Author: Jeremy Sinsimer

“You have to make it inside of yourself wherever you are.” ~Ernest Hemmingway, Islands in the Stream. Islands are often imagined as remote places, environments defined by their isolation. In many ways, this is true. Islands can be home to plant and animal species that exist nowhere else, uniquely adapted to the specific ecosystems of a single location. But for humans, the history of islands is far less straightforward. Throughout history, people have migrated along coastlines, sometimes venturing further into the open sea. Many islands became crossroads, stopping points for traders, empires, and explorers, connecting them to the wider world.…

As someone with a love for languages, it has been an exciting opportunity to practice my Thai and Spanish, and to begin learning a new language with Sinhala. As you can imagine, these languages are each very distinct and with their own unique challenges for a non-native speaker like myself. But what you may not realize is that these languages share common connections going back thousands of years. As we explore our ÀNI Art Academy value of “Community”, I thought it may be interesting to share how the languages we speak share some common roots, specifically for the way we…