Artist Ala Ebtekar has the best of two worlds. He grew up in the USA after fleeing the Iran - Iraq war with his family, and has art diplomas from Stanford University. He has also spent time in Iran, studying the classical art of miniature painting.

What came out is a stunning and original perspective. Ebtekar’s works could only have been made by someone in his position as they combine a deep understanding of both Iranian and North American cultures. The kind of understanding that comes not just from studying another culture, but from living as a citizen of that culture.

One thing which can be hard for us mono-culturals to understand about third culture kids like Ebtekar is that rather than being half and half of any culture, they are both at once. For me this is what stands about Ebtekar’s work - it is a perfect example of exploiting this juxtaposition of cultures to create something new and original.

“It’s like having these multiple identities and being able to tap into this side of you and that side of you,” Ebtekar explains in this article from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. “They’re not clashing, you know what I mean. They’re rocking it full force.”

Read more about Ala Ebtekar (including the story behind these unique shoelaces) in this excellent interview from Fecal Face magazine.

Via Lalla Lydia. Images from Ala Ebtekar’s website.

Listening to music from around the world is a great way to get a feel for other cultures. Different rhythms, tones and instruments make music from different places very distinctive. And music is closely linked with other aspects of cultures such as language and traditional dress.

A good place to start your round-the-world musical journey is at Soundroots world music blog where Scott Stevens has compiled a list of Top global albums of 2008.

The list contains music from Senegal, Argentina & Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Chad, the Middle East, Central America and even the USA (although of course this is music from the global melting pot side of the USA)

And that’s just the top 10! There are 25 albums in total so you’re sure to find something new and interesting.

The Central Asian country of Tajikistan is less rich in natural resources than its neighbours. When Tajikistan was part of the USSR it was dependent on imports from the Soviet Union. The economy of the country has been affected badly by independence, and there are not many job possibilities for its citizens.

As a result many Tajik men travel to Russia or Kazakhstan to find work. Some estimates say that one in four Tajik families has a family member working abroad. Their families depend on the money they send home.

This photo diary from BBC News shows a glimpse of the life of those left behind in Tajikistan (photo above is from the article).

Now Russia is cutting back on guest workers because of economic problems. That probably means more hardship for Tajik families in the future.

The French bank Société Générale has launched an advertising campaign which presumably aims to counter the current perception of bankers.

The campaign shows bankers from Socgen’s offices around the world talking about what gives them satisfaction in their jobs. Each talks in his or her native language with subtitles available in Chinese, Italian, Spanish, German, English and French.

One example is Pierre Diagne, who talks about providing services to African migrants who need to send money home, build savings and invest in property. His greatest satisfaction, he says, is helping his clients to realise their dreams.

The French business environment has been criticised in the past for hostility towards globalisation as well as lack of diversity. Some claim that employment discrimination is to blame for the violent riots seen in France over the last years.

So it’s refreshing to see a campaign which seems to be celebrating the diverse backgrounds of the bank’s employees as well as its customers.

A genetic study of the Spanish people conducted by Leicester University (UK) and Popeu Fabra Uniiversity (Spain) has found that more than 30% have either Jewish or Muslim ancestors. The study was published in the American journal of human genetics.

After the Spanish reconquista at the end of the 15th century many Jews and Muslims were forced to leave Spain, as the previously multi-faith society was transformed into the strongly Catholic one of today. Others converted to Christianity but until now it was not certain how widespread these conversions were.

Visitors to Andalucia and many other places in Spain can see Spain’s cosmopolitan past reflected in the architecture. It seems this past is also reflected in its people.

A quick Google search might give the impression that plane travel in Iraq is prohibitively dangerous - the first page of answers to the search ‘Iraq plane travel’ contains 5 stories of crashes and other incidents.

However recently the situation has improved, according to Mohammed Abbas, writing for Alarab Online. And foreign airlines are re-opening routes to Iraq - last month Turkish Airlines started direct flights between Baghdad and Istanbul.

Picture: Flights to Baghdad from Turkish Airlines

According to Abbas, flying out of Iraq has some quirks that you don’t find in other countries. Use of electronic booking systems is not widespread so reservations are recorded on paper, and a lack of announcements inside the airport means confusion when trying to get on the right flight. Once inside the flight, ticket seating is forgotten as families try to sit together.

Air transport is not the only area seeing improvement - a few weeks ago 15 miles of Baghdad commuter rail track was reopened, giving Baghdadis the option of taking the train instead of driving to work. This option seems to face many of the criticisms of train networks in other countries though: trains are too infrequent and commuters have to travel too far to get to the station.

Read more:
Iraq blogs from Blogs of the World
Iraqi food for Jewish New Year: Jewish Iraqis celebrate with delicious traditional dishes

Happy thanksgiving to all our American readers! It’s been a week of food posts for Topics of the World, and to finish off here is an American food blog, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Pinch my Salt author Nicole has been preparing for thanksgiving with a series of holiday recipes. Creamy mashed potatoes, curried chicken salad and pumpkin spice cake are just some of the mouth-watering dishes.

Of course there are many more recipes and they all look very good. Nicole got her inspiration to cook from time she spent living in Sicily and the odd Sicilian recipe sneaks in there too.

For the rest us who are not celebrating Thanksgiving but would like to know more about it, History.com explains all about Thanksgiving history and traditions.

Arabic coffee is strong, dark and sipped from tiny cups. It is drunk in most Arabic countries (although in North Africa tea is also very popular). Whereas in some countries it may be drunk plain and sweet, in Kuwait it is flavoured with cardamom and should never be drunk with sugar.

Each Arabic country has its own rituals concerning coffee and this descriptive article from The Kuwait Times writes about the Kuwaiti traditions of drinking Arabic coffee.

Maybe the most important tradition to know about as a visitor to Kuwait is that finishing your cup and handing it back to your host means that it will always be refilled. To show that you don’t want more you should shake the cup before giving it back. Useful to know if you want to be able to sleep!

Traditionally the Japanese diet is rich in foods like rice, fish, vegetables and seaweed and is considered to be one of the more healthy diets of the world. However in recent years this has changed. Nowadays Japanese people eat more meat and fat, like in many other developed nations.

This worries the government and so the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has commissioned a groovy animated video to educate people about the problem.

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When I wrote to Burcu of Almost Turkish Recipes about this post, she replied saying that a post about yogurt in Turkish culture would have to be very long! Well, here is the short version, but there is further reading for anyone who makes it to the end still wanting more.

Yogurt is thought to originate from Central Asia, the heart of the ancient silk road. It was probably discovered as a way to preserve milk, especially in the furnace-like summers of the Uzbekistan desert. The bacteria in yogurt mean that it can last much longer than fresh milk.

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