The revolution will not be branded: Art, symbolism, and the spectacle of resistance

by Lina Osman | March 31, 2025

  What happens when Kendrick Lamar raps “the revolution will be televised” at the Super Bowl halftime show?   Gil Scott-Heron’s original poem, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, was a scathing critique of mass media’s ability to commodify and dilute political struggle, an assertion that the revolution will not be captured so simply: the […]

American Decadence

by Vanessa Abraham | September 19, 2024

  Every time I open the fridge at my grandmother’s house, two Country Crock margarine tubs occupy the middle shelf. One of the familiar taupe containers holds margarine, while the other no longer does; instead, it is filled with chicken curry, a staple in my grandmother’s household. Within each respective tub, an American processed food […]

Princess Vira’s Palace

by Zaid Magdub | August 22, 2024

It is often said that there is a مصر (Masr) and there is an Egypt, the same place but not. Of the Mediterranean, the same is true. There is a Mediterranean of pale Greek islands, of chateaus on Roman rivieras and LSD by Spanish vineyards, one of parties on the corniche, and olive groves by […]

Rulers Without Robes

by Anna Couzens | April 16, 2024

The recent BBC drama Marie Antoinette is an uncomfortable series to watch. The combination of off-tune music, flaking powdered faces, and menacing whispers reveals the truth which lurks behind the beautiful Versailles backdrop: it is a cage, rather than a palace, for the 14-year-old Austrian princess. In one particularly disquieting scene, the future Louis XVI […]

All That’s Left

by Keng Yu Lai | July 17, 2024

  After Liberty Brignall  She fills the Emma Bridgewater mug with hot water—her daily cup of English breakfast tea, with more than a splash of milk. The mug has a permanent home on her desk, its polka dots striking as ever—red, yellow, green and the blueish purplish grey—which was it? They could never quite decide. […]