The design team was invited by the organizers of the 2026 Foshan International Cultural & Creative Week in early summer 2026 to develop an art installation intended for the major event.
The design team was invited by the organizers of the 2026 Foshan International Cultural & Creative Week in early summer 2026 to develop an art installation intended for the major event.
During the conceptual phase, the architects conducted an in-depth study of the daily life of local inhabitants of the Cantonese province. The goal was to identify a common everyday item that could most faithfully represent the peculiar nature of the region's popular life.
Following this immersion, the project's focus shifted to red plastic stools, which became the central element of the installation.
The project, titled Banquet Chair Tower / 1Y Architects, was presented on July 31, 2026, according to ArchDaily in Portuguese.
Praça Charles Miller, located in front of the Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, will host the World Foods and Music Festival on August 1st and 2nd. The event, which has free admission, will feature participation from 60 countries, offering gastronomy, cultural performances, and a handicraft fair.
The schedule will run daily from 11 am to 9 pm. One of the highlights of the festival is the vast selection of over 400 dishes, prepared from traditional recipes from various parts of the globe. Gastronomic options include Kabuli Pulao, considered the national dish of Afghanistan, and tagine, typical of North Africa, in addition to delicacies from Benin, Jamaica, Tunisia, Nepal, and numerous other nations.
The initiative aims to expose the public to recipes that are not easily accessible in Brazil. In addition to culinary diversity, the event will include musical and cultural shows inspired by different world traditions, along with a handicraft fair displaying pieces produced in various nations. The festival is organized by Cola Em Sampa and allows pets.
In terms of sustainability, it has been established that approximately 70% of the packaging used during the festival must be recyclable, and all generated waste will be separated and directed to recycling.
The July book selection is united not by a common theme, but by a particular perspective on familiar subjects that cease to have simple labels and become more complex. For instance, the image of the medieval woman moves beyond the stereotype of oppression, demonstrating greater resilience, while the mystical aura surrounding Khazaria weakens, and stone acquires signs of life, opening up new forms of thought.
Anastasia Palamarchuk's book 'Myths about Medieval Women: Regents, Troubadours, Pirates, and Heretics' explores the diversity of female figures of the era. There is a common theory that men sought to push medieval brewers out of the craft, portraying them as precursors to witches. However, this version only hints at a broader and lesser-known history of the daily life of a medieval woman, including her labor, household management, crafts, methods of earning a living, family duties, knowledge of herbs and healing, as well as forms of autonomy that might have been limited.
Palamarchuk illuminates the lives of women in various social roles: from wives and mothers to peasants, townswomen, abbesses, mystics, rulers, poets, heretics, and warriors. Interest in medieval women's history is growing, evidenced by memes about Hildegard of Bingen and renewed attention to Joan of Arc. The female gaze focuses on less obvious aspects—daily life, the body, the home, the family, labor, religion, upbringing, clothing, diet, fears, and survival methods, which are integral to understanding that era.
Studies of daily life often turn to female themes, similar to Tatiana Dittrich's bestseller 'Daily Life in Victorian England,' which meticulously describes domestic life. Palamarchuk's book expands this perspective, suggesting that the Middle Ages should be viewed not only through the monumentality of castles and chronicles but also through the hidden lives of women who do not fit into the traditional heroic narrative.
Medieval women's history encompasses family diplomacy, monastic politics, urban economy, religious movements, land management, marital alliances, inheritance, legal proceedings, labor, creativity, and power. Despite the patriarchal nature of society, the role of women was significant. The author emphasizes that she does not replace one myth with another, but rather shows the diversity of women's fates: from a mother preserving the family's reputation to an abbess negotiating, becoming a poet, or a figure of authority.
The main conclusion is that the role of women in the Middle Ages was no less, and sometimes even more decisive, than that of men. Women participated in land management, negotiations, forming alliances, maintaining family reputation, managing inheritance, influencing monasteries and daily order. They did not merely exist in a male world; they actively supported, circumvented, violated, and changed established rules.
Turning to the topic of eugenics, Eric Peterson's book 'Undesirables: How Science Decided Who Should Be Born, and Why Eugenics Has Not Disappeared in the 21st Century' presents a dense account of the dangerous idea of who, according to specialists, should be born, and whose reproduction is undesirable. The word 'eugenics' comes from 'well-born,' but Peterson reveals that behind the concern for a 'healthy future' lies the question of the right to determine which lives are desirable and which are a mistake of nature.
Peterson does not limit himself to a simplified presentation of eugenics as pseudoscience following Nazism. He traces the roots of eugenic ideas from ancient utopias to Victorian anxieties, racial theories, medical arbitrariness in American punitive medicine, and birth control programs. Thus, eugenics is presented not as an isolated phenomenon of the Third Reich, but as an evolving phenomenon with deep roots in respected institutions.
Interesting trends in this topic can be traced long before the 20th century. Peterson begins his analysis not with Francis Galton, but with ancient thinkers. The ancient Greek poet Theognis spoke of the mixing of breeds, comparing marriages to livestock breeding. Plato, in 'The Republic,' asserted that 'the best men' should marry 'the best women,' and the offspring of the 'worst' should not be raised. Seneca also used the language of selection, speaking of the necessity of separating the 'healthy' from the 'useless' regarding weak children. These thoughts do not make them modern eugenicists, but they lay the groundwork for the idea of the possibility of sorting people and improving the race from above.
The author strives to maintain an objective tone, yet his emotionality surfaces in descriptions of those who contributed to the development of Nazi biopolitics. Peterson mentions the concept of Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, who, seeking to confirm his Scandinavian ancestry, provided unreliable information. His career, which began as a research assistant to Alexis de Tocqueville, was largely built on useful connections.
The book 'Undesirables' analyzes a topic too easily relegated to the past. Eugenics was a mechanism through which power, medicine, and science attempted to solve social problems by controlling the most vulnerable groups: the poor, the sick, the racially marked, the incarcerated, migrants—people declared 'unfit.' The ending is worrying, as the author concludes that humanity will repeatedly return to this idea, changing its guise. Today, eugenics is more often linked to issues of poverty, security, demographics, and efficient governance, rather than just 'racial purity,' which Peterson demonstrates as a persistent temptation to consider some people as the future and others as a problem requiring elimination.
In the third part of the selection, Oleg Ivik and Vladimir Klyuchnikov's book 'Khazars: A Forgotten History of the Middle Ages' is examined. This work returns Khazaria from the realm of romantic notions to the field of archaeological data and cautious scientific hypotheses. The authors admit that even the origin of the Khazars in the Volga-Don steppes, where they disappeared after the fall of the state, and who should be called Khazars, is unknown. The question of the Judaization of Khazaria remains controversial.
The 2013 re-edition includes new archaeological discoveries and genetic data, allowing old questions to be viewed from a new angle. The main difficulty in studying the subject is that the Khazar Khaganate was a vast power stretching from the Volga to the Dnieper and from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, where many peoples lived (Bulgars, Alans, Oguz, Savirs), but the Khazar traces themselves are difficult to identify. There is no reliable Khazar pottery, and settlements are either not found or cannot be unambiguously identified as Khazar. The empire exists, but its main people seem dissolved in a multinational structure.
The archaeological part of the book plays a key role, demonstrating how knowledge about the Khazars is formed through burial mounds with square ditches, robbed graves, belts, horse remains, pottery kilns, and signs of fortifications. 'Khazars' represents not so much a solution to a mystery as a demonstration of scientific discipline before attempting to solve it. The authors do not provide final answers about the nature of the Khazars or the degree of their Judaization, but they convincingly explain why myths arise so easily around this people. Thus, the 'forgotten empire' turns out to be more excessively constructed than forgotten, and requires careful archaeological analysis.
Finally, Geoffrey Jerome Cohen, in his book 'Stone: The Ecology of the Nonhuman,' explores the possibility of finding life not in stone as a historical artifact, but in ordinary stone lying on the road. The American medievalist attempts to prove that stone can possess a form of life that is difficult for humans to notice. The idea, although seemingly simple, may appear intellectually opportunistic, given the contemporary interest in stones, new ontologies, and medieval studies.
For consumers looking for Bluetooth speakers that offer good audio quality, ease of use, and durability without a high cost, Amazon presents several interesting options to consider right now. Three portable alternatives with an excellent cost-benefit ratio have been selected.
One option is the Portable Bluetooth Speaker 20W GO, which provides 360-degree sound with 20W of power, ensuring crisp and robust audio for any location. Thanks to its IPX7 certification, it has complete water protection, making it perfect for use in environments such as the beach, pool, or during hikes. Furthermore, this model supports TWS technology to connect two units simultaneously, includes a P2 auxiliary input, and accepts a memory card, all while maintaining long battery life.
There is also the Premium version of the GO line, which maintains 20W of powerful and clear sound but includes USB connectivity and a P2 cable. This device is compact and water-resistant, designed to accompany the user on trips, parties, or at the beach. It is available in several colors, combining style and functionality in a practical design for transport.
Another notable alternative is the 5W Bluetooth Speaker, which integrates multiple functions. In addition to offering 5W of sound with TWS support, it acts as a 4000mAh power bank and features an integrated Type-C cable compatible with iPhones from models 5 to 14. This device also includes FM radio, a USB input, a TF card reader, and fast charging capability in up to two hours, making it very complete for those who value daily practicality.
It is important to note that the stock of these devices may change at any time, encouraging immediate checking of each option before the products run out. Users are advised to click on the links, compare specifications, and select the model that best suits their usage pattern.
