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Showing 9 of 385 news items in Culture & Community

Culture & CommunityAugust 27, 2025

History of Baltic Sea's Gotska Sandön includes both trade and piracy

Excerpt from phys.org Gotska Sandön has long been regarded as a lonely and desolate place where people only occasionally hunted seals. But recent archaeological investigations reveal a considerably more complex history. Sabine Sten, Professor of Osteology at Uppsala University, and colleagues have made new discoveries about life on the island. The project, which Sten is running together with Professor Johan Rönnby from Södertörn University, started a few years ago and has already led to exciting findings. At Säludden on the island, researchers have unearthed a medieval burial site.

Culture & CommunityAugust 26, 2025

Island Vibes unleashes Tonga Tū Ketau Tuē: A celebration of Tongan identity and language

Photo credit: pmn.co.nz Excerpt from pmn.co.nz Vibes are high as a tsunami of red reaches the shores of Aotearoa to celebrate Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga - Tonga Language Week. Auckland-based nine-piece band, Island Vibes, has welcomed the rush of MMT pride with the release of their latest song, Tonga Tū Ketau Tuē. Written entirely in Lea Faka-Tonga, the song strengthens the legacy of Tongan music traditions and evokes the atmosphere of the kava circle.

Culture & CommunityAugust 26, 2025

How Bad Bunny concerts fuel Puerto Rico’s independence movement

Excerpt from thetimes.com The world-conquering singer is playing 30 dates on his struggling home island with songs demanding liberation and inspiring the youth

Culture & CommunityAugust 26, 2025

Summers on Kınalıada: The island that keeps Armenian culture alive

Excerpt from armenianweekly.com Growing up Armenian in Turkey, my existence has never been passive. Rather, it has been an act of resistance. For as long as I can remember, each summer has meant packing my bags, boarding a ferry and crossing the Bosphorus to Kınalıada Island. The simple act of preparing for this journey—stuffing my suitcase and using my ferry card—serves as a quiet ritual of remembrance. It is a way of acknowledging Armenians’ past trauma while choosing to move forward, to heal in a place where beauty grows, to celebrate life. Kınalıada is that place. Upon arriving, the chatter at the dock shifts softly into Armenian and my soul exhales. As the tide crashes against the shoreline, I feel a calm wrap around me like a beach towel, one that only Kınalıada can provide—the freedom to be unapologetically true to who I am. Immediately, I am greeted with the word բարեւ (parev) by Armenians who live in other parts of Istanbul, throughout Turkey or some far-off place in the world. Suddenly, I am reminded that no matter how scattered we are, we all find a sense of belonging during our summer stays in Kınalıada.

Culture & CommunityAugust 19, 2025

Hoops for Equality in the Solomon Islands

Photo Credit: about.fiba.basketball Excerpt from about.fiba.basketball Youth in Solomon Islands united through basketball, music, and workshops at the Basketball For Good Mini Festival, promoting gender equality, inclusion, and community empowerment. HONIARA (Solomon Islands) - More than 100 young ballers gathered at the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport Indoor Court in Honiara last month for the Basketball For Good Mini Festival, a one-day event promoting inclusion, gender equality, and youth empowerment through sport. Held under the theme Hoops for Equality, the one-day event was a celebration of sport as a tool for inclusion, gender equality, and community connection, underpinning FIBA’s Strategic Priorities of Empowering National Federations and Women in Basketball.

Culture & CommunityAugust 19, 2025

Secret WW2 plan to liberate Channel Islands auctioned off

Photo credit: bbc.com Excerpt from bbc.com A copy of the top secret plan for the liberation of the Channel Islands at the end of World War Two has sold at auction for more than three times its expected price. The 50-page document, codenamed Operation Nestegg, was discovered in a cardboard box in Derbyshire in the UK. Auctioneers Hansons described it as a ""piece of history"" before it went under the hammer earlier. The top guide price was £1,200 but the winning bid at the auction in Etwall was £3,800.

Culture & CommunityAugust 19, 2025

Rising seas could put Easter Island’s iconic statues at risk by 2080

Excerpt from aljazeera.com About 50 other cultural sites in the area are also at risk from flooding. Paoa, who is from Easter Island – a Chilean territory and volcanic island in Polynesia known to its Indigenous people as Rapa Nui – and his colleagues built a high-resolution “digital twin” of the island’s eastern coastline and ran computer models to simulate future wave impacts under various sea level rise scenarios. They then overlaid the results with maps of cultural sites to pinpoint which places could be inundated in the coming decades. The findings show waves could reach Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform on the island, as early as 2080. The site, home to the 15 towering moai, draws tens of thousands of visitors each year and is a cornerstone of the island’s tourism economy. Beyond its economic value, the ahu is deeply woven into Rapa Nui’s cultural identity. It lies within Rapa Nui National Park, which encompasses much of the island and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The roughly 900 moai statues across the island were built by the Rapa Nui people between the 10th and 16th centuries to honour important ancestors and chiefs."

Culture & CommunityAugust 11, 2025

From Scars to Shelter: Jamaica Transfers Land to Rastafari Elders.

Photo credit: TheStKittsNevisObserver.com Excerpt from thestkittsnevisobserver.com The Jamaican Government has handed over two pieces of land in Albion, St. James, to the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society (RCGBS). These lands will be used to build a permanent elder care home for members of the Rastafari community. The handover ceremony took place at the Office of the Prime Minister on August 4. It is part of a broader effort to make peace with the Rastafari community after the violence at Coral Gardens in 1963, where several Rastafarians were injured or killed by police. Culture Minister Olivia Grange said the events of 1963 left deep scars—physical, emotional, and psychological. She praised Prime Minister Andrew Holness for apologising in 2017 and taking action, even though the events happened before he was born. In 2019, the government set up a trust fund with $122 million to help the 35 known survivors. A temporary home was also built to provide shelter and medical help. The newly transferred land will be used to offer long-term support to Rastafari elders, even after the Coral Gardens survivors have passed.

Culture & CommunityAugust 11, 2025

Sign language added to Vanuatu short story competition

Excerpt from abc.net.au In Vanuatu, stories told in sign language have for the first time been included in the country's short story competition Sot Sot Storian. It's the second year of the competition, with this years theme centring on 'Culture and Identity'. The competition's organiser Rebecca Olul-Hossen said there's been an increase in the number of stories submitted.