Apokriyomata in Gergeri village of Crete island, Greece. A time to enjoy and forget trouble and the Greek economic crisis, during a traditional festival with ancient roots. At the village of Gergeri located in the mountains at the center of Crete island in southern Greece, every year traditional customs that have their roots in ancient times are reenacted under the name “Apokriyomata”. The name of the festival, comes from the word “Apokria” or in latin “carnem levāre” ("take away/remove meat") and in English “Carnival”, and it means the abstention from eating meat. The festival is held in the last days before a three week fasting in preparation for the Greek Easter, and mainly on the first Monday of the fasting, also called “Clean Monday”. During Apokriyomata, the actors dress in costumes made by goat furs and big bells that are usually worn by animals in farms, they parade in wooden masks, they reenact the tillage, a wedding and a funeral, while constantly joking, drinking, making noise with their bells, teasing people and dancing. The viewers are also called to participate by smudging their faces, drinking a local strong alcohol called “raki”, eating the offered food or by being taken in to the acts, and finally by joining the circle dance in the center of the village together with everyone else. The roots of the acts of this festival can be traced in ancient Greek Dionysus ceremonies and in local agricultural ceremonies that where meant to celebrate the coming of spring, the fertility of nature and people, to pray for good crops and to keep away evil. Similar festivals happen in many villages of Greece, either in the same time or in the beginning of January. Gergeri’s festival is quite particular as it is consisted by many different acts, of which some are native to Gergeri or to nearby villages and some are invited from other parts of Greece. The group of each act parades through the village until they reach it’s center where they perform the main part of their act. They joke and lough and in the end they all join a circle dance on the music played by local musicians.

Vovousa People & Costumes in a struggle to protect their ecosystem. Vovousa, a village of around 70 residents, is build on a 1000 meter hight, as part of the east Zagori villages of North Pindos mountain range in northern Greece. It most probably takes it's name from the sound of the river Aoos that runs through it. The Greek government wants to build a damn higher in the mountain, that will divert the flow of the river towards a local lake. That will deprive the village of it's water and it's natural beauty will be compromised by the resulting ecological disaster. The villagers’ lives which for centuries have been depending on what their surrounding nature offered them, will be greatly affected. In order to fight against the construction of the damn, they have joined their efforts with environmental organisations, local municipalities and associations in a continuing struggle. The people of Vovousa had learned how to survive by using recourses that the forest and the river could offer them, as in many winters the heavy slow that fell cut access to the village. Many of the men worked as lumberjacks and they used the river for transporting wood and for cutting it with a hydraulic woodcutter. They build their houses and furniture with local stones and wood. They kept domestic animals for meat, milk, cheese, eggs, wool and leather. The women used wool from their sheep to make yarn and then wove fabrics for making their clothes and linen. They wove their own carpets and produced vegetables in their houses’ vegetable gardens. For washing clothes and carpets they used a natural form of washing machine (nerotrivi) filled with water that freely flowed down from the mountain on it’s way to join Aoos river and in general they had a very self sustained lifestyle. Even now the village men’s main job is lumberjacks, all houses maintain vegetable gardens and domestic animals, and carpets are washed in the still functioning “nerotrivi” where the use of detergents is strictly prohibited. People of Vovousa who are of Vlach origin, posed for arranged portraits dressed in traditional costumes, recreating scenes of the old village lifestyle that still survives in a less traditional form as nowadays the villagers are only dressed in these costumes for taking part in local festivals. The photos were shown in exhibitions around Greece in an attempt to raise awareness on the issue.

Wudang mountain (Wudang-san) is in Hubei province of China and it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and an important Taoist sacred place. It has many Taoist monasteries and a Forbidden City/Palace on its highest peak. The main deity is the God of Zhenwu and the monks practice meditation, Chinese medicine and Chinese martial arts. There is a legend that says Tai Chi was created there by Zhang Sanfeng who got inspired by watching a fight between a crane and a snake. Jackie Chan's 2010 movie Karate Kid was partly filmed on the Dragon Spring Lake, Nanyang Temple, The Purple Heaven Palace and the Golden Palace on the Heavenly Pillar Peak. The Mountain and its tradition has inspired many other Chinese movies -- one of them "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" -- of which some were filmed on locations there.

CHENJIAGOU VILLAGE in CHINA - The birthplace of Taijiquan (Tai Chi) Chenjiagou village in Henan province of central China is the village of the Chen family whose ancestor Chen Wangting (1600-1680) created the oldest style of Taijiquan. Wenxian County where the village belongs, has been officially recognized as the birthplace of taijiquan by the Chinese government in 2007. The village still maintains its traditional character but it is changing fast as the School of Taijiquan there gains reputation and more people from China and abroad are visiting or spending time there to train in taijiquan. Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang is the 19th generation lineage holder of Chen style Taijiquan and the president of the Chenjiagou Taijiquan school . He was born in 1945 in Chenjiagou and is a direct descendent of the creator of Taijiquan Chen Wangting and the grandson of Chen Fa'ke, renowned as the greatest Taijiquan master at the beginning of the 20th Century. He is recognized as one of four "Buddha's Warrior Attendants," the four outstanding exponents of the 19th generation in Chenjiagou. He was already a famous Taijiquan master in China when in 1990 he left China and started promoting Taijiquan around the world. He now has students in many countries and is a worldwide famous taijiquan teacher.

Cuban life Daily life in Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara.

Athens is full of graffiti. Some more artistic and some more aggressive, representing the sentiment of young people who took part in the latest riots. Graffiti artist b. chose to mark the city with vivid colors and cute designs. Graffiti artist Bizarre started from drawing graffiti in the city to move recently to mainly doing works that are exhibited in galleries. His themes come from Greek culture and traditional art of Byzantium but he also mixes Tibetan and other eastern techniques.

Daily life in Hong Kong

In the heart of China and at the height of 2930m lies the Tibetan monastery Labrang. On the top of the mountain, surrounded by naked mountaintops it dominates the landscape. The golden shinny roofs of the temples welcome the visitor on his arrival and the red dressed monks add a vibrant color as they mix with the hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims that visit the monastery every day.

In Bangkok's Suan Dusit University, ladyboys feel free to be themselves by getting dressed in girls' uniforms and behaving in a feminning way. The University's policy of accepting them as equal to other students, has made it so popular that it now has about 100 transgender students studying in it's faculties. Wittaya Jannoi (21) in class. He is a marketing student and hopes to change his gender after he finishes his studies at Suan Dusit university. He sais: "I'm happy here. We can be ourselves because we don't have to hide. My mother said, 'Graduate first, then you can do what you want'." Like many transgender students, he learnt about the university through the beauty pageant. "I couldn't wait to come here." Arttasit Tipsing (21) is studying in the Science and Technology faculty of Suan Dusit university with a major on food and service industry. After four years of hormone treatment, he is preparing for a full sex change. "My goal in life is to become accepted as a woman," he explains.

The "Faces" of Istanbul Istanbul. The city with the different "faces". One moment you smell Turkish spices and rose water, and the next moment you smell French perfume. You see the young Muslim girls wearing their chador by Gucci but you also see the come-hither look transsexuals, arm-in-with the rich girls from Etiler and Levent. In Turkey, a country of contradictions, the cosmic reign tries to coexist peacefully with tough Islam, just like Tayips Erdogans' party. And what about the Greeks? They seem to be a frightened colony struggling to survive. Text by Elena Moschidi: www.elenamoschidi.com/reportage/vimagazino.html