Our prehistoric ancestors moved around a lot. It was a short and brutal life back then – you needed the protection and guidance of your gods and goddesses. So, what better solution than to carry them around in...

Wolfgang Laib (born 1950) is a contemporary German sculptor. He works with natural materials that emanate life energies: milk, pollen, rice and beeswax along with wood, stone and brass to create large- scale, site-specific installations. Laib is deeply...

Originating in 17th century Japan during the Edo Period, Netsuke (pronounced nets-keh) are toggles that attach pouches to the traditional robes, kimonos. Men’s kimonos had no pockets (the women’s version had large sleeves to carry and contain items),...

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922-2019) was a contemporary, Iranian artist who became a living legend while she was still alive. Her oeuvre included multi-disciplines: drawing, painting, monotypes, textiles, collage, and large-scale sculptures. Monir is best known for her mirror...

Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, demonstrates how differently we can all view the same object. Although, Botero is known for creating thick fat looking figures in his art, he argues that his intention isn’t to represent weighty figures. Instead,...

Evoking the imagination of adults and children for centuries, Karagöz (Black Eye in Turkish) is a popular and beloved Turkish shadow puppet character as well as the name of the shadow puppet theater in Turkish culture. The art...

Berlin-based Turkish visual artist Ayşe Erkmen has been awarded the Ernst Franz Vogelmann Prize for Sculpture in 2020. As the first woman artist to receive this prize, she will have her sculptures Kuckuck (2003) and not the color...