At long last, my reading drought has come to an end. I am currently re-reading the original version of The Life Before Us written in 1975 by French author Romain Gary under the pseudonym of Émile Ajar. This extraordinary novel tells the story of Momo, the abandoned child of a prostitute, the mother he will never know. Mere pages into this second reading, I was reminded that Gary used the verb 'se defendre', to defend oneself, to describe what prostitutes do. I am puzzled by t

Earlier this week, a near-total ban on abortions has come into effect in the state of Texas. This means that after six weeks of pregnancy, when many women don't even know they are expecting, it will be impossible to legally terminate a pregnancy. And no, there will be no exceptions in case of rape or incest. What's more, this new law allows citizens to sue abortions providers as well as anyone helping a woman to have an abortion. Say a friend is driving you to the clinic, yes

It's been a year since the last presidential elections in Belarus. As Alexander Lukashenko was being crowned for the 6th consecutive time, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest. I remember seeing photos and video footage and realising how much courage it took to just be out there in a country where a violently repressive regime has all but wiped out independent media, arrested political opposition leaders forcing them out of the country and where any

There are wounds so deep they never really heal. They are the wounds we share with other people, whether we know them or not, the wounds that remain open no matter how long it's been since they were inflicted. These wounds define us, they speak of who we are and where we come from. This is the story of one of these wounds. On the morning of Saturday 2 August, at 10:25am, a time bomb hidden in an unattended suitcase detonated inside Bologna railway station. The explosion was s

It's not the first time that this blog talks about Marcus Rashford. The 23-year old mancunian footballer used his social media platform to twice force the Government into a U-turn over the extension of free school meals and support grants for children from low-income families. Just thinking about that needing to happen makes my skin crawl, but that's Tory Britain for you. Rashford used to rely on those meals, he has spoken very openly about having to sometimes go to sleep wit

According to the Financial Times, Abu Dhabi is planning to spend $6bn on various cultural projects to diversify from oil. This is not a new strategy. After the emergence of Dubai as the playground of the Middle East in the early 1990s, the Abu Dhabi government set out to develop a vision that would transform the UAE into a world-class cultural powerhouse. Culture is thus a tool in a long-term political-economic strategy that aims to diversify revenues and address concerns aro

"I would like everyone to read, not so they become writers or poets, but so that no one is a slave anymore." - Gianni Rodari I recently came across this quote by one of Italy's most celebrated and imaginative children's writers and I loved how it framed the argument. We don't read to become erudite bores, we read because when we do our world gets bigger and better, and because reading is a catalyst for freedom, intellectual and otherwise. This is really prosaically put and I

"I try to make bright paintings, but every time I fall into the shadows, maybe because darkness is the ultimate condition of things, whereas light is only temporary." - Nicola Samori in an interview to Art Tribune Darkness and light. Oh how they coexist and engage in an epic struggle in Samori's striking body of work, which is uniquely atmospheric and haunting. It is clear he is a classically trained painter, and a very good one he is, too. His bold brushstrokes sweep across

"I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. A riot is the language of the unheard." Martin Luther King, Jr. This, of course, is true for America and anywhere else a minority is affected and marginalised by structural racism and social inequalities. With its hard-line anti-immigration rhetoric and authoritarian agenda, Thatcher Britain weaponised systemic racialised over-policing against Black communities, abusing stop and search powers with anyone sus

“My photography has always provided me with an opportunity to open myself up and see the world around me. And most of all, photography makes me look within.” - Laura Aguilar In her series of self-portraits set in the rocky desert landscape of the American Southwest, Laura Aguilar used her body like a sculpture, she is a human monolith. Her large body is draped on a big boulder whose shape echoes hers. It's hard to say whether she felt at one with nature or whether she was try

Revered by the public, reviled by the art establishment and eventually sold at auction for almost £1m, the Mona Lisa of kitsch was painted by a rather obscure Russian-born artist who had emigrated to South Africa. The sitter of this portrait is Monika Sing-Lee, 17 at the time, who was working at Tretchikoff's uncle’s launderette. This highly idealised icon of oriental beauty is said to be the most reproduced fine art prints in the world. Her bizarrely luminescent complexion a

Domestic abuse is a gendered crime. According to data from 2019, 92% of the defendants in domestic abuse-related prosecutions in the UK were men, 75% of the victims were female. The pandemic has made things worse, providing a breeding ground for a sharp increase in these crimes. In Russia, data provided by NGOs indicate that the number of victims and cases of domestic violence may have doubled. The same figures are up 30% in France, 25% in China. The pandemic within the pande

"All of our heroes are slave owners that would own people like myself if they were still around." - Glen Cantave, founder and CEO Movers & Shakers NYC Imagine being able to combine innovative AR technology with the ambition to rewrite the long-standing narratives of the marginalised and socially oppressed to empower future generations. It's so much more than being tech savvy, it's what I call having a vision. Yeah, I also grew up being proud of my fellow Italian Christopher C

“Who needs to NOT think of you as a Black artist to consider you a real artist?” - Kerry James Marshall There are a handful of artists whose work I revere to the point that I don't dare write about them. Kerry James Marshall is one of them, and today I'm taking the plunge. I came across this video where he cites Langston Hughes' writings on how Black artists should not aspire to paint or write like white people, but rather should "express their individual dark-skinned selves

"I like Venetian painting a lot: looking at Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is one of my favourite things to do. When I went to my first Venice Biennale, I was blown away when I saw the works of these artists on the ceilings. The technical proficiency impressed me." - Kehinde Wiley Although these days our lives are mostly confined within the domestic walls, the time will come again when we get to enjoy the thrill of being in a public space that has been elevated by art. You know, t

"When you see a gruesome picture over and over again, it really doesn’t have any effect." — Andy Warhol Warhol was an avid collector of newspapers, magazines and tabloids. He appropriated and manipulated the sometimes downright lurid news imagery to create his art, and this was the basis of his Death and Disasters series, which he started in 1962 (and which happens to be my favourite part of his oeuvre). Car crashes, people jumping to their deaths, race riots, as well as the

“Having an experience is taking part in the world. Taking part in the world is really about sharing responsibility.” – Olafur Eliasson I saw this dazzling installation in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, and I'd be lying if I said I remember what I experienced at the time - I'm drawing a blank. But for some 80 anti-war protesters, this humbling light-clad space became a stage on which they could voice their anger. It's 2003, American and British troops have invaded Iraq and P

"Political activity does not interfere with my work, it feeds it. And if I'm interested in racism and fighting racism, then that should show up—will show up—in my work.” - May Stevens A committed civil-rights activist and feminist, between 1967 and 1976 Stevens produced a series of paintings called Big Daddy, where she addressed and channelled her anger towards her own father's racist views. Painted at the end of that period, Dark Flag marks the 200th anniversary of the Decla

"I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for. " David Bowie, 2003 It's that time of year when the UK Cabinet Office Honours and Appointments Secretariat publishes the list of the recipients of the honours, of which some 2,000 are dished out every year. The honours system is designed to reward exceptional achievement or service, an entirely common and laudable practice. It's when we look at the titles that we realise t

Palm Springs is an odd place. It's a place of visual layers, a landscape that is both supremely monotonous and exceptionally soothing. Layers, I wouldn't know how else to describe them. The sizzling asphalt roads, the patches of perfectly-manicured lawns, the white walls of the low-rise houses, the skinny palm trees, the rocky backdrop of the San Jacinto mountains and, finally, the sky. I have seen it all turn pink at sunset and it was breathtaking. Those layers of clouds and