Latest posts
Crossing Boundaries: Three of the Best Films to See Right Now
This instalment of Something Curated’s ‘In Review’ features three independent films all featuring female characters on a quest: characters in the act of crossing – either physical or symbolic boundaries. Lina Soualem, director of Bye Bye Tiberias, crosses the threshold of memory delving into the history of her Palestinian family fractured by diaspora. In Levan…
The Story Behind Frida Kahlo’s Art-Filled Garden
Nestled in the Colonia del Carmen neighbourhood of Coyoacán, Mexico City, the Frida Kahlo Museum — known as La Casa Azul owing to its striking cobalt blue walls — stands as a testament to the life and artistry of the iconic Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. This historic home was not only her birthplace but also…
From Bulgarian Shepherds Fighting to Salvage a Centuries-Old Way of Life to a Giant of Hong Kong Literature – The Best Books to Read Right Now
It’s nice sometimes to not have a rigid plan and let yourself be guided by your intuition. This month I didn’t have solid candidates I was planning to review – except one, which then I ended up dropping – but I am happy with this list, which in many ways belies (all too well-established) reading…
Inside Neil Bedford’s Iconic Shot of Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant, 2015 As I sat on the plane from London to LA I couldn’t stop wondering why I’d been commissioned to shoot Kobe. I kept thinking: surely there’s someone in LA who would do a better job than me and cost considerably less in travel. As those thoughts played on my mind, I took…
Interviews
Deconstructing the Persian Miniature with Laila Tara H
Laila Tara H deconstructs the aesthetic framework of the Persian miniature tradition, hybridising historical painting methods with radically contemporary compositions and ideas. Her works interrogate the quiet politics of the domestic sphere and the tension that exists between the personal and public realm. Drawing from her Iranian heritage and peripatetic upbringing, her paintings manage to…
Interview: In the Studio with Zimbabwean Sculptor Terrence M...
Two years ago, GIDA embarked on a journey to tell creative stories from Africa that didn’t dominate the headlines. Instead, the platform sought to focus on the people and communities shaping the continent’s flourishing arts and cultural scenes. From artists and designers to writers and thinkers, GIDA celebrates those who make up the backbone of…
Wendy Red Star: “It’s Hard to Step Out of the Colonial...
Nourished by her upbringing on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, Wendy Red Star’s practice spans diverse outputs, including painting, photography, installation, performance and garment design. She was surrounded by creativity from a young age: her father was a rock musician, her uncle a painter, and her grandmother crafted traditional regalia. The Portland-based artist’s work…
On the Ingenuity of Musgum Architecture
An extraordinary example of indigenous engineering, the traditional architecture of the Musgum or Mulwi people — an ethnic group from Chad and Cameroon — has for centuries provided inhabitants with pragmatic and beautiful living solutions. Mostly found in the plains of Cameroon, where wood and stone are relatively scarce, these housing complexes are made from…
‘Crossing’ Review: A Stirring Study in Catharsis and Allyship
Crossing, the fourth feature film from Swedish-Georgian director and screenwriter Levan Akin, is at its heart an immersive quest for connection and catharsis. The film opens in Batumi, the port city on the Black Sea coast of Georgia where retired schoolteacher Lia (Mzia Arabuli) begins a journey to Istanbul accompanied by Achi (Lucas Kankava), a…
Political Activism and Indigenous Crafts Meet in the Practice of Pacita Abad
Mostly self-taught, Filipino-American artist Pacita Abad is best known for her trapuntos, quilted paintings made by stitching and stuffing her canvases. After moving to the United States in 1970 to escape political persecution from the authoritarian Marcos regime, Abad sought to give visibility to political refugees and oppressed peoples through her work. Born in Batanes,…
Pineapple Punch and the Importance of Delayed Gratification
This is the fifth and final post in a series of recipes taken from chef and author Marie Mitchell’s debut cookbook, Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen. Read Something Curated’s profile of Mitchell here, and find the recipes for a creamy squash, tomato and coconut curry, buss up shut roti and mango chow, and piña panna cotta from previous issues. The…
Guides
A Guide to Barcelona’s Best Bookshops
There are literally a million reasons to visit Barcelona. (Perhaps too many, as the city recently announced a crackdown on short-time AirBnb rentals as a way to curb tourists’ intake and soaring housing costs for residents). From its bars and restaurants to its beach, clubs and festivals – there are so many attractions, that it’s…
Where to Eat in Athens in 2024
Athens, the vibrant capital of Greece, has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last decade: It has emerged as the gastronomic hub of the country, drawing food enthusiasts from near and far. Situated in the heart of Greece, Athens enjoys easy access to the finest produce from all corners of the nation. As the largest…
Brat Green Summer, Explained
Released at the start of June, Charli XCX’s Brat can be said to be responsible for many things this summer: its song – a toss up between 360 or Everything is Romantic, according to TikTok. Its hot mess dress code – “a strappy white top with no bra”, as decreed by Charli herself. And –…
Other Cinemas: The Northwest London Film School Nurturing Non-White Voices
Established in the northwest London borough of Brent by filmmakers Turab Shah and Arwa Aburawa, Other Cinemas is a project born from the need for more equitable approaches to filmmaking, sharing, and education. Recognising these three elements as closely connected, Shah and Aburawa’s work aims to forge a vital and inclusive alternative to the existing landscape…
Where to Eat in Hamburg in 2024
Hamburg is a city of dualisms. On one side, on the river Elbe, is the port with the ancient history of the Hanseatic League and the port society of workers, social battles and cultural exchanges. On the other, in the city center, is the Alster, a small river from which two artificial lakes were created,…
What Is Paleontology? By a Leading Paleontologist
Fossils stir people’s imaginations. Dinosaurs continue to be one of the main attractions of museums across the world, drawing crowds fascinated by these ancient creatures. Following a devastating fire that destroyed 85% of the collection of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ — the largest museum of natural history and anthropology in Brazil — the institution has recently…
Deconstructing ‘Finance Bro’, the Look
Think of a city worker and you’ll likely think of a smart striped shirt worn with a tie and one of those ubiquitous Succession-adjacent gilets. But, in 2024, the signals are switching, or glitching. Enter ‘Finance Bro’, the look — some of the above garms taken up by the fashion-conscious, creative classes to cosplay someone…
From The Archive
The Studio Museum In Harlem Director & Chief Curator Th...
Thelma Golden is Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, the world’s leading institution devoted to visual art by artists of African descent. Golden began her career as a Studio Museum intern in 1987. The following year, she joined the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she launched her influential curatorial practice….
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….