This paper explores the relationship between design choices in improvising machines and the ideological foundations of the ubiquitous music (ubimus) movement practices. To this end, we developed a free/libre open-source interactive system in Pure Data, named “Engenhoca”. The system was initially developed to evaluate the potential for learning free improvisation through interaction with improvising machines during the social distancing period of 2020. It offers various advantages, including ease of use, support for both audio and symbolic output, and network communication possibilities—making this system especially suitable for inclusion in ubimus activities. Beyond its educational role, the system is now envisioned for broader applications, such as electronic music composition, digital instrument extension, and collaborative remote creativity. Its a free software license and do-it-yourself orientation may inspire musicians to explore the creative potential of decentralized technological interaction—a perspective that is especially relevant in an era where intelligent tools, often poorly understood and difficult to control, are becoming increasingly pervasive. In conclusion, Engenhoca highlights how open-source tools can support creative, collaborative free improvisation. Its adaptable design and free software license encourage musicians to modify their systems to fit their individual needs and creative experiences, offering an alternative to artificial intelligence solutions. This study provides a preliminary theoretical foundation for the future development of accessible, interactive music systems suitable for diverse creative practices.

Throughout history, there have always been connections between mathematics and various forms of art, such as music, dance, painting, sculpture, and architecture, which can be effectively used in mathematics classes with highly positive implications for students’ learning. In particular, geometry emerges as a central field in this relationship. These connections not only motivate students and promote mathematical learning but also foster creative thinking and an esthetic sense, both of which are intrinsic to many mathematical concepts. Furthermore, they enable students to recognize and understand the mathematics embedded in numerous visual artistic works. While art provides an esthetic experience for those who study mathematics, it also establishes a connection between thought and emotion, giving deeper meaning to what we perceive. However, this relationship is not always immediately visible. Therefore, both mathematics and art teachers need to use various connections to develop both the student’s “geometric eye” and “artistic eye”. This manuscript aims to discuss ideas about this connection between mathematics/geometry and art. In addition, it presents examples of tasks implemented during the initial training of elementary school teachers, along with some of the works produced by these future teachers.

This paper argues that the humanities are ideally situated to respond to fundamental human concerns when approached with an open mind, acknowledging the enduring relevance of older sources alongside contemporary ones. While this may seem like “bringing owls to Athens,” it is of imminent importance today to revisit this issue, especially given the precarious status of pre-modern literature. To illustrate this phenomenon, this paper turns to one of the most influential courtly romances, Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan and Isolde (ca. 1210), where the love experience is intensive but greatly painful. The poet ultimately presents a utopia where the two lovers find refuge from societal constraints but ultimately choose to return to courtly society, in other words, other people or human society, hence, honor. The argument advanced here is that the discourse of love, as complex as it has always proven to be, requires us to consider the widest range of literary contributions that illustrate its diverse approaches, options, opportunities, contradictions, and dialectics. Insofar as love can be identified as one of the most important though highly conflictual human emotions, the study of relevant texts (or images, music, and others) constitutes a critical component of education; this is exemplified in Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia (ca. 1320), although it is predicated on a different concept. However, even there, the pilgrim Dante experiences his epiphany at the end because his beloved, Beatrice, conducts him toward the highest goal in Paradiso.

The paper interrogates how musicking and other ritual activities in traditional ceremonies help mitigate social disparities and discontent among the Zezuru people of Zimbabwe. The paper presents views and constructions on how these ceremonies and their associated musical practices act as sources of social cohesion and contribute to the sustainability of a society’s hegemony and social fabric. The discussion is grounded in field notes collected from culture bearers in Chikoma district through a qualitative ethnographic study of performances during the Zezuru traditional ceremonies, such as the ritual for cleansing the deceased’s spirit (kurova guva), finger millet threshing event (jakwara), and the rain-making ceremony (mukwerera). Findings indicated that musicking, as an integral part of these rituals, plays a crucial role in instilling the spirit of oneness (unhu/ubuntu) among community members. Elements such as dance (kutamba), singing (kuimba), ululating (kupururudza), spirit possession (kusvikirwa), and instrument playing (kuridza) form a sonic nexus in which participants engage collectively, reinforcing social harmony beyond the ceremonial context. The involvement in musicking during these ceremonies also helps resolve social and political tensions within the community. Community leaders, including spirit mediums, kraal heads, and chiefs, act as gatekeepers for these traditional ceremonies and strive profusely to uphold their significance by enforcing norms, values, and continued reverence for the ceremonies. However, these efforts face challenges from external influences such as Christianity, migration, urbanization, and modern technology, which threaten the continuity of these cultural practices.

Bon is one of the earliest forms of Tibetan indigenous belief, playing a significant role in shaping the cultural and spiritual identity of the Tibetan people. While existing studies have primarily focused on the rituals and doctrines of Bon, the functional and symbolic roles of Bon apparel and accessories have received limited attention. This study seeks to fill this gap by exploring the functions and symbolic meanings of apparel and accessories in Bonpo ceremonial rituals, specifically the divine dance ritual, exorcism ritual, and sky-worship ritual. Through an extensive literature review and field research, this study analyzed the apparel and accessories worn by key participants, including monks, lamas, shamans, and priests, and investigated how these can reflect Bonpo beliefs, spiritual hierarchy, and societal norms. In addition, this study highlighted the importance of colors, materials, styles, and patterns in conveying the spiritual and cultural significance of Bonpo apparel. There are two contributions to this study. First, through a systematic analysis of Bonpo apparel and accessories in ceremonial rituals, this study addresses a gap in the academic understanding of the relationship between religious rituals, apparel, and symbolic practices, offering new insights into the role of apparel in religious ceremonies. Second, by exploring the functions and symbolic meanings of Bonpo apparel and accessories in ceremonial rituals, a framework for future studies on the cultural significance of traditional religious garments has formed to support broader efforts in cultural and academic inquiry.

Our wor(l)ds perception and interpretation can be diverse. An individual approach in education systems may prove more valuable, especially in enhancing creative and analytical thinking. The author hereby introduces the concept of synthetic kinesthetic education (SKE). It combines acquired information, linguistics, and artistic activities/facilitators to synthesize a piece of new knowledge. Therefore, the SKE may evolve as an advanced learning/teaching method standardly integrated into education systems. Various artistic activities (facilitators) involved within the SKE are chosen intentionally, but a free art choice should be given the preference. The arts and/or linguistics find their place as professions, free time activities, and advanced education methods in keeping and improving health (heart rates, cognitive skills/memory - possibly impaired in cerebrovascular pathologies, consciousness) and well-being. The SKE may further drive the applied research in respective fields.

This study represents the second phase of data collection in a larger project, Representation and Equity in Dance (RED), which investigates racial discrimination in dance training. There is a paucity of empirical research examining the impact of racial inequity in dance. Hence, this study aims to explore the experiences, observations, and outcomes of racial inequity, discrimination, and lack of representation among students enrolled in colleges providing professional dance training. Nineteen dance students (eight Global Majority and 11 White, mean age 18.56 ± 0.92 years) from six vocational dance colleges in the United Kingdom volunteered to take part in a series of focus groups. White students were recruited alongside their Global Majority peers in recognition of the fact that tackling racial inequity is a collective responsibility. Despite several reports of positive experiences in dance training, numerous examples of racial discrimination emerged, ranging from subtle microaggressions, such as rumors and gossip, to explicitly racist behaviors, including unfair treatment, social exclusion, and unacceptable language use. Discrimination resulted in increased self-doubt, lower self-confidence, social isolation, and feelings of invalidation among Global Majority students. These feelings extended to Global Majority participants’ concerns about the future, particularly in relation to the possibility of being cast in productions due to diversity “quotas” rather than their skills and talents. Taken together, this study suggests that racism persists in dance training, and its impacts on Global Majority dancers’ psychological well-being should not be underestimated.

As China’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH) faces increasing pressures from modernization and globalization, identifying sustainable pathways for its revitalization has become imperative. This study examines the development pathways of Xiangxi Miao folk songs (XMFS), a representative form of ICH resource in China, through field research and qualitative analysis using NVivo software. The findings reveal a trend toward diversified development, yet challenges persist, including homogenized content, superficial integration with tourism, and selective appropriation of cultural elements. Three focal issues were identified: The current XMFS resource utilization, systemic barriers to their development, and prospective strategies. While culture-tourism integration has expanded the reach of XMFS, it has also exposed critical shortcomings, such as shallow cultural transmission and a disconnect between heritage authenticity and tourist-oriented adaptations. Cultural inheritors often tolerate content distortion, whereas non-inheritors demonstrate limited engagement due to inadequate incentives. To address these gaps, this study proposes enhancing macro-level planning, fostering innovation-driven development, and adopting market-oriented strategies to redefine XMFS’s cultural connotations. These approaches aim to deepen the synergy between cultural preservation and tourism while ensuring sustainable inheritance. By offering empirical insights into ICH revitalization, this research contributes practical frameworks for safeguarding China’s cultural heritage and advancing the ecological vitality of Miao folk traditions in Xiangxi.

Cultural heritage serves as a vital foundation for preserving collective memory and shaping social identity, as it embodies the shared history, values, and traditions of a community. Technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are more often used in heritage preservation and tourism in the digital era, thus changing how people engage with and perceive the past. This paper uses the theory of space production to examine how immersive experiences across three interconnected dimensions - physical space, mental space, and social space - reproduce cultural heritage. Drawing on chosen case studies, the study shows that digital technology can enhance the sensory and emotional involvement of visitors, encourage participatory cultural expression, and assist the revival of local culture and urban memory. By connecting historical stories with modern audiences, immersive technologies produce dynamic exchanges between tradition and innovation. The article also discusses the issues facing digital reproduction as well, such as worries about authenticity, cultural uniformity, and possible marginalization of local voices. This paper offers an integrated framework connecting technology mediation, spatial transformation, and cultural sustainability to balance invention with cultural integrity. The framework provides an understanding of how immersive digital practices could be tools for social empowerment and heritage interpretation. In the end, this article underlines the need of striking a balance between technological progress and the preservation of cultural diversity and authenticity by stressing the role of digital media in transforming cultural settings. It also adds to the ongoing discourse on this topic.

In this essay, two renowned modernist poems - T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) and Miyazawa Kenji’s Haru to Shura (1924) - were explored. Both may include ethical aspects, but their religious component is more prominent. The aim is to discover how this component functions in each text. Eliot’s poem needs no introduction, but Miyazawa, though famous in Japan, is much less so in the English-speaking world. To analyze the texts, my expanded version of M. Riffaterre’s semiotic theory of the structure of modern poetry was used. According to the theory, a modern poetic text is generated by two underlying ‘matricial’ propositions, each of which produces a set, or paradigm, of variant images having the same underlying semantic structure. This paradigmatic method of signifying is a characteristic of modern poetry. Each matrix is reconstructed by the reader from a comparison of the images of each set. The matrices are linked syntagmatically in a variety of relations, such as negation or difference of scale. The bimatricial text (subject-sign) has an intertextual counterpart (object-sign) of similar structure but different lexicon. The interpretant of these two complex signs has a sociolectic counterpart of similar lexicon but different structure. The semantic contrast thus established produces innovation, which is the other distinctive feature of modern poetry. This theory will be applied to Eliot’s and Miyazawa’s poems to investigate the roles of religion in them.

The present study examines Heiner Goebbels’ intermedial strategies in selected stage works, with particular attention to the role of absence as a central aesthetic and creative principle. From the perspective of intermedial studies, it investigates the creation strategies developed by the composer and theater director Heiner Goebbels (b. 1952, Germany) in his scenic works, and, in particular, in three of them: Landscape with Distant Relatives (2002), Eraritjaritjaka (2004), and Stifters Dinge (2007). Taking absence as an aesthetic premise, as a creative strategy that allows for the emergence of everything that is not seen, heard, or perceived at first instance, the procedures that give rise to Goebbels’ scenic realizations are examined, and how his being a composer influences his way of directing the scene, of “composing” the scene.

Stewart Wallace’s opera Harvey Milk Reimagined depicts the assassination of one of the first openly gay politicians in the United States. The depiction of LGBTQ activists reflects the period of the Stonewall Riots and the earliest demonstrations following the events on Christopher Street. An analysis of Michael Korie’s libretto uncovered three important overarching themes: activism, identity, and othering. Wallace’s score also engages with each of these themes, primarily through the depiction of Dan White as the villainous homophobe in stark contrast to the predominantly gay cast. The ensemble is given moments of humor, popular culture references, and a variety of musical techniques to position them on the “right side of history.” Harvey Milk Reimagined occupies a place in the growing operatic repertoire by openly queer composers. While queer theorists reject binary categorization, the opera presents a distinct binary polarization between the queer community and its supporters and the straight community, raising questions of social agenda, heterophobia, and queer discourse.

Cultural heritage professionals increasingly face the challenge of combining preservation with innovation, engagement, and sustainability in fast-changing contexts. This study explores how marketing education can support heritage professionals in aligning cultural preservation with economic and social sustainability. As public funding diminishes and audience expectations evolve, the need for strategic competencies in communication, audience development, and partnership-building becomes increasingly urgent. The study adopts a conceptual review methodology, integrating a structured thematic analysis of international literature and comparative case studies. Sources were selected based on their relevance to cultural products (CPs), direct investment in culture (DIC), and professional training within the heritage sector. Recent literature highlights the growing interdependence between cultural heritage, digital innovation, and sustainable development. However, few studies have systematically explored how marketing education contributes to this nexus - particularly through capacity-building for heritage professionals. This study identifies strategic marketing as a critical skill set for professionals managing CPs and DIC frameworks. Five key competency domains are outlined: audience engagement, digital literacy, strategic planning, ethical communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Case studies illustrate that institutions equipped with marketing expertise consistently outperform others in audience outreach, funding diversification, and community impact. To address this need, marketing education should be embedded in heritage curricula and institutional policy to strengthen professional capacity. The study proposes a phased implementation framework that emphasizes partnerships with academic institutions, hybrid learning models, and inclusive access. It offers a structured synthesis of how marketing education can serve as a lever for institutional resilience and stakeholder alignment in heritage management, providing actionable recommendations across geographic and governance contexts.

Sixteenth-century literature witnessed a remarkable shift from the courtly sphere to the lives of burghers, innkeepers, lansquenets, peasants, and workers. In the countless Schwänke (jest narratives) published during this period, we are both entertained and instructed by listening to what ordinary people said to each other, what they fought over, and what mistakes they might have made in their social relationships, often leading to facetious situations meant to provoke our laughter. One of the most popular authors of this genre was Georg/Jörg Wickram, who effectively created the model collection with his Rollwagenbüchlein (1555), a work that runs almost parallel—but in prose—to Chaucer’s much earlier Canterbury Tales (ca. 1400). Wickram’s text primarily addressed the typical representatives of early modern society who were well-educated and wealthy city dwellers. Many other writers later followed Wickram’s literary concept in crafting their jest narratives. This study closely examines the broad spectrum of individuals who appeared in the literary framework and served as the butt of the jokes. Such an approach makes it possible to understand how the reading audience viewed foolish peasants, clerics, aristocrats, prostitutes, merchants, physicians, or craftsmen who populated early modern cities and the countryside. In this sense, the Rollwagenbüchlein acts as a literary mirror of early modern society. While Sebastian Brant, in his famous Narrenschiff (1494), had ridiculed virtually everyone, Wickram offered satirical narratives on the individuals populating his world (primarily Southwestern Germany).

This article explores the evolution and distinctiveness of the Chinese art market in the new era from the perspective of the social construction of artistic value. It first reviews the limitations of traditional economic frameworks in analyzing the value of art and highlights the significant role played by the labor force and the uniqueness of labor products in the formation of price and value. The article then analyzes the historical context and temporal characteristics of Chinese art society, especially with the rapid development of the cultural industry, which has placed unprecedented emphasis on the value and price of art. To explain the multiple constructions of artistic value, the article employs a critical constructivist approach, combining Marxist value theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural field theory, to explore the interwoven roles of symbolic capital and cultural power in the art market. Finally, the article proposes a new pyramid framework to analyze artistic value from the perspective of Chinese socialist theory, reflecting the complex social and economic relations in the production and market mechanisms of art.