Originally designed to allow a gaze out to the street while blocking both harsh sunlight and prying eyes, the wooden "box balconies" that proliferated after the founding of Lima in 1535 drew from Spain's Islamic heritage. They are now beloved cultural emblems of the Peruvian capital that, if they could share stories, could tell many a tale.

At once playful and disciplined, Hatiq Mohammed—“Teakster”—uses traditional Islamic motifs, Arabic calligraffiti and deep colors to “join communities together” in public projects of collaborative creativity that energize cultural dialog.

Moved to memorialize the mostly anonymous people who continue to perish while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe, Algerian artist Rachid Koraïchi has opened both an exhibition and a working cemetery. 

As the US trucker shortage deepens, there’s never been a better time to work behind the wheel. Joining those on the road are a growing number of women from Central Asia, where nomadism and can-do have long roots in the cultures of the Silk Roads. 

In this six-part series, we begin by learning how to draw, step by step, a swirling dance of geometry from a famous cut-tile wall panel in the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. It’s easier than it looks.

For a long time now, I have felt there is a richer, more complete narrative about Karachi—my hometown—than what is often produced in news media.

This see-through date is also known as “the translucent;” in Arabic, noor means light. Not long ago, at a long, lazy lunch, I enjoyed delicious North African—inspired date and prune torte enrobed in smooth chocolate, not unlike this one.

Dazzling, prismatic and intricately symmetrical, muqarnas is a stunning three-dimensional decoration unique to Islamic architecture.