Bombarded with cultural traditions and unrealistic fantasies, we often forget that a woman is a person and it is her right to define her life in her own terms. When she is allowed to do so, the power, truth and beauty of her uniqueness far surpasses anything culture or advertising has shown us. Men experience … Continue reading Redefining Womanhood: Triste, Louca ou Má by Francisco, el Hombre
Exploring Culture
Resilience Does Not Forget: June 4, 1989 by Sherry Cheng
Years after a catastrophe, resilience continues to express itself. Memory lets us relive and reinterpret past events, unpacking things that overwhelmed us and growing our response over time. It is not an easy process. The approach of a date, a particular smell, image, or snippet of music can send us back to a deeply fearful … Continue reading Resilience Does Not Forget: June 4, 1989 by Sherry Cheng
More Than Repair: Elevating Memory with Kintsugi
Humanity can be callous and wasteful, but we often form attachments to things. Can connecting with sentimentality help encourage awareness? In this age of technology and mass production, we are accustomed to replacing things as they age and break down. It is usually easier to buy a new item rather than repairing an old one. … Continue reading More Than Repair: Elevating Memory with Kintsugi
The Flourishing Soul of Flamenco
The word flourish signifies not only rampant growth, but a gesture or set of gestures that personify vitality and life. That gesture may be expressed in words, carpentry, architecture, music, dance, cooking. There is no pursuit known to humanity that cannot be executed with flourish. One of the most striking exhibitions of this creative gesture … Continue reading The Flourishing Soul of Flamenco
Portraits of a Nation: The Tenacious Beauty of Sudan
Did you know that Sudan contains more pyramids than Egypt? There is much beauty hidden in this war torn land. Sudan is largely a country of desert, the Sahara reaching deeper and deeper into the nation with every passing year. Ancient civilizations once flourished here on the banks of the Nile: Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, … Continue reading Portraits of a Nation: The Tenacious Beauty of Sudan
Possessed by Violence: Valhalla Rising
Valhalla Rising is a complex and violent film, full of beautiful, savage images and scant dialogue. What actually happens onscreen? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx2u4ZzhcmQ Nicolas Winding Refn's brutal tour-de-force Valhalla Rising stars Mads Mikkelsen as a mute killing machine owned by a Norse Chieftain. The Chieftain keeps him caged, barely seeing to his physical needs and trotting him … Continue reading Possessed by Violence: Valhalla Rising
Where is the Refuge? The Melody of our Alienation
The power of the spoken word and the captured image can be woven together in a way that evades description. I thought I had finished synkroniciti's short cycle on Yemen, when I ran across this beautiful poem by Yemeni poet Dr. Abdulaziz Al Maqaleh read so sensitively by Sarah Ahmed. It is a lament for the … Continue reading Where is the Refuge? The Melody of our Alienation
