Arts & Culture
Simron Gill explores the commercialisation of the Chinese New Year festival, both in China itself and here in the UK, and analyses the impact of culture upon economy.
Andrew Kersley recalls a visit to the El-De Haus Holocaust Memorial in Cologne and what it tells us about the nation of Germany and how it memorialises the world’s darkest atrocity
Ceridwen Mitchell explores an intimate new exhibition about the complexity of the female body at Birmingham’s Argentea Gallery.
Matilda Smith discusses Portillo’s talk Life: A Game of Two Halves, upon his visit to the Warwick Arts Centre. A collection of memories and anecdotes that desperately tries to de-politicize itself with these Portillo Moments.
Politics and Economics Editor Andrew Kersley looks at new Netflix film 22 July and wonders what it tells us about the rise of the far right across Europe
Rachel Morgan examines the degree to which Netflix’s new show Insatiable manages to achieve the body positivity it spends its runtime striving for.
Alpana Sajip takes us around the Tate Modern’s recent exhibition, and the history behind this Post-Expressionist movement
Co-editor-in-chief Anita Slater reviews Deborah Levy’s latest living memoir, discussing Levy’s approach to a myriad of topics including gender, marriage and the position of the writer.
A Jordanian writer, accused of sharing a cartoon considered offensive to Islam, was killed two weeks after his release from prison on bail. Hakim Khatib explores why.
Beyoncé’s music constitutes a vast and varied diatribe against the patriarchy. Based on her infamous dissertation, which took the internet by storm earlier this year, Molly Inglis explores constituent parts of Beyoncé’s brand of feminism.
Fatima Ali Omar reviews the BBC’s recent T.V. film adaptation of Zadie Smith’s 2012 novel, NW – Black identity, struggle and redemption are just some of the themes explored
Clare Hymer examines problematic partnerships between oil companies and British cultural institutions, and the importance of creative direct action to combat them.
Arts and Culture co-editor Kat Burdon reviews Justin Kurzel’s widely acclaimed reinterpretation of the Scottish Play, examining the tale’s treatment of man, madness, and morality to suggest that its enduring appeal can be found in the lessons it would teach us, lessons long learned and yet never fully acted upon.
Hélène Selam Kleih examines artistic representations of the interrelated issues of immigration, identity and mental health in modern France.
Jordan Hindson reads Arthur Koestler’s novel Darkness at Noon, and reflects on the chilling moment in history that gave rise to the Moscow Show Trials.
Themes co-Editor Lizzy Yarwood surveys developments in transgender culture across the Middle East and Asia.
Anna Carey asks if we can represent climate change more effectively than the static image of the stranded polar bear.
In his essay ‘Who Owns Auschwitz?’, Holocaust survivor Imre Kertész wrote: “More and more often, the Holocaust is stolen from its guardians and made into cheap consumer goods. Or else it is institutionalized, and around it is built a moral political ritual, complete with a new and often phony language.” Nowhere is this phenomenon more apparent than in American culture, writes Helena Skinner.
Do you control games, or do they control you? Frank Davies explores the links between contemporary systems of social control and video games.
Jordan Hindson discusses what Nafisi’s memoir reveals about the intersection between art and revolutionary politics.
What was the experience of the disabled in the ancient world? Annie Sharples challenges our notions of inherent Western progression by examining the representations and experiences of the disabled before the common era.
Arts & Culture co-Editor Kat Burdon discusses the concept of ‘eating clean’, a recent phenomenon driven in part by food bloggers encouraging readers to follow a healthier diet. The article exposes the way in which eating ‘cleaner’ has been falsely equated with a greener, more ethically sound lifestyle through the faddish promotion of ‘superfoods’ – many of which are expensive and fundamentally damaging to the environment.
