Arts

Image from a poster depicting a toucan at the new exhibition, "Imaginary Amazon," at the University of San Diego, featuring works by contemporary artists, many of them Indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon. 

‘Imaginary Amazon’ exhibition counters negative stereotypes through contemporary art

Arts, Culture & Media

University Art Gallery at San Diego State University has just unveiled an exhibit, “The Imaginary Amazon,” featuring works by contemporary artists, many of them Indigenous inhabitants of the forest. The artists’ intent is to address some of the stereotypical Western perspectives of the Amazon.

The 2015 Kennedy Center Honors Honorees, including conductor Seiji Ozawa, stand on stage during a reception for them in the East Room of the White House, Dec. 6, 2015.

Renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa is remembered as ‘graceful,’ ‘supernaturally’ gifted

Music
Florida is home to the largest Haitian community in the US with more than 300,000 people of Haitian ancestry.

Miami’s Little Haiti: What is lost when a community is displaced?

Diaspora
musicians onstage

International Guitar Night shows off diverse styles and sounds from across the globe

Music
Haiti's annual PapJazz Festival brings together local and international audiences for rich and diverse musical experiences.

‘It’s an act of resistance’: Haiti’s jazz festival opens in Port-au-Prince despite security challenges

Arts, Culture & Media
The Estonian folk music quartet 6hunesseq performs during Tallinn Music Week. From left to right, Marion Selgall, Greta Liisa Grünberg, Maria Mänd and Kaisa Kuslapuu.

All-women Estonian quartet brings ancient folk music to the forefront

The small Baltic nation of Estonia is experiencing a folk music renaissance, with young musicians bringing traditional songs and instruments to the forefront in an attempt to reassert a unique Estonian identity and keep the country’s ancient heritage alive.

Projected blue and red stripes over white cliffs

The humble origins of the ubiquitous ‘climate stripes’

Climate Change

When Ellie Highwood was crocheting a blanket as a baby gift in 2017, she wanted to make something that would mean something to the baby’s climate-scientist parents. She ended up making a “global warming blanket.” And she never could have guessed the impact that the blanket would have.

A 9th-century recipe from a 10th-century cookbook from Baghdad, updated for the modern diner by renowned chef, cookbook author and restaurateur Najmieh Batmanglij.

‘Dining with the Sultan’: A unique exhibit explores the fine art of feasting in historic Islamic lands

Lifestyle

A new exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art takes visitors on a journey to explore food and art through the Middle East and beyond. It includes recipes by an Iranian American chef dating back to 10th-century Baghdad and artwork influenced by different cultures.

In front of a floor-to-ceiling glass door in the living room of Najannguac Dalgård Christensen, necklaces with amulets carved out of bone and seal claws dangle from a coat hanger.

Healing old wounds: The revival of Greenlandic Inuit tattoos in Denmark

Lifestyle & Belief

Greenland’s Indigenous peoples once wore bold face tattoos that carried deep spiritual and cultural significance. But during the centuries of Denmark’s colonial rule, the Inuit tradition of getting face and hand tattoos disappeared. One Inuk tattoo artist is now reviving a piece of Inuit heritage for community members living in Denmark.

Clarissa Bitar plays the oud, a classic string instrument.

How the oud brought this Palestinian American musician closer to their culture, family and history

Movement

For Palestinians in the diaspora, staying connected to their ancestral home and making sense of the politics in the region has long been a challenge. Meklit Hadero, host of “Movement,” a series on music and migration, spoke with Clarissa Bitar, a Palestinian American who found that a musical instrument could bridge history and great distance.