Latest news with #CulturalPreservation
ABC News
12-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Tuvaluan migrants build new life in Australia
Tuvaluan migrants in Australia fear losing their home to climate change – but they're determined not to lose their culture.
Russia Today
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Putin inks new policy to fight Russian language discrimination
Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new language policy doctrine aimed at supporting the use of the national language, both in Russia and abroad. The change was necessary as Moscow continues to fight 'attempts to restrict the use of the Russian language and 'cancel' the Russian culture… as well as discrimination against the Russian media,' according to the document. Attempts by foreign nations to restrict the use of the Russian language have been identified as one of the main threats Russia faces in the cultural sphere. It also addresses he 'unfounded' use of foreign words in public speech, especially when there are common Russian equivalents available. The new policy doctrine is aimed at preserving the Russian tongue, as well as the languages of various local ethnic groups, strengthening national unity, and promoting the use of the Russian language in the world. The list of measures outlined in the document includes increasing interest in Russian abroad and developing ties with Russian expats and foreigners speaking the language and sharing traditional Russian values. The Russian language should also be more prominent on the internet, the document says, and sets a goal of increasing the number of online resources allowing foreign nationals to study Russian and find out more about Russian culture. Last month, Putin also supported the idea of creating a centralized organization to promote and support the use of the country's language internationally. Moscow was already working on promoting the Russian language abroad 'through various channels,' but these activities would further benefit from the creation of 'a dedicated center,' the president said. A number of nations severely limited the use of Russian following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. In Ukraine, an unprecedented campaign was launched to purge anything linked to Russia. Earlier this week, Ukraine's education ombudsman advised schoolteachers to act as if they only understand Ukrainian when speaking with students. The law mandates the use of Ukrainian in most aspects of public life, despite a significant portion of the population speaking Russian as their native tongue. The Baltic States meanwhile, have ramped up enforcement actions against anyone suspected of Russian ties. Hundreds of people, primarily ethnic Russians, have reportedly been deported from Latvia for failing a Latvian language exam. A Latvian MP was also investigated for inciting hatred after he used Russian in a speech in parliament last month.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DC Chinatown community calls for more protections as cultural district faces erasure
[Source] Members of Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown community gathered Tuesday to demand stronger protections from the city as Asian-owned businesses in the cultural district fall in numbers. Driving the news: The rally, organized by the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network (SCSN), came just one week after Full Kee Restaurant and Gao Ya Hair Salon shut their doors to make way for a $75 million Marriott Tribute Hotel. Ahead of their closures, the businesses were part of less than a dozen legacy establishments remaining in the neighborhood, with Full Kee having operated for over 40 years. What they're asking: The SCSN is calling on the D.C. Council to include several measures in the upcoming FY2026 budget, including funding at least $550,000 in annual support for Asian American Pacific Islander-owned small businesses (up from the current $125,000), reforming the Housing in Downtown tax abatement program to require developers to provide community space and rejecting legislation that could weaken eviction protections for Wah Luck House residents. Why this matters: Activists argue the closures represent a broader pattern of erasure. SCSN, for its part, believes Chinatown is 'on the brink of erasure due to the city government catering to developers and tourists.' Critics also argue that symbolic gestures like Chinese characters on buildings are not enough to preserve cultural identity. For now, a city task force has recommended bringing in an Asian grocery store and additional Asian businesses to help preserve the area's character. The first vote on the D.C. budget is expected on Monday. Trending on NextShark: This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Wild visions of nature and carnage fuelled by hallucinogens: Santiago Yahuarcani review
Santiago Yahuarcani is the leader of the White Heron clan of the Uitoto Nation, an Indigenous population of the Amazon basin in Peru and Colombia. He uses his work to preserve the history of his people, confront the violence they have had to endure, and fight for a future that is relentlessly under threat. In his paintings, celestial beings dance in starlight. Hybrid creatures – part-human, part-dolphin – wade through rivers. Bodies meld with nature and jungle melds with body. These dizzyingly shamanistic paintings of mythological creatures and Indigenous spiritualism are a celebration of his home, his people and his past. The show opens with three vast, chaotic paintings on traditional bark canvas, a rough, dense material that he painstakingly hammers flat with a machete. Each work is filled with a whorl of licking tongues, gawping mouths and endless hybrid creatures. A woman with webbed fingers and scales down her back gathers fish in her arms as a man inhales big clouds of smoke being puffed out by a grey figure with crab claws for hands. Rocks have eyes and teeth, birds become lizards, fish brandish spears. If it sounds like it's fuelled by hallucinogens, that's because it is: medicinal plants like ayahuasca, as well as coca and tobacco, are an integral part of Uitoto culture. Yahuarcani's wild visions are filled with references to creation myths, to the way rivers, animals and forests are carriers of memory. Spirits are everywhere, their stories passed down by elders in ritual storytelling sessions (Yahuarcani comes from a family of artists). He paints a world where man and nature flow into each other, inseparable, interrelated, interconnected. A lot of the works have a direct narrative. An image of coca and tobacco leaves tells the story of Moo Bunaima, the father creator whose tears allowed humanity to walk the earth, with those sacred plants allowing communication between the Uitoto and the divine. A figure with splayed bird feet is Juma, the heron man, Yahuarcani's first ancestor, responsible for Moo Buinaima. A painting of hands describes the way Uitoto-Aimeni counting works. A whole system of knowledge is delineated, a whole history of humanity is told, in swirling patterns of brown, red and blue. But one presence looms darkly over all of this: colonial violence. Bodies are thrust into a pit of fire by figures brandishing machine guns in one painting. A woman bleeds an endless stream of white fluid in another. More than 30,000 Indigenous people died between 1879 and 1912 at the hands of the Peruvian Amazon Company. It brutally exploited the people and the land for profit, and the pain of those atrocities – experienced directly by Yahuarcani's grandfather – endures in these paintings. More modern threats appear too, as Covid is depicted as a furry monster ravaging the world. But throughout all of this shocking imagery, Yahuarcani's work is still filled with leopards, crocodiles, pink dolphins and gods, figures resisting, fighting the onslaught of exploitation and violence. These fantastical creatures represent his land, his people, his history all surviving despite the adversity they've faced. Yahuarcani's work is intricate, detailed, colourful and passionate. It tells important, powerful stories, and it tells them urgently. But you have to tread a fine line here, being careful not fetishise the work or Yahuarcani's background – yet at the same time, you can't just view it all through the lens of western art history. It's not good because it looks like western painting, and it's not good just because it tells a story that's incredibly affecting. It's good because it's relevant, because it's emotional, because it's an artist using painting as a tool of survival, endurance and communication. At a time when Indigenous cultures are increasingly under threat, Yahuarcani's work feels necessary, crucial. It doesn't hurt that it's also deeply beautiful and hugely moving. Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge is at the Whitworth, Manchester, until 4 January
CBS News
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Motown Mile in Detroit returns with exhibit highlighting Esther Gordy Edwards
Motown Mile, Motown Museum's annual outdoor exhibit, returns this summer. The new exhibit, "Keeper of the Dream," opened Friday, June 27, and highlights the legacy of the museum's founder, Esther Gordy Edwards, while also commemorating the museum's 40th anniversary. Since Motown Mile kicked off in 2021, the annual exhibit has celebrated Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," the Motortown Revenue tour and the 65th anniversary of Motown Records. The museum is committed to presenting the Motown story through authentic, inspirational and educational experiences. The new exhibit grants just that as "Push up, pull up" — her guiding principle — is woven throughout the Mile, reflecting her impact on Detroit and Black culture. Motown Museum honoring Esther Edwards "This year's Motown Mile was the perfect way to honor her vision. We wanted the right time and space to reflect on her important legacy — not only as the founder of Motown Museum, but as someone who elevated Motown's story to one of cultural pride and purpose," said Motown Museum chair Robin Terry. "This exhibit allows the community to engage with her impact in a powerful and personal way, and we are grateful to our partners and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy for making it possible." Edwards was a business leader, cultural preservationist, family matriarch and mentor. With eight panels, this experience honors her pivotal role in safeguarding the Motown legacy by transforming the original Hitsville U.S.A. house into a cultural landmark. In partnership with the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, the exhibit can be found along the Detroit Riverwalk. It will be open until early fall.
