Culture

A heavily damaged church in Mala Komyshuvakha village, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine. © Carl Court/Getty Images

How Can Ukraine Reclaim its Stolen Treasures?

Restitution mechanisms could include both financial compensation and ensuring the return of cultural heritage.

7 Feb 25

A militiaman poses with his weapon at an informal demobilization camp in Sevare, Mali, on July 6, 2019. The camp is run by a businessman with the goal of shifting young Fulani men away from jihadism. © Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

Why Militancy is Spreading in Mali

Leaders who fail to protect their citizens while allowing ethnic hatred to spread are fueling extremism.

10 Jan 25

The Legacy of the Muhajirs

Award-winning documentary explores ancient traditions through historical records and personal testimony.

8 Apr 24

Ulamış Village Theatre actors perform on stage. © Ezgi Yeşilbaş

How Women Market Traders are Revitalising Village Life in Izmir

Female entrepreneurship has boosted the local economy and is passing cultural heritage to future generations.

17 Nov 23

Meltem Parlak is a Turkish comedian, writer and director. © Ozan Cagman

The New Wave of Female Stand-ups

Despite the sexist attitudes faced by women who take up comedy, a growing number are fighting back.

17 Nov 23

Seven grader Elizaveta Chernioglo reads a book in Gagauz at her home in Comrat, the administrative centre of Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia. The language struggles for popularity among young Gaguzians who largely speak Russian. © Piotr Garciu

Moldova: Gagauz Language Lags Behind Russian

Numbers of speakers in the country’s autonomous region of Gagauzia are dwindling.

17 Jul 23

Father Konstantin, 30, is Kazakstan’s only priest of the Old Believers. Also called Old Ritualists, they are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reform introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow in the 17th century. © Talgat Umarov

Kazakstan’s Shrinking Community of Old Believers

A young priest keeps ancient rituals alive in his tiny parish.

11 Jul 23

A girl reads a book in a reading room of Chuy regional library, in the town of Kant. Over 80 per cent of the 1,060 libraries in Kyrgyzstan are located in rural areas and in most villages they are the only cultural facility. © IWPR Central Asia

A World in 30 Metres: Kyrgyzstan’s Rural Libraries

Precious resources are often villages’ only cultural centres, but they remain underfunded and at risk.

22 May 23

The press conference of the participants to the 2023 Eurovision song contest. The event is held in Liverpool, UK, on behalf of Ukraine, which won the 2022 edition but could not host the event due to the ongoing Russian invasion. © Maria Romanenko

The Blue-And-Yellow Eurovision

Song contest provides highly symbolic moment of national unity for Ukrainians both at home and abroad.

12 May 23

“Happy Chanukah” and a menorah stitched on cloth during a children’s gathering at the Mygdal Jewish Centre. © Zhenia Pedin / IWPR

Light Over Darkness: Hannukah in Odesa

As Russian shelling plunges Ukraine into blackout, the Jewish community celebrates a miracle that has particular resonance amid the war.

22 Dec 22

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