Meer | English edition

Sunday, August 23, 2026

Anne Hathaway in Michael Kors Collection, wearing a gown featuring floral detailing and a peace-inspired motif during the 2026 Met Gala

Colman Domingo in Valentino, wearing a black-and-white windowpane tailored suit, patterned tie during the 2025 Met Gala

Madonna in custom Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, wearing a dramatic black lace ensemble with a sculptural ship-inspired headpiece and flowing veil during the 2026 Met Gala

Hunter Schafer in Prada, wearing an ivory gown inspired by Gustav Klimt's Mäda Primavesi during the 2026 Met Gala

Henry Golding in Ozwald Boateng, wearing a gold three-piece tailored suit inspired by Black dandyism during the 2025 Met Gala

The Met Gala: a charity dinner turned spectacle

From high-society fundraiser to global pop culture phenomenon

Billie Holiday performs live at Club Bali in Washington, D.C. (September 1948) alongside Al Dunn and Bobby Tucker—capturing the powerful, immediate stage presence that audiences celebrated while often disconnecting her music from the ongoing struggles of her daily life

How we inherit the whole truth of Billie Holiday

In her tribute album Seeking Billie: The Unusual Tribute to Billie Holiday, artist Changamiré rejects the flat, flattened labels history often assigns to jazz royalty

A crowd of protesters gathers at a political demonstration, holding signs and expressing their frustration

Economy & Politics

How did conservatives become such whiny babies?

The transformation of philosophical conservatism into grievance and resentment

The Stand (1978) dust jacket, first edition

Bev Vincent on Stephen King's "The Stand"

How “The Stand” and “Lockdown” reflect isolation, morality, and a post-COVID world within Stephen King’s multiverse

On the Street

A statue of Emmett Till that was unveiled on October 21, 2022, in Greenwood, Mississippi, USA

Remembering Emmett Till

How it reminded me of my color

Guwahati, Kamakya Temple

India on the Road

From Guwahati to Aizawl

An open MacBook Pro displaying coding scripts, illustrating the integration of Web3 technologies

Science & Technology

The rise of decentralized AI with AIvalanche DeFAI agents

The gap between Artificial Intelligence and Web3

Lita Albuquerque, American artist, painter and sculptor

Lita Albuquerque: memories of Tunisia and the color blue

How a childhood by the Mediterranean shaped a land art pioneer

A person being understand to another and not judging

Seek to understand before judging

Keep a plan and have a reason to live free from addiction

Woman in nature enjoying view, leaning on the tree branch

The unexpected intrusion

Architecture & Design

Exterior view of the Carson Pirie Scott & Co. department store building, located at the southeast corner of South State and East Madison Streets in Chicago’s Loop, decorated with bunting and flags in celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday (1909)

Chicago and the birth of modern architecture

Steel frames, glass façades, and the evolution of architectural thought in the industrial age

The United States Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles, California, United States, symbolising the use of high-performance building envelopes to improve energy efficiency in dense cities

Material intelligence for climate-resilient design

Why architects are looking beyond aesthetics to choose materials that perform, endure and protect

Art

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room, The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013)

Come and have a go if you think you’re art enough

From Beuys to Cattelan, this essay explores why the question “Is it art?” says less about the artwork than about our need for certainty

Michael Joo's Concatenations (1991/2026) is a large-scale mixed-media installation measuring 513.1 × 412.8 × 289.6 cm (202 × 162½ × 114 in). Characteristic of Joo's interdisciplinary practice, the work brings together diverse materials and conceptual references to explore connections between nature, culture, history, and systems of knowledge. Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery. Photograph by Genevieve Hanson

Directionless and the art of uncertainty

At Hauser & Wirth Menorca, Rashid Johnson explores disorientation as a creative force in contemporary life

Culture

Kabyle Village Square, a work by Henri Clamens, housed in the Narbonne Museum of Fine Arts, depicting communal life in a Kabyle settlement

Not Arab, not French: Amazigh identity in Algeria

A history of resistance, erasure, and the ongoing struggle for cultural and linguistic recognition in post-independence Algeria

Auschwitz was a vast system of concentration and extermination camps established by Nazi Germany near Oświęcim in occupied Poland, becoming a central site of persecution and mass murder during the Holocaust

Viktor Frankl and the search for meaning

How purpose, love, and inner freedom helped prisoners endure the Holocaust

Economy & Politics

A humanitarian worker providing food assistance to a homeless man, representing efforts to uphold the right to food

Rethinking food poverty

Why access to food is rarely mentioned in the multidimensional definitions of poverty

An Indian man gives his child water to stay hydrated during extreme summer heat, highlighting the risks of dehydration and heat exhaustio

Surviving the Indian summer

How extreme heat reshapes daily life—and the essential do’s and don’ts to stay safe, healthy, and prepared

Entertainment

South Korean girl group Blackpink featured in a promotion for PUBG Mobile

Why being a celebrity is so hard in Korea

The price of perfection in the K-pop and K-drama world

Directed by Céline Sciamma, the 2019 French historical drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) follows Marianne and Héloïse, whose relationship lies at the heart of the film

"Portrait of a Lady on Fire" beyond the canvas

A reflection on Céline Sciamma's acclaimed film, exploring art, observation, love, and the quiet rebellion against expectation

Fashion

A young person wearing a garment is mocked and pointed at by classmates, experiencing bullying

Fashion bullying: wearing your scars as a school uniform

From childhood rejection to adult resilience, fashion’s role in belonging and self-worth is deeper than we think

Olivier Rousteing is a French fashion designer who served as the creative director of Balmain from 2011 to 2025

Olivier Rousteing and the reinvention of Balmain

How identity, digital vision, and cultural fluency transformed a heritage house into a global fashion force

Feature

A young refugee offering a modest gift to the girl who made him smile, representing hope carried quietly across borders

Where my father met my mother

How two teenagers from different worlds meet in a village market and challenge the boundaries around them

"A French Postillion," by Thomas Rowlandson, 1780

A story about choices

Crossing: strength and weakness

Food & Wine

A warm, vintage café interior bathed in natural light, representing the charm and elegance of Japan's traditional kissaten culture

A quick trip through Japanese café evolution

From smooth jazz to cute cosplay: how Japanese cafés became spaces for art, music, and entertainment

Golden-brown lunpia served with dipping sauce, symbolising the lasting legacy of Semarang's traditional cuisine

Lunpia: the traditional flavours of Semarang, Indonesia

Exploring the Javanese-Chinese roots of Semarang’s definitive dish and the hundred-year legacy that keeps it alive

Science & Technology

A tangled network of colorful strands symbolizes the complex genetic and epigenetic mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease progression

Using a mechanical mind to save a biological one

Machine learning was applied to Alzheimer's disease data and identified potential therapeutic targets.

A patient speaks with concern while the doctor remains focused on her notes, reflecting the all-too-common experience of women’s symptoms being overlooked or dismissed in clinical care

The preventive care gap in women’s health

Why systemic bias, limited access, and delayed diagnoses continue to undermine care for half the global population

Sport

Soccer player Ghiggia (Uruguay) scores a goal that silences a whole nation. Illustration by Paola Bilancieri

1950 FIFA World Cup: the silence at the Maracanã

Brazil strikes first but Uruguay’s captain rewrites the script

The simple yet vital role of food in athletic preparation highlights how nutrition, even in seemingly small details, can be "game-changing" in high-performance sports

How elite athletes' diets transformed performance

From Olympic records to NBA championships, the revolutionary diet changes that made athletic history

Travel

Munsyari is the headquarters of a sub-division and municipal board in the Pithoragarh District. The name also refers to the wider Munsyari Tehsil and Sub-Division region in the hill state of Uttarakhand, India

Munsiyari and the art of snow yoga

Exploring wellness, trekking, and indigenous Himalayan architecture

Maastricht, the Netherlands, features charming urban architecture with cobblestone streets, historic buildings, and a timeless European atmosphere

Maastricht: the Netherlands beyond Holland

A journey through Roman streets, Catholic traditions, riverside cafés, and European identity

Wellness

Women of different ages and diverse skin types posing together, celebrating natural beauty and individuality

Why chasing trends won’t make you happy

There is only one you, that’s your superpower

A girl reaches out toward colorful balloons, smiling with pure happiness

The illusion and truth of happiness

Why pleasure is not enough—and how purpose, community, and faith shape a deeper sense of well-being

Explore the Calendar

Worldwide Madrid Philadelphia Paris Tallinn Dresden Berlin Honolulu Curitiba Linz Salzburg Pittsburgh Sao Paulo Riga Seoul Bern Ljubljana Sydney Los Angeles Munich Montreal New York Krakow

Michael Mazur, Wakeby evening memory (detail), 1985. Courtesy of the Schoolhouse Gallery

24 — 11 Aug 2026 at The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, United States

Emma Itzstein, Voices of children in the summer sky (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Olsen Gallery

Excursions outside the orangery

26 Aug — 19 Sep 2026 at the Olsen Gallery in Sydney, Australia

Gregory Hodge, Overgrowth (detail), 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf

27 Aug — 26 Sep 2026 at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney, Australia

Melike Kara, New mornings (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Carl Kostyál

28 Aug — 13 Sep 2026 at the Carl Kostyál Gallery in London, United Kingdom

Selin Nisa Acikel, Veil (detail), 2025. Courtesy of 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel

On a bit of Earth which had no name

28 Aug — 17 Oct 2026 at the 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel in New York, United States

Evon Streetman, Homage to James Agee (detail), 1978. Courtesy of Tracey Morgan Gallery

28 Aug — 10 Oct 2026 at the Tracey Morgan Gallery in Asheville, United States

Billy Schenck, Gratuitous violence (detail). Courtesy of JoAnne Artman Gallery

Technicolor west

1 Sep — 31 Oct 2026 at the JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, United States

Lis Sam, Shadow (detail), 2025. Courtesy of Fremin Gallery

1 Sep — 31 Oct 2026 at the Fremin Gallery in New York, United States

Benji Reid, Light bike (detail), 2021. Courtesy of October Gallery

Zana Masombuka. Spotlight: Benji Reid

3 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the October Gallery in London, United Kingdom

Quentin James McCaffrey, Triptych with flowers and view (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Alison Jacques Gallery

Quentin James McCaffrey's exhibition

3 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Alison Jacques Gallery in London, United Kingdom

Aleana Egan, wing paper (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Kerlin Gallery

3 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, Ireland

Richie Wilde López, Cuando el mar se acercó (detail). Courtesy of Paradigm Gallery + Studio

Tending to clouds

4 — 27 Sep 2026 at the Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, United States

Ali Cherri, still from The sentinel (detail), 2026. Courtesy the artist and
Almine Rech Gallery

5 Sep 2026 — 4 Jan 2027 at WIELS in Brussels, Belgium

Huang Chih-Cheng & Hao, Polishing (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Fragment Gallery

5 — 26 Sep 2026 at the Fragment Gallery in New York, United States

Ellen Bradshaw, Spring fever, 10th Ave and 25th Sta (detail). Courtesy of Pleiades Gallery

Every street has a story

8 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Pleiades Gallery in New York, United States

Heather Lenz, Night water 6, eclipse (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Gallery Naga

Echoes of place

8 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Gallery Naga in Boston, United States

Megan Magill, Ruffles and fairy lights (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Gallery Naga

Instructions for dancing

8 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Gallery Naga in Boston, United States

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