A Note from the Editors: Issue 43
Can an Exhibition Memorialize the 1947 Partition of the Indian Subcontinent?
Arundhati Kalyan reviews ‘Proposals for a Memorial to Partition’ at Dubai’s Jameel Arts Centre, probing the question of whether art, curation, and current conceptions of memorialization can do justice to a tragic historical event of this scale
You Are Masters Of The Fish And Birds And All The Animals
Images from American photographer Shane Rocheleau’s eponymous book form a portrait of the psyche of white heteronormative masculinity and its visceral manifestations in the United States – accompanied with an artist Q&A
Butt Waxing: A Cheeky Ass Experience
"Yes – it was my ass. An ass that needed grooming. " In this comedic essay – nearly a standup skit – Gaurav Dewani recounts his first butt-waxing experience
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Black Fathers, and White Women
EIC Zoe Patterson weaves together an analysis of Kendrick Lamar's new album with grief over her relationship with an absent parent
Familiar Traces
Directed by Izzy Mana and Enrico Bellenghi, Familiar Traces is a fashion film narrative which explores the internal pressure that second generation Black British youth face from a young age
Attention
Two charcoal drawings by Saif Mhaisen depict the artist’s close, curious gaze on both his friend and himself
Masculinity
Twisting myths, tropes, and figures – both human and animal – in and out of each other, Iranian multidisciplinary artist Zahra Mohamadi undercuts our constrictive constructions of gender
Alpha & Omega
Combining audio documentary and photography, Alpha & Omega interrogates God’s will and existence through heard and inscribed conversations with an older matriarch
Chromosome Y
Tommaso Montino’s photographic series captures young men on the cusp of adulthood as they grapple with their masculinity and the surrounding dreams, softness, and violence of their cities
No Confidence
Irish poet Holly Darragh-Hickey explores feelings of introversion, guilt, inadequacy, and anger in this poem where “words throbbed under pressure”
Love Not: 1 Plus 1 = 0
Logic and alpha-maleness stifle the potential for love in this poem by San Antonio poet, Catherine Lee
Hackles
Hannah Norris’ poem explores the discomfiting bizarreness of male behavior towards women in public spaces
STOP KICKING
Oliver Sedano-Jones returns to childhood to explore vengeance and hierarchy between seat-kickers in this rhythmic and hilarious poem
Ariana Grande Comes to Lunch: A Modern Tableau En Famille*
In this comical poem by P.W. Bridgman, a man rails against his daughter's boyfriend's man-bun
Two Poems
Welsh poet Elizabeth Wilson Davies probes constructions of the female body through two lyric poems: "Eel Man" and "Blonde Ambition"
Two Poems
In "Birthright" and "Atonement with the Father", Scottish poet Sarah Grant roots around in her own history, and forgives the future
Dirty Laundry
"Like merchandise, men do not live long." This found poem by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira is composed entirely from words taken from clothes labels and tags. With artwork by Sandra Paris
High in Fire Country
With a wildfire looming in the distance, an author sets out to write something that will make him feel seen, in this evocative poem by William Doreski
Strange
David Romanda’s narrative poem distills a relationship-defining moment between a man, woman, and cat. With artwork by Charlie Riddle