Culture

Essays and videos on the arts, literature, travel, rituals and celebrations

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Medieval painting of a figure in a robe holding two golden discs with a patterned blue and red background.

essayArt

Medieval moons

Some saw the Moon as representing creation, yearning for the Divine, some saw the Moon as almost Divine herself

Ayoush Lazikani

Photo of a person wearing traditional headwear with animal horns standing before clay huts with thatched roofs in a rural setting in Western Africa.

videoArchitecture

Inside the remarkable, endangered mud castles of West Africa

9 minutes

Black-and-white photo of a man diving mid-air against the sky, arms extended and wearing swim briefs.

videoRituals and celebrations

The Mexican cliff divers who take dazzling leaps into the unknown

23 minutes

Abstract painting with a guitar and geometric shapes in vibrant colours including yellow, green and blue.

essayMusic

The guitarist’s palette

In the hands of a great musician, the gloriously simple guitar can create the most complex works of art. Here’s how

Craig Ogden

Photo of two women sitting outdoors laughing with a colourful backdrop in the background.

videoSubcultures

Nomadic life is a warm, poignant memory for many Irish Travellers

10 minutes

Close-up photo of hands passing a small wooden cup during a dimly lit gathering with bottles visible in the background.

essayConsciousness and altered states

A wondrous brew

From Peruvian healers battling sorcerers to Chinese executives seeking financial success, ayahuasca’s power shifts across worlds

Alex K Gearin

Graphic depiction of a Go game board with numbered black and white circles and Japanese characters, in a grid layout.

videoFilm and visual culture

Japanese news clippings from 1991 blur into a hypnotic collage

3 minutes

Vintage sepia photo of two women in Victorian attire sitting in a parlour room with floral wallpaper, reading opposite each other at writing desk.

essayTechnology and the self

‘I awoke at ½ past 7’

Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame

Elena Mary

Photo of a person with a backpack walking up a narrow outdoor staircase between brick buildings and lush greenery.

videoHome

Cheng visits his hometown, awash in the tides of history and time

20 minutes

Collage art of a man’s face with colourful lines and words on a vibrant pink and teal background.

essayMusic

Mapping Bob Dylan’s mind

Generative AI sheds new light on the underlying engines of metaphor, mood and reinvention in six decades of songs

Prashant Garg

Photo of two women seated indoors, one using a phone the other reading a newspaper, with plants and wooden furniture.

videoHome

Can young and old coexist at a feminist co-living residence?

21 minutes

A shirtless man with multiple ears growing out of his body in strange places, in a dimly lit room.

essayFilm and visual culture

Power and flesh

As struggles over the human body escalate, we should return to the work of cinema’s greatest anatomist: David Cronenberg

Travis Alexander

Aerial view of a motorway intersection split by a pink line with abstract purple patterns below, in a photo.

videoMusic

Watch as the rhythms of traffic create a mesmerising score

2 minutes

Painting of a green and pink landscape with a prominent flat-topped mountain and a cloudy sky in the background.

essayArt

My private mountain

Through her paintings, Georgia O’Keeffe laid claim to New Mexico’s desert landscape. But it was never hers for the taking

Alanna Offield

Photo of a hand holding an ornate tarot card with a decorative illustration, two other cards on a black surface in the background.

videoDesign and fashion

Beyond fortune-telling – the enduring beauty and allure of tarot

16 minutes

Black and white photo of children playing in a street against a rough wall with a sign, some moving energetically.

essayChildhood and adolescence

Hidden in plain sight

Jewish children who were ‘hidden’ in Christian families during the Holocaust have much to teach us about memory and trauma

Carolyn Ariella Sofia

Painting of shells on a table with a floral vase a potted plant and a bird on a balcony overlooking water and cliffs.

essayNeurodiversity

A poet on Mars

Could autism explain Virginia Woolf’s unique voice? Her extraordinary eye for detail and connections suggests it might

Camille Caprioglio

Painting of philosophers gathered in a grand classical building, featuring figures in colourful robes with an archway framing the sky in the background.

videoHistory of ideas

How to read ‘The School of Athens’ – a triumph of Renaissance art

25 minutes

Illustration of a person in a pink shirt gently embracing a fawn in a forest setting.

videoAddiction

After 17 years of addiction, Raina finds a lifeline in compassion

15 minutes

Abstract painting with a vertical orange stripe on a dark red background.

essayArt

Art must act

Throughout decades of writing, Harold Rosenberg exhorted artists to resist cliché and conformity and instead take action

Blake Smith

Photo of a man in a colourful patterned shirt lying in water looking upwards with a focused expression.

videoArt

Finding the spirit of Haiti through a tour of its contemporary art

20 minutes

Illustration of a person in a wheelchair drawing at a desk, surrounded by swirling dark and light patterns.

essayBiography and memoir

Kabul in my heart

When the Taliban captured my city, thousands fled and the rest were severely repressed. But I’ve stayed – and survived

Maryam Mahjoba & Asad Nariman

Gold metalwork art piece with an owl motif surrounded by decorative discs on a dark background.

videoWar and peace

The extraordinary craft and fascinating symbolism of a pre-Incan ceremonial shield

3 minutes

A man and a woman on a path next to a grassy area, both holding phones; the man is shown from behind and appears to be taking a selfie while a large stag walks behind him.

essayTechnology and the self

Record everything!

Our memories are precious to us and constitute our sense of self. Why not enhance them by recording all of your life?

Yannic Kappes