Drawing More-than-Human Kinship
Introduction In my work as an anthropological ethnographer and illustrator, I have been working to connect seemingly disparate disciplines together—at times, even as a messy and rough bricolage.…
Tag: art
Section Three: Understanding as Resonance
Introduction: Understanding as Resonance Aja Smith and Anne Line Dalsgård In this third section of the thread, Understanding as Resonance, the essays explore that which happens when words…
SECTION TWO: DESTABILISING CONCEPTS
In a reflection of and paying respect to the collective nature of thinking, we have chosen to cite central aspects of the reviewers comments in each section. We…
SECTION ONE: WRITING HUNDREDS, EXERCISING THOUGHT
In a reflection of and paying respect to the collective nature of thinking, we have chosen to cite central aspects of the reviewers comments in each section. We…
How Power Pervades Portrayals of Human Evolution
An evolutionary scholar examines racist and sexist depictions of human evolution that continue to permeate science, education, and popular culture. This article was originally published at The Conver…
SUBTRACTIONS AND ACCUMULATIONS
The following curated collection of fragments outlines two main strategies used over the last ten years in the creation of contemporary artworks to memorialise events: subtraction and accumulation.…
Arte y tiranía
Artículo publicado en el diario Levante, el 10 de junio de 2003, con motivo de la Bienal de Valencia, presentada bajo el título genérico de “La ciudad ideal”.…
Donor Profile: The Susan L. Q. Flaherty Collection
Donor Profile: The Susan L. Q. Flaherty Collection …
Whose crisis is this crisis?
This post is part of our Encountering Precarities series. The thematic thread engages with the multiple and asymmetrical forms of precarisation and vulnerabilisation involving both ethnographers and t…
All balls have colors but some balls are more colorful than others
By Peter Versteeg – The opening images of the documentary “White Balls on Walls” show us an ivory tower: a huge building, shining white, almost sterile, a stronghold…
Kufun + Fun = CoFuFun at Tenri Station Plaza
CoFuFun is an open space for special events, gatherings and for children (and adults) to play. It was produced by Nendo, a not-for-profit arts and architectural group, to…
Five Highlights From the 2023 RAI Film Festival
This March, SAPIENS is partnering with the Royal Anthropological Institute’s RAI Film Festival to celebrate anthropological documentaries. ✽ The art of anthropological documentary filmmaking is thriv…
Picturing the Deep Universe Is Deeply Human
The James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning photos require extensive image processing—revealing as much about humanity as about the universe. In July 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled “Webb’s…
17th Century Judaeo-Persian Manuscript
This is a beautifully illustrated text, a copy of a text first written in the 14th century. You can examine it at https://smarthistory.org/the-ardashirnama-judeo-persian-manuscript/?fbclid=IwAR2H…
When Life Imitates Art in Ukraine
Photographs from Russia’s war on Ukraine dissolve an archaeologist’s fondness for a Soviet-era sculpture. ✽ On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. Counter to Russian President…
Piecing Together History From a Roman Mosaic
The 2020 discovery of an ancient villa in Britain uncovered the most important Roman mosaic found in the last century. An archaeologist explains how the mosaic offers an…
Best of SAPIENS 2022
In a year of continuing global conflagrations, anthropologists investigated a wide range of pressing and curious questions about humanity’s past, present, and future. Here are the editors’ picks…
A Whirlwind Tour of Okla Homma
New Directions: An Insider’s Look at Native American Collections SAR President’s Circle members embarked…
Confronting Xenophobia Through Food—and Comics
An anthropologist who migrated from India to the U.K. uses his research to illustrate how fellow migrants from India maintain cultural heritage through hard-to-find ingredients. ✽ Before I…
What Is Anthropological Poetry?
SAPIENS’ poetry editor and inaugural poet-in-residence break down what makes certain poems anthropological and explore how poetry has the potential to transform ways of thinking and being in…
Did Neanderthals Make Art?
Experts continue to debate whether Neanderthals were painters and jewelry-makers. A paleoanthropologist explores the evidence for Neanderthal art and the sources of people’s skepticism. ✽ As a Neande…
What Klingon and Other Constructed Languages Reveal
At a Comic-Con, or comic book convention, in Los Angeles in 2010, the trolley signs were in Klingon. Doug Kline/The Pop Culture Geek Network/Flickr This article was originally…
What Klingon and Other Constructed Languages Reveal
This article was originally published at Knowable Magazine and has been republished with Creative Commons. Most languages develop through centuries of use among groups of people. But some…