Chapel - Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawaii Mauna ʻAla, the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaiʻi, rises quietly among the verdant slopes of Nuʻuanu Valley on Oʻahu, a place where stone, genealogy, and memory converge. The site became a sacred resting place for Hawaiʻi’s aliʻi, or chiefly families, after the remains of King Kamehameha II’s family were moved there in the 19th Century. In 1865, King Kamehameha V established the present mausoleum as a permanent burial place for the Kam

Born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in 1960 in Hagen, West Germany, Nena grew up in a country divided by the Cold War and surrounded by the restless sounds of a changing Europe. She took the stage name Nena as a teenager and began performing with local bands before joining the group The Stripes in the late 1970s. By the early 1980s, she had moved to West Berlin, where she became part of the city’s vibrant Neue Deutsche Welle, or “New German Wave,” movement. With its mixture of punk

Born in 1936 in Warsaw, Poland, Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz grew up in a country where the sea seemed far removed from everyday life. Yet her path eventually led toward the horizon. She studied engineering at Gdańsk University of Technology, graduating in 1962 with a degree in shipbuilding. In the coastal city of Gdańsk, the Baltic Sea became more than scenery: it offered a doorway into a world of ships, navigation, and exploration. Her engineering education shaped a

Across the savannas of West Africa, few textiles tell stories quite like bogolan, the mud-dyed cloth associated especially with the Bambara, or Bamana, people of Mali. The Bambara have long lived in communities along the Niger River and throughout the Sahel, where farming, trade, family, and village traditions have shaped daily life. Bogolan grew from this cultural landscape as both a practical textile and a form of visual expression. Its bold patterns can communicate ideas a

Born in Mali and raised in France, Youma Diakite built a career that crossed the worlds of fashion, television, and entertainment, becoming a recognizable figure in European popular culture. Her entrance into show business began through modeling, where her striking presence and confidence brought her to international attention. From the catwalk to the television screen, Diakite gradually expanded her talents beyond fashion, demonstrating that a career in the spotlight could e