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July-August 2011

Postcard from Jerusalem: Seeking the hidden history of Canada Park

Jillian Kestler-D’AmoursWebsite

Sitting cross-legged in a circle, a group of about 20 Israeli school children are chatting excitedly under the shade of tall pine trees one sunny afternoon in March. A few meters away, the names of hundreds of Canadians are prominently displayed on row upon row of beige, ceramic plaques. Montreal. Toronto. Winnipeg. Vancouver. Welcome to […] More »
March-April 2011

Postcard from South Korea: The mermaids of Jeju Island

Lisa XingWebsite

The mermaids of Korea’s Jeju Island are a sight to behold, but not in the way you might think. They don’t have long, flowing locks, nor figures reminiscent of magazine models. They don’t sing Disney ballads. The sound they do make is through whistling—their own method of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide after they […] More »

Postcard from London: Students fight school fees—and the police

jesse mintz

Almost five months to the day and I’m just now realizing that I didn’t learn my lesson from the G20. Sure, I found out first had the power and importance of community organization and activism; and I was forced to come to terms with the tragic ease with which our government could abuse our fundamental […] More »

Postcard from Washington, D.C.: Restoring Sanity with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

Eve TobolkaWebsite

[Editor’s note: Back in May, we ran another postcard from Washington, D.C., sent to us by Travis Boisvenue, who went to interview Tea Party supporters. Eve Tobolka made the trek this time to witness the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear.] WASHINGTON, D.C. — Glenn Beck was at Saturday’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or […] More »
September-October 2010

Postcard from Damascus: Two artists, still drawing in the margins

Siena AnstisWebsite

In one room of their tiny apartment in a suburb of Damascus, Iraqi artists Bassam and Zahra have set up their studio. It has all the necessary trappings scattered around in a colourful mess: sketches, wooden easels, tubes of pigment, paint brushes soaking in plastic buckets filled with water. Some of Bassam and Zahra’s finished […] More »
July-August 2010

Postcard from Rio de Janeiro: Carnaval behind bars

Jennifer OsborneWebsite

Rio de Janeiro has a murder rate as high as a war zone—millions of impoverished people here resort to crime for survival. A kid from the favelas of Rio has limited career options: kidnapper, cocaine trafficker, gang leader, robber, or hit man. For many, prison is safer than the streets, and comes with more reliable […] More »

Postcard from Washington, D.C.: Talking to the Tea Party

Travis BoisvenueWebsite

“I’m Canadian.” This became my opening for every interview at the tax day Tea Party rally at the Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. It seemed like the best way to distance myself from the camera crews and journalists who were swarming the interesting or outrageous among the two-to-three thousand ralliers. “I’m Canadian and I just […] More »
September-October 2009

Postcard from Marfa, Texas: Southern lights

Souvankham Thammavongsa

When you drive into Marfa, Texas, from El Paso the first thing you come across is a tiny Prada store. No one works there and no one shops there—it’s a sculpture, built in situ by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset. Marfa, current population 2,121, became an unlikely modern art destination when the famous minimalist Donald […] More »

Prairie Postcard Project #5: Hornepayne, ON

Laura TretheweyWebsite

[Writer Laura Trethewey recently travelled across Canada by train, and sent us five postcards on the way, from B.C. to Northern Ontario. The “Prairie Postcard Project” chronicles that leg of her trip and the people she met along the way. Visit her blog for the whole story. Click the postcard images to enlarge.] Dearest This, […] More »

Postcard from London: On climate change, new message is “Blame Canada”

Zoe CormierWebsite

I was pretty sure I knew what the Canadian flag, held upside down, was supposed to represent. But I had to ask anyway. Last Monday afternoon, standing outside the Houses of Parliament in London in Parliament square, I held my cell phone aloft with a hundred other protesters, taking part in a “climate flash mob,” […] More »
July-August 2008

Postcard from Lusaka: No smoking. Really no smoking.

Elaisha StokesWebsite

As the wheels hit the hot asphalt of the runway, I look up to see the frenetic expressions on the faces of my fellow passengers—a look that falls somewhere between anxious and anaphylactic, and it’s clear they’re desperate to get off the plane. It’s been a short and relatively painless flight from Nairobi, Kenya, to […] More »