Hohhot, Nov 19 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Flying the traditional Chinese eagle-kite every morning has become a habit for the 69-year old Tian Yutang.         "It's better to fly kites in spring as the wind condition is ideal, but the eagle-kite is special, because I can fly it in a calm environment, even indoors," Tian said.

Tian started flying kites eight years ago in Baotou in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, when he just retired and needed something to kill time. "At first, I flew the kite quite high in the sky, just like many other kite flyers. But this kite has specific demands for wind conditions, and I even lost several kites when the wind was too strong," Tian said.

Eagle-kite flying attracted Tian's attention in 2013. The traditional Chinese eagle-kite is not only designed in the shape of an eagle, but also mimics the flight path of a real eagle.

"The size of the tail, the length of the wing, and the anchor point of the kite string are all decisive factors. The eagle-kites with small tails are more suitable for indoor flight or in low-wind conditions," said Tian.

Tian's eagle-kites has a strong, lightweight frame, and he glues the eagle-shaped silk to the frame and then paints the eagle feather on it. All of Tian's eagle-kites have four numbers on the back, "That's the kite's birthday, as I would write down the date when I finished it," he said.

Tian does morning exercises with his fellow eagle-kite flyers and sometimes joins kite-flying festivals in China. "Eagle-kite flying is quite suitable for middle-aged and elderly people, as it requires the hand-eye coordination, and it is not so intense," said Tian.

Dhaka, Nov 18 (UNB) - Famous Belarusian publisher Dmitry Kolas presented another book of translations, the collection of the poems by 1913 Nobel Prize winner for Literature Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, in Belarusian language.

The book titled ‘Gitanzhali: Song Offerings’ was published in Minsk in November 2018, said a press release issued Sunday.

The book is off 128 pages while number of circulation is 250 copies. The poems were translated by Republic of Belarus State Prize winner Alexander Ryazanov.

Gitanzhali is one of the nearly four dozen books published in the series Poets of the Planet. The translations were conducted from English - London edition Gitanzhali (Song Offerings) in 1913.

Although Tagore, being an Indian poet, playwright, philosopher, artist, composer, public and political figure, wrote in Bengali, the collection of his song offerings Gitanzhali was written in English during his boat trip to the UK in 1912.

A few months later, the collection was published as a book. And in 1913, Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European poet-laureate of the Nobel Prize.

The series Poets of the Planet already includes Belarusian translations of the poems by Sappho, Francesco Petrarca, Pierre de Ronsard, William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Gabriela Mistral, Omar Khayyam, Charles Baudelaire, Rainer Maria Rilke, Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich Gainy, Guillaume Apollinaire, and many of the poets of Europe, Asia and America.

Among the interpreters - Max Schur, Lavon Borshevsky Yuri Golub, Gregory Borodulin Andrey Hodonovich, Eugene Belasin, Yuri Gavruk, Vasil Siomuha and other artists of the words who have been working on the “reincarnation” of different artistic cultures, different national landscapes into the Belarusian language, it said.

Dhaka, Nov 17 (UNB) - Las Migas from Spain made the audience of Dhaka spellbound with their soulful song and fascinating blend of Flamenco and Mediterranean style.

They performed at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in the capital on the final day of ‘Dhaka International Folk Fest’, the pioneering international folk music festival of the subcontinent, in the capital’s Army Stadium.

Response from audience proved that their hour long performance will prevail in the heart of Bangladeshis for a long time.

The Mediterranean music was totally able to vibrate the metro listeners and connect city audiences.     

The sound from the soft voice of Bego Salazar, the singer of the band with charming rhythm touched the heart of the folk lovers who gathered to listen to the folk in the stadium.

The stage was the main attraction for the audience during their pleasant performance as the less known rhythmic sound was forcing them to stay with the stage.

The vocalist Bego Salazar expressed his extreme happiness to be a part of this festival during her short speech and excited to share their song with the Bangladeshi audience.

“Really we are very happy to be part of this.  It is big festival for folk singers. We hope you will enjoy our emotion, songs and do not hesitate to dance with beat our songs,” she added.   

Las Migas is unique among Spanish music groups, a fascinating blend of Flamenco and Mediterranean styles that combines classic and contemporary rhythms.

The four women of Las Migas come from four different cities that span not only geography but also the cultural diversity of Spain: Barcelona, Sevilla, Córdoba and Lérida.

Las Migas was formed in 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. They come with the breeze of the Mediterranean Sea and bring their soul and heart into their music.

Some claim their songs to be Mediterranean or soulful song but labeling their song to a particular genre would be difficult. They play rhythmic songs. 

At present Las Migas have Bego Salazar as the vocalist, Marta Robles and Alicia Grillo on guitar, and Roser Loscos on violin.

These four band members have different perspectives towards music and the incorporation their thought to a single thread makes the band unique.

Las Migas perform Flamenco music, giving this beautiful genre a new definition.

The band was nominated for the 18th Latin Grammy Award in the category of ‘Best Flamenco music’ in 2017 for their album ‘Vente Conmigo’. 

New York, Nov 16 (AP) — A painting by the British artist David Hockney fetched $90.3 million at Christie's on Thursday night, easily breaking the record for a work by a living artist sold at auction.

Among his famous "pool paintings," ''Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" is considered one of his premier works. The previous record by a living artist was set by Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog," which sold for $58.4 million in 2013.

The 1972 painting by Hockney, now 81, is "the holy grail of his paintings, from both the historical and the market perspectives," Alex Rotter, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's, said in September. He noted that it reflects both the European and the American perspectives of an artist who came to live in sunny California in the '60s, and saw himself as living on both continents.

"It has all the elements that you would want in a Hockney painting," Rotter said in an interview. He noted that writers have referred to the swimming pool as being sort of a self-portrait of Hockney, though he never confirmed that, just saying he was fascinated to paint moving water.

The painting, whose buyer was not immediately revealed, had been long held by a private collector.

A depiction of two men — one swimming the breaststroke underwater, the other standing by the pool looking down — the painting was originally inspired, according to background provided by Christie's, by two photographs Hockney found juxtaposed on his studio floor, one of a swimmer in Hollywood in 1966, and another of a boy staring at something on the ground.

The rocky landscape is in southern France, and the standing figure is said to represent Peter Schlesinger, whom the artist met in 1966, when the younger man was a student in one of Hockney's art classes at UCLA. For the next five years, according to Christie's, he was both "the great love of Hockney's life" and one of his favorite models.

The relationship ended in 1971. Hockney had already begun the painting and he abandoned it, starting again the following year.

Dhaka, Nov 17 (UNB) - The country's biggest folk festival passed its second day on Friday with the mesmerizing presentation of folk music.

The performers from home and abroad showed their deep-rooted folk presentation in the Army Stadium where Rajshahi-originated local folk-fusion band Swarobanjo started on the second night of the folk festival.

The folk-fusion band Swarobanjo was formed in 2014 and has shared all of its music under Creative Commons License, non-commercially. Though this band is an open group, they have a stable band lineup. In continuation of that belief, they inaugurated ‘Copyleft Movement’ in Bangladesh.

This band sings about the protest of common people and about their hurdles since their interception. This band has so far published two albums namely ‘Gan-Bajna’ and ‘Haoar Chithi’ released in 2015 and 2016, but these two albums are not available in the market.

Majaz, a band formed in 2013, originally from Bahrain, located in the Arabian Peninsula came to stage after the performance of Swarobanjo.

Bringing out the best vibe to the listeners is the best possible attribute of the progressive fusion band Majaz as they executed the same thing in Dhaka. Initially, the band’s name was ‘Mazaj’, later it was converted to ‘Majaz’ for creative purpose.

The songs of the heritage of Arabian music amazed the audience very much by their soulful creations and their instrumental arrangement.

Lately, they performed in the biggest music festival ‘Spring of Culture’ of Bahrain. The band members are Jehad Al Halal (Cello), Abdulla Faisal (Percussions), Salah Sharakhat (Bass), Hameed Al Saeed (Guitar).

The Raghu Dixit Project from India also performed the mixture of modern and international music with Indian folk music.

This band brought out the rooted and earthy sound of modern India which gave the excitement to the listeners and folk lovers.

Raghupathi Dwarakanath Dixit is a singer, musician, music producer and a famous name among the folk genre of India who formed the group ‘The Raghu Dixit Project’ in 2005.

The world-renowned Glastonbury festival and many more concerts around the world was heated with the beats of The Raghu Dixit Project. They were featured the BBC’s ‘Later with Jules Holland’, Sydney Opera House for their folk songs.

The Raghu Dixit Project made every song vibrant as they believe that no listener should engulf into sadness while listening to songs that is why their every performance creates a feeling of enthusiasm among each and every listener.

The rhythm of Conjunto-based Songs did not disappoint to cheer up the mood of listeners of Dhaka in the jam-packed stadium. The music of this band led the listeners to a joyful ride as they are the masters of Tehano/Tex-Mex.

Los Texmaniacs, 2010 Grammy Award winner on the category of ‘Best Tejano Music’, also performed twice on the festival of ‘Smithsonian Folklife Festival’.

The folk lovers also experienced the Josh Baca’s amazing accordion playing and skill in the fundamental conjunto tradition while the drummer Lorenzo Martínez brought Mexican and Chicano influence in the band.

The queen of folk music in Bangladesh Momtaz Begum placed a powerful performance in front of people and was successfully able to satisfy the listeners.

Momtaz Begum, the jewel of Bangladeshi folk music, also served as the Member of Parliament in Bangladesh. She took music lessons from an early age from her father Modhu Boyati. Later, she became the protégé of Matal Kobi Razzak Dewan and Abdur Rashid Sarkar.

The audience was crazy over on the occasion for her performances which celebrates the rich culture of Bangla folk music. She has been appreciated for her performances in UK, USA, and many more.