Showing 1 - 10 of 26
India's headhunter warriors sever past, fret over future
AFP, Published on 05/07/2023
» MON (INDIA) - Once, the way to get ahead among India's Konyak warriors was by chopping off an enemy's skull. Today, the last survivors of a past age mourn the changing times -- and a new generation they see as soft.
Spooks and kooks on a Japanese island
Sunday Spotlight, Published on 07/05/2023
» Most Japanese schoolchildren know the kappa as a trickster who looks like a cross between a frog and a turtle with an indented head. If you're not careful, it could drag you into the river to drown. The tengu, identifiable by its bright red face and long nose, lurks in the woods. Beware of the tanuki, a supernatural variation of a raccoon dog, for it may make a fool of you when it crosses your path.
Spiritual healer a phenomenon in troubled Burkina
AFP, Published on 03/03/2023
» OUAGADOUGOU: A line of cars and motorcycles cuts across the arid West African landscape, kicking up clouds of dust on the unpaved road.
Into the devil's lair
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 05/11/2021
» Like a session of cinematic séance, Rang Zong (The Medium) channels a cemetery-sized roll call of classic horror elements. The film, recently picked as Thailand's representative for the Oscar's International Feature, is proudly possessed by the ghosts of The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity franchise, and Ari Aster's Midsommar, but with Southeast Asia's earthy voodooism, plus a serving of Korean-style blood-and-viscera gore as well as an icing of zombie scare-aesthetics. It's a full-course buffet of fright tricks, complete with an apocalyptic, 30-minute-long exorcism orgy that leaves no spell unuttered and no human unpossessed. All of this is couched in a faux-documentary setup, with handheld shots, grainy CCTV footage and characters speaking directly to the camera.
Myanmar spirit mediums take aim at military coup
AFP, Published on 14/02/2021
» YANGON: Otherworldly forces are displeased with the generals behind Myanmar's coup, according to the ornately dressed spirit mediums joining street protests to denounce the country's sudden turn back to army rule.
Bali's open-air burials endure despite Covid-19 crisis
AFP, Published on 16/06/2020
» TRUNYAN, Indonesia: For centuries Bali's Trunyanese people have left their dead to decompose in the open, the bodies placed in bamboo cages until only the skeletons remain.
Forced exorcisms touted as 'cure' for LGBT Indonesians
AFP, Published on 07/05/2020
» JAKARTA: Andin is haunted by memories of being forced into an exorcism to "save" her from being transgender -- a ritual that could become mandatory for Indonesia's LGBT community if a controversial new law is passed.
Science and shamanism: Medicine meets Myanmar's far-flung Naga tribes
AFP, Published on 12/03/2020
» SATPALAW SHAUNG (MYANMAR) - With Malaria and tuberculosis screening out front and sacrifices to jungle gods out back, health worker Htan Pi and her shaman mother are an unlikely double-act in their isolated Myanmar village.
Myanmar's last generation of tattooed headhunters
AFP, Published on 27/02/2020
» LONGWA (MYANMAR) - Ngon Pok remembers his father and grandfather returning triumphantly to his tribal village in Myanmar's far north with a human head -- and the agony of the tattoo he was given to celebrate their victory.
Seeking an authentic identity
Life, Published on 17/12/2019
» Explore the contemporary art scene and human endeavour for change today at the Singapore Biennale 2019 (SB2019). The event sprawls across 11 venues in Singapore, featuring works from 77 artists and art collectives from over 36 countries and regions.