What We Talk About When We Talk About Oxford
When critiquing the Blue Guide — the iconic series of travel guides published from 1918 — Roland Barthes writes that “the human life of a country disappears to the exclusive benefit of its monuments”. Perhaps nowhere are his words more relevant than in our own ‘city of dreaming spires’.
Work in Translation
What must be done to an oyster to make it produce a pearl? Firstly, the oyster – usually bred in controlled conditions and grown in sheltered bays – is taken out of the water and sent to the pearling workshop. Workers then pry it open with a small clip. This allows them to slice into […]
What’s Left Behind: ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum
As the museum guide opens the door into the exhibition, I’m immediately certain that the experience will be one of sensory overload. The first room introducing the Hallyu! The Korean Wave exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum features a collection of intensely flashing scenes, each depict

