News
UNESCO Announces New Cultural Center for Bamiyan Valley
It's rare that architects have the opportunity to design a building for a UNESCO World Heritage site — much more so for one recently devastated by cultural destruction.
Laura C. Mallonee
Art
Giving Thanks with John James Audubon's Beloved Turkeys
A turkey isn't the kind of animal that typically evokes strong feelings. Few of us carnivores interact with it unless we’re eating it.
Interview
Archiving Eden Ahead of the Apocalypse
The apocalypse may be a popular trope in sci-fi films and mass market fiction, but it's not something most people have ever actually prepared for.
News
Mexicans Burn Presidential Effigy in Protest
Rather than the usual parties and celebratory parades, many Mexicans marked Revolution Day last Thursday by protesting the massacre of 43 students from Ayotzinapa in a vividly symbolic way: burning effigies of their leaders.
Art
From Idaho to the Smithsonian, the Journey of James Castle
In 1899, in the remote Idahoan village of Garden Valley, James Castle was born completely deaf. For the rest of his life, he couldn’t hear, speak, read, or write. Our only glimpses into his mind are the drawings and collages he created using scavenged paper and soot mixed with his own spit.
In Brief
Turning Brazil's Political Waste into Furniture
Late last month, Dilma Rousseff was re-elected president of Brazil, bringing one of the country's most bitter elections to a close. Though the campaign season has ended, tons — as in literal tons — of illegal signage remain on the streets.
News
New Bill Could Keep Looted Syrian Antiquities Out of US
A new bipartisan bill aims to sharpen the United States' response to looting in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries impacted by war, political instability, or natural disaster.
Art
Let Them Eat Art: Queens Through the Ages
In her infamous speech at the British Museum last year, writer Hilary Mantel described Kate Middleton, future queen of England, as a “shop-window mannequin” whose sole purpose was to look pretty and give birth.
Opinion
$46M Spent on Extinction Monument Could Help Curb Extinction
Earlier this month, workers in England broke ground on a $46 million memorial to extinct species.
News
Visions of Heaven and Earth in an Ancient Chinese Tomb
Archaeologists have unsealed a 1,000-year-old brick tomb in northern China containing unusually well-preserved murals of heavenly and earthly scenes.
Art
The Faces of American Debt
Following the 2008 economic crisis, San Francisco-based photographer Brittany M. Powell had trouble finding full-time work.
News
Will Oslo Save Its National Gallery?
A group of prominent Norwegian architects who have long opposed the Norway's new national museum building are now speaking out to save the original National Gallery, which dates to 1842.