The Fifa World Cup is being held in Qatar. The country’s been gearing up for this huge event commissioning a broad array of art projects. However human rights groups have repeatedly complained about the bad treatment of foreign labourers building the stadia, and there are also concerns for LGBTQ+ fans attending the matches, in a country where homosexuality remains illegal.

Rabih Alameddine is an award-winning Lebanese US novelist and painter, whose books cover topics including the Aids epidemic, the Lebanese civil war, exile and gender identity. He is also a huge football fan and he tells Tina Daheley about what hosting the World Cup in an Arab country means for the region and discusses football’s attitude to sexuality.

Argentina is famous for its legendary footballers, but amateur football is also huge in the country. Artist Martin Kazanietz captures this love of five-a-side and the social side of soccer in his paintings and he tells us about his own passion for the amateur game.

The Uefa Women's EUROs took place in England this year, with a record audience of more than 365 million people watching worldwide. The tournament appointed British Jamaican, professor Shirley Thompson as composer in residence. She created two works, Momentum, a Concerto for Football and Orchestra, the other, an anthem called Beautiful Game, both performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Shirley told The Cultural Frontline’s Andrea Kidd about the pieces.

Nigeria might have missed out on a place in the World Cup, but one man who’s putting the country’s footballers on the virtual international playing field is Victor Daniyan. For the last three years he’s been painstakingly creating a Pan African video football game. Victor explains why it’s important for him to develop this interactive platform.

(Photo credit: Colin Anderson Productions Pty Ltd/Getty Images)

This week we hear how writers and filmmakers navigate the challenges of telling stories from the past, a past that in many places around the world people are finding it harder and harder to agree upon.

Nobel Prize winning author Orhan Pamuk tells Anu Anand about his new novel Nights of Plague, set on the fictional Aegean island of Mingheria. It’s 1900 and the island is in the grip of plague. The novel explores themes of religion, superstition, individuality & nationalism and has caused some controversy when last year Pamuk was investigated by the Turkish state for “insulting” the founder of modern Turkey because of similarities some drew between a character in Nights of Plague, the revolutionary leader Major Kamil, and Turkey's first president Kemal Attaturk.

Anna Bailey talks to Oscar winning actor Viola Davis and director Gina Prince Bythewood about finding alternative historical sources for their new movie The Woman King, about the women warriors of the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey, which is in modern day Benin.

And we mark the passing of British novelist Dame Hilary Mantel, best known for her historical Wolf Hall trilogy, hearing about how novels can help us question historical orthodoxies.

(Photo: Orhan Pamuk. Credit: Ahmet Bolat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

For 25 years Sri Lanka went through a bitter civil war between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority.

Earlier this year the country was declared bankrupt and has been facing a major economic crisis, with shortages of medicines, fuel, cooking gas and food. Tens of thousands of people, the vast majority of them peaceful, took to the streets to stage the biggest mass protest in the country’s history, storming the presidential office and demanding the resignation of the President. He fled the country in July and a state of emergency was declared.

The hub of the social and artistic movement for change was Gota Go Gama in the capital Colombo. One of the artists who was part of this make-shift village is Yasodhara Pathanjali. She told Saroj Pathirana about the art work she created there.

Singer songwriter Namini Panchala tells us about her protest song "We all have a common enemy'' and mutli-disciplinary artist Imaad Majeed explains how he’s been using the arts to bring communities together.

Filmmakers Prasanna Vithanage and Anantharamanan discuss the complexities of putting Sri Lankan stories on screen. Prasanna is one of Sri Lanka’s leading filmmakers whose work explores ethnic conflict and Sri Lanka’s dark days during the Civil war. Filmmaker Anantharamanan also explores Sri Lanka’s conflict in his short films, and his debut feature “The 6th land,” is inspired by the many Tamil mothers and wives, still searching for their missing sons and husbands.

Novelist Shehan Karunatilaka has just won one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Booker, for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Shehan tells the BBC’s Martha Kearney more about the origins of the story and its links to the history of Sri Lanka.

Producers: Andrea Kidd and Kevin Satizabal Carrascal

(Photo: A protester in Sri Lanka. Credit: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)

On this week’s The Cultural Frontline, we look at the the place of women artists in Iran today and the important role music has played in the recent protests. Tina Daheley talks to two Iranian performers in exile, both arrested for the crime of singing alone - an act which has been illegal for women there since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Faravaz is a singer based in Germany and Justina is a rapper now living in Sweden. In 2020 the pair teamed up to release the single, Fatwa, about the rights of women in the country they left behind.

Producer: Simon Richardson

(Photo: A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration. Credit: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)

This week Anu Anand hears from artists highlighting climate change in their work.

‘Megafires’ have become a regular phenomenon in the US State of California. A new exhibition called Fire Transforms brings together artists from across the region, responding to the changing climate.

The experimental orchestra, The Manchester Collective, has teamed up with the BAFTA award-winning sound recordist Chris Watson and his long-term collaborator Spanish filmmaker Carlos Casas to perform the piece Weather, by US composer Michael Gordon. It’s now been reinterpreted by the Collective and includes an immersive film and soundscape of some of the habitats impacted by rising temperatures and sea levels. Anna Bailey went to a rehearsal to find out more.

Artists and writers from 28 countries have come together for a project called the World Weather Network. They’ve created a series of ‘weather stations’ and for the next year, they’ll be sharing their reports through art. One of the people taking part is visual artist Derek Tumala from the Philippines. He tells us about his live, interactive project called Tropical Climate Forensics.

(Image credit: Getty)

2022 sees the 100th anniversary of the world’s first ever broadcast advert, and this week we’re exploring the art and craft of advertising, looking at how commercials differ around the world and talking to the creative teams that put them together.

We hear from Jonathan Wolberg and Thabang Lehobye from South African advertising agency FCB about their promotion for Coca Cola, which was tailor made to help people in the country stop pronouncing each others’ names incorrectly.

As increasing numbers of companies attempt to project an eco-friendly image, we explore the concept of ‘green-washing.' Melissa Mbugua from the campaigning group Creatives for Climate, a global network of advertising professionals promoting environmental action in the industry explains how to spot it and reflects on the changing attitudes across Africa.

Robert Cerkez and Mikael Jørgensen from the &co Ad Agency in Copenhagen talk about selling to Scandinavia and how their advert for the airline SAS subverted the region’s stereotypes and drew a strong reaction from some quarters.

Producer: Simon Richardson

(Photo: A family watching adverts. Credit: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty)

Since the 1960s, Colombia has seen decades of warfare between leftist guerrillas, right wing paramilitaries and the army, claiming an estimated two hundred and twenty thousand lives.

Always an important element of Colombian culture, music has brought citizens together in protest recently. Three-time Grammy nominated Bomba Estéreo, whose music fuses a unique blend of cumbia and champeta rhythms, use their platform to tackle political and environmental issues affecting the country. Beatriz de la Pava talks to founder band member Simón Mejía.

Encanto, the Disney animated film about a Colombian family with magical powers has been a global hit. Constanza Hola speaks to María Cecilia Botero, the popular actor who plays grandmother Abuela Alma, about how the movie has shown the world a different side to Colombian culture.

The conflict and its impact on Colombian society has featured heavily in the work of many of the country’s leading writers. Novelists Juan Gabriel Vasquez and Cristina Bendek discuss how Colombia’s history has shaped their work and the role of writers in today’s society.

Producers: Andrea Kidd and Kevin Satizabal Carrascal

(Photo: Protesters in Colombia. Credit: Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

In March this year, the World Health Organization announced research findings that the Covid-19 pandemic had triggered a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide.

We ask how does the act of making art help creatives around the world address personal psychological challenges? And we celebrating art’s ability to inspire and soothe anyone - artist or not - who might be experiencing difficulties with their mental health.

Spice Girl Melanie C opens up about how at the height of her fame she was dealing with depression and an eating disorder and tells us how she worked to overcome these challenges.

Nigerian artist Jonathan Chambalin explains how making art helped him through the anxiety of lockdown.

Singaporean landscape photographer Xuan Hui Ng describes how capturing nature enabled her to overcome a downward spiral of grief.

And American Gen Z cultural journalist Alexis Oatman on how millions of Americans are responding to career burnout, including Beyoncé.

If you've been affected by the content of this programme information and support is available via the BBC Action Line, click on the link below.

(Photo: Melanie C. Credit: Matt Holyoak)

With over one billion monthly users, TikTok is now the platform of choice for comedians, musicians, artists, filmmakers, writers and dancers around the world. Their aim is to go viral and even possibly become the next global superstar.

So just how do you get your video onto phone screens around the world? Digital journalist and social media expert Rebecca Jennings talks to Sophia Smith-Galer about how the TikTok algorithm works and why there is content censorship controversy on the platform.

What does it take to go from TikTok to the top of the music charts? Sophia speaks to four musicians about how the platform has changed the way they make music and why they want to share it with a TikTok audience. Emo-musician Daine tell us why they are nervous about the algorithm, and composer Julia Riew explains what made her want to document writing a Korean-inspired Disney-style musical with her followers. The singer-songwriter Tom Rosenthal explains how it feels to go viral, and the violinist Esther Abrami is using TikTok to bring her music to a wider audience.

Charity Ekezie is a Nigerian creator makes videos that challenge and shatter negative stereotypes about Africa. Her funny and sarcastic videos have racked up millions of views, but she explains why she feels the platform needs to do more to ensure African TikTokkers like her get the recognition and financial opportunities they deserve.

(Photo: Phone with TikTok logo . Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters. Marianabooker photo courtesy of Mariana Etchegary Boyer. Booksbyla photo courtesy of Layla Fernanda.)

In 2016, one of the largest tribal gatherings in North American history took place on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation in North Dakota. Thousands of indigenous people, from across the continent, came together "in defence of water" and to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe mobilised supporters from across the country and the response was extraordinary. Thousands of indigenous people from across America and beyond joined together as "water protectors" and in solidarity against the "black snake" of the pipeline.

The encampments evoked memories of previous native conflicts with central government, with tepees on the prairie and men on horseback. But this was a very modern movement, fuelled by social media, largely led by women and using the full force of indigenous art and culture.

Nick Rankin travels to North Dakota to find out what happened at this controversial site, and to see how those events continue to resonate there today. He talks to local artists and activists, and to several of the original water protectors. How has the tribe been changed? In what ways has it altered their relationship with other tribes and with the surrounding non-native culture? How significant is the role of Native Arts and language in this new wave of environmental protest?

Presenter: Nick Rankin

Image: Activist Waniya Locke (Credit: Anthony Denselow)