UNESCO Courier articles from April 1997

UNESCO Courier archives from April 1997

Words, timely and timeless.(Interview)
April 1, 1997... Mario Luzi is an essayist, playwright and translator, but above all he is one of the greatest living Italian poets. His works have been translated into some thirty languages. Among those which have appeared in English are For the baptism of our...

The body and the self.(Cover Story)
April 1, 1997... In the normal way of things most healthy adults hardly think twice about their bodies until some kind of accident, breakdown or illness suddenly reminds them that they have one. Then they send in the artillery - doctors, analysts, medication -...

Face values. (social and cultural significance of the human face)
April 1, 1997... The American artist George Cat|in was once painting the portrait of a Sioux chieftain, Little Bear, and as the portrait was in semi-profile, part of the sitter's face was obscured. There was consternation when one Of the bystanders called out...

An invisible river. (East Asian view of the body and healing)
April 1, 1997... In the Oriental tradition, meditation can detect the elusive energy-flows that sustain the body In order to understand the East Asian idea of the body, particularly that of the Chinese and Japanese, we must imagine that instead of having a...

The body and the book. (Judaism and the human body)
April 1, 1997... In the Bible, the foundational text of Judaism, the body is treated primarily in the context of the cultic laws of purity. These laws dictate who is pure enough to enter a sacred site and offer a sacrifice. Anyone who has touched a dead human...

A language of its own. (human body)
April 1, 1997... The body is itself a medium of expression in African societies based on the oral tradition Africans regard the body (nyolo, nyama) as a "full" object because of the organs and substances it envelops and of which it is the overall expression....

From selfhood to salvation.
April 1, 1997... In Hindu thought the body is a finely tuned instrument always threatened with disharmony In the Indian tradition, the human body is viewed as integrating a complex variety of mental and physical processes. It is part of a body-mind continuum...

The garden of delights. (the Islamic thinking that cultivation of the sense can lead to God)
April 1, 1997... Some Islamic thinkers believe that cultivation of the senses can lead to God According to the Book of the Ladder of Mahomet, as the Prophet was beginning his "night journey" from Mecca to Jerusalem, a very beautiful woman "clad in raiment of...

Science and society. (part 2)
April 1, 1997... During the Cold War years, the value of science and technology tended to be construed in terms of its military and economic applications. While this enabled research in many specialities to enjoy a golden age of generous funding in some...

Te Wahipounamu: New Zealand's pristine wilderness.
April 1, 1997... Extraordinary flora and fauna flourish in Southwest New ZeaLand, one of the world's most spectacular wilderness areas, which was placed on the WorLd Heritage List in 1990. Maori people see more than a mountain when they look at the...

Gardens: a cultural flowering.
April 1, 1997... "As the expression of the direct affinity between civilization and nature, and as a place of enjoyment suited to meditation or repose, the garden thus acquires the cosmic significance of an idealized image of the world, a 'paradise' in the...

Rido Bayonne. (instrumentalist, band-leader and singer)
April 1, 1997... Versatile instrumentalist, band-leader and singer, Rido Bayonne is a musical jack of all trades who blends Bantu, Cuban, jazz, soul and funky beats into a unique personal style that bursts with vitality. Born in the Congo, near Pointe-Noire, he...