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Explore fusions of Chinese pictorial traditions and Western abstraction

colour image of two men wrestling in white costumes watched by a crowd

Traditional sport since prehistoric times

a porcelain figure of a man sitting down, wearing a long blue jacket with gold trim and gold tassels, his hair slicked back and ending in Victorian-style ruffles

When Western traders and colonists set sail for China in the 17th Century, they found an empire focused solely on protectionism.

colour painting of three girls, one is sketching, the other two are watching.

Celebrating young lives with a #ColorOurCollections colouring book

cropped black and white photograph of Dorando Pietri running

Italian long distance runner who turned failure into success

black and white photograph of Suzy Solidor who sits in a car with a large dog sitting next to her

Lesbian entrepreneur, actress, singer and 'the most painted woman in the world'

Aristotle among his students. Miniature on the first leaf of Oresme’s translation of Aristotle’s Ethics, in a late 15th-century manuscript

University life in the middle ages

Domenico Modugno in a shot from the early 1960s. Winner of three editions of the Sanremo Festival, including the one of 1958 with the famous song “Nel blu dipinto di blu”. Photo Archivio Luce - Cinecittà. All rights reserved.

How Sanremo changed the way of doing music, television and entertainment

We follow the tracks of great China explorers and revisit their accounts of life behind the Great Wall.

close-up colour photograph of a silver lion-shaped figure on top of a silver trophy

Contemporary silver masterpieces from the 'Battle of the Blues'

colour photograph of Fatih Akin who is holding a microphone and holds up one hand

Belonging and identity in contemporary multicultural Germany

white map of Europe with purple background, and words Esch-sur-Alzette, Kaunas and Novi Sad

Esch-sur-Alzette, Kaunas and Novi Sad in the spotlight

black and white photograph of two people standing in front of a large glacier

Photographer, globetrotter, influencer

Gouache depicting a garden with large pond, rocks, pavilions and flower pots, late Qing dynasty

Traditional Chinese garden design connects the realm of the physical with that of the ideal, to express the harmony that should exist between humans and nature.

cropped black and white photograph, a man with a beard wearing long robes and a hat

Documenting life in Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire

Detail of a miniature of Charlemagne at a table receiving a letter

Learn how the Frankish noble family helped popularise and standardise written text as we know it now.

An assembly of women reading, in 'L'Épître Othéa'.

Different reading practices in the Middle Ages

View from above of a combination lock

Uncover the story of the 12th century polymath who laid the groundwork for modern engineering, hydraulics and robotics.

A modern-day example of a monastic refectory of St. Paul's Abbey in Oosterhout (the Netherlands).

Nourishment for body and soul