KULTURAUSTAUSCH

A family is sitting on a blanket under a tree having a picnic. The ground is dry and stony. There are 15 people in total, from young children to old women.

New dossier

Women’s rights in Afghanistan

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Photo: David Degner/Getty Images

Politics | Sudan

A state held hostage

Politicians, the military, investors: in Sudan, key players are fighting over power and money. On how violence is flaring up again in a state that just won’t settle down

By Stella Gaitano 10/25/2023
Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/Getty Images

Human rights | Romania

Roma pushed to the dirty outskirts of the city

Years ago, the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca resettled hundreds of Roma - next to a huge garbage dump. Some families fought back and managed to attract international attention

By Gundula Haage 11/02/2023

Ulrich Raulff

President, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen

Atifa Qazi is a trainee at KULTURAUSTAUSCH. Recently she has covered artificial intelligence, indigenous knowledge and rap from the French banlieues for the magazine. Here are her current favourite KULTURAUSTAUSCH stories

Photo: private

Indigenous justice | USA

“These days, we have very few trials”

Judge Abby Abinanti worked for decades in both U.S. state courts and the Yurok Tribal Court. She says many lessons can be learnt from her community’s close-knit approach to justice

Interview with Abby Abinanti 09/20/2023

Máxima Acuña de Chaupe

Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung

Sergej Lebedew

Five people are seen in a group portrait, three women and two men. They look friendly into the camera and stand in an office stairwell — The KULTURAUSTAUSCH team

Photo: Ole Witt

KULTURAUSTAUSCH’s editorial team works from Berlin, but our networks of authors stretch around the globe – to Lagos, Taipeh, or Bogotá, for example.

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34%

of Northern Irish people are in favor of Irish reunification

armed groups are active in Colombia, but the majority of the population wants peace

View from a high vantage point over a modern city. Green plants can be seen in the very foreground, as if the viewer is standing in a park. In the middle ground rises a modern city center with many skyscrapers and a prominent high-rise tower. The sky shows an extremely dramatic cloud atmosphere between sun and darkness. — Photo: Franky Verdickt

Dossier

Voices from Taiwan

Taiwan is a key democratic ally in Asia for the West. But, looking beyond the looming threat from China, what makes this place unique and what do people in Taiwan dream of?

The outer wall of a one-story house is insulated with straw, there is no external facade. A ladder leans against the house, a middle-aged man steps out of the open door onto the dirt floor. He wears jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. — Photo: Antoine Bruy

Dossier

The limits of growth

The limits of growth have been reached, the climate crisis is real, the war in Ukraine is shaking up global politics. With the world in crisis mode, it's time to consume less!

A woman is standing at the open window, her face turned away from us, looking into the distance. She wears a black headscarf and a patterned outer garment. — Photo: Sayed Aman Sadat

Dossier

Women’s rights in Afghanistan

Since the withdrawal of NATO in 2021, women in Afghanistan have been stripped of their rights, freedom and dignity by the Taliban. In this dossier, they raise their voices!

Three people standing on a sheet of water. — Photo: Mustafah Abdulaziz

Dossier

Are we running out of water?

Without water, life on our planet would be impossible, but we are too careless with it. A dossier on the complicated relationship between humans and the big

White illustration on black background shows a small orchestra playing together on a podium on the right, and a single triangle player standing excluded from the central action on the left, eager to join in. — Illustration: Felix Möller

Dossier

Polarised society

How fairly do we all live together? Who has power, who is left on the sidelines? How do we deal with other people’s opinions? Our issue on culture clashes

Dossier

Underground

We plunder raw materials, build secret escape tunnels and dig up remnants of prehistoric times: There is much more happening under our feet than we realise. A journey into the underground

For her photo essay “Family Portrait,” photographer Tami Xiang visited children whose parents have left home to find work. Her assemblages each combine a portrait of the absent parents (right) and one of the children, most of whom are being raised by their grandparents (left). The “woven” structure of the images invokes the local tradition of weaving bamboo mats

On the left side of this photo mosaic are an old woman and an old man, in front of them a little boy - all in warm winter clothes. In the middle there are tickets. On the right side there is a middle-aged Chinese couple, the woman is wearing a white jacket and a pink scarf — Xiang Peng, seven years old, is in first class. His parents work in Guangzhou, a journey of 24 hours and 16 minutes by train from their hometown of Wanzhou. In the last six years, they have seen each other six times, each time for five to seven days during Chinese New Year.

Photo: Tami Xiang

An old woman and an old man are standing on the left hand part of this photo mosaic. Behind them stands a young man, wearing glasses and a yellow jacket. In the middle strip there are tickets. On the right half of the photo mosaic is a middle-aged Chinese couple. — Wan Jun, 22, has just graduated from university. His parents work in Wuchang, 11 hours and seven minutes away from their hometown, Wanzhou. In the last 14 years, they have only visited five times, for five to ten days each time – for example, to apply for official documents

Photo: Tami Xiang

On the left hand part of this mosaic are an old woman and an old man, in front of them stands a young child with colorful pants and thick jacket. On the middle strip there are tickets. On the right stands a middle-aged Chinese couple, both in dark outerwear. — Zhou Fangya, six years old, goes to kindergarten. Her parents work in Shenzhen, 27 hours and one minute by train from her hometown of Wanzhou. In the last five years, she has only seen her parents four times, for five to seven days each time, during Chinese New Year

Photo: Tami Xiang

An old woman and an old man are standing on the left hand part of this photo mosaic, , in front of them a boy and a smaller girl. The middle strip shows tickets. On the right stands a man and a woman. All of them are wearing winter clothes. — Xie Lingling, seven years old, is in first class and Xie Xiangfei, 10 years old, is in third class. Their parents work in Guangzhou, 24 hours and 16 minutes by train from their hometown of Wanzhou. In the last seven years, they have only seen their parents six times, for five to 10 days each time during Chinese New Year

Photo: Tami Xiang

Great love and great conflicts: Few relationships are as emotional as those between parents and children. For this issue, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons talk about what unites them — and someimes also about what divides them

“Your children are who they are”
Swedish Cartoonist Liv Strömquist describes the small absurdities of being a mother - and the funny side of parenthood

A quiet goodbye
Sometimes a deep gulf opens up between parents and children. Poet and author Daljit Nagra recalls a difficult childhood

Read this online or discover much more in our (German language) issue

Read now Order German copy

Gitte Zschoch

Secretary general, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen

View of an old house on a street corner — Photo: Maryam Mumladze for Kulturaustausch

Flying visit | Georgia

A house in Georgia

In the Georgian capital Tbilisi, there’s a house on a leafy street corner that is like a museum. A visit

By Maryam Mumladze 11/30/2023

Family | China

“Millions of children live apart from their parents”

Chinese migrant workers are often denied official residency. Many parents leave their children behind in the villages. Photographer Tami Xiang visited some of them. A conversation

Interview with Tami Xiang 11/25/2023

Children around the age of 7 are sitting behind their desks in a classroom. A teacher is standing in the background — Photo: United Church of Canada Archives

Discrimination | Canada

“Kill the ‘Indian’ in the kid”

For decades, indigenous children in Canada were sent to Christian boarding schools for re-education, where many experienced abuse. Journalist Michel Jean has written about this trauma

Interview with Michel Jean 11/05/2023

Human rights | Romania

Roma pushed to the dirty outskirts of the city

Years ago, the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca resettled hundreds of Roma - next to a huge garbage dump. Some families fought back and managed to attract international attention

By Gundula Haage 11/02/2023

Several men are standing around outside. Several people are climbing on an improvised old scaffolding that towers into the sky. At the top, two young men are waving Sudanese flags — Photo: David Degner/Getty Images

Politics | Sudan

A state held hostage

Politicians, the military, investors: in Sudan, key players are fighting over power and money. On how violence is flaring up again in a state that just won’t settle down

By Stella Gaitano 10/25/2023

Family | Republic Moldavia

“We laugh together, we cry together”

Valeriu Pocitari and Valeria Pocitari live over a thousand kilometres apart yet they chat almost daily. A father / daughter conversation between Moldova and Greece.

Interview with Valeria Pocitari, Valeriu Pocitari 10/20/2023

Portrait of an elder man with a grey beard and glasses. — Photo: Alexia Fiasco

Living together | France

Love is thicker than blood

A Paris flat, three daughters and at least as many chosen relatives: The family of 63-year-old widower Mouss Ould Kaci redefines family ties. A visit to France

By Nadia Kara 10/16/2023

Family life | Great Britain

A quiet goodbye

Since he can remember, there has been a deep rift between Daljit Nagra and his parents. He is ashamed of their narrow-mindedness; they despise his transformation into a “white man”. Memories of a difficult childhood

By Daljit Nagra 10/16/2023

Comic book artist Liv Strömquist lies in her bed with her back leaning against the wall and her legs crossed. — Photo: Emil Malmborg

Family life | Sweden

“Your children are who they are”

In her graphic novels, illustrator Liv Strömquist explores the everyday absurdities of being a mother — and the funny side of parenthood

Interview with Liv Strömquist 10/16/2023

A slightly older woman sits at a desk with folded hands, behind her two flags are vaguely visible. She has long white hair, wears silver earrings and a gray sweater with an overcoat. She looks directly into the camera. — Photo: private

Indigenous justice | USA

“These days, we have very few trials”

Judge Abby Abinanti worked for decades in both U.S. state courts and the Yurok Tribal Court. She says many lessons can be learnt from her community’s close-knit approach to justice

Interview with Abby Abinanti 09/20/2023

Portrait of a woman in a dark room, looking to the right. She is wearing a patterned headscarf and a matching collar. She is lit from the side and wears earrings and glasses. — Photo: Maximilian Gödecke

Family | Uganda

Dear Mummy and Daddy, rest in peace!

Persecution, prison, exile: Life has moved fast for the Ugandan poet Stella Nyanzi since her parents died. So much has changed that she she’s catching up with the past. A farewell letter to Mummy and Daddy.

By Stella Nyanzi 09/20/2023

A young man stands in the open and looks sideways into the camera. He wears a light coat, black short hair and a three-day stubble. Behind him is a green meadow, flowering branches hang sideways into the picture. — Photo: Antoine Midant

Media | Germany

Beyond the European bubble

German media outlets are often indifferent when it comes to reporting from outside Europe. German journalist Mohamed Amjahid has realised that writing about sex helps break down barriers

By Mohamed Amjahid 06/01/2023

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In print and online we give a platform to new perspectives from around the globe. Our editorial team researches current topics, commissions international authors to unpack them for us and, finally, translates their views into German and English. We would love your input: