Hasui Kawase (1883-1957) was one of Japan’s most important and prolific printmakers and artists of the late 19th and early-20th centuries. As a prominent designer of the shin-hanga (“new prints”) movement, he depicted traditional subjects with a Western...

The allure of ivory, a lustrous material that when polished gleams and glows, exuding warmth and a mysterious beauty. Near Eastern ivory carvings are eerily seductive and hauntingly beautiful. Imagine the thrill of finding such exquisite artifacts. These...

Laila and Qays are the Romeo and Juliet of the East. The tragic tale of these ill-fated lovers has been widely featured in Asian and Middle Eastern folklore. The story of their unconsummated love has been told many...

Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival celebrates the beginning of a new year based on the lunisolar calendar. In 2021, the first day of the Chinese New Year falls on February 12, the Year of the Ox....

Along the Ucayali River of Northeastern Peru, women from the Shipibo-Conibo villages have been composing striking, geometric designs to cover pottery, woodcarvings, and textiles for over twelve hundred years. Each woman must design her own pattern that both...

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and the arts. Remarkably, in the Hindu tradition and in rituals, Saraswati occupies a more prominent role than her celestial consort, Brahma — the creator of the Hindu pantheon. She is also a...

The Song Dynasty ruled China for over three centuries from 960 to 1279. During this time, Song China was the most technologically advanced society in the world. Its society invented the magnetic compass, movable type printing, paper money,...