Difference of opinion does not mandate the forking of right and wrong. This issue compiles texts on reimagining justice through sisterhood & solidarity amidst patriarchal backlash; artists’ self-centeredness vs their pathos; double barrier of caste in an unequal society; layers of culture and identity in Western society; invisible labour of care in producing; featuring editorials by Elham Rahmati & Vidha Saumya; essays by Sheherazade Amin, Anurag Minus Verma; reviews by Wambui Njuguna-Räisänen, Ndéla Faye; poem by Priyanka Paul.
Directness is a desirable quality and very hard to possess, and not just for an artist, no need to nod yet, I have just started talking about directness and why it’s natural to feel like an imposter.
READEditorial / April 2022
On “promoting” the values they advocate for in their artwork, not when they’re trending but when they’re not, and the wish to have the freedom to speak one’s mind instead of feigning agreeability.
The 2022 Aurat March ‘Reimagining Justice’ theme encourages the Pakistani society and the State to reimagine legal, economic, and environmental justice to align with a feminist future. It asks that a new and more inclusive perspective of justice be envisioned, expanding its definitions beyond the limited ones granted under the patriarchal system and its legislation.
READAurat March: Reimagining Justice Through Sisterhood & Solidarity
Sheherazade Amin articulates the significance of a feminist movement envisioned with an inclusive perspective of justice.
One of the reasons why the sports genre is fascinating is that behind the facade of entertainment, it has many layers of subtext and symbolism attached to it. A well-made sports film hides more than what it reveals. This is why looking deeply at this genre can uncover many nuances and tell us a lot about nationhood, communities, politics, and society.
READWinning The ‘Toss’: A Look At Who Gets A Sports Biopic In India
Anurag Minus Verma asks whose struggle gets a film in an unequal society such as India where caste can privilege as well as oppress.
I’ve never felt comfortable exploring my sexuality, and I think I need to engage in this aspect of my creative life. I’m worn, strained and feel a need to revitalise myself. What I’m doing here is an attempt to come to terms with my curiosity. But I might be overdoing it. Instead of working with my issues, I’m jumping in headfirst and committing a public sex act to get over it. We all have to start somewhere, right?
READPersonal Decamerone
Eero Yli-Vakkuri on considering sex work as artistic practice.
Third Culture Kids Suomi Finland teases out the multidimensional layers of culture and identity. What does it mean to be born in Finland and know Finland as your place of residence and socialization, to be a native Finnish speaker and be spoken to in English, to have a white Finnish parent, and get asked where one is really from? What does this do to one’s sense of belonging?
READTell Your Story, Though Your Voice May Shake: a review of Third Culture Kids Suomi Finland
How is Finland’s shifting demographics influencing different ways of seeing, experiencing, and moving through life?
The Real Housewives franchise has a special place in my heart: it’s a beautiful, messy, infuriating mixture of entertainment and escapism. It’s almost like a twisted sociological experiment where rich people’s vacuous thoughts, money obsessions, and malignant narcissism are exposed.
READThe Real Housewives Franchise: series of problematic -isms and car-crash TV at its finest
Through reviewing the “Real Housewives” franchise, Ndéla Faye analyzes the fine line between escapism and voyeurism.
I try to balance my practice between what I think is important to discuss politically and what feels enjoyable for me in life. The topics I end up making films about are those that combine these two things. I think I’m good at describing something by bringing together images, sounds, and words.
READ“Most of the time, it’s just a wonderful thing”: conversation with August Joensalo
Orlan Ohtonen talks to August Joensalo about how gender is represented in an image and how that could be changed.
Like a well-functioning infrastructure, producing is an invisible labour of care, resourcefulness, and passion for the project at hand. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes, and often the producer is the last to be acknowledged. Few people in the cultural sector are as industrious yet deeply affectionate as Lisa Kalkowski. Lisa is one of the few people whose interest in the projects she’s producing is as important as the project’s ethics. She has a penchant for learning languages, is a dance enthusiast, a problem solver, and a stress-diffuser.
READOn Working with Friction and Confrontation: Conversation with Lisa Kalkowski
Lisa Kalkowski shares her objectives and challenges of working as a producer in the field of art in Helsinki.
READI wake up on somedays In houses with patched walls And a bucket with water in the middle of nowhere On beds with no sheets And stamped up cockroaches at the edge of the bed My hand’s in a pile of ash And my glasses are lost in someone else’s hair I smell smoke and hear snores The only clean thing in the room is a gleaming red guitarFriends and their homes
A poem and artwork by Priyanka Paul.
