Language
The Borrowed Word That Does Not Mean Quite the Same Thing
Learn how a borrowed word changes meaning in a new language, and use context to identify its local sense before…
The collection
All stories
Explore stories about objects, language, foodways, customs and creative forms as they travel between communities and find new meanings.
Creative Forms
Pattern, Motif or Direct Copy? Reading a Design Across Cultures
Learn how to read a design across cultures by comparing motifs, composition and evidence, so resemblance prompts a…
Foodways
How Tea Became More Than a Drink at the Table
Tea service changes with the room, host and occasion. Learn to read its social signals without mistaking one…
Objects
The Single-Origin Story: Why Objects Rarely Have One Cultural Address
Describe an object’s cultural origins more accurately by separating its materials, making, manufacture and later uses…
Objects
A Museum Visit Through One Object’s Journey
A museum visit through one object’s journey gives you a focused way to notice its gallery context, changing display…
Our point of view
Exchange changes what it carries
When something travels, it rarely arrives untouched. We look at the people, places and choices that shape what gets shared and what it comes to mean.