Society & Culture

Mbabane: A cow for a king in Eswatini

While citizens queue outside barren pharmacies, corporations present Eswatini’s monarch with cash and cattle. The annual Tetfulo ceremony dresses political extortion in the unquestionable robes of cultural tradition....

Who owns baklava?

Turkish-born anthropologist Ellie Romain Ors explores the implications of gastro-nationalism through the humble sweet pastry In the rich folds of baklava – a dessert that is as intricate in construction...

They Danced on the Ruins

Inside Taiwan’s underground rave scene, where music, mysticism, and fleeting trust pulse through the margins of the city At a crumbling temple on a mountain slope in Taoyuan, music begins...

Provenance unknown

A Dutch journalist investigates the sale of illegally excavated pottery from ancient Greece NRC’s Theo Toebosch grew suspicious recently when he saw an ancient Greek drinking cup – an intricately...

Seeing red

How the crimson blazer became a status symbol in 1990s Russia What do roosters have to do with fashion? And how did Tolstoy’s perfume smell? Fashion historian Marina Skulskaya traces...

Between Slums and Skylines

A planner reflects on a half a century of urban change from post-war reconstruction to headlong development Since even before the turn of the 21st Century, Southeast Asia has shaken...

Faith and fish fillet burgers

An exploration of halal Hong Kong. Halal food is becoming more visible in Hong Kong. But for the city’s 300,000-strong Muslim community, it’s about far more than what’s on the...

Mother Goddess Celebrations in March

A provincial Vietnamese newspaper follows the rise of an ancient folk tradition once banned by the Communist Party. ‘August is the Feast for our Father, March is the Feast for...

Remembering the dancing feet of the Basque Roma

An exhibition shines a light on six centuries of Basque-Roma culture, history and language This year marks six centuries since the arrival of the first Roma to the Iberian peninsula....

Dancing Mania

An exploration of the interplay between affliction and ecstasy in a south Italian ritual dance In the sun-scorched landscapes of southern Italy, particularly in Puglia, the country’s heel, a unique...

Jolie laide

A Dutch journalist follows those giving the “ugliest city in the Netherlands” a facelift. On the northernmost stretch of the Dutch mainland, where the North Sea becomes the intertidal Wadden...

Cairo’s New Face

An exploration of how Cairo’s transformation into a real estate venture is reshaping its urban and social fabric. Cairo embodies a striking dichotomy, where the past and present intertwine in...

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