Kulturaustausch: Our subjects

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In KULTURAUSTAUSCH, the magazine for international perspectives, authors from around the world give their takes on key political and social talking points.

Survey | Tanzania
Climate change in Tanzania
By Deodatus Mfugale05/03/2025
Vetiver grass stabilizes the soil thanks to its extensive, strong root system
Photo: Mittul Vahanvati
Solomon Islands | Climate change
"Nature-based solutions are for the long term"
Informal settlements in particular can benefit from nature-based solutions. Researchers Darryn McEvoy and Mittul Vahanvati explain how planting the right grasses is helping a community in the Pacific region
Interview with Darryn McEvoy, Mittul Vahanvati01/01/2025
A harvest worker picks avocados for export
Photo: Axel Javier Sulzbacher
Environment | Mexico
Avocados: The green gold rush
The global appetite for avocados is generating big bucks in Michoacán. Behind the scenes, criminal groups illegally clear forests and steal municipal water for cultivation. The risks are large but the benefits remain in the hands of a few
By Heriberto Paredes Coronel10/28/2024

Deep dives into complex themes, featuring authors from around the globe

Foto: Abdulmonam Eassa

Migration | Syria

To stay, to leave, to return

As many refugees return to Syria, queues are forming outside passport offices as people try to leave. Four personal stories reflect the hopes, fears and unresolved questions of a country in transition

By Mayar Mohanna08/28/2025

Photo: Privat

Politics | Syria

“Al-Sharaa must be put under pressure”

Ahmed al-Sharaa promised a peaceful Syria, but violence continues to shape the country's transition. A genuine national dialogue, political participation and a strategy to integrate former fighters into the army are essential, says political scientist Rahaf Aldoughli

Interview with Rahaf Aldoughli08/28/2025

Black market | Syria

Dubious business

Prostitution, drugs and illegal money dealing: Syria's black market is flourishing in the wake of Assad's fall. A lack of regulations and clarity is deterring new investment in the formal economy

By Ahmed Mohamed08/24/2025

The new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa — Photo: picture alliance/Balkis Press; IMAGO/ABACAPRESS

Ahmed al Scharaa | Syria

The false saviour

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is celebrated for liberating the country from the Assad regime. But the former militia leader has a dark past. Will the people, out of desperation, once again fall prey to a brutal dictator?

By Maram Ahmad08/24/2025

Illustrationen: Julia Neller

Culture | Syria

What's up?

Four cultural figures in Syria and in exile discuss the future of art in the country

By Mohamed Magdy08/14/2025

Die drei getöteten Revolutionäre Raed Fares, Hamud al-Jneid und Khaled al-Issa verewigt an einer Felswand als Mosaik in Syrien — Foto: Kristin Hellberg

Revolution | Syria

In the footsteps of the revolution

A visit to Kafranbel, a small Syrian town that became a hotspot of resistance. What remains of the spirit of the revolution?

By Kristin Helberg08/11/2025

Foto: Ochieng Gerald

Culture | Uganda

Taking the stage!

Culture is greatly undervalued in Uganda. Women in the creative sector want to change that and are increasingly taking initiative themselves. They don't have it easy.

By Anna Adima08/10/2025

Foto: Institut für Angewandte Bauforschung Weimar

Reconstruction | Syria

"Debris isn't waste"

Concrete, brick, steel: Aref al-Swaidani wants to rebuild Syria from its ruins. In Weimar he’s conducting research on recycling building materials.

By Aref al-Swaidani08/07/2025

Media | Syria

"We offer an alternative to propaganda and hate"

The team behind Enab Baladi, the revolutionary media organisation founded at the start of the 2011 uprising, has returned to Syria. Co-founder Kholoud Helmi explains why their presence in Damascus is more crucial than ever.

Interview with Kholoud Helmi08/07/2025

Eine Illustration zeigt den Hinterkopf einer Schwarzen Frau — Foto: Archivi.ng

Living history | Nigera

Scanning Nigeria's history

In Lagos, a small team is digitising dusty newspapers and forgotten magazines – and putting them online. Their mission: to save Nigeria's collective memory

By Jess Smee08/07/2025

Photo: dpa picture alliance/ Ercin Erturk

Transitional Justice | Syria

“Accountability is more important than punishment”

How to get justice after the horrors Syria has witnessed? Sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh sees signs that the new leadership wants to come to terms with the past, but warns against selective justice

Interview with Mohammed Bamyeh08/05/2025

In his documentaries, Syrian director Feras Fayyad shows how his compatriots tried to defy the relentless terror of the Assad regime — Photo: Stine Heilmann

Crimes against humanity | Syria

“They drank coffee, smoked - and tortured us”

Under the Assad regime, tens of thousands of Syrians were tortured, some for years on end. Can a society ever overcome such trauma? A conversation with filmmaker Feras Fayyad

Interview with Feras Fayyad08/05/2025

Schwarzweiß Portrait-foto des irischen Schriftstellers Colm Tóibín — Foto: IMAGO/TT

Literature | Personal history

Writing as an emergency

The writer Colm Tóibín had to move to Spain and the United States before he could write about his grief and his homeland, Ireland

By Colm Tóibín08/05/2025

Syrian author and dissident Yassin al-Haj Saleh in exile in Berlin — Photo: Urban Zintel

History | Syria

A history of violence

For the first time in eleven years, Yassin al-Haj Saleh returned to his homeland. The Syrian writer and dissident found a country torn apart by internal conflicts and beset by worries about the return of tyranny. A historical analysis

By Yassin al-Haj Saleh08/05/2025

Foto: Picture Alliance / Anadolu | I. Kasim

Minorities | Syria

Assad's long shadow

The Assad regime used minority protection as a pretext to pit different Syrian communities against each other. That left behind left deep wounds that are still painful today

By Sarah Hunaidi08/01/2025

Photo: IMAGO / UPI Photo

Economy | South Korea

Is the four day week coming to South Korea?

In South Korea, people die from burnout. The newly elected President Lee Jae-Myung aims to introduce the four-day week. How might this benefit women in particular?

By Hawon Jung06/18/2025

[Translate to English:] — Illustration: Julia Neller

Colonialism | England

In love with Angelina Jolie

The Nigerian author Stephen Buoro rejected the culture of his homeland for a long time. Today, he criticizes how heavily it is being exploited

By Stephen Buoro06/04/2025

A cold-water coral — Photo: Saul Villegas

Art | USA

The secret life of cold-water coral

The Latin American-Californian artist Saul Villegas blends art and science in his unique 3D digital worlds

By Morgane Llanque05/22/2025

[Translate to English:] Wladimir Putin und Donald Trump bei ihrem ersten offiziellen Treffen in Helsinki — Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Russia

Face to face with Donald Trump

Putin is fighting in the Ukraine for the right to an equal dialogue with the West

By Oleg Kashin05/03/2025

Photo: Maciek Kowalewski

Viewpoint | Culture

I think that we should rethink the value of culture

By Juliana Hodkinson05/03/2025

Survey | Tanzania

Climate change in Tanzania

By Deodatus Mfugale05/03/2025

View of the port of Algiers in black and white — Photo: Ferhat Bouda

Censorship | Algeria

“The world must know that freedom is at stake”

Writer Kamel Daoud, who won the 2024 Prix Goncourt for his novel Huris, on censorship and the regime in Algeria

Interview with Kamel Daoud05/03/2025

Photo: mTomady

Health | Madagascar

Paying for childbirth by mobile phone

Many people in Madagascar don't have a bank account to save for operations or medication. The organization mTomady offers them a digital health savings account that fits on a SIM card

By Friederike Biron05/03/2025

Eine bunt gestylte Schwarze Frau sitzt zwischen Koffern und schaut nach links — Photo: Jeremy Tauriac

Viewpoint | USA

Why do we need poetry right now?

Musician, poet and artist Tarriona "Tank" Ball on the unique power of spoken word

By Tarriona Tank Ball05/03/2025