From India with Love and Fire: Encounters
PHOTOS AND TEXT BY AMBER KIDNER
Says our resident contributor based in India, “Delhi is a stressful city to live in. Most people say so and that is my experience as well. I’m often drained of words and empathy and playful impulses. Author Lydia Davis and her very short stories guide me once again in attempting to apply words and images to some of our family’s encounters these past few months.”
Finding Interior Inspiration in Morocco
STORY BY DONNA FORD AND PHOTOS BY JOHN FORD
When traveling, Culture Keeper contributor Donna Ford discovers plenty of inspiration for her home’s interior. Here, she shares with us some of the style ideas she picked up as souvenirs in Morocco that are years later still showing up in her home design. From the decor of a luxury hotel to the energy of the medina, inspiration abounded during this North African getaway with her husband.
The View from Here: Lesbos, Greece
Throwing Ink at the Devil: On Hidden, Creative Labors
STORY BY LAURA M. FABRYCKY
Whether or not you’re an adherent to the Christian faith, today’s big anniversary marks an event whose effects have been so far-reaching that they helped create the cultural milieu you were born into. Laura Fabrycky’s current abode in Germany—the country in which Martin Luther made his 95 theses public 500 years ago today, on October 31, 1517—has given her a front row view of Germany’s public commemorations of the anniversary of the Reformation. This 16th century religious movement was ultimately marked by the rejection or modification of some Roman Catholic doctrine and practice and by the establishment of the Protestant churches. Laura reflects on how Luther’s work might inspire our own.
Encounters With Generous Hospitality in Iraq
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOEL CARILLET
Joel Carillet's 2017 travels have included stretches of time in a country that regularly dominates the world's news cycles. In this photo essay for Culture Keeper, he introduces us to people and stories that don't make the headlines, but that are just as instructive in creating a true portrait of Iraq as are all the other stories we hear.
On Choosing One's Neighbors
A Photographic Journey to Iona
Last week we depended on words to recount a story of travel to Iona, Scotland. In today's article the voyage is recounted solely through the images captured by a group of photographers who traveled together to the legendary island.
Remain Wild and Magical
STORY BY DEVON ANNE FARMER
PHOTOS BY JC JOHNSON
This week our Culture Keeper passports take us to the famed but tiny Scottish island of Iona for a fleeting moment of reflection, as recounted by our newest Culture Keeper contributor.
In A.D. 563 after being banished from his native Ireland, St. Columba landed on Iona in the Southern Hebrides with the intention of bringing Celtic monasticism and Christianity to Scotland as penance. The island happened to be the first spot he reached from which he could no longer see the outline of his beloved Ireland in the distance.
MicroStories: Quatre
PHOTOGRAPH BY JC JOHNSON & STORY BY KAMI L. RICE
A real life scene has been turned miniature through the magic of photography. This miniaturized scene inspired a tiny fictional tale that invites you to discover the other stories hiding in this image. We invite you to explore the world with us, letting your imagination play along as you do. The world can always use more play.
Paris City Guide (updated)
STORY BY JONATHAN RANDALL GRANT
It is an act of courageous vulnerability to share a Paris city guide. This guide is as much a confession as a resource. No matter what places are shared, I am sure to get a few Parisian friends who think to themselves: "There is no way I would be seen there, dead or alive!... Of course it was okay to be seen there a few weeks ago, but we don't go there now."
MADE: Karen Dolmanisth’s Big Little Things
STORY AND PHOTOS BY HOLLY WREN SPAULDING
MADE: A series of conversations with artists about how they navigate impasses and discover breakthroughs in their work.
To reach Karen Dolmanisth’s studio, I must first navigate a series of stairs, metal doors, and maze-like corridors in an old mill building in Florence, Massachusetts. Then follows a tunnel of books, artwork, costumes, and other ephemera gathered and carefully placed over the twenty years she has worked in this space.
The View from Here: Kuta, Albania
STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK ST.OEGGER
In this series, we offer you a little window onto life in one corner of the world or another. Enjoy peeking through the curtains with us!
The late afternoon sun beats down on the open central square of Kuta, where the old men have retreated to the shadows of a café, smoking and quietly chatting. It’s market day, and a woman with her fruit stand braves the heat with her friends. I pick up a few apples and figs, but when I reach for some money, she smiles and waves it away, telling me in Albanian that it is a gift.
When Silence Becomes Impossible: Toward an Ethic of Human Decency
Editor’s Note on behalf of the Culture Keeper team.
BY KAMI L. RICE
While we hadn’t planned to post new content in August, in order to give us time to prepare fresh articles to kick off the fall edition of Culture Keeper, the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the conversation they have set off have prompted us out of our planned quietness.