The State Museum of Applied Art and Handicrafts History of Uzbekistan provides an excellent introduction to Uzbek history and culture. Centrally located in Tashkent, it displays more than 7,000 examples of traditional folk art. These include a range of mediums from decorative glass to porcelain and fabrics, all dating from the first half of the […]

Latvia’s rich Art Nouveau heritage was shaped by European trends, influenced by local folk aesthetics, and popularized under Latvia’s National Awakening, a movement that first sought to define what it meant to be proudly Latvian. Art Nouveau flourished in Latvia for less than two decades. It rose with the economic prosperity and social mobility at […]

Russian language literature is not best known for tales of horror or the supernatural. However, it does have some striking examples in the genre. The most successful are often short stories and, rather than using shock tactics, use ghosts, monsters, or witches to reflect the guilt or inadequacies of those that they visit. Below, we […]

In the heart of Armenia’s capital city Yerevan, stands the Armenian National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet and the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, simply known as “The Opera” by locals. Built in the early twentieth century, this cultural hub showcases a blend of traditional Armenian architecture and contemporary design representative of its diverse repertoire. […]