Travel writer Sophy Roberts spent two years crossing the cold, harsh wilderness of eastern Russia in search of a piano—a gloriously absurd quest detailed in her absorbing modernist masterpiece, The Lost Pianos of Siberia. Now for the big question: why?

He was murdered just after midnight. He’d been poisoned with potassium cyanide, shot several times, and he was then thrown in the icy Little Nevka river. That’s the killer’s account, anyway. His body was then embalmed — a privilege reserved for Russian leaders and Tsars — and he was buried in the imperial residence Tsarskoe Selo. Not bad for a Siberian peasant in the early 1900s. The embalming and the funeral didn’t long matter: two months later an uprising in St Petersburg would result in the abdication of Nicholas II. Revolution followed.  Soldiers would later dig up Rasputin’s body, cart it off in a piano, and burn it in a nearby forest.

What stands out above? The brutal murder? Rasputin’s royal connection? Revolution? For journalist Sophy Roberts, it’s the piano. That the story features only as a footnote in her masterful travelogue The Lost Pianos of Siberia.

The book follows Roberts on a two year search for any interesting pianos that remain in Siberia — from the instrument’s introduction by Catherine the Great in 1774 until the Red October state factory stopped its production in 2004.

Over the centuries, many of the region’s instruments were stolen, used as firewood, sold for food, or last seen fleeing atop trains as revolution took hold. But in seeking out the few pianos that remain, Roberts cleverly chronicles the rise and fall of the world’s biggest country through its relationship with the instrument. It’s a beguiling blizzard of modernist travel literature and cultural conservation.

“My book is mad in so many ways,” the 47-year-old journalist is explaining to Lonely Planet over Zoom from her home in Dorset, England. “The money, the madness, it simply does not add up.”

It doesn’t. It sounds more like a drunken bet: visit Siberia during the winter and try to find an instrument worthy of the talents of Odgerel Sampilnorov, a sublime young pianist from Mongolia. It’s an absurd premise. Gloriously absurd. Made even more so by Siberia's myths, its often untrusting locals, and Roberts’ insistence on working using traditional journalistic techniques. Just look: “I backtracked a lot, a lot,” Roberts says, “I wasn't trying to write and report this book using telephones. I was trying to do it by knocking on doors and finding a human connection.”

A long way from Moscow

Retracing your steps when you’re slow-pacing across an eleventh of the planet’s landmass — from Ekaterinburg to who knows where (to paraphrase Anton Checkov, whose quip Roberts’ uses as her own parameters of Siberia) — is difficult and demanding. “It’s a long way from Moscow,” the locals would often tell her, meaning both in temperament and distance.

Coldest place on earth

Wider than Australia and with forest fires that produce clouds larger than the EU, we’re told, this vast, snow-quilted region is home to some of the coldest cities on Earth — a harsh, unforgiving expanse of icy isolation. Ideal, some Tsars believed, for a penal exile system; a void from which few prisoners would ever return. But, as Roberts discovers, it’s a place where pianos still manage to wash up from “the high-tide mark of nineteenth-century European romanticism”.

“One moment when I was up in a place called Lake Numto, which it's hard to get to, properly hard,” effuses Roberts. This is a journalist who’s filed stories from Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and the fringes of Antarctica. “There's no there's no bus, train or anything else in.”

Roberts had flown in by helicopter, chasing rumour of a piano. Shortly after arriving, however, she got a call from someone she had tried to track down two weeks earlier. She headed back, retracing the first 20-30 miles by snowmobile and then hitching rides with oil and gas workers to complete her journey.

Travels into Russian Far East

But by that point, Roberts was enchanted. Just as Russia had fallen under the spell of the piano through the “brilliant, passionate, demonic” performances of Hungarian virtuoso Franz Linzt, so Roberts seems unshakably snow-blinded by her own quest. “Only when I started travelling deep into the Russian Far East did I realize I could no more unsnag the idea of Siberian lost pianos than set out coatless into cold so extreme it makes your tears freeze into the lines around your eyes,” she writes. For the reader, it’s hard not to be drawn into her snowstorm too.

Travels of the imagination

Raised alongside two sisters on the west coast of Scotland, Roberts’ upbringing was a creative, bookish one. Her father was a writer and a fish farmer; her mother a painter. All three were brought up in such a way that they were encouraged to fill their own time. The family didn’t have the means or time to travel. They didn’t have a TV. But every night, without question, Roberts’ father would read to them. She fondly recalls stories like The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton. “Travels of the imagination,” as Roberts calls it. “I definitely got my sense of adventure from books.”

There were other itchy-feet influences too: an errant uncle who disappeared whilst walking in the Pyrenees; a great-grandfather who crossed the Yukon. So it was somewhat inevitable that at 18, Roberts would use the £3000 her grandfather left her to travel across India and Nepal.

Becoming a travel writer

“It was a complete epiphany,” Roberts says of the year-long trip, “and it was immediate.” Encouraged by her father, Roberts would send home a letter each week via the Poste Restante system. It was this regular correspondence that is likely to have shaped Robert’s writing voice. “Just be honest: write, write,” her father had enthused. “Don't think of me as your father, just write and tell us how it is, tell us everything.”

Siberian labour camp musicians

Roberts does just that in The Lost Pianos of Siberia too. Fluid and unflinching, it’s an absorbing read; a book that deftly balances chiaroscuro, light and dark. One such instance is when Roberts is in Akademgorodok, searching for the last instrument of Vera Lotar-Shevchenko, a French-born pianist sent to a Siberian labour camp for “anti Soviet agitation and propaganda”. In the Gulag, Lotar-Shevchenko was said to have pined for her piano so much that her fellow prisoners “carved a keyboard into her wooden bunk with a kitchen knife so she could practise silently at night.”

The day she was released she walked straight to a nearby music school, still wearing “her convict’s quilted pea coat”, and asked to play the piano. “Vera sat at that instrument for one, maybe two hours,” Roberts writes. “She played without stopping, laughing and crying, the recall of her repertoire note-perfect as her stubby fingers behaved with the same exhilarating precision as they had before her arrest. [...] It was like every part of her was being lost to the music, as if she could see everything all at once.” Roberts doesn’t shy away from the horrors that haunt “The Gulag Archipelago” either: we read in detail about the murders; the starvation; the convicts chained to prison walls; the enemies locked into rooms and sprayed with water so they’d freeze to death. It’s not a book for the soft of heart.

Roberts is an assured storyteller and during our call she is fastidious with her replies — a number of times she reaches for a book to double check a quote, or asks her assistant Serena to look something up to confirm it. But, just as in the book, there are times when her answers bloom with poetry, like a murmuration of starlings swooping across the conversation.

Keeping piano playing alive

“Roots matter whether where a tree or a human being. We're always looking for those things which stabilise us—and that includes culture,” Roberts says when asked whether pianos need to be played to be kept alive. “That is why I think these instruments matter: not just as a sort of dusty thing in a corner that you look at, even if it sounds bad, the act of playing it is taking that child back to the grandmother's story. We forget our stories too quickly, too easily, and it's only through history that we learn how to behave—or should.”

After India and Nepal, Roberts’ own story took her to Oxford University where she read English literature, but by now, she knew she wanted to travel more. Roberts believed photography would be her ticket to freedom, so she undertook a postgraduate course at the London School of Photojournalism. Whilst studying there, she contacted Jessica Mitford — one of the Mitford sisters, the six aristocratic siblings that fascinated England between the two World Wars — for an interview.  Mitford ended up hiring Roberts as a British researcher.

“Working for her, I actually discovered [...] that I was a writer, not a photographer. I just didn't have that magic dust that a photographer needs, but I had the sense of inquiry that a journalist needs,” says Roberts. She formalised her career choice by studying journalism at Columbia University in New York City. It was Mitford, however, who had taught Roberts about her most vital journalistic tool. “If you are gracious towards the people that you are interviewing, they respond to that first and foremost,” she says. “I still have in my files all these wonderful faxes that [Mitford] used to write — and she was going for the jugular — she was tough, she was real tough, but she always did it within the frame of grace.”

Russia's historical timeline

She manages to reframe the vast tremors of Russia’s widescreen historical events — The Decembrist revolt; the execution of Tsar Nicholas II; the Siege of Leningrad; the millions killed in the Gulags — through the personal aftershocks still reverberating today. It's only by meeting the little-known piano tuners, the Nenets authors, the inquisitive geologists, the arguing twitchers, the local poets and the Old Believers that Roberts discovers that the story of the instrument popularised by Catherine the Great isn't over, there's just a fermata scrawled above the last note.

“‘To play the piano’”, writes Roberts, “meant having your fingerprints taken when you first arrived at [a Gulag] camp.” But as her wonderful book suggests, pianos have left their fingerprints all over Siberia too. It’s just taken someone like Roberts to put everything on record.

The Lost Pianos of Siberia is available from Penguin.

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Finding the lost pianos of Siberia

Now that much of the world is on major Covid-19 lockdown yet again, the global travel community may have finally reached Peak Wanderlust. I know I sure have. While I’ve been dreaming about travel since the pandemic began, this winter has been especially brutal, with bitingly cold winds and 4:30 pm sunsets that seem to, as Bob Dylan says, “ take the dark out of the nighttime and paint the daytime black.”

Fortunately, there are all sorts of ways to fuel this aching wanderlust from the couch—like sitting on it while you watch and read all of the escapist stories. I even wrote a whole book on this topic, Destination Wellness, that’s filled with ideas about how to weave global health philosophies into your life at home. But today I want to focus on the transportive tactic that’s been bringing me the most amount of joy lately: interior decorating. Because my husband Rahul and I both traveled so often in the “Before Times,” we never felt the need to decorate our tiny Brooklyn apartment all that much, treating it as more of a home base between trips. But once we realized we would be sheltering in place for the foreseeable future, we moved into a bigger apartment nearby—and officially caught the home design bug. Now, instead of visiting global markets on our travels, we’ve become obsessed with turning our apartment into one, instead.

Of course, like most people, we can’t afford to makeover our apartment all at once—especially during Covid. And we don’t even want to buy everything online, either, as that would leave little room for impulse travel purchases in a post-pandemic world. That said, we both spend countless hours scouring global home goods sites for deals and sales these days, in addition to making home design wish lists and apartment vision boards. Sometimes, instead of watching an episode of whatever it is that I’m watching, I’ll just grab my laptop, pour myself a glass of red wine, throw on some Thievery Corporation (one of my favorite travel-vibe bands), and settle in on the couch for a nice long evening of looking at cool internationally-inspired house stuff. Travel in 2021, right? Here are some of my favorite online home design stores, so you can get in on the transportive decor magic, too—whether you actually buy the stuff or not.

For a highly curated collection of ethically-crafted global accent pieces: The Citizenry

Let’s start here: The Citizenry describes itself as a “globally-inspired home decor brand,” so you know you’re in the right place. The direct-to-consumer brand—which just opened their first-ever physical store in SoHo in Manhattan—sells all sorts of beautiful global goodies, from handwoven Indian rugs to organic Turkish cotton bedsheets to handwoven baskets and coasters from Uganda. A couple months ago, I splurged on the baya lumbar pillow from Oaxaca for my bed, and its warm colors make me so happy every time I enter the room—like I’m back at Mansion San Miguel, a boutique hotel I absolutely adore in San Miguel de Allende. I also have my eye on this hinoki wood bath mat handcrafted in Japan, which reminds me of the hiking trip I took through the Japanese countryside last fall.

But the best part of all? The Citizenry has collaborated with local artisans in various countries all around the world, and you can read more about them on their “Meet the Makers” section of their website. They are also committed to paying their artisans fair wages and providing good working environments, and they even invest 10% of their proceeds back into the artisan communities—so they can take their craft to new heights.

For a bigger selection of handicrafts from around the world: Ten Thousand Villages

Founded in 1946, Ten Thousand Villages is one of the original pioneers of the global decor movement. As a nonprofit fair trade organization, they sell purposeful handicrafts made by disadvantaged artisans all over the world, including beautiful textiles from Bangladesh and recycled rugs from India and handmade coffee mugs from Vietnam and so much more. As a diehard wellness lover, I’m particularly fond of their spa + wellness section, where they sell items like handmade singing bowls from Nepal, waxing moon tealights from India, and coconut wooden soap dishes from Indonesia.

But my favorite part about Ten Thousand Villages is the backstory behind each handicraft. Like The Citizenry, they are careful to explain who made each item, and what makes their story unique. I love that they work mostly with women, too. Click on the “Be Still Eucalyptus Soa” from Bangladesh, for example, and you learn that the artisans are women who have broken away from the sex trade and now make their living by making this soap and other handicrafts.

Tom Hanslien available from Artfinder.com © Courtesy of Artfinder" data-embed-button="images" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"","image_link":""}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="d740acb6-ae46-4f3c-a87f-5176b13546aa" data-langcode="en" title="sr-gjslingan-ii-203x146cm-by-Tom Hanslien-3962.00 GBP-c-Artfinder.jpg">

For amazing international artwork: Artfinder and BetterShared

Local art is one of my favorite souvenirs to pick up on the road, and both of these sites make it easy to do so from the couch. (Note: There are a bunch of other sites that sell local art from around the world, too, but these are my two favorites.)

Artfinder: Founded in London in 2013 by a Swedish art lover, the site sells thousands of original pieces of art—including photographs, paintings, and more—from independent artists all around the world. I have not gotten anything myself, but I’ve spent a good amount of time browsing the site. My favorite part is that you can search by country, so it’s quite easy to match your art to the vibe you’re going for (I love this watercolor of the northern lights in Norway for our work-in-progress “nature nook” in our bedroom). Bonus: by purchasing art through Artfinder, you are buying directly from a local, independent artist, which helps support them and their work.

BetterShared: Founded in 2016, this site is a platform that highlights work from artists of the African Diaspora. Though I haven’t bought anything from here yet, I love browsing around (behold my current obsession). I especially like the site’s “new artist” and “featured artist” section that allows you to read a bit about each artist’s background. It even links to the artist’s Instagram account so that you can start following them directly, which gives it a very modern and authentic touch. Though BetterShared is based in the UK, it ships all over Europe and to the US.

For candles that take you away: Homesick

I first discovered this candle brand at a boutique gift shop in my Brooklyn neighborhood, and I’ve loved them ever since. As you may guess from their tagline “faraway places brought right into your home,” all of their candles are named after different destinations around the world, from France to Brazil to India—and they actually do smell like those spots. As a massive beach bum, I’m particularly obsessed with the Hawaii candle, which features notes of pineapple, coconut, and tropical flowers. I also can’t wait to try the Australia candle, which, according to the website, smells like eucalyptus, saltwater, and sunscreen. Take me there!

For the Japanese tablescape of your dreams: Zen Table Japan and Hasami Porcelain

When I was in Japan, I popped into a kitchenware store in Tokyo and picked up a set of two ramen bowls that have come to be my favorite bowls of all time. I originally got them because they were the perfect shade of blue, but it turns out, they are also the perfect size. Did you know that a ramen bowl is also great for eating basically all other foods? It is the perfect vessel for everything from other soups (not just ramen), salads, pastas, and even scrambled eggs—and doing so transports me to Tokyo every single time.

But alas! A couple weeks ago, I dropped one of the two bowls and it broke. I was absolutely distraught—probably more than I should have been for a bowl?—and immediately went down a Japanese ramen bowl internet rabbit hole to find a replacement. My final winner: Zen Table Japan, which sells gorgeous Japanese kitchenware shipped directly from Japan. I ordered two of these, but they have not arrived yet due to Covid delays. And the runner up: Hasami Porcelain, a tableware company inspired by Hasami Town, one of Japan’s most well-known ceramic industries. The company’s dishes ooze Japanese minimalism, and are a bit more modern than Zen Table.

For Indian accents in every room: Fabindia

My husband Rahul grew up in Rahul, and every time we go to visit his family in New Delhi, we somehow end up at Fabindia. It’s the go-to store for everything you need: clothes, makeup, furniture, and, yes, all of the home decor you never knew you wanted. While they sell all sorts of items, from dishware to table runners to lanterns, I’m particularly into their bedding—it transports me to Rahul’s family home in Delhi. We have a printed cotton quilt like this one in our apartment in Brooklyn, and it is so soft and comforting. I also love their sheets and vibrant silk pillowcases (like these). Rahul’s mom has given us a lot of Fabindia bedding over the years, and we always get compliments on it from visitors—the prints are so beautiful and unique.

For….pretty much anything else: Etsy

I know, I know, this is an obvious choice. But before the pandemic turned me into Joanna Gaines 2.0, I hadn’t really gotten on the Etsy train—and man was I missing out! For anyone else who is in the dark like I was, Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade items that connects buyers with independent sellers all around the world. Rahul and I worked with a guy in England to design our own custom live-edge coffee table using all local wood, for instance, and I love knowing that we now have a piece of the British countryside in our living room. We also got a new kitchen table on Etsy (also from a maker in England), plus a couple handmade wooden stools from Turkey...and we’re only just beginning. After all, we may be stuck at home for a little while longer, but it’s pretty fun to turn your home into the world.

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Why does this Southeast Asian nation, which has zoomed back into international focus following a military coup on 1 February 2021, have two names?

The answer is a complicated one in which history, politics and the quirks of transliterating a word from one language to another all play a role. It’s not uncommon for countries to change their names. Thailand was once known as Siam, Sri Lanka, Ceylon and Zimbabwe, Rhodesia. But what to make of Myanmar which is also called Burma?

During British colonial rule in the 19th and early 20th century, atlases and globes labelled the country Burma. This derived from the Burmese word ‘Bama’ – how locals colloquially referred to their country. But, like many languages, there is also a formal mode of speaking and writing Burmese. In that register, the country is known as ‘Myanma’, which is transliterated to Myanmar – the ‘r’ added to phonetically lengthen the preceding ‘a’ vowel.

In 1948, when the country gained independence from Britain, it officially became known as the Union of Burma. However, the sad truth is that Burma is anything but a united nation. The country has suffered the world’s longest-running civil war, stretching over 70 years. This instability is one justification the military has used for the extended periods it has forcibly taken charge of running the country over democratically elected governments.

Why was the name changed from Burma?

In 1989, a year after brutally suppressing a pro-democracy uprising, the military junta rebranded the country as the Union of Myanmar. The reasoning given for the name change was that Myanmar was more inclusive of the nation's diverse ethnic population. At the same time colonial-era place names were also purged - so Rangoon was renamed Yangon, Pagan became Bagan and so on.

The country’s name change became a political flashpoint. While the United Nations and bodies such as Amnesty International accepted Myanmar, the main opposition group the National League of Democracy (NLD) did not. "I prefer Burma because the name was changed without any reference to the people," Aung San Suu Kyi , the NLD’s leader, told Lonely Planet when interviewed for the 11th edition of the Myanmar (Burma) guide published in 2011.

The USA, in solidarity with the opposition groups, continued - and still continues - to officially refer to the country as Burma.

What term does Lonely Planet use?

Post the 2015 election, the strength of feeling democracy supporters had on using Burma instead of Myanmar, began to diminish. Aung San Suu Kyi, addressing some of the nation's diplomats in her role as foreign minister in April 2016, said they could call the country either Burma or Myanmar. Although accustomed to calling it Burma herself, she vowed to sometimes use Myanmar – all in the spirit of diplomacy!

Lonely Planet uses Myanmar as the default name for the country, with Burma used for periods before 1989 and when it's the name of an organization, eg Burma Campaign UK. 'Burmese' is used for the Bamar people (not for all of the country's population, which we term 'the people of Myanmar'), the food and the language.

Simon Richmond is a writer and curator of Lonely Planet’s Myanmar (Burma) guidebook and has traveled extensively in the country since 2002.

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Ask LP: What name should I use - Myanmar or Burma?

For centuries, travel writing has been an important part of Black literature, and writers have penned them for a number of reasons. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they did so to chronicle their travels (and treatment) as enslaved people. More recently, others have written intimate portraits of how women of African descent live, work, and love in countries around the world.

Here are 12 books written by Black women about their travels from Alabama to the Arabian Peninsula. Some are tales of whirlwind romances, while others recount the racism and xenophobia that abound in many places. Though each book tells a unique story, one theme remains constant: Black people – and Black women in particular –have settled, survived, and thrived everywhere.

1. Black Girl In Paris by Shay Youngblood

Eden Daniel is a wide-eyed aspiring writer who travels to Paris in search of inspiration, and to follow in the footsteps of her heroes, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. But when she arrives, she learns that it is not as free as she thought—neither financially nor racially. Although her own subjectivity as a Black American with a passport, a white lover, and a series of jobs shields her from the city’s most egregious social ills, she quickly learns that race and class are not just American issues, but global ones. Still, Eden’s sobering sojourn to the City of Love leaves room for romance, hilarity, and a little creative inspiration.

2. Quicksand by Nella Larsen

Written at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Quicksand offers an intimate portrait of early-20th century Black life in both the United States and abroad. From the fictional Southern town of Naxos, to Chicago, Harlem, Copenhagen, and, finally, rural Alabama, Helga observes and records the lives of wealthy and poor Blacks, the sometimes-patronizing nature of racial uplift, and what it’s like to live at the mercy of whites like Helga’s Danish relatives, who see her as an exotic pawn that could improve their social standing. Quicksand is both a travel narrative and a cautionary tale about the vulnerability of Black women in  many spaces, and the dangers of searching for the perfect place to fit in.

3. Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall

Still mourning the death of her successful husband, Avatara “Avey” Johnson sets sail on a cruise ship bound for the Caribbean and, hopefully, some new excitement in what has been a comfortable, but humdrum life. However, after a series of disturbing dreams about a deceased aunt and the summers the two spent together in South Carolina, Avey finds herself disembarking in Grenada, a place that she’s never been, but whose people, food, and customs reconnect her with her lost roots.

4. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Vivian Forest has never been a globetrotter, but she jumps at the opportunity to spend the Christmas holiday in London with her daughter, Maddie, a stylist for the Royal family. What was supposed to be a simple and fun stint across the Atlantic gets delightfully complicated when Vivian meets the Royals’ private secretary, Malcolm Hudson. The two are a perfect match, and both agree to a holiday fling, but cutting things off at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve proves to be much easier said than done.

5. Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar by Colleen J. McElroy

Written while on a Fulbright fellowship to study the oral traditions of the Malagasy people of Madagascar, Over the Lip of the World is part translated folklore, and part adventure narrative of an African American woman going deep into the land and culture of people whose traditions are not well known to the rest of the world. With McElroy’s ear for lyric language (she is, after all, a poet), and her knack for humor, this book offers a glimpse into a unique culture, but is also a fascinating study of the ways we can collect and preserve stories from around the Black Diaspora.

6. Glory: Magical Visions of Black Beauty by Kahran and Regis Bethencourt

In a collection of stunning photos of Black children in the US, South Africa, Ghana, Cuba, and elsewhere, this husband-and-wife team interweave their photography with stories of their world travels as well as of the children’s lives. It is a celebration of exotic places, Black beauty, natural hair, and the resilience of Black children surviving in a world that does not always protect and nurture them.

7. Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu

In her debut memoir, Owusu explores the fallout of a blended family whose patriarch dies early, and she details what can happen when a child is raised to believe she can live anywhere: she often feels like she belongs nowhere. Aftershocks traces Owusu’s life in Tanzania, England, Italy, Ethiopia, and Uganda, surviving civil wars and the emotional violence that children often experience at the hands of other children and sometimes, one’s own family members. In Aftershocks, Owusu struggles to find peace with the mother she never knew and reclaims a self that felt shattered in the wake of her father’s revealed secret.

8. A Fly Girl by Amanda Epe

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to travel the world while living a jet-set lifestyle, then this is the perfect book for exploring those possibilities. Epe takes us from North America to Arabia, telling stories of adventure and intrigue interlaced with the social and political histories of the places her fellow British Airways crew members traveled. But it is more than a memoir of the lush life. Epe also explores the ways race and gender impacted her treatment in many places, and discusses how travel can offer a deeper sense of personal identity, and heal some old wounds.

9. Searching for Zion by Emily Raboteau

A book that began during a trip to Israel to visit a childhood friend, Searching For Zion became a decade-long exploration of the lives of Black people who left their homes to find a ‘promised land.’ Raboteau visits Jamaica, several countries on the African continent, and the American South to spend time with various groups, from Ethiopian Jews to transplanted Katrina survivors. This book, which the author herself has described as part travelogue, part cultural anthropology, and part cultural history, explores what ‘Zion’ means for different people, and how the ideal has changed throughout Black history.

10. The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou

In a series of autobiographies spanning five decades, Angelou details the many lives she lived: short order cook, nightclub singer, sex worker, dancer, and actress, but in The Heart of a Woman, Angelou discusses her life as a Harlem playwright, a civil rights activist, and, finally, the wife of an African freedom fighter. She travels from California to New York to London and Cairo, surviving a few romances and meeting a few famous people (like Malcolm X and Billie Holiday) in between.

11. Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston

Many know Zora Neale Hurston as one of the Harlem Renaissance’s most famous writers and, most recently, as the recorder of a lost slave narrative, but she was also a trained anthropologist who completed extensive fieldwork in Jamaica as well as Haiti. Tell My Horse is a study of the religious practices, political histories and cultural norms of the two Caribbean nations, intermixed with folklore and a few harrowing tales of Hurston’s travels. Though the book’s contemporary critics lambasted her conversational style and seemingly disjointed mix of storytelling and field studies, Tell My Horse is now considered one of the first anthropological books of its kind to treat the Black Caribbean as a rich cultural repository.

12. The History of Mary Prince by Mary Prince

Few people think of slave narratives when they think of travel writing, most likely because the accounts are rarely pleasant and the travel is hardly voluntary, but The History of Mary Prince, the first narrative of a Black woman published in Great Britain, is indeed a story of one woman’s international journey. Prince, who was born in Bermuda, worked as an enslaved person in her birthplace, as well as in the Turks Islands and Antigua before landing in Great Britain. This book is a searing portrait of slavery both in Britain and its territories, and it is one woman’s fearless account of her life and the violence committed against her, which she told for one reason: to secure her freedom.

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Since Philadelphia formerly served as the nation’s capital, the story of the founding fathers is often the core lesson that visitors take away. There is, however, a narrative of equal importance to remembering and preserving American history here: the legacy of African Americans and their contributions to the city’s cultural fabric.

From exploring the exhibits at The National Constitution Center to learning about a devout Quaker family integral to the Underground Railroad in the 1800s, there’s more African American history to be revealed, digested and remembered in Philadelphia than meets the eye.

Editor's note: Please check the latest travel restrictions before planning any trip and always follow government advice.

National Constitution Center

The National Constitution Center serves as a museum of the people, a civic education headquarters and America’s town hall. But it’s worth making the effort to center your visit on the excellent exhibits on Black Americans and their contributions to our country. Highlights include a signed copy of the “A More Perfect Union” speech delivered by the first Black president, Barack Obama; glimpses into the landmark Supreme Court cases Brown v. Board of Education and Dred Scott v. Sandford; and a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

During Black History Month in February, the museum usually brings in new exhibitions to highlight the month.

Johnson House Historic Site

Located in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the Johnson House Historic Site has long stood as a symbol of the legacy of slavery and the Underground Railroad. In 1768, Dutch immigrant John Johnson built the house for his son as a wedding present.

As devout Quakers, the Johnsons were committed to contributing to the community, and that is believed to be the reason the house became a pivotal station along the Underground Railroad in the 1800s.

Today, the Johnson House remains an essential cornerstone of both historic preservation and educational programs in Philadelphia. Guided tours are offered to walk-ins on Thursday-Saturday and by appointment on other weekdays.

The tour shares tidbits about the Johnson Family, the abolitionist movement in Philadelphia and the men, women and children who sought harbor in the Johnson home on their way to freedom. The home is also the site of lectures and events centered on African American history, like an annual Juneteenth celebration.

Marian Anderson Historical Residence and Museum

Renowned Black opera singer Marian Anderson, who famously sang at the Lincoln Memorial on April 19, 1939 per an invite from Daughters of the American Revolution, called Philadelphia her home.

Today, Anderson’s three-level brick Italianate-style home , built in 1924, is a museum managed by the Marian Anderson Historical Society, founded by Blanche Burton-Lyles. During the tours, visitors can peek into rooms, complete with original photos, clothing and other memorabilia. The exhibits featured throughout the house change seasonally.

The singer converted the space, including the lower level basement, into a place to host African American singers, musicians and the literati. Her home became a natural gathering place where fellow African Americans could feel safe amid Jim Crow racism.

Burgeoning singers and music students continue to further Marian Anderson’s legacy via the Marian Anderson Scholar Program, which allows students between the ages of 18 to 45 inspired by the great singer to practice, gather in fellowship and perform in showcases multiple times per year.

Historical Society of Philadelphia

Want to take a glimpse into the past? Been desiring to make headway on a genealogy project and getting to know your ancestors from yesteryear? Head to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where the catchphrase is “Make History Yours.”

More than 21 million items constitute the Historical Society’s collection, which mainly focuses on greater Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. Items available for perusal and research purposes include sheet music, photographs, restaurant menus, newspapers and a wealth of other materials chronicling social and economic conditions of the past.

It is, however, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society’s digital exhibit, also housed at the Historical Society, that brings a vivid part of Philadelphia’s past and African American history to life. Here, visitors and researchers can learn about the society formed in 1775, a crucial proponent of ensuring Black youth, whether native Philadelphians or escaped slaves from the South, had access to education, jobs and essential tools navigating life as freed people.

Meeting minutes, documentation showing these efforts and their financials provide a glimpse into an organization navigating a difficult world. The Historical Society is open to the public Tuesday through Friday. Take a gander at the online collections on their website prior to your visit to maximize your time.

The President’s House

Steps away from the famed Liberty Bell, the President’s House tells the stories of the nine enslaved Africans who lived in the home of two founding fathers. While Philadelphia served as the nation’s capital, Presidents John Adams and George Washington resided in this presidential mansion. Today, this mansion is deconstructed, with the original four walls standing sans roof – a hanging tribute to the dichotomy between slavery and freedom.

Artifacts from the home were recovered and are on display alongside the exhibits detailing the lives of the enslaved Africans. The open-air site is available to the public 24 hours a day and serves as a moving and painful reminder of the past lives of Black Americans within the context of this country.

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This article was originally published in February 2018 and updated in February 2021.

5 essential Black history sites in Philadelphia 

Harriet Tubman was one of the most important abolitionists in US history. Born into slavery, she escaped and became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping to lead scores of other enslaved people to freedom. Later, she became a cook, spy and armed scout for the Union forces during the Civil War.

Tubman’s impact on American society is deep and lasting, an icon of courage and freedom in the face of incredible adversity. Here are the five best places you can learn more about her and her struggle against slavery.

Note: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many sites remain closed. Check local websites for the latest info.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland

Close to the area where Tubman grew up, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland, features moving displays that spotlight key moments in Tubman's life, with one moving exhibit that shares the names of the slaves she helped rescue – more than 70 in all. Other exhibits display Tubman’s later achievements, including her actions during the Civil War, and her work as a suffragist and civil rights activist.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway in Maryland and Delaware

The visitor center is a good place to pick up a map of the full Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a scenic driving tour that covers the sites of young Tubman’s life, such as the general store ( closed due to COVID-19) where she was nearly killed for refusing to help restrain another enslaved person, or the Bodress Farm, where she spent her childhood. More than 30 stops line the 125-mile byway, running through Maryland and Delaware.

Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia

While Tubman never made it as far south as Macon, Georgia, the founder of this gallery of African American art and culture was so affected by Tubman’s achievements that he named his museum after her. The central highlight is a collection of art inspired by Tubman, but there are also eye-opening exhibits on the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras and works from major contemporary Black artists.

National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Maryland

This simple but thought-provoking African American History museum in Baltimore ( temporarily closed due to COVID-19) exhibits a number of famous figures in their wax visage: Frederick Douglas, Jackie Robinson, Dr. Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman. It also covers periods from the Atlantic Slave Trade through the Jim Crow era, as well as major African leaders – all told in informative, if surreal, Madam Tussaud–style, wax facsimiles.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Ohio River marked the boundary between slave states and free states, and Cincinnati, sitting right on the river’s north banks, was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Exhibits at this excellent museum show how escaped slaves made their way north, as well as the ways in which slavery still exists around the world today.

National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC

This Smithsonian museum ( temporarily closed due to COVID-19) in Washington, DC, covers the wider African American experience and how it shaped the United States as a whole. Beginning with the sobering "Slavery and Freedom" exhibit that traces the competing impacts of these two ideas on the founding of the United States, and extending into a massive collection of over 3,500 artifacts, this museum touches almost every aspect of African American life. Artifacts of Tubman’s life include the silk lace and linen shawl given to Tubman by Queen Victoria in 1897.

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This article was originally published May 2019. It was updated in January 2021.

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The 5 best Harriet Tubman sites you can visit

Tattoos have never been more popular, with more and more people all over the world accepting and even embracing body art as a form of self-expression and personal identity. For many societies this has always been the case however, with tattooing having left its mark on the history and culture of diverse and different civilisations throughout the ages.

Many of these styles and practices still remain, and may even be open to travellers with cultural respect and understanding to explore. Here are of six unique tattoo styles from around the world.

1. Irezumi

Irezumi are Japanese tattoos, the roots of which can be traced back centuries. Scholars have argued for their evidence as far back as the Jōmon period (14,500 - 300 BCE), with the practice growing in popularity during the Edo Period (1603 – 1867). The art form eventually took on a negative reputation however, due to the practice of criminals being marked as a form of punishment.

Even today, the country’s relationship with tattooing is fraught. While younger generations are embracing tattoos, Japan still struggles to shake the art form's association with criminality, and many onsen will not allow you to enter with uncovered tattoos (although a new website has recently launched to help travellers find tattoo-friendly baths).

Tebori (meaning hand carved) sees artists using needles attached to a long wooden handle with silk thread. While this practice is now less common, artists such as Takashi Matsuba are leading the way for the future by preserving the tradition. The method creates a rich but subtle shading, and the inks used are special creations.

The style takes inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints and paintings), with the idiosyncratic munewari style seeing an artist creating a full-body suit that leaves areas of bare skin around the collar bone and down the middle of the stomach free from ink. It is thought that this evolved from the desire to wear kimonos without showing tattoos.

Japanese themes and motifs have also proven to be incredibly popular sources of inspiration for styles that diverge from the traditional, with imagery such as samurai, carp, oni, dragons and cherry blossoms showing up in body art all over the world.

2. American traditional

Characterised by its bold outlines, clean shapes and use of bright, limited colours, American traditional tattoos are instantly recognisable. Popular motifs include “pin-ups”, hearts, daggers, ships, swallows, anchors and mermaids, with the nautical themes evolving based on the people that first began getting them in larger numbers – sailors and soldiers.

Artists drew inspiration from Asia to create a new hybrid style, a prime example being Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, probably the name most synonymous with American traditional tattooing.

In 1928, Collins enlisted in the US Navy and then travelled to China and Japan before setting up his own shop in Honolulu, where he invited future tattoo legends Ed Hardy, Mike Malone and Kazuo Oguri to apprentice with him. Tattoos began to spread in popularity, due in large part to soldiers getting inked when stationed far away from home.

By the 1950s and 60s, Americans getting heavily tattooed included members of counterculture groups such as motorcycle gangs, while the 70s and 80s saw the punk scene embracing body art. Today, the simple and clean style of American traditional has led to different evolutions, including neo-traditional, portraiture and new school.

3. Mehndi

Since antiquity, people have been using henna to dye fabrics, skin and hair. Mehndi is a form of body art that uses a paste made from the dried leaves of the plant to create intricate, detailed patterns, typically on the hands, arms and feet.

The mixture is applied wet and allowed to dry before the outer coating is removed. Countries in India, Africa and the Middle east all have a tradition of mehndi, with motifs including floral patterns and geometric shapes, although there are many variations in designs.

In India, mehndi are typically applied during special Hindu weddings and festivals like Bhai Dooj and Diwali, while Muslims in the Indian subcontinent also use the body art during celebrations such as Eid-ul-Fitr.

A temporary option for those wishing to adorn their bodies, mehndi kits are sold in craft stores and hobby shops around the world as well as online. If you’ve travelled through any medium to large city in Asia, the Middle East or even Europe, chances are you’ve seen people getting henna tattoos on the street.

They can act as a nice souvenir of a trip abroad, and typically last about two weeks. Caution should always be taken however. Henna is most often safe when made with natural ingredients, something that is hard to verify on the street corner. If you just have to get inked, look for someone offering brown henna instead of black or red – as these colours are not naturally occurring.

4. Sak Yant

Thailand’s magical hand-tapped tattoos have become highly sought after by backpackers and celebrities alike, many of who travel to the country specifically to get one, but the ancient tradition has deep roots that run throughout the history of Southeast Asia.

The art is also practiced in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma), and usually sees a Buddhist monk or Ajarn creating a freehand design that incorporates geometry, symbols, deities and animal figures. The long held belief is that these tattoos bestow magical protection onto the wearer, depending on how the monk creates it, and different designs are made for different types of protection and luck.

The tattoos come with a set of guidelines to live by that help keep the magic working. Some may be easier for most to follow (refraining from violence, for instance) while other, more idiosyncratic ones passed down from Buddhist teachers (do not eat pumpkin or any other gourd-like vegetable or do not duck under a banana tree) may seem curious to travellers.

The practice is done at specific temples, with visitors lining up to receive their tattoos before giving a donation. Monks follow the traditional techniques, but the use of shared equipment and conditions may be a shock to some travellers.

Often they do not have any other languages, which makes the process more complicated. There are however companies such as Sak Yant Chang Mai that specialise in hosting tourist tattoo experiences with Ajarns on a one-to-one basis.

5. Polynesian

There is still debate around the definitive origins of Polynesian culture, and how exactly the process of tattooing began and spread so effectively throughout the triangular chain of islands in Southeast Asia.

However, from traditional Samoan tatau to Hawaiian kākau through to the designs of the Maori tribe in New Zealand, the act of tattooing has been deeply ingrained in these societies for a long time.

In fact, its influence is wide spread, and the 18 th -century explorer Captain James Cook is considered to be one of the first people to introduce the word tattoo to Europe after returning to the continent in 1771 after a voyage to New Zealand and Tahiti. In many cases people were bestowed with coming of age tattoos, with body art signifying status and strength.

Polynesian tattoo experienced a renaissance in the 1980s, when many dwindling forms were revived. Placement on the body also plays a role in the meaning of the tattoos, with the upper half generally linked with the heavens while the lower part signifies earth. Artists now practice both the traditional, hand-tapped method and modern machine methods.

Motifs include turtles and turtle shells, waves, lizards, spears, tiki figures, spear heads, people and shark’s teeth. Like anything in the world, embracing another culture’s long-held practices should be done with respect. Much of the time, a willingness to understand and appreciate its cultural significance is a good start for non-Polynesian people interested in getting inked.

Modern artists approach their work in different ways, with many doing a freehand approach, creating patterns that tell a story as they go along. Traditionally the designs would tell the story of heritage, status and maturity, while modern designs can and sometimes are focused more on aesthetics.

6. Celtic

The Celts were a group of tribes from central Europe who spread east and west over the continent throughout history, with notable strongholds in Britain and Ireland. While no depictions of ancient or medieval Celtic tattooing survives, there are historical references to it in written texts.

The Picts (from the late Latin Picti meaning “painted” or “tattooed”) were a Celtic-language speaking group that settled in parts of northern Scotland who were said to have adorned their bodies with blue illustrations, according to the Romans at least.

What is often identified as Celtic art itself is actually a mixture of representations from different periods and places. In Ireland, the famous tri-spiral design engraved on one of the stones inside the chamber of Newgrange was actually carved at least 2,500 years before the Celts even reached the country, while Pictish stones included early ogham carvings, which later may have influenced sculptural high crosses.

Christianity and the rise of insular and monastic art gave way to the creation of spirals, knotworks, key patterns and triskeles, most famously visible in the Book of Kells in Dublin. Today, those representations have become popular motifs in what is commonly referred to as Celtic tattooing, especially popular with visitors to Ireland hoping to take home a striking souvenir on their skin.

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This article was originally published in August 2019 and updated in January 2021.

Around the world in 6 tattoo styles

On any given weekend in towns across Louisiana and Texas, hooves click-clack on pavement and wagons blast infectious zydeco rhythms. Holding the horse's reins in one hand, and a cold beer in the other, is a long line of cowboys. Not the John Wayne-type typically seen in Hollywood westerns, but African American men and women, celebrating their culture on a Creole trail ride.

These campout festivals involve a procession of horses and wagons, spicy Creole food, traditional line dancing and all-night partying. Bring a cowboy hat, an empty stomach and a horse if you got one because everyone's welcome (as long as they behave). Here's what you need to know about Creole trail rides.

Creole trail ride history

No one knows exactly when trail rides first began, but they have surged in popularity in the last decade as urbanites skip the clubs in favor of these wildly fun parties in the dusty countryside. The first trail rides were organized by black Creoles – descendants of Africans and the French or Spanish colonizers who settled the area before it was part of the US – who were excluded from white cowboy culture.

It’s thought that West Africans enslaved by the French in the Lafayette area of Louisiana in the 1760s were among the original American cowboys – horse-riding cattle herders – then known as vachères, a Creole term from the French for cow. Some historians say as many as one in four cowboys in early America were black. Yet the image of an African American riding on horseback has largely been omitted from popular culture, save for a few movies like Django Unchained and Blazing Saddles, or songs like Bob Marley's “Buffalo Soldier,” an ode to the all-black 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army.

Traditionally, trail rides included only members of the local community – family, friends and members of cowboy associations – but Paul Scott, the coordinator of Step-N-Strut, a three-day trail ride commonly known as the Creole Woodstock, said when outsiders come, regulars fall all over themselves trying to welcome them. “You’ll show up and there'll be nine people that can knock you over and say come on,” he says.

Saddling up

People tend to show up early in the morning for trail rides, which are usually held on Saturdays in Texas and Sundays in Louisiana. Some feed their horses before the ride begins while others set up an RV for camping out, though not everyone stays the night. Those without a horse – the majority of attendees – ride along in wagons, which are usually equipped with loudspeakers, an ice chest packed with booze and a port-a-potty for emergencies. When everyone's ready, the lead wagon begins the ride and the riders follow along, with everyone else dancing their way down the trail or partying inside the wagons. While trail rides might sound like they’re restricted to backcountry dirt roads, they can go along streets and through towns, just so long as they finish where they began.

Yee-haw, zydeco style

After a few hours riding along the trail, the fun is far from over. A campsite is set up, where southern soul, country and zydeco (Creole music that typically features the accordion, fiddle and washboard) will begin to play as horses are given some much-needed rest. Hip-hop has also made its way into the trail riding world, albeit with some controversy – some object to it being untraditional and say it makes people too rowdy. Despite the pushback, a pulsing, unique blend of hip-hop and zydeco music is one of the main reasons for the recent increase in the popularity of trail rides.

Care to dance? Don't be shy. When music is playing, line dances come along, too. Scott, a 54-year-old who has been organizing Creole events since his teens, says people are more than willing to show newcomers how to boogie. “If you can grab on, somebody will grab you.”

Refueling the Creole way

In sizzling pots around camp, expect to find ball crabs, crawfish, shrimp and potatoes or pretty much anything that can be smothered in a brown gravy made from a broad roster of local animals including deer, rabbit, squirrel, pork, chicken, sausage or rooster. There will also likely be some form of gumbo – a meat-based stew – especially if the temperature is down in the 50s°F. “You ain’t never lived unless you’ve had a real rabbit gumbo,” Scott says.

There's a good chance somebody will invite you over to come and share their meal – everybody tends to make plenty. The same goes for drinks on wagons during the ride. Southern hospitality is very real on trail rides, but make sure you wait until you're offered and express your gratitude.

If your trail ride brings you anywhere near Breaux Bridge, “the crawfish capital of the world,” Glenda's Creole Kitchen serves up Creole delicacies similar to what you'll taste on trail rides, plus some you probably won't, like Glenda’s famous stuffed turkey legs. When Anthony Bourdain ate there, he said Glenda stirs up “the gravy of the gods.”

Rules of the ride

Trail rides are a ton of fun, but as with anything involving alcohol, things can get a bit rowdy. Scott recommends attendees “come with a mature and fun-loving mind” and “control yourself, but enjoy yourself.” Be sure to drink water – the sun is no joke in this part of the country – and find one of the trail ride organizers if you need help. Many trail rides include first responders just in case.

How to find a trail ride

While the majority of trail rides are held in Louisiana and East Texas, you'll also find some in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina. The best way to find one is by visiting the Zydeco Events website. Otherwise, find one on Facebook by searching the phrase “trail ride” and the place you're looking to go.

Two of the biggest are Step-N-Strut, which attracts as many as 3000 people over three days in November, and Four Horsemen, which can see as many 7000 people. But you don't need to go to the biggest trail rides to have a great time. “Some of them might not be super super big, but all of them are super, super fun,” Scott says.

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This article was originally published in October 2018 and updated in January 2021.

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Creole trail rides highlight black cowboy history

The United States is in the throes of a tumultuous presidential transition. With increasingly polarized Americans having made a choice between red, blue, and a host of other divisive options, it’s easy to lose sight of the fabric sewing all 50 states together.

If you study the work of American artists, however, a clear visual narrative of the US begins to unfold. As Joy Harjo, the nation’s 2019 Poet Laureate, wrote, “where do we look when we want to know who we were in the past, to know where we’re going? We look to art, to the design tracks of our material world.”

A compelling place to search for the United States’ beating heart is in museums. These nine top-tier institutions – showcasing everything from ancestral artifacts to whimsical modern works – provide lessons on what it means to be American in the year 2021, and may even point to where the country’s headed next.

Editor's note: during COVID-19 there are restrictions on travel. Check the latest guidance before departure, and always follow local health advice.

1. Smithsonian American Art Museum – Washington

There’s no better home for the world’s first and most comprehensive American art collection than the nation’s capital. Art world heavyweights like John Singer Sargent and Roy Lichtenstein mix with an exceptional assemblage of folk, Latino and African American art to paint a unique visual history of the United States spanning nearly four centuries.

Within the Smithsonian 's dynamic collection, Nam June Paik’s Electronic Superhighway is particularly resonant. His installation, an enormous map of the US with state lines defined in neon lights, features a wall of monitors playing videos that hum together in a quiet cacophony. The array of visual and auditory stimuli seem to have no business being together, but over time, the disparate parts create a strangely hypnotic harmony.

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2. Whitney Museum of American Art – New York

The Whitney Museum houses works by more than 3600 of the country’s greatest homegrown modern artists. The permanent collection, located within Renzo Piano’s soaring industrial complex in downtown Manhattan, explores America’s cultural identity through iconic pieces by the likes of Edward Hopper and Jasper Johns. Unlike many modern art museums, the Whitney also focuses on the work of living artists, offering insight into the latest innovative talents to challenge the art world.

3. Heard Museum – Phoenix

The Heard Museum, founded in 1929, is dedicated to preserving and promoting the culture and history of Arizona’s original residents – American Indians. From traditional artifacts to contemporary creations, this Phoenix -based non-profit collaborates with the Southwest’s indigenous people to ensure this group, too often marginalized in American history, is appropriately represented in every exhibition.

4. Morris Museum of Art – Augusta, Georgia

The American South has a complicated history that has given rise to strong regional identities. By displaying a diverse range of work explicitly devoted to the art and artists of the South, the Morris Museum of Art offers a way to explore these identities from varied viewpoints. With more than 5000 items spanning two centuries ­– including portraits of wealthy 19th-century plantation owners, depictions of slavery and sacred religious gatherings – a trip to this Augusta, Georgia museum feels like jumping head-first into the artistic heart of Dixie.

5. Andy Warhol Museum ­­– Pittsburgh

Andy Warhol is possibly the most influential artist of the 20th century, and the seven-floor Pittsburgh museum dedicated to the artist’s pop-art legacy makes a strong case in his favor. Long before social media platforms blurred the lines between public and private life, Warhol documented his own life with the intensity of an Instagram influencer.

What makes this collection of work most striking is its commentary on popular culture. In a world inundated by advertisements and obsessed with celebrity, Warhol painted people like Marilyn Monroe as commodities more meaningless than a Campbell’s Soup can. Three decades after his death, this artistic critique of mass marketing feels more relevant than ever before.

6. National Museum of American Illustration – Newport, Rhode Island

The National Museum of American Illustration juxtaposes art for the everyman with architecture for the elite. Works created for newspapers, magazines and advertisements by 20th-century illustrators like Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker and Maxfield Parrish adorn the walls of a Gilded Age mansion located on Newport, Rhode Island’s historic Bellevue Avenue. These illustrations, classic symbols of 20th-century Americana, are part of a collective history that permeates all levels of America’s socioeconomic strata; they were once found in the homes of every citizen who could afford a Saturday Evening Post.

7. Thomas Cole National Historic Site ­– Catskill, New York

Thomas Cole, the father of American landscape art and founder of the Hudson River School, grew up surrounded by the black soot of England’s industrial revolution. After emigrating to the United States in 1818, his distaste for urbanization influenced his life’s great work: painting romantic replicas of America’s sprawling countryside.

Many of these oil paintings are on display at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site – the home in Catskill, New York, where he worked and lived until his death in 1848. In the 19th century, his artwork called for environmental preservation in the face of urban sprawl. His message feels even more urgent as the nation feels the effects of climate change.

8. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – Santa Fe, New Mexico

America’s first museum dedicated to a female artist celebrates Georgia O’Keeffe, who defied gender norms in the first half of the 20th century to become one of the country’s most prolific painters in a field dominated by men. Santa Fe ‘s Georgia O’Keeffe Museum includes around 150 oil paintings, nearly 700 sketches, and many other works showcasing the artist’s well-known interpretations of Southwestern landscapes and blooming flora.

Although O’Keeffe debunked the idea her paintings were metaphors for the female form, it’s impossible to deny their womb-like relationship. Through these works, O’Keeffe gave birth to modernism in the 20th century and paved the way for more female artists to find success in the United States.

9. Booth Western Art Museum – Cartersville, Georgia

At first glance, Cartersville, GA, may seem a peculiar place for the world’s largest assemblage of Western art, but the location couldn’t be more fitting. The Booth Museum ‘s 19th-century collection depicting Native Americans, cowboys and red-rock landscapes were some of the first contacts people from this region had with the Wild West, informing their thoughts and feelings as the country expanded toward the Pacific. Today, it offers valuable insight into the history and culture of a nation experiencing growing pains.

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Article first published in February 2020, and last updated in January 2021.

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