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Image courtesy of Iñaki del Olmo for Unsplash I know I’m a little late to the game for 2026 reading suggestions, but I hope I’m not alone in feeling a post-Goodreads challenge burnout in February, especially amidst the assessment period cram. Anyhow, I was inspired by this burnout to help curate Goodreads to-be-read-piles this year to fight the post-challenge blues. The ‘new literary canon’ would seem like contradictory wording when the modern literary world has been so inte

Photo courtesy of Victoria Orozco via the Unsplash license As we turn our calendars to February, I’m sure many of us have in mind the much-loved (pun intended) Valentine's Day. If you’re reading this article, I’m assuming that you are a like-minded soul who is also going to be single on the 14th, with no lover in sight. Don’t worry, I’m right there with you. As a former Valentine's Day hater, every time February would creep up on me, I used to think: great – for the next th

Low-rise denim hugs the hips under dim party lighting, bodies moving through thick, heavy air. Perfectly drawn eyeliner softens into smeared shadows, sequins catching flashes of purple as faux-fur coats slip from bare shoulders on cold campus nights. In Tell Me Lies, the late 2000s return not as a glossy Y2K fantasy, but as something raw, emotional

Photo by Stephanie Diani In an ever-increasingly heated global socio-political landscape, it is essential to platform the voices of the unheard and censored. Nominated for Best International Film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, and winner of Silver Yusr Feature Film at Red Sea International Film Festival, Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You has emerged in an exceptionally essential and polarising time. The film is Dabis’ third feature, created by her own US-based pro

The Standard called it “a feast for the eyes and the mind,” while The Guardian described it as “a mucky joy to behold.” Despite its modest-sounding premise, 'Dirty Looks' curated by Karen Van Godtsenhoven, is one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have ever visited. Highly relevant too, considering I had just read Susan Strasser's Waste and Want in December (worth the read if you're interested in sustainability and design.)

Photo Courtesy of Hilary Woods Irish musician, analogue filmmaker and writer Hilary Woods has always treated music as a lived, bodily practice rather than a fixed form. Born in Dublin, Woods first came to prominence as the bassist in JJ72 , before carving out a solo path that blurs the lines between song, sound art, text and image. Across her work, music becomes a sensorial space where memory, feeling and physical presence collide. Released on 31 October 2025 via Sacred Bone

Photo Courtesy of Imogen Thomas Formed in Melbourne in 2011, These New South Whales have spent the past decade carving out a space where punk urgency, sharp humour, and community-first thinking coexist. From recording their earliest material in a WWII bunker in Western Sydney to touring across Europe and earning an ARIA nomination for their 2022 self-titled album, the band has always followed instinct over expectation. Their latest record, GODSPEED , released at the end of No

The National Portrait Gallery brings together an unprecedented number of artworks from Lucien Freud, one of the 20th century's most prominent figurative painters. Tracing the creative process from sketches to completed paintings, this exhibition creates a tender portrayal of the life cycle and the art of portrait.

Haute Couture Week is a battle of craftsmanship and creativity. A space in which designers convey abstract motifs through their collections. In Jonathan Anderson’s debut at Dior, it became immediately clear that his design language was not contingent on his work at Loewe. While he retains a sense of playful elegance and trompe l’œil elements, this collection stood as a defining moment of Haute Couture Week in its own right.

On my last call of the day with Ma, I hear from miles away about the family gathering on the floor, as is customary across Bengali households, and chat over the steam and smell of masala chai and vegetable croquettes. I smile, and try to make do with the last piece of gulab jamun tucked at a corner in my fridge.