What Is Pichwai?
Pichwai art is a detailed and devotional form of textile painting that began in the 17th century in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India. This temple town became an important centre for the worship of Krishna, an Indian deity, particularly within the Pushtimarg sect of Vaishnavism, a branch of Hinduism. These intricately decorated textiles are traditionally hung behind…
The Best New Music Across the World, This Month
May doesn’t whisper – it strikes a chord. As spring pushes everything into bloom, music answers with urgency, depth and friction. Albums turn inward, festivals reimagine space and protests echo through the industry. It’s not just a month of releases – it’s a season of resistance, ritual and reinvention. And since last month, the pulse…
The Brazilian Artist Forcing Us to Look Into Each Other’s Eyes
A pioneer of “objetos relacionais” – “relational objects” in English – Brazilian artist Lygia Clark’s interactive sculptures blur the lines between art and body, recasting the viewer as participant. Born in 1920 in Belo Horizonte, a city surrounded by mountains in southeastern Brazil, Clark, formally trained in painting, became closely associated with the Brazilian Constructivist…
Wired Headphones Are Cool Again
When it comes to technology, we live in a world where the assumption is that newer is better, that we always need the upgrade, the latest gadget. So when a trend comes along that disrupts this truism, it feels amusing. It’s also, perhaps at a push, a little bit of resistance to Big Tech, a…
An Interview With Filmmaker Beatrice Minger: the Story of Ei...
If to some people E.1027 might sound like a bug to be avoided or an additive in food, architecture fans will smile in recognition. This is the name of the house in France’s Côte d’Azur designed by lovers Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici in the late twenties. The house, its architects and its legacy is…
“The Future Is in Clay”: A Conversation with Contemporary It...
Born in 1947 in a small Piedmont village, Giuseppe Penone might be Italy’s most important contemporary artist working today. A key member of the Arte Povera movement, Penone started out with a group of young Italian artists spearheaded by curator and critic Germano Celant who in the late 1960s sought to critique consumerism and industrialism…
Mythmaking in the Information Age: In Conversation with Eunj...
Bringing together a body of work that blends 3D animation, mythology and ecological speculation, South Korean artist and filmmaker Eunjo Lee returns to her alma mater—where she graduated just last year—for a solo exhibition at Goldsmiths CCA. The presentation, titled Before the Shadow Taught the Sun, is part of the gallery’s Episodes series, a programme…
Hans and René: The Story of a Pioneering Ice Cream Shop in Lagos
Hans and René is a boutique gelateria, cafe and bakery. What began life as a cupcake bakery in 2015, over the course of the last decade, it has grown into one of Nigeria’s most celebrated gelato spots, with multiple locations across Lagos and Abuja. Why Gelato? Initially, it was a simple realisation. Founder, Mrs. Tayo…
‘More Than Nostalgia’: A New London Exhibition Celebrates the Cultural Importance of the Pub
Walk down any London street on a Thursday evening right now, and you’ll see people spilling out of pubs, pints swilling with the possibility and potential of life, and just a bit of silliness. Contrast that, then, with any news story on the fate of these institutions. According to The Guardian, 34 pubs shut every…
Lee Kun-Yong and the Birth of the Korean Avant-Garde
A man stands in the middle of a field and draws a circle on the ground. Facing the interior of the circle, he points and says, “there.” He then steps inside the circle, points again, and declares, “here.” After exiting the circle, he points back to it and calls it “over there.” Walking around the…
After Representing Lebanon in Venice, Mounira Al Solh Brings Her Feminist Archaeology Home to Beirut
Mounira Al Solh’s solo exhibition, Stray Salt, on view at Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Beirut until 1 August 2025, marks the artist’s homecoming after representing Lebanon at the 60th Venice Biennale. In Beirut’s downtown port district, a site fraught with history and trauma, Al Solh probes and rewrites the stories that have long defined women’s roles…
Queer East Festival Returns to London This April and May: 6 ...
For its sixth and most expansive edition to date, Queer East Festival returns to London this spring with a vibrant celebration of queer cinema, performance, and visual culture from East and Southeast Asia – and, for the first time, Central and South Asia. With over 100 titles and a bold new strand spotlighting diasporic stories…
Five Books to Keep This Easter Interesting
Easter is one of those times where even people who don’t usually have time to read feel like it is time to relax and spend a few hours in the company of a book. Here are five suggestions to keep those hours fun and, more often than not, more than a little weird. VANISHING WORLD,…
A Guide to Fuorisalone — Milan Design Week
Imagine lounging on a Maralunga sofa while sipping a cocktail from a Kartell glass, as Flos lamps play with the light around you. Imagine you are in Milan – from the charming Brera district to the fashion quadrilateral, from the historic Duomo square to the picturesque Navigli, and on to the dynamic Tortona neighbourhood. Every…
Tirana and Durres: The Places to be in Europe Right Now
If there’s one country in Europe quietly roaring toward an economic boom, it’s Albania. Over the past decade, continental investors and sun-seekers alike have discovered this Balkan upstart, enticed by its untapped potential and warm hospitality. Perched on the Adriatic with toes dipped in the Ionian, Albania is just a 45-minute ferry hop from Corfu—and…
Vienna Through Performance: Opera, Actionism, SPARK Art Fair and Beyond
My encounters with the city of Vienna have always led me to performance, in a broad spectrum of this term. Over a decade ago, I was working for a men’s luxury magazine and I was invited to the opera ball, an annual event at the Vienna State Opera. Dancing debutantes, normally of upper-class heritage, waltzed…
How to Make Rodrigo Cervantes’ Chilaquiles Rojos – a Crunchy, Soggy, Perfect Hangover Cure
The quintessential Mexican breakfast for hangover… well maybe every Mexican breakfast is a hangover cure. But I like this one because it’s simple. As for every recipe I try to put down into words, this one is flexible and open to individual resourcefulness. My brother loved this place in Mexico City called Chilakillers… I know……
Available Works Returns to WSA with Rare Books, Music, and Performance Art
This month, from 16-18 May, art book fair Available Works returns to New York for its fourth and most expansive iteration yet. The event will take over the 39th floor of 180 Maiden Lane for a weekend of printed matter, live music, art, and cultural programming. Presented by Something Special Studios* and Water Street Associates…
Meet Harris Dickinson, the Compelling Lead Actor of ‘B...
British actor Harris Dickinson plays the lead role in Eliza Hittman’s critically acclaimed Beach Rats, which chronicles a young man’s struggle with his sexuality over the course of a summer, amid the stultifying machismo of outer Brooklyn. Opening in select theatres on 24 November, the film follows Frankie, portrayed by Dickinson, as he roams the…
Interview: Ernesto Neto On Gravity, Togetherness & The ...
Since the 1990s, Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto has produced an inimitable body of work that is in equal parts informed by sensuality and spirituality. Inspired by the Brazilian Conceptualists Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica, as well as biomorphism, Minimalism and Arte Povera, Neto’s works engage all of our senses while asserting the human body as…
SC Exclusive: Notes on a Siren — a Film Essay by Justice Jam...
Director Justice Jamal Jones joins myth with modern themes of Black queerness and trans identity in their latest film, Notes on a Siren. Presented by Something Curated, and exclusively premiering on the site, the film was shot on location at Palm Heights in Grand Cayman. Jones expands on the thinking behind their mesmerising work below….