Culture Quest

We travel to Western Mongolian with nomadic Kazak herders who hunt using golden eagles in a tradition that dates back to well before the great Mongol Empire. That nomadic lifestyle and the traditions that come with it are trying to find their place in an ever-encroaching modern world.

We travel to Ghana, where the young artists are at the top of African art internationally and are using their art to call attention to real issues effecting their daily lives: climate change, waste and poverty – while at the same time trying to carve out their own cultural identity instead of the one that was placed upon them through slavery and colonialism.

We travel to Kyoto, one of the most well-preserved cities in Japan where both domestic and international tourists flock to stroll the streets to get a sense of ancient Japan. We spend time with a classic starving artist trying to make it in the art world, a tattoo artist breaking new ground in what is still a taboo art form, and a modern artist with pieces in major museums around the world.

We travel to Puerto Rico to explore graffiti and mural culture. This is a surprising look at how something that is seen as a sign of blight, of a neighborhood in decline, is actually unifying neighborhoods around the island. The murals give residents a sense of history and pride as well as much needed income from tourists who are visiting these seldom-seen barrios to view the mural art.

We travel to East Timor with writer Naldo Rei, who was instrumental in the 15-year bloody struggle for independence from Indonesia. Naldo and his fellow East Timorese are now looking towards an uncertain but hopeful future for a country with a lot of potential, including what Conservation International calls the most biodiverse swath of ocean right off the shore of their capital city.

We travel to The Northern Coast of Australia to Arnhem Land, spending time with the Yolngu tribe – a group of people that some anthropologists date back to well over 30,000 years and who were instrumental in advancing the struggle for land rights for Aboriginals across Australia.