#Ethnography

[useless-catalanfacts]

The beautiful El cant de la Sibil·la (The Song of the Sibyl), a liturgical drama explained through song where a sibyl (prophetess in the Greco-Roman world) describes the end of the world.

It has been represented every year in the Christmas Night mass uninterruptedly since the Middle Ages in Mallorca and L'Alguer (always in the same lyrics in Medieval Catalan), despite the Catholic Church banning it for considering it a pagan ritual. As a result of this ban, the tradition was lost in Catalonia and the Valencian Country, but since the 19th century it has been revitalized and nowadays it's widely performed.

The whole song lasts for about 15 minutes, but Maria Arnal and Tarta Relena sing a 3-minute-long snippet here. This version was performed at a concert, so they're not wearing the lush clothes nor carrying the iconic sibyl's sword.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

2,000-Year-Old Fayum Portraits from Roman Egypt: also known as "mummy portraits," these funerary paintings were often fastened to the coffins of the people they depicted

Above: Fayum portrait of a woman from Roman-occupied Egypt, c.100-110 CE

Fayum portraiture was a popular funerary practice among the upper-class families of Roman Egypt from about 50 CE to 250 CE. Given the high mortality rates for children during this period, many of these portraits depict children and youths, but adults were often featured, too.

Above: portrait of a youth wearing a golden wreath, c.130-150 CE; the wreath and the background of the portrait are both gilded

The population of the Faiyum Delta, where most of these portraits were found, largely contained individuals with both native Egyptian/North African and Greek heritage. The Greek lineages can be traced back to the Ptolemaic period, when the Greeks gained control of Egypt and began to establish settlements throughout the region, gradually leading to a cultural diffusion between the Greek and Egyptian populations. The Romans eventually took control of Egypt in 31 CE, absorbing it into the Roman Empire and colonizing much of North Africa, but the demographics of the Faiyum Delta remained largely unchanged.

Above: portrait of a man with a mole on his nose, c.130-150 CE

Many of these Fayum portraits reflect the same blend of ethnic and cultural roots, depicting individuals with both Greek and native Egyptian heritage (a claim that is supported by both archaeological and genetic evidence). Some portraits may also depict native Egyptians who did not have any European ancestry, but had been integrated into Greco-Roman society.

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.170-180 CE

These representations of native Egyptians provide us with unique insights into the actual demographics of Roman-occupied Egypt (and the ancient world at large). Non-European peoples are rarely included in depictions of the classical world; it's also interesting to see the blend of cultural elements that these portraits represent.

Above: portrait of a priest of Serapis, c.140-160 CE; the man in this portrait is shown wearing a fillet/crown that bears the seven-pointed star of the Greco-Egyptian god, Serapis

As this article explains:

In the 1800s and early 1900s, Western art historians didn���t know what to make of these portraits. Scholars of Roman history labeled them Egyptian. Scholars of Egyptian history labeled them Greco-Roman. These binary academic classifications failed to capture the true complexity of the ancient (or, indeed, modern) Mediterranean. In reality, Fayum portraits are a syncretic form, merging Egyptian and Greco-Roman art and funerary practices. They reflect the cosmopolitanism of both Roman and Egyptian history.

Above: portrait of a man, c.80-100 CE (left); portrait of a bearded officer, sometimes referred to as "Perseus," c.130-175 CE (right)

Above: portrait of a young woman in red, c.90-120 CE

Nearly 1,000 of these portraits are currently known to exist.

Above: portrait of a man wearing a gilded ivy wreath, c.100-150 CE

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.150-170 CE

Sources & More Info:

Curationist: Fayum Portraits

Harvard Art Museums: Giving the Dead their Due: an Exhibition Re-Examines Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt

Getty Museum: APPEAR Project

Getty Museum: Faces of Roman Egypt

National Geographic: Ancient Egypt's Stunning, Lifelike Mummy Portraits

The Athens Centre: The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture

Forbes: Whitewashing Ancient Statues: Whiteness, Racism and Color in the Ancient World

[thisprettyukrainianletter]

Interiors of Ukrainian traditional residential buildings from central parts of Ukraine. Exhibits of the Museum of Folk Architecture  in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky on the pages of the album "Treasures of our memory" (1993)

[bernardperroudart]

Man’s Crown. 400s–500s CE. Nubia, Qustul (Sudan), X-Group or Ballana culture, unknown jeweler. Silver, gemstones (including garnet and carnelian), and paste stones (glass); 20 x 15 cm. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

[wankadoodles]

I created a small graphic novel to present my research and self ethnography about gender identity and MMORPGs! This was 2 years of research in the making, and I poured my whole heart into it

[vyvilha]

traditional cross-dressing on ukrainian malanka holiday. the woman is dressed as vasyl (folk adaptation of st. basil) and the man is dressed as malanka (folk adaptation of st. melania).

during this holiday, ukrainians honor the ancestral spirits and imitate them by dressing as animals and opposite genders, since it is believed that the otherworld blurs the line between male and female, as well as between man and beast.

photographed by anna senik (ładna kobieta)

[vintage-ukraine]

Ukrainian traditional Easter eggs Pysanka from The Description of the Folk Pysanka Collection by S.Kulzhynsky, 1899

The collection described in the book was given to the museum in Poltava by the Ukrainian noblewoman, philanthropist, and collector Kateryna Skarzhynska.

[cogumellow]

northern ontario gothic i // ontario, canada // 2007-2014 // ©

[antaarf]

♥ Commissions info ♥ My gallery ♥ My twitter ♥ Support me on Patreon

[garadinervi]

Frantz Fanon, Peau noire, masques blancs, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 1952 [Monoskop]

[useless-catalanfacts]

Did you see the Mike Hatsune trend on twitter? So many Catalan Mikus!!!

I hadn't seen it! They're so cool!!

(And by the way, Miku is already Catalan 😉 the software used for her voice —Vocaloid— was created by the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona)

Say in the comments which one is your favourite!

Miku dancing sardanes wearing traditional clothes (pubilla outfit). By @/itsnailasart

Miku in a calçotada! By @/miden808

Miku castellera and pubilla Miku. By @/SpaceSpheal (also on Tumblr @spacespheal!)

Modern girl Miku who is a monitora de cau. By @/enosst

Miku castellera!! By @/TaySokka

Miku dancing sardanes. By @/NoddlsChikk

Miku with a Tió de Nadal. By @/gatomonogordo

Miku with the dragon, Mic and a calçot. By @/mewvy_y.

Miku dressed as castanyera! By @/lau_artwork

I've reached the photo limit for a Tumblr post but there's more! Say which one is your favourite in the tags. I can't choose just one but I'd say the 1st one, SpaceSpheal's, and the castanyera.

[cynosurus]

Queer women in urban China : an ethnography Elisabeth L. Engebretsen

Finally got around to start reading this book.

Elisabeth L Engebretsen is a Norwegian ethnographical reseracher who did field work in Beijing 拉relevant拉 (lala, queer women) communities in 2004-2006.

Edit: oh there's this glossary of Chinese terms discussed also, which is really nice when you know a bit of chinese and want to be able to check them out.

[thisprettyukrainianletter]

Wall and fireplace paintings in interior and exterior design of Ukrainian rural cottages from Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Kremenchuk areas, 1924-1928.

The book (where the main text is ukrainian, but attribution of photos you may see also in German) is here : https://uartlib.org/istoriya-ukrayinskogo-mistetstva/yevgeniya-berchenko-nastinne-malyuvannya-ukrayinskih-hat-ta-gospodarskih-budivel-pri-nih-dnipropetrovshhina/

[scavengedluxury]

Scarecrow exhibition, Tihany Ethnographic Museum, 1978. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive.

[kerriclarkcreative]

Video & captioning by kerriclarkcreative This post features a video of a deaf individual using sign language to express her thoughts about streaming services. She highlights the convenience these platforms provide, allowing users to access a wide range of content from the comfort of their homes. She also shares her perspective that movie theaters may be facing extinction, as more people opt for the ease and flexibility of streaming. Captions are provided for hearing viewers to follow along with her insights.

Transcript: Regarding the future of streaming platforms, I strongly believe that movie theaters will see a decline in attendance. Instead, everything will be streamed at home. Streaming is more affordable and convenient; you can pause anytime, enjoy your own sound system, and eat your own food—all within your own space. This setup allows for a greater sense of control while enjoying movies with your family, partner, friends, or even by yourself. This is the future, and we are already living in that era.