Down and Out in the UAE Badlands
Film camera in tow, Benjamin Kirby heads to Al Dhaid in Dubai, where he meets an enigmatic TikTok-famous travel agent and muses on the urban landscape in this new essay
A Knotty Problem: Politics of My Hair
When cutting your hair is a radical act – Lubnah Ansari unpacks the social paradigms surrounding the politics of female hair in the South Asian context
Accent Politics
In this personal essay, Zambian-born Mbiko Mayaka explores her relationship to language, touching on code switching and the manifestation of social hierarchy and inequalities on the tongue
On Artists and Institutional Stigma
What do artists and institutions truly want from each other? How can this relationship tread the tightrope between exploitation and care? Artist and creative practitioner Mays Albaik opens up the conversation in this essay
Paula Rego's Delightful Violence
Zoe Patterson explores the pain and wonder of childhood in Paula Rego’s Peter Pan Illustrations.
van Gogh and Romanticizing the Tortured Artist
Depression is not a prerequisite for creativity. If anything, it stunts it, writes Calum Armitage in this op-ed.
Going Black: The Commodification of Hip-Hop Culture
“The commodification of hip-hop leads to a watering down of its content. As corporations try to capture as much of the market as possible, they ‘tone down’ hip-hop’s radical aspects to make it as palatable for consumers as possible.”
Thank u, next
“Pop music is not always a site for frivolity. The breathy, celestial flutterings of Grande's music are also a safe space, not only for herself, but for all her fans and listeners” – a feminist op-ed by Vamika Sinha.
The Question of the Authentic Indian
In a striking short story titled Out on Main Street, the writer and visual artist Shani Mootoo deconstructs the idea of the authentic Indian identity, countering it with the notion of hybridity.
It's a Good Time to Be Lonely
“2018 is a good time to be lonely. Constantly consume technology, like a pac-man, instead” – Zoe Jane Patterson reflects on a past relationship and the slow erosion of technological distractions in the face of millennial loneliness. New in arts & culture.
Dismantling Detroit: Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You
Exploring the eccentric, complex character of Detroit in Boots Riley’s film Sorry to Bother You.
I'd Love It If We Made It
“Hip-hop seems to be our protest music du jour but for another generation, it was rock ‘n’ roll” – Vamika Sinha unpacks The 1975’s songs as modern cultural commentary in the form of millennial rock music
Point Ephémère and the Slum: How Paris Handles Her Refugees
The editors of this magazine stumbled upon a refugee slum next to one of Paris’ hippest clubs. Here’s what happened.
Rendang Outrage, or Why I Write Poetry
If you haven’t already heard about what happened, look up the words “Masterchef UK”, “Rendang”, and “Zaleha” on Youtube. In her fierce new essay, Tzy Jiun Tan discusses otherness, racism, and the failure of postcolonial theory in the face of real life situations.
Why Menstruation is Still Seen as Taboo
An essay delving into period stigma across cultures.
Why Write About Food?
“Vamika, you’re such a good writer — what are you doing writing about sandwiches and quiches?”This is a valid question. Why am I not using my slightly-above-average literary prowess to discuss heftier dilemmas, like campus issues or feminism or, even ... politics?