Meer | English edition

Sunday, August 23, 2026

A happy Black couple sits together on a couch, enjoying a vertical microdrama on their smartphone

A woman in a black long-sleeved top uses her mobile phone while binge-watching a vertical series made up of short smartphone drama episodes

A woman watches a vertical drama on her phone while standing on a busy city street, reflecting how smartphone storytelling has become part of everyday life

A joyful Black couple lounges on a couch, watching a vertical microdrama on a smartphone

Using her mobile phone, a woman in a black long-sleeved outfit binge-watches short vertical drama episodes designed for smartphone viewin

Stories in the palm of your hand

How vertical microdramas are redefining attention, narrative pacing, and the business of watching

Doorways through time in an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia, photographed by Francesco Ungaro

Belonging in the in-between

A philosophical reflection on how we find home in land, in others, and within ourselves

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

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

On the Street

To have a world fit for children and for youth, all wars must cease

Economy & Politics

Humanity remembered: overcoming mankind’s demise

Youth’s international Balkan Forum, Belgrade

Erin Smith. Child gas mask

Grappling with the Image

Erin Smith at Amy Li Projects, Manhattan, USA

Pacific Avenue under the iconic Venice beach sign in Los Angeles, California, USA

The picturesque Venice canals of California

Echoes of Italy in L.A.: tracing the legacy of Venice’s man-made canals

Leaders do not follow

Abilities and Talents

In times of change, what are timeless qualities?

Volunteering is a satisfying and fulfilling activity in healthcare and other sectors of the community

Science & Technology

Voluntary work in the healthcare sector

The key to social and healthcare integration with immeasurable benefits to society

Johann Heiss, (Memmingen 1640 - Augusta 1704), The Washing of the Feet, detail

A good man unfairly treated

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

How did conservatives become such whiny babies?

The transformation of philosophical conservatism into grievance and resentment

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

Entertainment

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

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

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 Washington Santiago Málaga Madrid Bern Lucca London Lisbon Ljubljana Copenhagen Singapore Sofia Rovereto Graz Linz Dresden Montreal Prague Luxembourg Amsterdam Zurich Frankfurt am Main

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

Subscribe

Get updates on the Meer