Cool travel destinations in the global South
March 9, 2022 6:59 PM Subscribe
I'd like to make a kids' scrapbook showing cool places in the global South - to counter the stereotype that hot places are under-developed or primitive. Can you suggest human-built modern locations that a 6 year old would think are interesting, that highlight technological advancement and artistic achievement in the global South?
Any time a child sees an image of "Africa" it's usually elephants, lions, and giraffes... as though it's all one country and there isn't a city or building on the whole continent. By contrast, "Europe" is always illustrated as highly differentiated into countries and cities, and all the iconic images of Europe highlight human achievement, like the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Acropolis, Big Ben, etc.
So, I'm making my own map for my students, and would like to print out images of cool travel destinations for a collage.
Caveats: I am not interested in:
- South African apartheid-era buildings where white colonizers historically excluded Black people
- Memorials to the people who were kidnapped and murdered via human trafficking and trans-Atlantic enslavement (I want to present Black history beyond the lens of white colonization, enslavement, and racism)
- Not looking for natural wonders like waterfalls or rock formations
What are some amazing, visually eye-catching places to visit in the global South - mainly South America, South East Asia, and especially Africa, that show the advancement, modernity, and excellence of brown-skinned populations?
Thanks!
Any time a child sees an image of "Africa" it's usually elephants, lions, and giraffes... as though it's all one country and there isn't a city or building on the whole continent. By contrast, "Europe" is always illustrated as highly differentiated into countries and cities, and all the iconic images of Europe highlight human achievement, like the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Acropolis, Big Ben, etc.
So, I'm making my own map for my students, and would like to print out images of cool travel destinations for a collage.
Caveats: I am not interested in:
- South African apartheid-era buildings where white colonizers historically excluded Black people
- Memorials to the people who were kidnapped and murdered via human trafficking and trans-Atlantic enslavement (I want to present Black history beyond the lens of white colonization, enslavement, and racism)
- Not looking for natural wonders like waterfalls or rock formations
What are some amazing, visually eye-catching places to visit in the global South - mainly South America, South East Asia, and especially Africa, that show the advancement, modernity, and excellence of brown-skinned populations?
Thanks!
I have always loved the architecture of Mali. Most of it was built many hundreds of years ago, but is still maintained today. Impressive, interesting, and a very human scale - the kind of thing I would have loved when I was a kid.
posted by sonofsnark at 7:28 PM on March 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by sonofsnark at 7:28 PM on March 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
The juxtaposition of ancient and modern at Cairo. Petra in Jordan. Do ancient sites qualify too?
posted by freethefeet at 7:42 PM on March 9, 2022
posted by freethefeet at 7:42 PM on March 9, 2022
The rock-cut churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia.
posted by Fuchsoid at 7:56 PM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Fuchsoid at 7:56 PM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is really interesting. I thought of much of the most modern architecture, especially localized styles, with a the push towards 'green' and sustainable types, and found a list here, with individual buildings findable elsewhere by searching for them. The center in Zimbabwe has a Wikipedia page, but I couldn't find much more on that architect's home in Ghana; there's a few more (mostly prototypes?) of the floating style on this architecture firm's page.
Dezeen also has tags, with an African roundup tied into a costly set of beautiful books (like all architecture books) and, for a random example, a tag for Peru.
posted by cobaltnine at 8:26 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dezeen also has tags, with an African roundup tied into a costly set of beautiful books (like all architecture books) and, for a random example, a tag for Peru.
posted by cobaltnine at 8:26 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anything you can find about the libraries at Timbuktu
posted by TimHare at 8:31 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by TimHare at 8:31 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
The amazing street art of Valparaiso, Chile. A lot of history behind it. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site.
posted by brookeb at 8:32 PM on March 9, 2022
posted by brookeb at 8:32 PM on March 9, 2022
Try not to over-exoticize, either. I'd suggest a Google image search for some prominent non-European cities. E.g. Lagos, São Paulo, Jakarta.
posted by zompist at 8:38 PM on March 9, 2022
posted by zompist at 8:38 PM on March 9, 2022
Machu Picchu (Recognize this isn’t considered modern, but it’s very impressive)
Brasilia
These are good.
posted by vunder at 10:09 PM on March 9, 2022
Brasilia
These are good.
posted by vunder at 10:09 PM on March 9, 2022
Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires is one of the world's great opera houses.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:21 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:21 PM on March 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Modern" is an interesting term. On one hand, the modern world is very interconnected -- the Petronas Towers are Malaysian icons, but were designed by an American architect and built by Japanese and Korean firms. There are a ton of modern skyscrapers throughout the Arabian Peninsula as well as E/SE Asian cities, but many of them feel (to me as a visitor at least) sort of interchangeable.
On the other hand, consider your examples for Europe - the Acropolis is the definition of ancient and the newest of the four is the Eiffel Tower which is over 130 years old now. The Leaning Tower of Pisa started construction roughly the same time as Angkor Wat, and was as old when Machu Picchu was built as the Eiffel Tower is today. That said, I think that perhaps the sense you want is vital, places that are still considered relevant to the peoples who live there today, rather than relics of a previous civilization. The rock churches of Lalibela are 900 years old, but still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church today.
I'd look at the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh (the adjacent Jemaa el-Fna square is perhaps a more iconic place, but is harder to represent with an image). Also perhaps the House of Wonders (or another building) in Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Latin American architecture tends to draw strongly from the colonial traditions, so the buildings tend to look very Western -- the Teatro Colon, Casa Rosada or Edificio Kavanagh in Buenos Aires all have buildings in Europe or New York that are similar. Perhaps La Bombonera might be as good as anything.
Brasilia is one city that has a lot of unique iconic buildings - Neimeyer's Cathedral is probably the most iconic.
If you can extend your idea of landmarks, the Metrocable cable car transit system in Medellin is pretty cool.
posted by Superilla at 10:27 PM on March 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
On the other hand, consider your examples for Europe - the Acropolis is the definition of ancient and the newest of the four is the Eiffel Tower which is over 130 years old now. The Leaning Tower of Pisa started construction roughly the same time as Angkor Wat, and was as old when Machu Picchu was built as the Eiffel Tower is today. That said, I think that perhaps the sense you want is vital, places that are still considered relevant to the peoples who live there today, rather than relics of a previous civilization. The rock churches of Lalibela are 900 years old, but still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church today.
I'd look at the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh (the adjacent Jemaa el-Fna square is perhaps a more iconic place, but is harder to represent with an image). Also perhaps the House of Wonders (or another building) in Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Latin American architecture tends to draw strongly from the colonial traditions, so the buildings tend to look very Western -- the Teatro Colon, Casa Rosada or Edificio Kavanagh in Buenos Aires all have buildings in Europe or New York that are similar. Perhaps La Bombonera might be as good as anything.
Brasilia is one city that has a lot of unique iconic buildings - Neimeyer's Cathedral is probably the most iconic.
If you can extend your idea of landmarks, the Metrocable cable car transit system in Medellin is pretty cool.
posted by Superilla at 10:27 PM on March 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix in Yamoussoukro, the admin capital of Côte d'Ivoire was completed in 1990 in time for the funeral of its sponsor Pres Félix Houphouët-Boigny's funeral in 1994. It is BIG but looks back and North to European architecture esp St Peter's, Rome.
It would be good to include new tech which looks forward to the [bleak] future like Meg Lowman's Canopy Walks which allow direct access to the wonders of old growth tropical forest.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:00 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
It would be good to include new tech which looks forward to the [bleak] future like Meg Lowman's Canopy Walks which allow direct access to the wonders of old growth tropical forest.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:00 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Neo-Andean architecture of El Alto, Bolivia. It's been discussed a couple times on the Blue.
posted by drlith at 11:07 AM on March 10, 2022
posted by drlith at 11:07 AM on March 10, 2022
You've got some good suggestions here already, but to add:
If you can get your hands on African Modernism: The Architecture of Independence, you will get tons of examples of mid-century modern style buildings all over the continent. The photography in this book is great.
In addition to some of the fantastic ruins already mentioned are the of Great Zimbabwe. So impressive that British colonialists concocted all sorts of nutty ideas about how it was once ruled by the Queen of Sheba - i.e. it couldn't possible be African-made. And then there are the excellent pyramids of Sudan, overlooked by Egyptologists as they are rooted in ancient Nubia.
I know you said you don't want 'nature' images, but anther stereotype against Africans is that they don't care about climate change/environmentalism, that such things require white people to happen, and Africans are also depicted as poachers. So with this a preface, you may include an image of one of the Congolese wardens at Virunga National Park, who risk their lives to protect mountain gorillas.
Lots of potential art to chose from - Nike Davies Okundaye has an art center in Lagos, there is the Dak'art biannual in Dakar, the architecture of the Sahel is beautiful, some of which others have mentioned but I'd add the outer palace wall of the Emir's palace in Zaria. Senegal also has great street art, as do other countries.
posted by coffeecat at 12:11 PM on March 10, 2022
If you can get your hands on African Modernism: The Architecture of Independence, you will get tons of examples of mid-century modern style buildings all over the continent. The photography in this book is great.
In addition to some of the fantastic ruins already mentioned are the of Great Zimbabwe. So impressive that British colonialists concocted all sorts of nutty ideas about how it was once ruled by the Queen of Sheba - i.e. it couldn't possible be African-made. And then there are the excellent pyramids of Sudan, overlooked by Egyptologists as they are rooted in ancient Nubia.
I know you said you don't want 'nature' images, but anther stereotype against Africans is that they don't care about climate change/environmentalism, that such things require white people to happen, and Africans are also depicted as poachers. So with this a preface, you may include an image of one of the Congolese wardens at Virunga National Park, who risk their lives to protect mountain gorillas.
Lots of potential art to chose from - Nike Davies Okundaye has an art center in Lagos, there is the Dak'art biannual in Dakar, the architecture of the Sahel is beautiful, some of which others have mentioned but I'd add the outer palace wall of the Emir's palace in Zaria. Senegal also has great street art, as do other countries.
posted by coffeecat at 12:11 PM on March 10, 2022
Response by poster: Someone messaged me to suggest the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:34 AM on March 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:34 AM on March 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thirding Brasília - I just made a note to myself a couple of weeks ago to study all the cool buildings there.
Also, I spent 36 hours in Chile on a business trip and fell in love with it. Aside from the fabulous food and the wonderful people, it has such an interesting shape, such a marvellously long coast, and such diverse wildlife, and it's an astronomer's paradise.
posted by kristi at 4:28 PM on March 12, 2022
Also, I spent 36 hours in Chile on a business trip and fell in love with it. Aside from the fabulous food and the wonderful people, it has such an interesting shape, such a marvellously long coast, and such diverse wildlife, and it's an astronomer's paradise.
posted by kristi at 4:28 PM on March 12, 2022
This is very late, and also not a specific recommendation, but:
today my toddler wanted to 'do the map', so we opened google maps on my phone.
He used it in a way I haven't tried before. He zoomed way out, then clicked on countries and then clicked on the photos to see pictures taken from that country.
For example, in DRC he found photos of gorillas and giraffes but ALSO of big cities with amazing architecture (like a skyscraper with a big cutout in the middle!). I'm going to be doing this with him more often because I was pleasantly surprised at all of the things we found which did not match with my preconceptions about the countries.
posted by Acari at 10:54 AM on March 21, 2022
today my toddler wanted to 'do the map', so we opened google maps on my phone.
He used it in a way I haven't tried before. He zoomed way out, then clicked on countries and then clicked on the photos to see pictures taken from that country.
For example, in DRC he found photos of gorillas and giraffes but ALSO of big cities with amazing architecture (like a skyscraper with a big cutout in the middle!). I'm going to be doing this with him more often because I was pleasantly surprised at all of the things we found which did not match with my preconceptions about the countries.
posted by Acari at 10:54 AM on March 21, 2022
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posted by astapasta24 at 7:18 PM on March 9, 2022 [3 favorites]