photographer stefan. cultural life has come to a standstill in china as the country tries to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus china's top landmarks including the forbidden city and the great wall are closed to the public disneyland has also shut down in both hong kong and shanghai and most movie theaters have also closed their doors during a period that's normally their busiest time of year the world's 2nd biggest movie industry is down by 99 percent over last year. and my colleague scott roxboro is here to talk more about the cultural impact on a virus scott this virus is obviously very scary but for a lot of people it's also pretty boring people are basically stuck at home they

don't have the entertainment they're used to they can't go to concerts they can't go to movies how are people coping yeah no i mean this is quite severe a lot of people are staying home either because they have to or because they want to because they're scared to go out but of course people find a way to amuse themselves they find a way to to connect and of course a lot of that's happening now through social media in which is sort of the epicenter of of the crisis of people in a tenement apartment buildings some are are getting together now on their balconies and singing together at night singing together and chanting and fights of keep up spirits me of course of filming these social media. and see even little kids are getting involved and this this family here they posted this video of a traditional chinese game that usually is played in the streets during new year's celebrations of course they can't go on the streets so they recreated it at home and yet the people course are finding ways to muses of boredom inspires creativity

and this this is something like they miss online for posting videos of how she's coping you know what my favorite this is one how she's the ice in her freezer. ok well boredom does create creativity as you say let's talk about cultural industries in china which are huge what's the impact going to be on down i mean it's already been quite severe we'll see how long the crisis last of course but i mean mention movies and that's where we're seeing direct impact and yes it's already over a 1000000000 dollars lost in box office revenue but some studios in china are thinking old people are staying home they have to stay home but we give them something to watch so one big studio is take one of its big blockbusters and it was going to release in theaters theaters are closed now so it's releasing it online for free films and. a comedy it's called lost in russia it's about a middle aged guy who's traveling with his overbearing mother across russia it was expected goes billions of dollars at the in theaters instead they do this that online for free with ads it's looks like it's a success though and

a lot of companies are looking to copy it there are several other big studio films that are looking to do the same thing including a jackie chan an action film this could be very significant because streaming so far hasn't had a big impact on movie going in china because movie going still quite new that people still like to go to the movies but this could be a turning point especially these big films on really success at home people get used to watching big films at home ok so the coronavirus could mean more streaming and china now another thing that people can do from home of course is play video games and it's been the impact there surprisingly or ironically video games which has become incredibly popular since the break and it's called plague ink plague plague like as in black plague the game it's an online game basically you create a virus and then you infect a country and try to spread around the world sounds like a bit of gallows humor. but since the outbreak of the virus has become the most popular game downloaded in china i mean it could be a way of coping right you've got this crisis outside your window maybe playing this

game allow should interact or think a bit about it without really directly confronting ok i don't want to judge but i did. for a thanks so much for joining us and. we now come to a tale of friendship murder betrayal and salvation canadian author s.e. and do john's novel washington black tells the story of a young man who escapes slavery and goes on to explore the globe dujon ranks among the few western authors who write historical fiction about black characters this one her 3rd novel was shortlisted for the booker prize and is now being made into a t.v. series. and see a doujin has become a leading luminary of canadian literature she belongs to a new generation of novelists exploring north america's painful past. her most recent novel washington black is the extraordinary story of a young slave who flees captivity. by t.v.

adaptation is currently in development. george washington black is a young slave in barbados who becomes an assistant to an eccentric inventor together they escape a sugar plantation and a homemade hot air balloon. ringback ringback their fantastical journey takes them to the canadian arctic london and eventually morocco. what was the inspiration for the story. i did an article about scientists i was really struck by the fact that when i put the word sort of african. or african-american. science of scientists that. came up with about black people in the subjects of science or within science i was able to. enter modern traffic light was

a black man. what would a young black man in the 19th century have done with his freedom these were the ideas that intrigue. but why did she. maker protagonist male i think male histories . are have been unfortunately privileged over female histories and so a lot of what you do you come across as about men. you know and they're. basically how they. directed the course of events and so that's been $11.00 thing but i also i also think that writing from a perspective that is totally unlike my own is what's allowed me to get outside of my experience and really put myself into somebody else and it gives me a kind of. distance in order to express concerns that are actually very personal to me. and see it do jim's parents immigrated to canada from gone up

before she was born. both cultures are part of her she says. but when she visited donna 13 years ago she was surprised by how foreign she felt. feel like you have a strong sense of what it means to be a canadian and what ghana is like you know because you've been eating getting food and listening to canadian languages but when i went to ghana there was a failure to a lot of this the details obviously because i i had been so immersed in the culture . was but little by little there were things that came up that sort of brought home to me just how canadian i really. otherness' identity these are themes that are preoccupied esi e'sdugyan throughout her career as a writer beginning with her debut novel the 2nd life of samuel time it follows the

fortunes of a canadian immigrant in 1960 s. canada. the protagonist of her 2nd novel half blood blues is her wanna miss fall a trumpet. player in a jazz band in nazi germany who has a german mother and an african father. the idea for half blood blues came to the writer when she was living in germany on a scholarship. and stuck by i'm always struck by when i return is like the great love of the arts and the great respect especially country like germany has for the arts and so i'm always really. amazed to come here and and see what reference people have for the arts protests. and the fascination with the stories they tell. se to do to a writer who eloquently shows how the trauma of slavery lies just beneath the

surface of contemporary life. stefan haflinger is widely recognized as one of the world's leading landscape photographers his images play on the drama of light and shade in nature but a fellow is also fascinated by architecture particularly abandoned structures he says he loves the rush of adrenaline they give him we tag along with him on some shoots in the out. ruins and deserted places have always held a magical fascination that make us wonder who lived here and what happened to them . and his friend felix. explore places like this and research the history. of the super perfect here you can clearly see the roof is caved in the windows are broken

it's a sense of the planet or is crumbling from the walls all together it makes for some beautiful photos. teeth. built in the 1920 s. this complex served as a summer camp until it was abandoned in the 19th seventies with his photos stephan his choice to capture the feeling of spooky in charm and the places like this inspire in him. pay for has been fascinated by abandoned structures cinch childhood he's published his discoveries in a book of photos. splendid villas. first world war bunkers. chapels in the. factories where no machine has operated for decades he doesn't say exactly where he finds the abandoned buildings so they would be

overrun by other visitors most of the sites are difficult to reach and many are dangerous juta the advanced state of decay for that reason for that never sets out . pay for find some of his locations by scanning satellite photos on the internets. listings for here you can see the places abandoned doesn't even have a roof. it can be just that simple it's harder you can browse certain blogs on the subject than you can find a lot so that's still intact crewdson are still nice on the inside and there's nothing more to see here or you happen to pass a bar and find something by chance. definitely have close photos document traces of civilization doc time and nature is gradually a raising its works are a kind of monument to abandoned places.

thanks for joining us on arts and culture and don't forget you can find us any. i am on the web at g.w. dot com slash culture or follow us on facebook and twitter just look for d w culture we hope you have an inspiring we can see you again next time.

this is it breaks it is really happening great britain is leaving the european union just 3 years of tough negotiation a deeply divided country. much more for future generations from a. time to say good bye our break this special edition. will be our fighters want to start families to become farmers or engineers every one of them has a plan that didn't are you sure. can the thing is just the children who have always been there all of you and those that will follow are part of a new kind of. they could be the future of.

granting opportunities global news that matters d. w. need for minds. earth home to millions of species a home worth saving. google ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world like deals the protect the climate boost green energy solutions and reforestation. using interactive content to inspire people to take action global audience the environment series of global 3000 on t.w. and online. were systematically robbed by the nazis. and after the war there were no signs of compensation. jewish art collectors cotton and announced some on her 3rd reich didn't steal all these more words just to get more money it was to eliminate everything connected to jewish culture today researchers are

searching for the missing works of art it's challenging for the experts. and painful for the descendants. to someone who did art in the 3rd rush starts feb 10th on d w. to me. this is news and these are our top stories the u.k. is set to formally leave the european union in an hour's time prime minister boris johnson has hailed it as a new beginning for the country the u.k. e.u. have until the years and to decide their future relationship. cases of.