We could not do without talking about love on Valentine’s Day! However, love has different meanings according to cultures, sometimes far removed from the romantic concept we have of it in the West. Let’s take a trip around the world and find what is love in Niger, Vietnam, Colombia, and old Europe.

Guerewol, the male beauty pageant in Niger

In the western world, we are used to beauty pageants where young women are paraded and judged on their physique and poise, by a mainly male jury but what if the roles were reversed? This is the case with the Wodaabe people during the Guérewol festival…

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Khau Vai, the Vietnamese “love market”

In Vietnam, it’s another kind of market that you can discover: a love market! In the north of the country, the village of Khau Vai is the background of a sad love story. There was once an ethnic Giay girl who fell in love with an ethnic Nung boy…

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Fertility dance of the Wayuu in Colombia

The Wayuu (also called Guajiros) is a nomadic matriarchal society, living mainly in northern Colombia in the Guajira peninsula. Since women have a high status here, they are the ones who get to chose their potential mates and it all goes through the magic of a fertility dance: the Chichimaya…

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The bear as a symbol of love in Europe? 

Who could have thunk that a bear could be a symbol of love? After all, a teddybear (usually holding a box of chocolates) is a common present on Valentine’s Day but what is the link between a sweet-looking plush toy and the formidable “king of the animals”?