Photo essays
The Music Plays Again in Mosul
The maestro is back home in Mosul, along with many of the previously displaced musicians. The campus theater hall is being rebuilt, and the statue of Othman al-Mosuli is back on display by the railway station, waiting for the toots of trains that bring new visitors.
Nostalgia for India’s Forgotten Courtesans
Many Indians who had been influenced by Western education and Victorian mores belittled Tawaif art and culture. The British Empire, oblivious of the Indian traditions and cultural milieu, gradually began to erode the Tawaif tradition by equating courtesans to prostitutes.
Despite Turkey’s Tough Stance, Afghan Refugees Flood In
People smuggling is big business. According to government officials in Van province, 1,262 smugglers have been arrested in the area this year, the majority of them from Turkey. Now there are fears that the situation for Afghan migrants is nearing a tipping point that will make it harder and more dangerous for new arrivals hoping to get to Europe.
The Transformative Art of Wood Toy Carvers in India’s Varanasi
As for the toymakers of Varanasi, they seem to acknowledge their advantage. Carving wonders out of wood, they continue the legacy of making their wooden toys in various colors and sizes; a metaphor, perhaps, for the varying levels of hopes that continue shaping the talented community.
Greece’s Wildfires and the Future of Natural Disasters
Wildfires last month on Greece’s second-largest island have destroyed homes and livelihoods. For many parts of the country, climate change is not a problem of the future; it is here and now. Yet the response from those on the island has not been to seek help from the government, but to turn to the local community.
Sudan’s Golden Harvest
Gum arabic is a ubiquitous, seemingly invisible, precious product that people around the world use in everything from chocolates and soft drinks to pharmaceutical products and printing. Locals in Sudan have long valued this golden harvest, using it throughout the country and producing as much as 80% of the world’s gum arabic in a given year.
The Shared Struggles of Bedouins and Native Americans
Much like native peoples in the U.S. have had to successfully balance their specific tribal identities within a larger pan-native identity so, too, the Bedouins of Jericho must negotiate between their identity as individual tribes, their larger identity as Bedouins and finally their national identity as Palestinians.