Could the art of ‘sashiko’ help to mend our frayed world?
The Japanese art of ‘sashiko’ celebrates the rough edges of life. Could this be the patchwork solution for our frayed selves?
by Melanie McGrath
Traditional arts
A boatbuilder above the Arctic Circle works hard at his epicurean life
Directed by Vern Cummins & Jamie Gallant
A joyously animated myth retells why painting is prayer to India’s Bhil people
A film by Nina Sabnani and Sher Singh Bhil
A whimsical ode to the reparative power of knitting, rendered in wool
Directed by Samantha Moore
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
La vida flamenca – why art and daily life are inseparable for a flamenco guitarist
Directed by Pedro Kos and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Scottish Gaelic songs send a message in a bottle across the oceans of time
Directed by Jamie Chambers
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
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
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
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
Witness the cool musical game played by Inuit women for centuries
Directed by Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland
Here’s to handiwork! A celebration of craft as a universal language
Directed by Donald Winkler
An Inuit artist reflects on the mysteries of artistic inspiration in this 1963 short
Directed by John Feeney
Items swallowed in Japan’s tsunami form a unique memorial an ocean away
Directed by John Bolton
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