Happy Tuesday All,
And welcome to the Cultural Reads Newsletter! A bi-weekly book, music, and movie recommendation from different countries all around the world.
For previous newsletter editions, check out the archive.
In this week’s newsletter: Colombia, Altai, Georgia, Peru, Bhutan & Gambia
Andrés Ribón is an upcoming artist from Colombia.
He has almost 66,000 followers on Instagram, has been compared to Jaume Plensa, and builds impressive artwork.
In this interview, we dive into what it means to be Colombian, Ribón’s work and values, and how to become a successful artist.
Check out the full interview here!
The other week, I came across two exciting folk performances.
The first is a group of 3 Altai Throat Singers from the Altai mountain range between Russia and Mongolia.
The other is a group of 3 girls called Trio Mandili with a beautiful acoustic.
You can find more videos on the VEK YouTube channel.
In The Time of the Black Jaguar, Arkan Lushwala shares ancient indigenous wisdom from his elders.
Why do we no longer have rituals to compensate the Earth for what we’ve taken from Her?
Why did Napolean feel so important that he needed to conquer the world?
Arkan shares why indigenous healers see greed and the incapacity to share as an illness and why too much effort is as bad as no effort.
He also talks about the peaceful 5000-year-old Caral civilization that didn’t use any weapons.
Have you ever experienced a culture shock in your own country?
That happened to Ugyen, a young teacher from Bhutan’s capital Thimphu.
As he’s planning his emigration to Australia, the Bhutanese government sends him to a remote village.
It is so remote that he has to walk 9 hours to reach the village’s 50 inhabitants.
Lunana shows a unique insight into Bhutan’s rural life, featuring the actual villagers who had never seen a camera before.
You can watch the movie here for $3.99.
Sona is a London-born artist with Gambian roots from one of the five principal kora-playing griot families.
Griots are storytellers responsible for teaching younger generations about their history. They often sing stories accompanied by a harp-like instrument with 21 strings called a kora.
Jobarteh is also a cousin of Malian Grammy-winning kora player Toumani Diabate.
I’d highly recommend checking out her songs Gambia and Reflections.
“When you don’t know, you know.”
“When you don’t know, you know.”
It sounds dumb, but it’s about realizing that, deep down, you already know the answer.
You’re just afraid to admit it and look for external validation.
Awaken The Giant Within – Tony Robbins
