“THE END IS NEAR” reads the text on this Zambian clay pot. Why this doomsday message? Because the pot was made in Zambia at the end of the year 1999, when the world was swept up into Y2K panic and fear that the year 2000 […]
Month: December 2016

Christmas Special: The Fourth Magus
Most of us know the basics of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ: Mary and Joseph on their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the overcrowded inns, the stable, baby Jesus in his manger, the three wise men, or Magi, bearing gifts of gold, […]

Santa Lucia special: Syrian oil lamp
Yesterday it was Saint Lucy’s Day or, as it is known in Denmark Santa Lucia. All over the country, children dressed up in white robes and sang as they walked the halls of schools, kindergartens, after-school centres, and hospitals, candles in hand. At the head […]

Size matters: Yams mask from Papua New Guinea
Size matters… at least when it comes to yams, the edible tubers grown by the Abelam people in Paupa New Guinea, where they can grow to be several meters long. Among the Abelam, the cultivating and displaying of yams is of great importance to a […]