Hair jewelry — lockets, rings and other such items adorned with the locks of a loved one — is said to have come into fashion as an expression of mourning in the Victorian age. It was Queen Victoria herself who popularized the jewelry after her husband Albert died in 1861. @Allure's Alexis Benveniste writes about the history of this, how the craft of hairwork is being revived around the world, and why people continue to be repulsed by it.
"Fifteen miles into a 30-mile hike in Glacier National Park, when the blue sky turned black and lightning struck the mountains and made the very soil feel electric, it sure as shit didn’t matter what I looked like."
The term "fan" to mean avid supporter only came into popular use in the 19th century. Before that, words like "kranks," "habitués" and "lions" were used. There were even equivalents of today's fandoms that focus on a specific performer (like Swifties and Cumberbitches) in the form of Lisztians, who loved the composer Franz Liszt. Atlas Obscura spoke with Daniel Cavicchi, an American Studies scholar, about the history of fans and the words we've used to describe them. “How you name yourself says a lot about what you think of yourself and your very intense passions,” Cavicchi says. “But at the same time, another name or variation on the name, or another use of your name, maybe in a derogatory sense, may say something about what the culture thinks about you.”
The world made by hand, By Brian Kaller, originally published by Restoring Mayberry June 1, 2024
"...All the crafts disappeared in a generation or two – the coopers, wrights, milliners, cord-wainers and thousands more. All the stories handed down through generations disappeared in a few generations, until we all know only the same few pop-culture stories. Almost all the apprenticeships, lodges, clubs, co-ops and guilds disappeared... We are the survivors wandering the ruins of a post-apocalyptic society, but it has been a cultural apocalypse, a mass forgetting, and it’s still going on...
...I realize that we could not build some of these [buildings] now; the crafts to create them are forgotten, along with...[all] these [handcrafted] trades and … everything. The entire human infrastructure.
And I think: None of this world could have been built by the people now living in it."
Two women in Mumbai are separated by only a few years in age and a 20-minute drive. Yet their starkly different lives spotlight India’s deepening wealth divide — and the inequality that has empowered some to reach new heights alongside the country’s fast-growing economy, while others are left behind. Take a look at this photo feature by CNN, which illustrates an India divided by prosperity and poverty amid a national election. https://flip.it/c8FMrd #Culture#India#Poverty#Wealth#Politics
As the row over Baillie Gifford's arts sponsorship gathers pace (Fossil Free Books are trying to end BG's sponsorships due to their involvement with fossil fuel firms), the bigger Q. is as more sponsorship is accused of using taineted money, how are arts & associated cultural events to be funded?
Accusations of greenwashing may be right but what is less developed is an alternative funding model for the arts.
Other than state funding (which seems unlikely) what else is there?
It’s #NewstodonFriday — such a shame it’s been a slow news week! Just to refresh your memories, this is a day to feature work from newsrooms with an active presence in the #Fediverse. If you like what you see in the (long!) thread below, follow the profiles and boost their stories. If you’re a journo or newsroom that we don’t know about or if there’s a newsroom you’d love to put on our radar, please let us know in the comments below.
Bruce Springsteen might be the biggest naysayer of all when it comes to giving permission for politicians to use music for campaigning. As “Born in the USA” turns 40, @TheConversationUS breaks down why this is one of Springsteen’s most misunderstood songs.