All Stories
The Loom of Continuity: Weaving Kente into Ghana’s Future
Kente, Ghana's iconic textile, is being preserved through a dynamic blend of traditional village-based apprenticeships and integration into the national school curriculum. This synthesis ensures that the intricate art of the horizontal loom remains a living, evolving heritage.
Resilient Grains: The Revival of Traditional Millet Farming in India
A shift toward traditional millet cultivation is helping Indian farmers combat climate uncertainty while preserving vital agricultural knowledge for future generations.
Reviving the Rhythm: Safeguarding Seperu in Chobe
The Seperu folk dance, a vital cultural expression of the Veekuhane people, is undergoing a major revitalization project supported by UNESCO to ensure its survival for future generations.
Legislating Living Traditions: The Evolution of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage
China continues to formalize its approach to intangible cultural heritage through the 2011 national law and active international collaboration. This framework supports thousands of inheritors who sustain the country's diverse living traditions.
Weaving the Future: China’s New Wave of Heritage Design
Young designers are reimagining traditional Chinese crafts through modern color palettes and sustainable materials, proving that heritage is a living, breathing practice.
Healing Traditions: The Kallawaya of the Andes
The Kallawaya people maintain a sophisticated system of traditional medicine through oral history and botanical expertise, supported by modern UNESCO-backed safeguarding efforts.
Preserving the Wisdom of the Ifa Corpus
To ensure the continuity of the Ifa Divination system, practitioners are establishing dedicated schools to pass down centuries of Yoruba philosophy and botanical knowledge.
Digital Transformation: Nigeria’s New Frontier for Heritage Preservation
Nigeria has officially shifted toward a digital-first strategy for cultural preservation with the launch of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) Digital Museum.
The Resilient Echo of the Hammer: Thatheras of Jandiala Guru
Discover the intricate metalworking techniques of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, a community dedicated to sustaining their ancestral craft against the backdrop of modern industrialization.
The Living Rituals of Mudiyettu: Safeguarding Kerala's Performance Heritage
Mudiyettu is a traditional ritual theatre and dance drama practiced in Kerala, depicting the mythological struggle between Bhadrakali and the demon Darika. It serves as a vital example of how intangible heritage is actively maintained through rigorous training and community participation.
Why National Cultures Still Matter in a Global Age
Globalisation has made it easier than ever for people, goods and ideas to cross borders. That raises a second question: how does a society remain recognisable to itself while participating fully in the wider world?
China's Model: Building a Common National Identity Across a Vast Multiethnic State
China officially recognises 56 ethnic groups, yet its political model places a common Chinese national identity above narrower regional or ethnic identities.
Japan: Modernity Without Cultural Amnesia
Few countries combine advanced industry and global brands with such a visible continuity of historic ritual, craft, language and aesthetic practice.
Saudi Arabia: Why Arabic Is National Infrastructure
Saudi policy provides a case study in how a state can seek international investment while strengthening a national language and cultural narrative.
Israel: Law, Language, Diaspora and National Continuity
The revival of Hebrew did more than preserve heritage: it created a common communication system for immigrants from many linguistic environments.
India: Civilisation, Plurality and the Modern Nation-State
India forces any discussion of national identity to confront scale and plurality — a billion people, hundreds of languages and enormous variation.
Ghana: When Culture Becomes a Development Strategy
Ghana offers a different logic: cultural assets can support jobs, tourism, design and international visibility.
Rwanda: Language, Memory and the Reconstruction of National Identity
Rwanda shows that national identity can be reconstructed deliberately after profound social rupture.
Tanzania: How Kiswahili Helped Build a Nation
Tanzania provides one of the strongest examples of language functioning as national infrastructure.
Morocco: One National Identity, Multiple Historical Layers
Morocco's national identity is officially described as a unity composed of several historical layers.
Brazil: Protecting Culture in a Continental, Mixed Society
Brazil warns against careless demographic classification: census categories cannot be translated into a universal racial model without losing information.
Paraguay: How Guaraní Became a Living National Language
Guaraní demonstrates that linguistic continuity can become part of national cohesion rather than an obstacle to it.
Europe's Demographic Turning Point
Fertility is below replacement across the continent, populations are ageing, and in many countries deaths already exceed births.
Europe: Different Nations, Shared Civilisation
Different nations can share a civilisation. Preserving both levels may be one of Europe's central tasks.
The Swiss Lesson: Integration Through Rules, Language and Contribution
Openness and demanding integration rules do not have to be opposites.
Why Demographic Data Need Clear Labels
A number can represent very different things: a census count, an estimate, a projection, or a model.
Contributors as a Global Knowledge Network
A global magazine becomes stronger when its network is more than a list of bylines.