A seven-string plucked instrument of profound subtlety, the guqin has been played for millennia by Chinese scholars as a vessel of refinement…

Majlis is an Arab cultural practice of gathering in designated spaces—in homes and civic buildings—for hospitality, conversation, and deliberation…

Ireland’s national bagpipes, played sitting down with arm-powered bellows, produce a sweet indoor sound and enable the player to accompany themselves…

Egypt’s national street food, koshary layers pasta, fried rice, lentils and chickpeas with garlicky tomato sauce and crispy onions—a practice woven into…

Washi is traditional Japanese hand-made paper from plant fibers, prized for fine art, calligraphy, and conservation worldwide.

Rebetiko is the urban song of Greece’s working poor, emerging from disparate traditions in the early 20th century to document hardship and survival…

A bowed single-stringed instrument paired with sung epic poetry, the gusle has transmitted heroic narratives across the Balkans for centuries, binding…

Bachata is a Dominican music and dance genre born from Spanish, Taíno, and African traditions, transforming from marginalized folk music into a global…

A mineral-based cosmetic tradition across the Arab world, kohl is crushed and applied to the eyes as beauty practice and cultural marker in Damascus and beyond.

An ancient epic cycle of Oghuz Turkic tales preserving the moral wisdom and beliefs of nomadic peoples across Central Asia and the Caucasus, transmitted…