ETHNOMAD : Fading Cultures Magazine
JULY 2025
"Your subscription directly supports ethnographic research, helps document endangered cultural traditions, and empowers communities to share their stories.
From glacier rituals in Baltistan to the vanishing shores of Tuvalu, this article explores how climate change reshapes culture, identity, and migration. It reveals how traditions offer powerful lessons for surviving ecological limits.
by Tom Corcoran
From ancient Rome's vast arenas to today's intimate village performances, the circus has remained a timeless celebration of human skill, courage, and imagination. This article explores its storied evolution, cultural significance, and enduring magic beneath the big top.
by James Pierce
This article challenges the myth of global underpopulation by highlighting systemic inequalities and border politics. It argues that the real issue is not declining birth rates, but exclusion, racial bias, and restricted global mobility.
by James Pierce
In the remote Gurjar tribal village of Kraska, Rajasthan, children achieve remarkable academic success despite lacking modern resources. This article reveals how traditional lifestyles, community bonds, and focused attention offer vital lessons for education today.
by Tom Corcoran
In a conversation with Melbourne-based designer and artist Corin Corcoran, she reveals how everyday materials— from weathered metal to reclaimed silk can become vessels for personal narratives. Corin describes her atelier as a laboratory of emotion, where texture and colour translate loss and resilience into each stitch. She shares vivid stories of her journey as an artisan to coax hidden life from discarded material, letting each remnant carry its own memory. Throughout the interview, Corin invites us to feel the pulse of her creations, where fashion becomes a dialogue between maker and wearer and the heritage of human diversity. Her work turns garments into living archives of the human spirit. by https://streamlinemedia.com.au/
In West Sumatra, Indonesia, Inel, the last artisan crafting traditional horsehair hats (topi ekor kuda), embodies the struggle between heritage and modernity. This article explores how cultural survival hinges on adaptability and generational transmission.
by Camila Torres Coto Aguilar
In desperation, the gods turned to Lord Shiva, the compassionate one regarded as both destroyer and restorer. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Shiva swallowed the poison to save all of creation. His wife, Parvati, ran to him and held his neck tightly to prevent the poison from descending into his body.
by Sidney Roy
(Written in Persian)
After schools were closed and education for girls was banned, she turned to writing. She is a freedom-loving girl who believes in a prosperous and just society.
Alongside her writing, where she talks about the pain and suffering of the girls of her land. The Red Ruby is Marwa Karimi’s first book. It consists of four stories inspired by the tragic destinies of girls who were crushed under the weight of restrictions and challenges. These are four true stories that deeply move the reader and raise awareness about how girls are forced to sacrifice their dreams simply because of their gender.
In the Thar Desert, the ancestral melodies of the Langa and Manganiyar folk musicians are faltering as patronage wanes and women’s voices remain confined by tradition. This article explores how education and cultural adaptation could revive their heritage and empower future generations.
by Hanna Morrissey
Dive into the first of our three-part Ethnography Handbook, where immersive fieldwork comes alive through hands-on exercises, sensory sharpening, and real-world stories from disaster zones to desert villages. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or curious traveller, you’ll learn to observe with your heart and mind, ask the right questions, and build respectful relationships that reveal the hidden rhythms of culture. From “glacier grafting” in Baltistan to market tales in Madagascar, each chapter combines practical tools—like the One-Hour Field Note and Memory Map- with expert insights on ethics, bias, and decolonising methodologies. This guide doesn’t just teach you to collect data; it invites you to become a better ally, storyteller, and human being as you uncover the stories that shape our world. Start here and embark on a journey that will forever change how you see, feel, and share the richness of human life.
by Tom Corcoran and Roel Hakemulder