Material World

A young woman with wavy chestnut hair and at MIT sweatshirt holds up a glass plate stacked with cookies.

Foodways

German Christmas Spice Cookies: Baking Home Away from Home

December 17, 2024 | Betty Belanus

As the holidays approach, Franca is over 4,000 miles from home in Munich, Germany.

Two pale, rectangular wafers on a decorative plate, set besides dry hay, two Mary figurines, and a framed family photograph.

Celebrations, Foodways

Breaking Opłatek for New Year’s Wishes: My Journey to Reclaim a Polish Christmas Classic

December 12, 2024 | Emma Cieslik

The wafer resembles communion bread in my childhood Catholic church, and it tastes like construction paper.

A green hillside, looking toward red-topped farm buildings and, further, a valley and blue mountains, under a cloudy sky. A dog sniffs around in the foreground.

Environment, Foodways, Work Life

A Glimpse Beneath the Clouds: Preserving Arabica Coffee, the Nicaraguan Way

October 1, 2024 | Ping Yen (Jeff) Tsai

Since its mass cultivation in 1850, arabica coffee became Nicaragua’s primary export crop with great varieties carrying unique flavor imprints.

Five people pose shoulder to shoulder in a matching fashion collection of bandeau tops, a jacket, a vest, and tight-fitting pants adorned with colorful buttons. In front of them kneels their designer: a man wearing sunglasses and smiling.

Art & Design, Dress

The Afterlives of Buttons and the Visionary Fashion of Beau McCall

September 5, 2024 | Emma Cieslik

Today, artist Beau McCall—dubbed “The Button Man”—has works, including durags and jackets in museum collections around the world.

A elder man with short gray hair, glasses, and a blue tie with white button-up shirt poses besides hanging vertical paintings, depicting plum blossoms and bamboo with Chinese characters.

Art & Design

Painting Like Poetry: The Journey of Calligrapher Bertrand Mao

August 7, 2024 | Beth Ferraro

At age ninety-two, Mao credits his good health to his craft. It keeps him young, he says.

A woman with black hair pulled pulled and a large green jacket sits on a white marble bench along an indoor garden. Some of the plants are adorned with unworldly, neon-colored patterns.

Art & Design, Crafts

Japanese Kintsugi and the Art of Repair with Yuko Gunji

August 1, 2024 | Beth Ferraro

The Japanese art of kintsugi embraces an ethos of waste reduction and creative reuse.

A man holds a cell phone in one hand and a wooden tool in the other, which he uses to form the face of a red clay sculpture of a person. He was wired earbuds. Behind him are tall shelves full of ceramics.

Art & Design

A Visit from the Seventh Generation of Tibetan Bronze Artisans

July 24, 2024 | Beth Ferraro

Dawa Dakpa’s passion for craftsmanship ignited at the age of thirteen.

A woman stands in a doorway, leaning against a pink wall in a gallery space. She looks at the camera and smiles, clasping her hands together in front of her. The room is filled with clothing pieces, hats, and art on the walls.

Community, Cultural Sustainability, Dress

“Dressing Like a Human” to Honor Uzbekistani Art and Identity

July 18, 2024 | Nadya Ellerhorst

Uzbekistani artisan and businesswoman Lola Sayfi is hopeful for the future of artisans.

Close-up on an artwork display on the ground, of geometric patterns created with lines of white and colored sand, bordered by lit electric tea lights and white, red, and yellow flowers. The tea lights, glowing yellow, are also placed throughout the sand patterns.

Art & Design

Artist Shanthi Chandrasekar Overlaps Science and Spirit in Diwali Celebrations

July 15, 2024 | Beth Ferraro

Her specialty is kolam, a South Indian traditional decorative art form of intricate geometric patterns.

Nigina Ikromi and another artisan smile softly at the camera while holding a colorful piece of cloth.

Community, Art & Design, Cultural Sustainability

A Home for the Arts in Tajikistan

July 9, 2024 | Sofia Doroshenko

Gulzar Village founder Nigina Ikromi has built a home for Tajik culture and artisans.

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