#cultural institutions

[gravalicious]

This is so true. I remember our local newsagents was owned by a Black couple. We even had a Black cinema, for a short time, on Portobello road. I think I saw Robert Townsend’s Meteor Man (1993) there.

#social history #african-caribbean #black britain #cultural memory #archive #business #cultural institutions

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[madewithonerib]

Q5: But if we have this kind of suit of wealth, in this individual, & if we also have Buddhism is also very strong & Confuscianism. Of course, being in China, there is also the influence of China. [1:01:08]

Where do you think this will lead in this hogpog of beliefs—in terms of hope & culture? [1:01:16]

A5: I don't know because in the past societies usually had a coherent answer. All the cultural institutions, this is something that Charles Taylor in a Secular Age has said.

It used to be in society that work cohesive & all the cultural institutions of a society all agreed in this is who we are. And today the cultural institutions do not have coherent answers to that question [1:01:42]

And the individuals are, you're right in saying you've got several vibrant answers to the question what is our hope in life? [1:01:51]

That are all very vibrant, they are all trying to get converts; they are living options for you in Hong Kong & there's not one that is so dominant that everybody knows that is the right one.

As in the past. [1:02:05]

   I don't know what kind of world we'll have,    because in the past cultures made those    decisions for individuals. [1:02:12]

They said, “Here is who we are.”

And now we are leaving it up to you..

And I don't know, it's very confusing. [1:02:18]

It is a particularly a hard part, even in the 40 years you know I am in my 60s now; I even see with my own children a considerably more difficult world to decide how to live — than it was even when I came up just 40 years ago. [1:02:32]

Hope Beyond World P:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4,𝗤𝟱,Q6,Q7,Q8,Q9,

#Q5 #Hope Beyond World #Confuscianism #wealth #Buddhism #influence #culture #hope #cultural institutions #coherent answers #confusing

[vampirictranssexual]

Okay, serious discussion about s5e7 of wwdits. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. The creatures fell into the uncanny valley, why did they choose the donut lady as a plot for nadja when it could've been with the guide, etc. HOWEVER, what I do appreciate about this episode is the meta commentary on how Nandor's culture is simultaneously erased in history classes and then mocked by museums. His culture, his writings, his garments.. almost everything about his history is completely misrepresented by the museum and all of his artifacts were stolen. He literally sees a pair of his underwear on display! He is looked at as an object, a relic of the past. The museum portays him as being unintelligent and frowns upon his writings. And that's based on their narrow understanding of him, Al Q, and his culture. The historians do not know Nandor of course, but they view him through a lense that chooses to only see him and his culture as unintelligent, subhuman even- because why else would someone write something like this? Or wear something like this? Or use weapons like this? It reminds me of those TV shows that theorize the pyramids were made by aliens. Because how else could the Egyptians have been capable of creating the pyramids? Surely they can't be intelligent enough! *eye roll*

Idk someone could probably use better words to communicate what I'm trying to say here, but I wanted to bring it to the table anyway. Oh, also Colin becomes the center of attention by acting like the stereotypical white professor who is more focused on feeding their ego than actually educating his pupils. And this ends up in Nandor being pushed out of the conversation. A literal metaphor for how whiteness obscures and diminishes other cultures and immigrant communities. Of course Colin did that just to feed off of the students. Because then he ends up replacing the museum display with a more accurate representation of Nandor (albeit for comedic effect). And then by taking back his horsie necklace. But.. everyone listened to Colin! And ignored Nandor! Lots to think about in terms of erasure, white washing, forced assimilation, how museums profit off of stolen artifacts and skewing history, etc.

Nandor is an immigrant to Staten island and he was forced to assimilate. Imagine how he must feel when he sees all these stolen artifacts in the museum, and plaques that inaccurately portray his culture and history. And people gawking at the clothes and weapons he proudly wore/still wears. This is a reality for many native and immigrant communities here in America and abroad. Being forced to view your culture, your way of life through the lense of the oppressor.

#maybe im being too meta but i appreciate the writers for pointing out how museums/professors/institutions profit off stolen artifacts #and profit off of minimizing/erasing other cultures in a way that benefits whiteness #ultimately colin was an ally to nandor by fixing the museum so that it accurately portrayed Nandor #and by taking back his stolen horsie necklace. big win for the colin/nandor arc #wwdits #wwdits spoilers #what we do in the shadows #its a funny show! i know. just. let me sit with my thoughts lol

[yellow-yarrow]

hm, thinking about the similarities between trant and the sunday friend... why are you booing me im right

#obviously trant is less detached and fucked up than charles but still.. #'ah the marvelous institutions of the coalition! art and culture is so important! let me tell you about the history of this place.' #'this poor town is so interesting'

[blueiskewl]

The Tomb of a Royal Scribe Discovered in Egypt

Czech experts have made another important discovery in the Egyptian archaeological site in Abusir. They found the hitherto unexplored tomb of the royal scribe Dzhehutiemhat, which is richly decorated in the form of many hieroglyphic texts and images. They mainly consist of ritual and religious texts, which were supposed to ensure the soul of the deceased an eternal life in the next world.

In April and May of this year, another part of field research by Czech Egyptologists regarding shaft tombs from the middle of the first millennium BC took place in Abusir, Egypt. It was here that the archaeological team of the Czech Institute of Egyptology of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University discovered the tomb of a hitherto unknown dignitary from the time of the Persian invasion of Egypt.

“It is a richly decorated shaft tomb of medium size, whose owner, a certain Džehutiemhat, held the office of royal scribe,” explains Ladislav Bareš, who has been coordinating the research of Abusir shaft tombs for a long time.

From the tomb, the above-ground part of which was destroyed already in ancient times, only the main shaft was preserved, at the bottom of which lay a burial chamber made of limestone blocks at a depth of 14 meters. Access to it was provided by a small, more northerly shaft and a narrow corridor approximately three meters long connecting the access shaft with the burial chamber.

For reasons still unknown, this access shaft was largely filled with several dozen decorated limestone blocks, originating from the dismantled above-ground part of the nearby majestic tomb of General Menechibnekon.

A tomb with rich decoration

The burial chamber is richly decorated with texts and other scenes. A long sequence of incantations against snakebite from the Pyramid Texts covers the north entrance wall. Interestingly, the snakes mentioned in these magical texts represented a potential danger, but could also serve as powerful protectors of the deceased and his mummy.

“While the entrance to the nearby Menechibnekon’s burial chamber was protected by the guardians of the gates of the 144th chapter of the Book of the Dead, in the case of Džehutiemhat, snakes from the Pyramid Texts play this role,” adds Renata Landgráfová, director of the Institute of Egyptology and an expert on the ancient Egyptian language and texts.

The south and west walls are covered with a sacrificial ritual and an extensive sacrificial list. On the ceiling of the burial chamber are depictions of the journey of the sun god Reo through the sky, first in the morning and then in the evening celestial bar. The depictions are accompanied by hymns to the rising and setting sun. Inside the burial chamber covered with relief decoration is a large stone sarcophagus, which also bears hieroglyphic inscriptions and depictions of gods, both outside and inside. The lid is decorated with texts taken from the Book of the Dead, but also excerpts from the much older Pyramid Texts, which partially repeat sayings that also appear on the walls of the burial chamber.

Ritual texts for eternal life

On the bottom of the inner wall of the sarcophagus bath, the goddess of the west, Imentet, is depicted, and its inner sides bear the so-called canopic sayings, spoken by this goddess and the earth god Geb. “The goddess of the west inside the sarcophagus represents the protector, guide and symbolic mother of the deceased,” explains Jiří Janák, who analyzes and interprets religious and magical texts as part of field research.

All the mentioned spiritual-ritual texts were supposed to ensure the deceased a smooth entry into a blissful and well-secured eternal life in the afterlife.

The tomb of the scribe Dzhehutiemhat was discovered almost empty, as it was robbed probably already in the 5th century AD, similar to other tombs in this burial ground.

The deceased suffered from sedentary work

From the anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains, which was carried out by leading Egyptian experts, it was found that Dzhehutiemhat died at a relatively early age of around 25 years, he bore the signs of a kind of occupational disease (wear and tear of the spine during sedentary work) and suffered from severe osteoporosis, i.e. thinning of the bones.

The latter fact could place him in the family of other inhabitants of the Abusir shaft tomb burial, in whom the disease was also confirmed, such as the famous Iufaa, the owner of a nearby much larger tomb, whose unlooted burial chamber was discovered in 1996.

It is therefore possible that most of the owners of the tombs buried in this part of the Abusir necropolis belonged to one extended family, firmly anchored in the military elite of late Saiyan Egypt. However, Dzhehutiemhat’s mother probably came from completely different circles and a different part of Egypt at that time. Her two names can be translated as “Nubian” and “Fox”, while the latter is written in an unusual, most likely Berber form.

They also found a collection of pottery in the tomb. “The discovery of a large fragment of a Chian amphora with a perfectly smoothed edge is also very interesting, because the ancient looters probably used it as a shovel,” says Květa Smoláriková, who is an expert on Egyptian ceramics and Greek imports in the Czech team.

“The recently discovered tomb of the dignitary Džehutiemhat on the Abusír archaeological concession is the latest piece of knowledge in the mosaic of the history of ancient Egypt at the end of its glory in the late period, in the 6th century BC,” says Miroslav Bárta, director of Czech archaeological research in Abusír, about the discovery.

“The shaft tombs represent a special type of tombs of this time. They were created as a specific attempt by the ancient Egyptian elites for a renaissance and are based on the form of the tomb of King Djoser, the founder of the famous Old Kingdom, the time of the pyramid builders in the 3rd millennium BC,” he adds.

#The Tomb of a Royal Scribe Discovered in Egypt #Abusir Egypt #Dzhehutiemhat #first millennium BC #ancient tomb #ancient grave #ancient artifacts #burial chamber #Czech Institute of Egyptology #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #ancient egypt #egyptian history #egyptian art #long reads

[fashionsfromhistory]

Wedding Dress of Lollaretta Pemberton Allen 

Pictured with her groom, Grover Allen

1939

National Museum of African American History & Culture

#wedding dress #fashion history #vintage fashion #1930s #photography #20th century #1939 #wedding #white #lace #tulle #united states #national museum of african american history and culture #smithsonian institution

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Looming vs. Natural Reproduction - what on Gallifrey's going on here?

As the first of the trending topics, GIL's noticed some confusion about the concept of looming vs. natural reproduction in Gallifreyans. Have no fear; GIL's here to help.

🧬 What is looming?

It's a bit like 3D printing, but for people. These Rassilon-created Genetic Loom Breeding-Engines weave new Gallifreyans from a mix of matter and biodata. Looms produce Gallifreyans of all genders, (though females are loomed slightly less frequently). Each House has its unique Loom, which embeds familial traits into its creations.

❓ Why is looming a thing?

The invention of Looms was Rassilon’s grand solution to a serious problem. Following the catastrophic Curse of Pythia, Gallifrey faced extinction. The Looms became lifelines, ensuring the continuity of Gallifreyan civilisation.

🔮 What is the Curse of Pythia?

The Pythias were a kind of magical matriarchal monarchy, with rulers known as Pythias ruling over ancient Gallifrey in succession. Pythia number 309 (out of 309) was elbowed out by Rassilon. She was, understandably, really hacked off. She condemned Gallifrey to wither and then threw herself into the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be, never to be seen again. This 'withering' is known as the 'Curse of Pythia'. It resulted in mass sterility of Gallifreyans - supposedly instantly killing babies in their mother's wombs, and preventing any Gallifreyan from reproducing naturally from that point forward.

🍷 So Gallifreyans used to reproduce naturally?

Yes. Before the sterility curse, Gallifreyans reproduced just like humans, with a little wine, a candlelit dinner and maybe an album by Barry White.

✨ So does this 'Curse' still exist?

No. The apparent lifting of Pythia's curse was marked by Leela's pregnancy (yes, THAT Leela), which hailed a return to natural reproduction among Gallifreyans. Others besides Leela have also been able to reproduce naturally.

🔄 So what method do they use?

This blend of technological and biological means of reproduction leaves Gallifreyans in a unique position. They could use both methods depending on social, political, or personal factors.

🧐It can't all be that simple, GIL ...

Wow, you've been here before, haven't you?

There are accounts that the supposed 'Curse of Pythia' didn't actually come from Pythia.

Self-inflicted: Some say it was a side-effect of a massive time tech experiment that went awry.

It never existed: Others suggest there never was a curse. Rassilon, seeking absolute control, concocted a narrative to enforce a sterile, controllable society, eradicating the unpredictability of natural birth and driving forward eugenics in his perfect society.

🏫 So ...

Thus, the plot thickens. Were Gallifreyans always capable of natural reproduction but held back by societal constructs and fear? Did Leela's pregnancy unveil a truth long buried or simply reawaken a dormant biological ability? That's up to you.

But of course, GIL denies this version of events, cos how else would we get the funding for all the biscuits in the canteen from the High Council? Praise Rassilon!

-------------------------------------------------------

》📫Got a question / submission? 》🔥 Trending |🫀Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts | 😆Jokes 》📚Complete list of Q+A 》📜Masterpost If you like what GIL does, please consider buying a coffee or tipping below to help make future projects, including complete biology and language guides.

#doctor who #dr who #gallifrey #GIL #gallifrey institute for learning #whoniverse #dw eu #gallifreyans #GIL trending #gallifreyan biology #Time Lord biology #gallifreyan culture

[garadinervi]

Bernard Gotfryd (photograph), Nina Simone and James Baldwin, (gelatin silver print), 1965 [Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. © Bernard Gotfryd]

#photography #music #nina simone #james baldwin #bernard gotfryd #national museum of african american history and culture #smithsonian institution #1960s

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*tries to organize my thoughts*

*remembers i'm not in school and therefore beholden to neither heaven nor hell nor any man's grading system*

*joyously shredding & tossing all my carefully arranged 3x5 mental notecards into the air like so much beige confetti. raising my arms in victory, cheering raucously until i accidentally inhale bits of homemade confetti*

(*coughing up itty bits of paper like a cat evicting a hairball with a firm understanding of tenants' rights*) wait wat happens next

#i marie kondoed my thoughts and *i* feel great. but now my stream-of-consciousness has escaped containment #so many innocent bystanders at stake #every time i try to organize my thoughts i run out of plastic bins and have to make a trip to the container store where i get even more dis #racted so. you can't just hand me THIS brain and NO catalogue OR library classification system #and expect me to single-handedly sort through all this nonsense? bad form but fucking form not in my job description #aNYways. formal education sure did a FUCKING NUMBER on us huh #(a number i measure not in gpa or dollars of student debt. #but in the number of therapy sessions & medical debt it will take to recover.) #seriously folks. our education systems are...innately traumatizing for a huge number of students. and we NEED to address this. #the fact that it is culturally common for adults to have anxiety nightmares about school/exams...even decades later? #that is not cute. it is Alarming. #no one--much less entire generations--should be spending their developmental years in an environment of chronic stress & pressure & strain #and yet that is the reality for millions and millions of pre-teen and teenage and young adult students #this isn't healthy and it serves and empowers NO ONE #...except of course the many exploitative educational & financial & debt-collecting institutions thriving from the current balance of power #and of course it's a nefarious and powerful way to sabotage/erase the middle class #which billionaires and the wealth-inequality creators they finance couldn't possibly have any noteworthy interest in whatsoever #it's not like there's an elite group of people with huge financial incentives to drain/steal resources from the masses... #anyways sorry for going all Conspiracy Theory on you. #obviously the billionaires who control the vast majority of our resources and news and political campaign funding #are not tied to every single itty bitty social issue and i'm a silly billy to imply it #please tell elon musk to ignore this tweet i am so subservient and acquiescent #mr musky u r so good at inheriting slavery-built mining fortunes & buying other people's companies #& building rocket ships & fancy cars that do NOT explode/catch fire & also NOT running billion dollar companies into the ground #mr musky u r so talented genius billionaire playboy with 10 kids and ex-wives who find you creepy af babe u r basically iron man

[rthko]

Gotta wake up early tomorrow but I just found an online symposium with literal hours of talks I want to listen to 👀

#'what happened to lesbian and gay studies' at the institute of cultural inquiry in berlin #listened to the introduction so far and it seems like it will be about the failure of queerness to mean everything #not to say deconstructions of identity are never useful but a lot of it frankly comes across at this point as 90s nostalgia #and obfuscates specific group demands

[classic-asian-art]

View of the Monkey Bridge in Ko-shu Province, 1841-1842 by Utagawa Hiroshige (1841, colour woodblock print)

#Utagawa Hiroshige #hiroshige #monkey bridge #bridge #asian art #asian #asia #asian culture #landscape #landscape painting #mountains #riverclan #institute of arts #arts #water #japan #japanese #japanese art #artwork #art #kunst #kunstwerk

[communistkenobi]

because Vulcan emotional repression is social/cultural and not “biological” then like is pon farr just a physiological response to a mass social condition of constant total repression. like it’s a “biological” urge that they can measure & anticipate but that doesn’t mean that’s the natural or eternal state of Vulcans

#star trek lb #I guess the question is whether Romulans go through pon farr #google is giving me conflicting answers and idk enough to navigate to the correct answer #but also like deeply interesting that there are all these cultural institutions and traditions around pon farr #treating it as inevitable and eternal and natural when it’s just like a response to social conditions #maybe this is already like established canon lol #tos.txt

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: The Magnus Institute hires a Data Protection Officer during season 3. He sets about diligently booking in meetings, writing policy documents, and training all the staff in the importance of confidentiality. Now if only he could get hold of the Head Archivist, who seems to have vanished again... (Jon is only trying to save the world, but apparently some people think he should still be doing his day job.)

Author: @shinyopals

Note from submitter: This fic is best read with custom work skins enabled.

#official fic poll #haveyoureadthisfic #pollblr #tumblr polls #fanfiction #fandom poll #fanfic #fandom culture #internet culture #Beholding the GDPR #How the Magnus Institute Updated Its Privacy Policy for the Twenty-First Century And Only Caused One Nervous Breakdown In The Process #the magnus archives #magnus archives #jonmartin #jmart #teaholding

[sydneysageivashkov]

there is a parliamentary petition to fully fund trove. trove are one of the most valuable resources for historians, archaeologists, heritage workers and anybody interested in australian history, a veritable treasure trove (sorry) of newspapers, historic maps, images, and sounds, all available for free - but it is currently going to run out of funding in july. trove needs funding from the federal government to continue functioning, let alone continue in its mission of digitisation. if you're australian, please sign the petition and encourage the government to keep the servers running at the national library

#auspol #the lnp gave the awm 500 million to build a new and buy a bunch of planes and helicopters #but every other national cultural and heritage institution is struggling to keep its lights on 🙃 #there are other petitions to fund trove on on the aph site (three in total I think) #but this is the one that's got the most signatures and is the one being kicked around at my museum at least

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

To Shape A Dragon’s Breath

YA fantasy

a young Indigenous girl finds & bonds with a dragon hatchling - the first time in many generations for her people - and is required to go to the coloniser’s dragon academy in their mainland city, to learn how to raise her dragon and the science of its magic

historical inspired setting on the cusp of industrial revolution with steampunk vibes

bi polyamorous MC, Black lesbian SC, nonverbal autistic SC

#To Shape A Dragon’s Breath #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #this is really really good i loved it! #the chapter titles are all like snippets of a story. or like sentence fragments that match up. which is cool #it is definitely more about being indigenous in a coloniser institution than Dragon School - not Super dragon heavy if you want that #I suspect the subsequent books will get into that when she gets big enough to ride and stuff #t’s also def YA! i’ve seen a few ppl assume it’s adult and be like its very young :( but like. I mean its perfectly reasonable for a 15yo m #definitely a Lot of racism and colonialism which is not fun to read! though it's still through a YA lens. there was def a part of me that #was imagining consequences of the narrative as if it were an adult novel #on that line of thought - at the end a lot of it is kind of solved by them going to the king and he's is like. oh no racism is happening? #that's bad i'll deal with those people! which felt like. a little simplistic. but maybe the easiest way to end the narrative for book 1 - #I don't think the author ACTUALLY is going to portray the king as a Good Guy throughout the series - it just felt conveniently like - #a simple YA solution to some very big and complex elements? if that makes sense? (but again - it is YA so it's allowed I suppose!) #some of the worldbuilding (like all the science learning) is probably setup for next books - we don’t really see any practical application #the romances are also subtle and not Overbearing In Book One which i like - leave some space for the series! #also her getting fanmail from a 10yo mixed race girl who looks up to her 🥺 #anyway. i really loved it! #oh also it reminded me a little of leviathan. i guess just the steampunk/time period/european culture.... #To Shape A Dragon's Breath