The Arum Lily is one of the world’s most iconic and widely known plants. Native to Southern Africa, these long-lived flowers have been described with adjectives from the poetic: such as elegant, secretive, exotic, and expressive, to the mundane: decorative. Continue reading
Uppdráttr Íslands / Carte d’Islande by Björn Gunnlaugsson and Ólafs Nicolas Ólsens, 1849.
Björn Gunnlaugsson was an Icelandic cartographer who along with the Danish army cartographer Ólafs Ólsen is credited with the first complete map of Iceland, even though the ever-present “Vatnajökull eða Klofajökull” space in the south-east was still blank. The Icelander received the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and the French Légion d’honneur for his surveying work, but the map was published under Ólsen’s name in Denmark, so future travelers would constantly refer to the “invaluable Olsen’s map” as essential to their expeditions around the country. Continue reading
Pastoral, rural, city, urban…words with plenty of meaning on their own. Now, from Gus Petro, ideas and images merging them:
In the end of 2012 I travelled to USA to experience something new. And it was something I didn’t expect: emptiness and density. Continue reading
Tompkins County, NY
Thanks to Paul Rosenfeld and Atlantic for this post and accompanying video, which is not just a nature-lover’s four minutes well spent, but a subtle tribute to the importance of collaboration in individual accomplishment:
“It’s in the wild places, in the damp clean air of an ancient forest, on a heaving ocean with unpredictable winds, on a snowy summit at the top of the world that I enter my own personal cathedral, and know where I fit in the vastness of creation,” says Jim Whittaker. Continue reading
Photo credits: Anuraj
Theyyam is based on a traditional belief system, and is a self-contained world without obligations to caste, community, society and religious faith. Fire has a major presence in many Theyyam myths. Continue reading
We were happy when it was first introduced by others, in other cities in the USA, and even happier now to see this news on the first month of New York City’s experience with bike-sharing:
It’s been a long slog for New York City’s bike-share program. Continue reading
Southwestern Research Station, AZ
I have seen countless cigarette butts littered on the street or on the beach, and it wouldn’t surprise me if many of the individuals who liter them are those who otherwise act in an environmentally responsible manner. So when I stumbled on this NYTimes article from a few years ago it made me wonder how people’s actions differ between perceived forms of trash.
“Littering is one of my pet peeves, and I always told my kids they’d be in big trouble if I catch them doing it,” said Ms. Scott, a 43-year-old financial executive, as she sat outside an office tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on a recent sunny afternoon. “I see people throw stuff out their car windows, and I cringe.”
Yet she confesses that she routinely discards cigarette butts on the sidewalk. For her and countless other American smokers, cigarette butts are an exception to the no-littering rule. “Aren’t cigarettes biodegradable?” Continue reading
Several contributors to Raxa Collective have family living in Greece. There is nothing to be said here about that country’s economic and political woes that has not already been said better elsewhere, so no insult is intended to Greeks by making reference to the woes of another location. Detroit, an American city facing economic woes comparable, when scaled to the municipal level, of Greece, is considering the sale of art it owns to raise what may be billions of dollars worth of needed cash. Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for the New Yorker, has posted a brief observation about it, the latter portion excerpted below. Out of this mess comes an observation worthy of comment considering Raxa Collective’s mission:
…Art works have migrated throughout history. Unless destroyed, they are always somewhere. It’s best when they are on public display, but if they have special value their sojourns in private hands are likely temporary. At any rate, they are hardly altered by inhabiting one building rather than another. Continue reading
A 1585 copy of Islandia, by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)
One of my favorite things about the Rare & Manuscripts Collection in the basement of Cornell’s Kroch Library is that I can request to look at documents like this one, over four-hundred years old, and nobody comes and says, “Excuse me, but you’re a bit young to be doing that, aren’t you?” Granted, this old map was in a picture frame, so relatively speaking I wasn’t handling as preciously fragile a document as most of our other pieces from the 16th century are (the type that require white cloth gloves), but I still felt a lot of responsibility as I cautiously Continue reading
Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Dedicated to Lord Shive, Gangaikondacholapuram Temple was built by Chola Emperor Rajendra Ist between 1012 to 1044. The structure is a replica of the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur and was built in commemoration of Rajendra’s victory through the kingdoms of northern India to reach the Ganges. Continue reading
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) come ashore at a gravel beach on Arakamchechen Island in the Bering Sea, Chukotka, Russia. Photograph: Jenny E Ross/Corbis
Thanks to Guardian’s coverage of this excellent, innovative campaign:
The 148m users of the Russian social network service Odnoklassniki are being targeted by a World Wildlife Fund for Nature campaign that uses ‘404’ error pages to raise awareness of species on the verge extinction.
It does not matter whether you are a farmer, a geneticist, or whatever you do with your time: you will almost certainly be affected in important, unexpected ways after time spent in Paris. Continue reading
Mattancherry
Photo credits: Renjith
Ochira, located in the Kollam district of Kerala, is famous for the Parabrahma Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Ochirakkali is a mock fight enacted between groups of men dressed as warriors on the battlefield, commemorating the historic battle fought between the Kayamkulam and Chempakasseri soldiers. Continue reading
Goats on the hillside in Vermont. Photo by Anne Buchanan
It has been some time since we first found an article in this publication, which we have continued following. There is at least one emerging pattern to explain why we keep going back: every article has an image that transports us, that makes us want to go see the who, what and where of the description:
…Jennifer and her husband Melvin work Polymeadows Farm, a small goat dairy farm and dairy plant in Vermont. They are currently milking about 120 goats. During kidding season, twice a year, the newborns spend their first night in a barrel of hay in the kitchen. This is important during Vermont winters, but also in summer, so that Jennifer knows the kids are healthy before they go out and join the rest. Continue reading
Thekkady, Kerala
A view of the Taj Mahal beneath the cloudy skies
Throughout my life I have had the privilege of frequently traveling and visiting new countries. However, I had not yet had the pleasure of seeing any of the deemed “Seven Wonders of the World.” A week ago, I was finally able to change that when I took a trip to Agra and visited the Taj Mahal with my father. Continue reading
Organikos 