Fifth Edition of Les Mille et Une Nuit (The Thousand and One Nights), Antoine Galland (1729)
Dr. David Damrosch intertwines imperial expectations in 18th century Europe with Middle Eastern realities, in Antoine Galland's Les Mille et Une Nuit, or The Thousand and One Nights. Filled with flyin...
18 Nov 202116min
Knotted Pile Carpet, Lahore Central Jail (c. 1880)
Dr. Dorothy Armstrong untangles British efforts to redefine colonial Indian culture, through a 19th century knotted pile carpet woven in Lahore Central Jail. Produced with the low-cost labour of India...
4 Nov 202118min
'White Buddhist' Statue of Theosophist Henry Steel Olcott, Colombo (c. 1970s)
Jessica Albrecht busts the founding myths of 19th century Buddhist revivalism, through a Statue of Colonel Henry Steel Olcott at Fort Railway Station in Sri Lanka, the former British colony of Ceylon....
21 Okt 202114min
Sun City, Artists United Against Apartheid (1985)
Dr. Robert Larson replays the sounds of activism against apartheid and American neo-imperial hegemony, through Artists United Against Apartheid's 1985 song, Sun City. Field recordings from South Afric...
7 Okt 202115min
View of the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City, Cristóbal de Villalpando (c. 1695)
Dr. Juan Luis Burke reorders urban spaces in colonial Mesoamerica, through Cristóbal de Villalpando's 1695 painting, View of the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City. The Plaza Mayor sits at the historical hear...
23 Sep 202118min
Uzun Kemer Ottoman Aqueduct Bridge, Istanbul (c. 1560s)
Dr. Deniz Karakaş follows the flows of water pipeline politics in the Ottoman Empire, through Mimar Sinan's 16th century Uzun Kemer Ottoman Aqueduct Bridge. On the outskirts of Istanbul, the ruins of ...
9 Sep 202119min
Dubai Kathu Pattu (Dubai Letter Song), S. A. Jameel (1977)
Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq Karinkurayil sounds out stories of migration between post-colonial Kerala and the Arab Gulf from the 1960s, through S. A. Jameel's Dubai Kathu Pattu (Dubai Letter Song). 'For the p...
26 Aug 202115min
Indian Elephant Chess Piece (c. 17th-18th Century)
Manuela Gressani checks out the Asian cultural and intellectual roots of gameplay, through an Indian Elephant Chess Piece from the late 17th to early 18th century. Chaturanga was first played in 6th c...
12 Aug 202115min
