Welcome to CBC.ca/arts – Canada's new online magazine covering ideas and trends in arts, media and entertainment.

Our mission (and yes, we've decided to accept it) is to explore Canada and the world through the fascinating prism of the arts. We're operating on the premise that the culture surrounding us isn't just about diversion – we think it's more important than that. Lots of Canadians define themselves through their cultural allegiances; the entertainment industry is a massive economic force; today's movie or pop tune is tomorrow's social history.

We want this to be a place you'll visit every day. So we're going to provide a fresh, thoughtful take on all the fun stuff we consume: music, film, TV, books, media, advertising, art and design, and theatre. We'll be looking at the larger issues surrounding the wide array of things that make Canada so culturally dynamic. And there'll be healthy dollops of humour.

If you take a brief tour around this new arts section, you'll find a passionate attack on book clubs, a story about a magazine published in Vancouver that caters to high-end canine owners and a chat with Douglas Coupland about his latest novel. Katrina Onstad reviews Don McKellar's new film, Childstar; Liz Hodgson profiles controversial architect, Daniel Libeskind; and in the first instalment of a regular feature called "Alternative Canadian Walk of Fame," Andre Mayer gazes back wistfully at the biggest media rodent of all time, Hammy Hamster.

Since this is the web we're talking about, we'll deliver lots of clickable fun: in Matthew McKinnon's photo essay "Bring the Noise," you can take a trip through the history of portable sound, from the transistor radio to the Burton iPod jacket. If the hockey lockout has you down (sigh), take our quiz about kitschy hockey movies.

Each morning, we'll deliver a new feature article. Ideally, it'll make you think, laugh, become outraged or just say to yourself, "I never knew that Neil Young used to be in the same band as Rick James."

You'll also get up-to-the-minute arts news coverage from writers Dan Brown and Jessica Wong. (You can read more info about the whole team here.)

Of course, we want you to be a big part of this ongoing conversation. And in any engaging dialogue, you need a variety of viewpoints. We'll express opinions, we'll raise a lot of questions. Feel free to join in: there's a "Feedback" link beside every story. Please click on it at any time and let us know what you think. Weigh in. Disagree. Give us your take. We'll be posting many of your comments. We're assuming that we'll learn an incredible amount from you – our fellow culture junkies.

Thanks for dropping by. Make yourself comfortable and look around.

Happy reading. Happy clicking.

Greig Dymond
Senior Producer
CBC.ca/arts