Nowruz in Karakalpakstan Brings Out the Best of a Multi-Ethnic Non-Nation
A month ago today, I was fortunate enough to accidentally have my travel plans coincide with the biggest festival…
Tag: Culture
What Is ‘Intangible World Heritage’? UNESCO’s Lesser-Known List Countries Strive to Be on
The 19th session of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee of UNESCO just concluded in Paraguay, adding 58 cultural practices…
UNESCO Heritage Sites Class of 2024: A Mixed Bag of New Sites
The 46th annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee has just concluded in New Delhi. Keeping with WaL tradition of reporting…
Corrupted Monks and Conspiracy Along the Pilgrimage Called the ‘Buddha Circuit’
This is part 2 of a 2-part series on the conditions of Buddhism at arguably the holiest site in…
The Men Who Live Unknown Beyond the Caspian Sea
There are many famous mountain ranges across the world, and many famous groups have called them home. But the…
60 Meters—20 Years: Artist Yip Yew Chong’s Painted Singapre Throughout 70s and 80s now Display for the First Time
It needed a simple title—the remembrances of a quarter of a human life, spanning two decades of observations and…
What to Expect Before Going to Azerbaijan–a Country that’s Difficult to Nail Down
It was a late spring day when I told a friend of mine I was planning a trip to…
The Best Baklava in Baku: A Sickening Quest for Enlightenment of the Turkish Sweetmeat
Baku as a destination can be said to have it all. In the Azeri, there is a people that…
UNESCO Heritage Sites Class of 2023: Central Asia Winning Out
The 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee took place in Riyadh from the 10th to the 25th of…
Choosing Ancienne Over Avantgard With a Journey Through the Dahar, Tunisia
In southeast Tunisia lies a landscape marriage between generations of subsistence human activity and the desert ecosystem; as artificial…
The ‘Fungiatt’ Northern Italy’s Mushroom-Mad Mountain Men
It was still dark out when Brother Paolo arrived at my gate, calling me on my cellphone. For early-morning…
Paramount Pictures (And the Navy) Present Top Gun Maverick: Coming Soon to Recruit Near You
Memorial Day-weekend movie-goers have been tickled by the blatant U.S. Navy and Air Force recruiting booths set up in…