29 April 2016
Edo, Tokyo, 1834A late winter snow obscured the sunrise over Edo, casting the city in hushed grey tones. Vendors and stores were slow to open. Young girls with morning chores hurried on their way under oiled paper umbrellas while merchants wearing straw capes and bamboo hats jogged with heavier strides. Yet, despite the cold and early hour, a group of people were already lined up against ...
22 April 2016
Tibet has always existed in geographic isolation, buffered by the Himalayas to the south; the Kuen Lun Range and Tsaidam Desert to the north; the deep river gorges of the Salween, Mekong and Tangtze rivers to the east; and the Karakoram Range to the west. In addition, the country existed in political seclusion to just about all but neighboring countries. As a result, the Tibetan people and...
14 April 2016
Springtime – Nara, Japan A small cherry blossom petal landed abruptly and silently in a cup of chilled barley tea. Shinobu, the man cradling the cup found his gaze drawn to tiny ripples spreading across the surface, momentarily forgetting what his wife Chiyo, was talking about. A gust of wind blew across the hillside meadow where they sat picnicking under the Sakura trees in full blo...
01 April 2016
The Chinese appreciation for stone stems from a deep veneration of nature. The three prominent schools of philosophy and religion in ancient China – Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism – all preached the importance of maintaining balance and harmony between humankind and nature. For example, early folk beliefs portrayed mountains as the abodes of gods imbued with sacred powers wh...
18 March 2016
Imagine walking deep into a forest. All the noise of the modern world fades away, leaving only the sounds of nature whispering in your ears. A stream murmurs nearby, the wind whistles through the trees, and leaves flutter in lengthy sighs as birds call out to one another overhead. There is no path where you walk, only trails marked by barely visible animal prints. Squirrels scurry up the b...
07 March 2016
Kuba art is renowned for their use of rhythmic geometric patterns that decorate all sorts of ritual objects, masks, textiles and these highly collectible ceremonial cups. The Kuba have been described as a people who cannot bear to leave a surface unadorned. It stems from a tradition that associates elaborate ornamentation with high status and prestige. You might say, to the Kuba people, m...
26 February 2016
In the late 1970s a lone fishing boat rocked gently on the waves of the Java Sea just off the coast of Kalimantan, Indonesia. The fishermen appeared as no more than shadows in the grey pre-dawn light. They silently went about their work, hauling in nets full of fish, clams and seaweed. A single deckhand leaned over the boat to pull a net over the side when his fingers curled around an une...
20 February 2016
Who is to say that the things we see – all the colors, shapes and textures of the world – are viewed the same way through every eye? Is the green you see the same as the green I see? Recent research has suggested it's not, and further, that the perception of color is actually derived from experience. Needless to say, no two people have identical experiences, even identical twins. We are al...
12 February 2016
In the 200 years between the early 1400s and the 1600s Portugal was the leader in world exploration and trade. While the rest of Europe was mercilessly ravaged by the Black Plague, Portugal remained largely unharmed due to its relative geographic isolation. Prior contact with the Islamic world had also given the Portuguese greater mathematical knowledge, allowing them to build ships sturdy...
05 February 2016
Imagine a drop of water falling onto a still pool. If you listen intently, you can hear a sound reverberate. It ripples through the air for an instant before dissipating. If your hearing is acute enough, you might hear small waves gently ringing in your ear. Now imagine holding a metal bowl with water inside – the still pool – and the touch of a wood mallet on the rim. This tim...