A DASH OF PAINT, a wailing guitar, or a heavenly dancer carved in stone 1000 years before Bansky first sprayed a wall, arts and artists put colour and meaning into our daily lives. Persian carpets, ancient Khmer dance, or hand-made toys, man creates some cool stuff that no AI robot ever could.
Movie posters in Aleppo, Syria.
A parade of soldiers and elephants depicted on the walls of Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Possibly returing from defeating the Champa Kingdom.
Warriors in battle, Chehel Sotoon Palace, Esfahan, Iran.
Geometric design and floral patterns form the basis of Islamic art, where depicting humans and other animals is forbidden. Emam Mosque, Esfahan, Iran.
The level of sophistication in much Islamic art is hard to comprehend.
Beitiddine Palace mosaics.
Caligraphy at the Jameh Mosque, Esfahan.
Yellow is a distinctive feature of Esfahani tilework.
The gentleman produces woodblock prints on cloth in the splendorous Iranian city of Esfahan.
Tiled roof in shrine near Yazd, Iran.
Rock art at Las Geel, between Hargeisa and Berbera, Somaliland depicts cows...well, you can see.
The finest stone reliefs from Persepolis are in Tehran's National Museum.
Stone relief, Persepolis, Iran.
A marvel of engineering.
(This may depict) Priest and king, Persepolis, Iran.
Dancing at Yoyogi Park, Tokyo.
The vast complex at Karnak deserves at least a half day to explore.
Ancient text, Persepolis, Iran.
Battle scene depicted on tiled wall, Tehran, Iran.
Tough girls on movie poster, Aleppo.
Palmyra theatre.
Roman mosaics, rescued but a history and art loving war lord during Lebanon's brutal civil war.
It is well worth a day trip into Lebanon's mountains to view these mosaics, at Beitiddone Palace.
Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt.
Royal slaves depicted at Hatshepsut's Temple.
Sumo mural in Tokyo.
A band rocks a Harajuku footpath, Tokyo, Japan.
What would future civilizations make of our valued possessions?
Beautiful walls in the haram, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Turkish tiles are amongs the best in the world. These are in one of my favourite mosques, Rustem Pasha, Istanbul.
When the greatest church in the world was converted to a mosque, the mosaics in the Aya Sophia were covered over. The buildind was converted to a museum in the 20th century, and the art was uncovered.
Roman mosaics in Byzantium, now known as Istanbul.
In a hot and dusty town in the Kazak south lies one of the finest examples of Timurid architecture, the 14th century masoleum of Kozha Akhmed Yasaui.
A busker with a top mo', Al Mata, Kazakhstan.
Soviet era artwork in Al Mata, Kazakhstan. Public art is big.
I wish I had photographed more of these scrap metal masterpieces in Namibia. Some of them were elaborately constructed with bike parts and machinery.
Bontoc is a small mountain town in the central Luzon, Philippines. Many buildings sport murals celebrating local agricullture.
Majuli is a huge island in the Brahmaputra, Assam, India, where traditions and cultures remain strong.
A visit to the island's mask making villages is one of the best things to do there. Cycle about and enjoy.