There is a lot of talk these days about "indigenous knowledge" and alternative ways of looking at everything from the environment to personal health. But what are these other systems, and what are their cultural roots? This series looks at three different cultural perspectives: indigenous views of the landscape in societies in the Americas and Australia; Japanese aesthetics and rituals; and Chinese concepts of health and the body. Each of these investigations will not only reveal how these systems incorporate knowledge about the world, but also ask how and why these "ways of seeing" differ so profoundly from our own.

Image: B. B. Olshin, “Traditional Chinese Houses In Shihlin [石林]”, watercolour and pencil, ca.1995