5 culture things to know
Our ancestors had piercings too
Archeologists discovered stone ornaments around the mouths and ears of skeletons at Boncuklu Tarla, an 11,000-year-old burial site in southeast Turkey, proving for the first time that humans have been piercing their bodies since prehistoric times. “I think it shows we share similar concerns with the way that we look and that these people were also thinking hard about how they presented themselves to the world,” said Emma Louise Baysal, a professor of archaeology at Ankara University.
International artists are very popular
Spotify’s Loud & Clear report found that more than half of the artists who generated at least $10,000 on the streaming platform are from countries where English is not the first language. According to the report, Spanish, German, Portuguese, French, and Korean are among the most popular, while Hindi, Indonesian, Punjabi, Tamil, and Greek also grew a lot.
New Banksy mural in London vandalized
A mural of a tree painted by street artist Banksy in north London has been defaced with white paint, just two days after it first appeared on a residential building. The artwork features swathes of green paint on a wall behind a tree, giving an abstract appearance of foliage. “This is a really powerful piece, which highlights the vital role that trees play in our communities and in tackling the climate emergency. It’s sad to see the piece has been defaced,” said a spokesperson for the Islington Council, which said it was installing CCTV cameras and looking at how it could protect the artwork
Artist Issam Kourbaj reflects on Syrians’ suffering
At a new exhibition in Cambridge’s gallery Kettle’s Yard, Syrian painter and sculptor Issam Kourbaj, explores themes loss, memory and renewal. “Urgent Archives” includes the recent installation All But Milk, made out of shelves of baby bottles that are filled with shards of glass, rocks, sand — anything but milk, as a reference to the conflict in Gaza.
FBI returns stolen artifacts to Japan
The FBI has returned 22 centuries-old artifacts to Okinawa, Japan, after a family found them in their late father’s Massachusetts attic. The items, which include painted scrolls, an ancient map, pottery and ceramics, were looted after the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. While the family’s father was a World War II veteran, he had never served in the Pacific theater.