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THERAPEIAEUDAIMONIAPOIESIS

Traditional arts

Creativity and the artsSpirituality and transcendence
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Medieval painting of three musicians playing instruments, seated under arches with colourful robes and curly hair.

Music

idea

Courtly love songs are a window into medieval sex lives

Song lyrics acted as a sexual script for aristocrats, revealing some edgy practices that ignited their imaginations

by Elizabeth Eva Leach

A dancer in traditional Indian dress performs on stage against a black background

Dance

idea

Bharathanatyam dance is a living exploration of being human

With its origins in 16th-century India, Bharathanatyam remains hugely popular. Here’s a primer to kickstart your enjoyment

by Lakshmi Thiagarajan

Woman in a white dress standing in front of a geometric quilt in a garden setting with trees in the background.

Traditional arts

film

Beauty is woven into everyday life for the quilters of the American West

A film by Carly Jakins and Jared Jakins

Black and white photo of a woman holding a cat in a kitchen while a child eats at the table.

Food and drink

idea

La cucina povera delivers the fare we need to sustain us now

La cucina povera made do with whatever was available in nonna’s kitchen garden, and remains the perfect fare for our times

by Louise Fabiani

Photo of a person with a guitar leaning on a car in a forest with bright red foliage wearing a white shirt and hat.

Music

idea

Bob Dylan turned American folk traditions into modern prophecy

Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ is the first truly modernist folk song: it reworks tradition into a prophetic warning

by Timothy Hampton

A knitted grey toy mouse holds a needle and repairs its own dress. Three balls of yarn lie nearby, alongside a small blue open book.

Pleasures and pastimes

film

A whimsical ode to the reparative power of knitting, rendered in wool

Directed by Samantha Moore

Photo of carved wooden figures on a white background each with simple facial features and varying shapes and expressions.

Philosophy of art

idea

Archaeology excavates the layers of meaning we leave behind

Archaeologists make sense of the past by thinking about the intentional and the natural meanings of what they uncover

by Marilynn Johnson

Photo of two children in a workshop setting using tools, one holds a hammer the other uses a hand drill.

Learning and education

idea

Handcraft lessons belong in a radical school curriculum

Handcraft lessons in school can stitch empathy, sustainability and resilience to the shared knowledge of communal heritage

by Hinda Mandell

Illustration of cupped hands holding a golden artefact with intricate patterns against a textured background.

Traditional arts

film

A Bronze Age pendant links lives centuries apart in this wondrous short

Directed by Samantha Moore