‘Spellbound’ at the Ashmolean review – ‘bewitching’
With something for historians and die-hard Harry Potter fans, Spellbound, the Ashmolean’s latest exhibition is certainly bewitching. Spanning four rooms and eight centuries, the exhibition reveals a continuum in human thought: 180 objects from the 12th century to modern-day Europe. But what is mos
Moda de las Cholitas
Recognisable by their long black braids, colourful skirts, and wide-brimmed hats, cholitas – as the indigenous women of Bolivia are called – seemed to be the wheels powering each rural village I visited in Cochabamba, one of the nine departments (states) of Bolivia. Whether teaching classes, sel
photo journal
27 July Packed quietly and snuck off this morning – didn’t want to wake people as they all seemed so deep in sleep. Last few days in Les Gets were mellow. We hiked and got caught in a hot storm. We counted the seconds between the flashes and the cracks of lightning as we waited for […]
#NotYourHabibti: The activist fighting sexual violence with fashion
TW sexual harassment, sexual assault When she embroidered a denim jacket with the words ‘Not Your Habibti’ (Not Your Darling), Yasmeen Mjalli thought of it as personal message of feminist defiance. But when she posted a photo of herself wearing it in Palestine on International Women’s day, he
Nostalgia in Music
Nostalgia is a strange feeling. It has the power to warp memory and identity, accentuating positive associations and blurring negative ones, reducing them to aberrations at the edge of our retrospective vision. Witness the way that the crackle of vinyl can return us to a mythic and unexperienced mus
‘I’m down on my knees…’
By the roots of my hair some god got hold of me. I sizzled in his blue volts like a desert prophet. – Sylvia Plath, ‘The Hanging Man’, Ariel (1965) Words are like people. They flake when you need them. ‘Pain words are lacking,’ Virginia Woolf wrote. ‘There should be cries, cracks, fi
The Destruction of Art and Architecture in Delhi
Wandering through the streets of Old Delhi at dawn is unlike anything else. While the crowds of market sellers, imams, and cycle rickshaws lie asleep, the last remaining traces of the Mughal capital loom over you through the morning mist. One discovers a whole new set of marvels on every trip: the m
Too obscene for the screen
Imagine being a small restaurant owner in Newport Beach, California in 1971. It’s an average start to the day like any other, you’re going around making sure that everything is ready for opening time and then, the postman drops off some mail. This is nothing exciting, you might get a couple of b