Originally spotted via Racewire, Chang-hyo Bae is a South Korean born, London-based artist playing on Empire and the ambiguity of embracing “Britishness” as the “Other”.

I don’t get to do a lot of theatre in London, although I’m not sure I’ve ever been drawn to big production musicals and don’t quite see myself frequenting one of the West End halls anytime soon. But what I hear, is that I’m missing out on some fantastic smaller productions in the fringe of London’s theatre scene. Currently, a few productions deal with themes of identity, race, integration and immigration - all very Worldtown friendly topics. Here’s a few that I hope to check out:

Rich Mix features a production of Ice&Fire’s The Illegals, a community produced play that tells the story of the individuals behind the stereotype of illegal immigration. Ice&Fire have a whole host of productions

Black Filmmaker (bfm) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK. The 11th bfm IFF will take place between 6th – 10th November 2009 at the BFI Southbank, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Rich Mix and Shortwave Cinema. bfm IFF 2009 will feature narratives, documentaries and short films from the UK, Africa, the Caribbean, the US, Canada and Europe.

This is a regrettable act, but by emphasizing details - some from dodgy sources - such as the perpetrator yelling “Allahu Akhbar” and a repeated association of his motives to his Palestinian and Muslim roots, deeper analysis on the psychological effects of war and the poor attempts at integration by the US army is completely left off the radar.

Yet another creative project coming out of the experimental classes of Beirut. Yallah Undergound, a documentary that captures the underground music scene in the Middle East, drawing parallels between musicians and styles in urban centres like Amman, Cairo and Beirut of course. This trailer shows the interviews and soundbytes from Rayess Bek, I-Voice, Scrambled Eggs, and The New Government and plays like a visual mixtape.

Slackistan is an Independent fictionalized story of the apathetic, beautiful, young and privileged of Islamabad, Pakistan. The same Islamabad known to be a few short kilometres from the dangerous “Taliban territory” and vulnerable to unexpected carbombs. The plight of the young elite traversing from one social engagement to another while discussing their hair and what weekend party to go to sounds like any teen drama on American networks. So what exactly could be so interesting or “counter-culture” about the trial and tribulations of Pakistan’s privileged set?

I’ve recently moved to London, officially for Academic purposes, but unofficially to bask in the ultimate Global City and take part in it’s exhaustive list of arts and culture and general weekending inside the city’s heart. London is the bastion of mixing and diffusing, home to every culinary cuisine from virtually every corner of the earth, the premiere fashionista hotspot, and global trendwatching in politics, music and the catwalk.

Toronto-based MC and Poet Boonaa Mohammed never shies away from sharp words that uncover the harsh realities of immigrant life in Canada and countries of the West. The title of his latest spoken-word video, Green Card - commissioned for the Mayworks Festival of Canada - tells a powerful tale of the unjust and silent truths of immigrant hardships in countries where getting papers is like “winning the lottery”. Watch the video for a little slice of this narrator’s pointed perspective.

‘Fulton Street’ is a documentary taking place in Bed-Stuy, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill. The project is titled for the Fulton mainway that bisects these neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn, currently in the throes of gentrification. To personify this phenomenon, I am approaching subjects who have lived and worked in Central Brooklyn their entire lives. The project connects ongoing gentrification to the quality of life for residents and business owners in a modern world community of African, Caribbean, Arab, Latino, Southern, and Asian people of color. The main subjects are predominantly African American, ranging from 18 to 80 years old.

Entering the home studio that Yassin Kassem and Mohammed Turek of the rap duo Invincible Voice (I-Voice) have built in the Palestinian Refugee Camp of Bourj el Barajneh gives do-it-yourself (DIY) a whole new meaning. A small bedroom - which on this day was subject to enduring electricity outages - is converted into a base for mixing, producing, songwriting and entertaining the journalists that have started to take an increasing interest in these boys’ story. We enter the dark studio, leaving the door open to let the outside daylight in. Grey sponge sounds-proofs the walls of the ground-floor converted bedroom, and Tupac paraphernalia decorates them. This is one of the first “production houses” inside the camps of Lebanon, and is playing a big role in spreading the rap bug in refugee camps across the country.