Russia’s war against Ukraine is also a war against Ukrainian culture, which Putin considers non-existent. The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra has taken up the defence: Its musicians departed on a concert tour through Europe to raise awareness for Ukrainian culture. Can music communicate national identity?
 

Both among official organizations and communities of United States citizens, the effort to establish general names for Latin Americans has caused disagreements to this day. However, that effort has also sparked important debates about the identity and visibility of entire populations.
 

India is the world’s largest democracy, leading the narrative of inclusivity, sovereignty, pluralism, and gender parity from the front. But as the country celebrates its 75th year of independence with much pomp and show, nearly 50% of its population of women and girls remain excluded from enjoying their equal rights across the country and struggle to find a rightful spot in its patriarchal political space.
 

We love music. Some pieces accompany us a whole lifetime, other songs we most definitely steer clear of. What role does our taste in music play with respect to our personality, to our identity, to social affiliation – and to social exclusion? And why is music so important, especially during puberty?
 

What is normal? And what constitutes a normal face? Our brains are constantly analyzing and classifying every face we encounter, and we as people are not alone in this. A whole field of science and technology analyzes these sub-attentive cognitive processes and breaks them down into statistical normalities. Through machine learning, facial recognition is even being used to categorize and predict human behavior.
 

What is it like to grow up next to and live your life in harmony with the river? And how is it changing today? Artist and writer, Tanja Koistinen, has been watching the river in various locations during the summer and wrote a letter.
 

The Argentinean writer Camila Sosa Villada defends the term “travesti” in contrast to the category “trans woman,” says she considers “identity a prison” and states categorically that: “People love our suffering.”

Prof. Austin Bukenya talks about how he came to describe himself as a feminist and about the challenges and chances of male feminists. He explains why it is important for men to internalize gender awareness, instead of just opportunistically faking it and how they should consistently practice it as a way of life.

Poet Timimie Märak is Sámi and a gender queer lesbian. In their poem, Timimie processes the different facets of their identity.

From deacon to drag queen? Drag in the countryside? Japanese lipsyncs? Slutty, but classy? We met with Liberty Lestrange, Miss Galaxia and Fräulein V fromt the House of Blaenk and accompanied them to Tecklenburg for their show.