Meer | English edition

Sunday, September 20, 2026

The sweeping highways of Abidjan, reflecting the infrastructure demands of Africa’s expanding urban economies

Vendors and shoppers in a busy African market, representing the livelihoods sustained by local commerce and informal economies

Cape Town’s expansive harbour, representing Africa’s integration into global trade and financial networks

Abidjan’s multi-layered road network, representing the rapid transformation and growing infrastructure of African cities

A bustling market filled with vendors, produce and essential goods, reflecting the resilience of local livelihoods amid economic pressures

Economy & Politics

Keeping Africa in eternal dependence

How IMF lending conditions and debt policies shape Africa’s sovereignty, development and economic choices

View of the empty United Nations Security Council chamber at the UN Headquarters in New York City, USA

Economy & Politics

Can the United Nations still manage global crises?

As wars and geopolitical rivalries intensify, the UN faces growing questions about its effectiveness in a fragmented world

Montego Bay, Jamaica's tourism capital, is a vibrant escape known for its white-sand beaches, championship golf courses, and lively nightlife

The Jamaica I actually saw

Challenging fear-based travel narratives through lived experience, cultural memory, and honest storytelling

An Inquisition officer feigns sympathy while interrogating Aldonza’s mother about illegal bathing before trapping her with his words

A night where the incorrect answer could have fatal consequences

On the Street

The titular Castle of Wolfenbach as depicted in the gothic novel by Eliza Parsons

The Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons

Power, incest and the female heroine in the gothic novel

Massimilano Rolff © Peter Vit

Basso alla Genovese

Massimiliano Rolff’s Recipe for Music

Man measuring fabrics at a market stall in India, selling textiles with care and precision

Cultural amnesia: reclaiming South Asia’s craft heritage

How global fashion erases South Asian roots in the name of trend cycles

Photograph of the Italian painter Carol Rama (1918–2015)

A retrospective voyage into the art of Carol Rama

Fear, eroticism, and her enduring friendship with Edoardo Sanguineti

Guilt is the lid of impotence

Guilt is the lid on impotence

How to deal with guilt?

Man with a laptop suggesting that 'you have been hacked'

Science & Technology

The threat of the cyber monster

Are we in danger of being obliterated by our own ingenuity?

Architecture & Design

The iconic façade of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, reflecting the role of bold architectural identity in intuitive navigation

Cognitive cartography and intuitive navigation

How playgrounds reveal the secrets of intuitive architectural design

Illustration by Gail Simon Coleman, represented by Susan Gomberg Artists Representative Incorporated. From American Showcase: Illustration 1 of 2 (Vol. 16, p. 514), by American Showcase Inc. (Ed.), 1993, American Showcase Inc. Copyright 1993 by American Showcase Inc. Photograph of print source taken by author. Reproduced under fair use for critical and editorial commentary

The lost seduction of commercial advertising

How twentieth-century poster art transformed colour, desire, and illusion into emotional spectacle

Art

An artist creating graffiti on a wall

What we really mean by “street art”

How a simple label quietly shapes legitimacy, value, and the way we see art in public space

The Sunday Courier, Issue No. 36, September 3–10, 1911. The theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre on August 21, 1911, quickly became a global media sensation, transforming the painting into a world-famous icon. Newspapers around the world, including The New York Times, covered what was widely described as the “art heist of the century,” publishing dramatic headlines and detailed reports on the investigation, the search for suspects, and the painting’s eventual recovery in 1913

The Mona Lisa: a timeless encounter

From Renaissance mastery to modern wonder, exploring the mystery behind the world’s most famous painting

Culture

An expansive library filled with preserved volumes, representing the archive as a space for safeguarding stories and knowledge

Wattpad vs AO3: who owns fanfiction?

The literary genre that nobody ever acknowledges as real literature, until it's time to profit from it or to police it

The Battle of Majuba Hill, fought on 27 February 1881, was the final and decisive engagement of the First Boer War, ending in a resounding Boer victory. The battle began after British Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of Majuba Hill during the night of 26–27 February 1881

Colonial legacies and economic development in Africa

Why Botswana and Zimbabwe followed sharply different paths after independence

Economy & Politics

Technology Park Ljubljana was established in 1996 as an organisation providing a supportive and dynamic business environment for the development of high-level technological entrepreneurship in Slovenia

Why Slovenia is falling behind in innovation

The challenges facing a small economy in the global race for knowledge and technology

An office desk with a pen in focus, covered in overwhelming government paperwork

The EU's AI Act meets reality

When first-mover regulation collides with global competition

Entertainment

Pauline Oliveros performs live at the Sonic Acts Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on February 24, 2012

Pauline Oliveros and the philosophy of listening

Sound, consciousness, and the possibilities of expanded attention

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow, played iconic characters in the TV show Friends (1994). Photo by © Ron Davis

The evolution of women’s portrayal in stories for the screen

Arc-she-types: how far we have come

Fashion

Jonny Johansson at Acne Studios Women’s Fall/Winter 2026 runway show, presented on 11 March 2026

Acne Studios and the aesthetics of uncertainty

Jonny Johansson’s SS26 collection explores emotional friction, suspended resolution, and the future of ambiguous luxury

Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic black dresses include the beaded fringe dress from Some Like It Hot, a cocktail dress from The Asphalt Jungle (1950), and several of her personal evening gowns

The evolution of the little black dress

From Coco Chanel to contemporary fashion, a century of style, identity, and reinvention

Feature

A woman in a bright dress walks across a field in the glow of sunset

Nothing and everything at once

A poetic reflection on life’s contradictions, growth, and inner stillness

While Darla presented her painful breakup letter to an eager audience as a work of fiction in Florida, her ex-boyfriend Lucio discovered the same letter in Rome

No more running

Allow the words of the past to bring you healing

Food & Beverage

A farmer's market vendor displaying a crate of fresh strawberries, ready for customers to enjoy

The grocery shopping dilemma

How local stores and chain supermarkets meet different consumer needs

An African American woman selects products while shopping in a convenience store, carrying an orange shopping basket

The quiet takeover of private label

How supermarket brands are reshaping the global food and beverage industry

Science & Technology

A person standing at the heart of a vast maze, symbolizing humanity’s struggle to maintain direction during times of uncertainty

Could AI’s “judgment day” come without a machine rebellion?

With machines becoming more capable of reasoning and acting independently, humanity still cannot fully explain or predict how they behave

A man cools down with water as temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius

Not every body handles heat the same

Menstrual cycles, daily medications, and the hidden risks of hotter summers

Sport

A girl figure skating gracefully on the ice

The science of ice skating performance

How biomechanics, physics, and psychology shape the elite skater

A silhouette of a man standing before a climbing wall, preparing to climb

A beginner’s guide to bouldering

Simple technique shifts and mindful gym etiquette can turn challenge into confidence

Travel

Kumaon, in the eastern part of Uttarakhand, India, is a Himalayan region celebrated for its natural beauty, historic towns, and vibrant local culture, photo by Nitish Jangpangi

The quiet counterrevolution in the Kumaon Himalayas

How Uttarakhand’s native communities are redefining slow, sustainable, and culturally rooted tourism

Scenic view of the historic Hooglandse Kerk and the surrounding traditional buildings along the canals of Leiden, Netherlands

Leiden and the quiet legacy of discovery

Canals, scholarship, and cultural memory in the Netherlands’ most intellectual city

Wellness

A husband supports his wife during her breast cancer treatment

The silent struggle of sexual health in cancer care

Why sexual wellbeing among cancer survivors remains overlooked and requires greater healthcare attention

A woman sitting silently in the glow of a fading sunset, reflecting the loneliness that lingers after heartbreak

Healing after heartbreak with the ‘Let Them’ theory

A simple mindset shift that helps you stop chasing closure and start choosing yourself after a breakup

Explore the Calendar

Worldwide Pittsburgh Sidney Bloomington Sofia Geneva Edinburgh Mexico City London Paris Graz Thessaloniki Los Angeles Singapore Riga Ottawa Cambridge Seoul Lucca Dresden Philadelphia San Francisco Sao Paulo

Laura Haberer, To leave a place (detail). Courtesy of Jackson Junge Gallery

Lingering stardust

21 Sep — 1 Nov 2026 at the Jackson Junge Gallery in Chicago, United States

Andrea Musto, Smombie (detail), 2025. Courtesy of Spazio Mu.Ro

Safe. No one is saved alone

22 Sep — 4 Oct 2026 at the Spazio Mu.Ro in Milan, Italy

Hisham Sharif, Behind the mirror (detail), 2025. Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

23 Sep — 30 Oct 2026 at the Ayyam Gallery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Rana Begum, No.1635 (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Rana Begum Studio and The Third Line, Dubai

Rana Begum: taking form

23 Sep — 10 Nov 2026 at The Third Line in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Zilla Leutenegger, ZillaGorilla (detail), 2021/2026. Courtesy of Museum Tinguely

23 Sep 2026 — 7 Mar 2027 at the Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland

Rafael Megall, Solitude, serenity (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Mek Contemporary

24 Sep — 6 Nov 2026 at Mek Contemporary in Glendale, United States

Marialba Russo, Il parto (detail), 1978. Courtesy of MACRO

Sguardo rovescio

24 Sep 2026 — 31 Jan 2027 at the MACRO in Rome, Italy

Robin Rimbaud, 52 spaces. Courtesy of MACRO

24 Sep — 8 Nov 2026 at the MACRO in Rome, Italy

Auguste Elysée Chabaud, Paysage de provence (detail), vers 1930. Courtesy of Musée Marmottan Monet

Histories of landscape: from Monet to Hockney (1890–2026)

24 Sep 2026 — 31 Jan 2027 at the Musée Marmottan-Claude Monet in Paris, France

Dimitris Neveskiotis, It wasn't meant to last, and yet it found a way to remain (detail), 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Kalfayan Galleries

We were never really here

24 Sep — 31 Oct 2026 at the Kalfayan Gallery in Athens, Greece

Florencia Martinez, Definisca bambino (detail). Courtesy of the artist and Gilda Contemporary Art

The diaries of the black swan

24 Sep — 24 Nov 2026 at the Gilda Contemporary Art in Milan, Italy

Edouard Chapallaz, Portfolio céramiques. Courtesy of Mudac

Edouard Chapallaz' exhibition

25 Sep 2026 — 31 Jan 2027 at the Mudac in Lausanne, Switzerland

Emma Talbot, Everything is energy. Ancient spirits (detail), 2025. Courtesy of 21Art

Ancestral energies. Transformations of mind and matter

25 Sep 2026 — 30 Jan 2027 at 21Art in Padua, Italy

Holding space: grounded. Courtesy of Beverly Arts Center

Holding space: grounded

26 Sep — 24 Oct 2026 at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago, United States

Eline Vansteenkiste, Pink mist (detail), 2025 - 2026. Courtesy of Tim Van Laere Gallery

Under the shade of the Coolabah tree

26 Sep — 7 Nov 2026 at the Tim Van Laere Gallery in Rome, Italy

Chiharu Shiota, Eye to eye (detail), 2023. Courtesy of Museum Haus Konstruktiv

The body within abstraction

26 Sep 2026 — 10 Jan 2027 at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, Switzerland

Yasuda Yukihiko, Camp at Kisegawa (detail), 1940/41. Courtesy of the National Museum of Modern Art

MOMAT collection

29 Sep 2026 — 11 Jan 2027 at The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Japan

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