A famous Belgian statue has become a symbol of defiance in the wake of the attacks in Brussels that took place Tuesday morning. The Manneken Pis is a well-known bronze sculpture in Brussels of a small child urinating into a fountain.

The Embassy of the United States in Ottawa and the U.S. Department of State's Office of Art in Embassies, in partnership with the National Gallery of Canada, will welcome renowned American artist Kiki Smith as the first speaker in the 2016 edition of the Contemporary Conversations series on March 31 at the Gallery. Contemporary Conversations (#artconvoAIE) invites iconic American artists to Ottawa for discussions on topics that transcend national borders, inspire critical thinking, and connect people across cultures.

Featuring the works of Mohammad Atif Khan and Zaira Ahmed from Pakistan, Li Yanbo from China and Sarah Hopkins from the United Kingdom, the collaboration between Satrang and the residencies programme has entered its third year as a cross-cultural exchange programme facilitating interaction between local and international printmakers.

To tell a good story should not be a risk. To paint on canvas or shoot a picture should not land you in jail. A tweet, a blog, a film — non should cost you your life. Look around the world, though, and worry. Storytellers are in jail, exiled or dead. [...] The full spectrum of art and culture is under duress in many countries because words and images are powerful and when there is distress, repression follows. 

Art and politics have always been used together, and Benin-born artist Meschack Gaba is no different. He's been using his art to air his own political and social comments.

The Angkor Panorama Museum, which opened its doors in December, is just the latest international project to be completed by Pyongyang's Mansudae Art Studio - one of the largest art production centres in the world. […] In recent years Mansudae has started taking its gargantuan socialist-style monuments abroad.

The book fair, organized by New York nonprofit Printed Matter and held at the Museum of Contemporary Art's Geffen space in Little Tokyo, will feature more than 250 exhibitors, and is expected to draw upwards of 30,000 visitors. This will include art book purveyors from all over the U.S., as well as locations as far away as Norway, Japan, Guatemala and New Zealand.

Every January, as temperatures plummet, New York's Public Theater opens its doors to Under the Radar, a festival that features cutting-edge theater from around the world. [...] This year, Under the Radar is presenting work from Chile, Japan, France, Canada, Rwanda — and Brooklyn, N.Y. In a rehearsal studio in the borough's Park Slope neighborhood, a company called 600 HIGHWAYMEN is rehearsing its new show, Employee of the Year.