling jewelry.

Top Travel Songs by Wade Shepard, 2011 Songs have the power to deliver the underlaying essence of life within a tightly compressed package like no other form of human communication. The influence of a song can get you off your feet, into trouble, in bed, or on the road. Songs also teach many of the [...]

The Baile de Venados — the dance of the reindeer — is still performed by the Q’eqchi’ Maya in the eastern jungles of Guatemala for numerous celebrations. I observed this dance in conjunction with festivities connected with the International Day for Indigenous People and the graduation ceremonies of students from the Ak-Tenimit NGO school on [...]