Writing blog tour

Thanks to Penny Boxall for inviting me to take part in this writing blog tour! What am I writing on?  At the moment I am obsessed with anything to do with identity, history and visual art: Matisse’s colourful cutouts, butterflies, lost keys, misplaced library books, children’s innocent remarks, train journeys when one looks out of

Review: If We Could Speak Like Wolves

Published by Smith/Doorstop by Poetry Business this year, Kim Moore’s newly launched poetry pamphlet draws the reader in with hypnotic power and builds a seamless transition between truth and fable. Watch out for the curious balance between enchantment and danger in ‘The Wolf’: ‘the one who eats chalk to make his words / as white

Yohji Yamamoto

I went to see Yohji Yamamoto‘s current show at the V&A, his first UK solo exhibition. There in a room of white light, you see the sheer simplicity of clean lines and shades of red, black and white, whispering fashion. It isn’t the size that undermines the exhibition but rather the want of a compelling narrative.

The candid work of Japanese artist and printmaker Emiko Aida

I came across Emiko Aida‘s art prints first at the International Art Fair this year in Royal College of Art, and later at the art print specialist shop For Art’s Sake in Ealing. A 60x40cm aquatint art print called Reverie in the Rain caught my attention. A girl is asleep, in the background a verdant

Arab world in Knightsbridge, London

The London Evening Standard reported a traffic accident of two Arab drivers crashing their Lamborghinis in the streets in Knightsbridge, London, damaging four other expensive cars along the way. Allegedly from wealthy families in Abu Dhabi, these car owners reassured shocked passers-by that they would pay for the damages. Two weeks ago, we had stood

Dutch eco-design: uncomfortable stories of the pigs and sheep

I am drawn by the work by a Dutch designer, Christien Meindertsma, who made her name with the pig book project, hinting at the residue traces of slaughtered pigs in the products made for human activities and comfort: beer, chewing gums, glue, bread softener…The pig’s yellow earplug affixed to the chic book cover is hugely

The unhappy Kate Winslet and the course of true love never did run smooth

I was very upset to find out the split of Kate Winslet and her partner Sam Mendes. To me, they resemble what we all want: love life, fame, wealth and family. That personal ambition and family life can go hand in hand. Now we find out the truth, that even Kate has been unhappy in