Arts & Culture
Here we cover the latest and most uplifting exhibitions, creative movements, and imaginative design to keep you inspired throughout your day.
This 3,700-year-old tablet is world’s oldest example of applied geometry
An Australian mathematician has recently discovered that the markings on an ancient fragment of clay tablet dating back to 3,700 years ago — during the Old Babylonian period — are the oldest known example of applied geometry. The tablet, known as Si.427, dates back to more than 1,000 years Read More...
This radio station plays ethereal ambient music made by trees
Silent tree activity, like photosynthesis and the absorption and evaporation of water, produces a small voltage in the leaves. In a bid to encourage people to think more carefully about their local tree canopy, sound designer and musician Skooby Laposky has found a way to convert that tree activity Read More...
US to return Gilgamesh tablet and 17,000 other looted artifacts to Iraq
During a period of unrest in Iraq in 2003, looters stole tens of thousands of ancient artifacts that were later smuggled out of the country, including the 3,500-year-old Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a rare portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem, known as the earliest Read More...
This book made of recycled plastic features letters to future generations
At this point, we can all agree that our take-make-use-dispose model of consumption has been nothing but harmful for the planet and that it’s about time we part ways with one of the biggest contributors to this problem — single-use plastics. A creative agency in Vietnam, called Ki Saigon, Read More...
This playwright rewrites Black voices and perspectives into popular culture
Marcia Johnson, a Jamaica-born actor, and playwright, was disappointed when she watched an episode of The Crown where not even one line of dialogue was given to a Black character—even though it was set in Kenya. As an outlet for her frustration about the erasure of African voices and Read More...
InkWell offers workshops for aspiring writers dealing with mental health
Canadian writer Kathy Friedman had been writing creatively ever since she could remember, and she also had a long history of mental health issues. She never thought to put the two together until she attended an event called “Art in Madness” in 2013, which explored the connection between Read More...
UC Santa Barbara professors win MacArthur endowment for racial justice project
Following a mass shooting at UC Santa Barbara in 2014, the campus began looking for new ways to rebuild community and trust. Professor Jeffrey Stewart decided to use his experience with the history of jazz to create a safe space for community growth. Partnering with Professor Victor Rios, the pair Read More...
Michelin showers stars on several plant-based restaurants this year
In January of this year, a Michelin star was awarded to a fully vegan restaurant for the first time in fine-dining history. The restaurant, called ONA, is run by Claire Vallee, who opened her doors in 2016. We wrote about Vallee’s impressive rise to the top despite being denied bank loans due to Read More...
Meet Pattie Gonia, the environmentalist drag queen fighting for inclusivity
The climate movement could use all the help it can get, and environmentalist drag queen Pattie Gonia is determined to make sure it can by pushing for it to be more inclusive. Pattie uses her Instagram account, which has more than 300,000 followers, to challenge what a conventional climate Read More...
Baltimore Museum of Art invites its security guards to curate new exhibition
As part of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s (BMA) ongoing efforts to highlight diverse voices, its newest guest exhibition directors are not the usual professionally trained and intellectually filtered curators, but 17 of the museum’s security officers. The exhibition, called “Guarding the Read More...