CUB 551 by CUB Magazine

CUB

ISSUE 551

ISSUE 551 SECTION GUIDE

2 // The Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Letter 4 // London 6 // Arts 14 // Film 20 // Features 26 // Arts & Culture Explained 28 // Music 34 // Style 40 // Photography 44 // Columns 48 // The Team

ISSUE 551 - Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Letter

Wilkommen Bienvenue Welcome By the time you are reading this we will either be a mere few hours away from choosing our next illustrious leader, or that lucky individual will have been announced. The team will also have made it through (dignity in tact?!) the QMSU Awards evening where members who have contributed in an outstanding way will be celebrated. To me the arrival of these two events are a terrifying display of how fast time really does fly by before the party comes to an end. I would like to take this space to say a massive thank you to all who have contributed to CUB this year, whether in online or print, as an editor, a writer or photographer. My editorial team in particular have exceeded my expectations, continually proving that I am not the only person who cares for this magazine a little bit too much. The support of the QMSU staff has also been beyond what I could have hoped for - thank you boys (lads). Our never ending attempt to try and engage with more of the student body was supported this issue by the Arts & Culture Fund; they were generous enough to provide us with full funding to print. To honour this we have attempted to highlight some of the excellent work they do with other students, societies and our Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union in our Features section. We have tried to explain exactly how you can access this fund to support a

project so that more people are aware of what is available. Hopefully this will lead to more inspiring developments in the future. Working to the theme of ‘Crossing Cultural Boundaries’ was a challenge everyone took up with vigour, and the results are stunning. We spoke to the team behind the ‘Humans of Queen Mary’ Facebook page, whose desire to document life should encourage all to pay more attention to the people who surround us. Pieces can also be found on the impact of Scandinavian style in Hollywood, London’s best Queer nights and the finale in our map series of our capital. We also ran a photography competition to try and publicise the different creative slant of this issue - our favourite entries are to be found printed inside, as well as the name of the winner. Thank you to all who entered. This year has taught me how much you can achieve with some passion and determination. To truly care about something can be a scary roller coaster of an experience, but I have learnt so much and would not change a thing. My parting words of wisdom come from Baz Luhrmann: ‘Do one thing everyday that scares you.’ If I hadn’t have done exactly that one day last March then I would not be writing this right now. Good luck to all who follow on from here and thank you so much for the support.

AufWiedersehen Au Revoir Goodbye 3

Illustration: Stephanie Wood

LONDON

London editor Anna Thornton reveals her highlights of South London

2: Ovalhouse Theatre:

6: Begging Bowl:

a fantastic theatre,

restaurant, with lovely

which supports

food at a reasonable

subversive and

price. An interesting

experimental work.

menu, combining

They also have

traditional ingredients

a small gallery

and British seasonal

space, and free or

vegetables. Most of

discounted tickets

the dishes are for

for students.

sharing, so there is a

a Thai street food

lively atmosphere.

3: Corsica Studios: regularly hosts

7: Frank’s cafe:

incredible live DJs,

only open during

best to book in

high summer, this

advance to avoid

unique bar/restaurant

long queues. Great

is located on top

sound system, intense

of a parking lot in

atmosphere.

Peckham. It may not sound terribly

4: Tate Modern:

glamorous, but the

obvious choice but if

food is delicious,

you haven’t been, you

the cocktails aren’t

should. Home to one of

expensive and it has

the best contemporary

an unparalleled view

art collections in the

of London.

world. The café at views of the Thames

8: Greenwich Observatory:

and central London.

the origin of

the top has amazing

Greenwich Mean Time, the Greenwich

buzzing with cafés,

5: Peckham Platform:

market stalls,

community art space

beautiful building

independent shops

that aims at bringing

surrounded by

and jerk chicken

together artists to

Greenwich park.

restaurants, Brixton is

promote and develop

There is a planetarium

a great place to enjoy

their work. Regular

too, for the starry

a cool spring day.

art exhibitions, film

eyed amongst you. .

1: Brixton Village:

screenings, interesting lectures and there is a nice café.

Observatory is a

A Book with a View of the World: LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION Words: Alainna Georgiou When many of us think of powerful literature, or great books, we think perhaps of English writers such as Dickens and the Brontё sisters. Or perhaps we think of some fairly amazing American authors; Ernest Hemmingway springs to mind. Yet literature from around the world provides readers with a plethora of masterpieces. Reading literature in translation (or if you’re linguistically talented, in its original) is an amazing experience in itself. Where to begin? Please allow me to take you through a few of my favourites. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel This Mexican bestseller is a novel with a difference. Each chapter comes in monthly instalments in the form of traditional Mexican recipes, listing the ingredients you need to make the dish. The narrative of that chapter then blurs the boundary between the realistic cookbook form and the imaginary lives of the De La Garza family. In this way, Mexican tradition and culture positively seep through the novel, which at its core is a love story. The true beauty of this novel comes from the magical realism Esquivel uses to create her story, and, of course, from the food imagery which rises like an aroma from the pages. No reader can escape the delicious descriptions of the Northern-style Chorizo, or the homely Cream Fritters, nor can they escape the wild passion between Tita and Pedro. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink Translated from the German, The Reader encapsulates ideas of love, forgiveness and heartbreak. The narrative follows Michael Berg as he falls in love with an older woman and learns about the complexities of life. Set against the Holocaust war crime trials, the book explores the pain of post-war German generations as they attempt to comprehend the horror of the Holocaust. Schlink successfully creates a narrative which is searching, poignant and asks many pertinent questions. Can you continue to love someone who has committed horrific crimes? This is a read that will stay with you for many years. 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo Translated from the Chinese, this short and idiosyncratic book follows Fengfang as she struggles to create a life for herself in the whirling city of Beijing. Working as a film extra and living off of UFO instant noodles, Fengfang’s narrative moves between the often bizarre encounters she has with men (directors and lovers alike) and her recollections of village life. Each chapter starts with a quirky photograph of the city, giving this book a unique feel. Ultimately a novella about a young woman engulfed by a relentless city, this book is startling original, darkly comic and honestly written. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende This critically acclaimed and widely translated novel spans four generations of a Chilean family. Often difficult to read, due to Allende’s brutal depictions of violence against women, this novel is equally just as beautiful and breath-taking. The narrative blends feminist and wider political thoughts with magical realism and universal ideas of love and war. Allende’s descriptions are powerfully lyrical and do not shy away from the unsettling, the unnerving or the shocking. This book continues to grip readers and has become an international bestseller.

ARTS

THE FULL SPECTRUM Words: Alice Owen

With the continued stimulating backdrop as a huge 3D squared blackboard and the chalk as the character’s

As viewers of elaborately crafted performance, we are

guiding tool, we see the comfort of Christopher’s home

accustomed to receiving a production as a manifestation

as a series of clean-cut straight lines with perfectly

of lifestyle. The actors’ words and conviction being enough

measured ninety degree corners. Like the rest of us,

for our mentally painted pictures and artificial empathy

Christopher understands and accepts the minimalism

for our favourite characters. Feeling satisfied, we often

of familiar environment. However, as soon as he moves

walk away from the West End with an air of ‘I’m so

into the obscure, the senses come into formidable force.

cultured!’ but when that culture is unknown, the weight

The simplicity of a train station is transformed into a

of the performance is carried by much more than a set

state

of decent actors.

train station as an epicentre of cacophony, we see the

chaotic

over-stimulation.

Representing

the

Photos: opposite page c/o First English & Perfection Learning, this page c/o Brinkhoff Mogenburg

habitual phrases ‘mind the gap’, ‘train approaching’ and Cue the imaginative and thought-provoking National

‘tickets please’ appearing in shadowy fonts and booming

Theatre adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog

voices; each of them intermix in a confusing pattern, both

in the Night-Time, the book written by Mark Haddon.

visually and aurally. It is this, that gives us the best idea of

The performance is neat yet intriguing, and makes us

what it is like to be Christopher. We are looking out into

question the way in which we are encouraged to view

a confusing world that we do not quite understand and

the world. This is achieved by a fascinating multi-sensory

the simple act of communication cannot even bring us

approach

manipulates

any comfort. Yet throughout the play, communication is

everything that we believe about theatre. In this world,

present more so than ever - it just looks a little different

the audio dimension and large-scale visuals speak for

to the way we imagine it.

where

the

National

Theatre

the perplexity that certain people feel whilst stumbling through their lives.

It is this which elevates the adaptation from just another ‘based on the book’ storyline to a genuine piece of

The story is told through the eyes of protagonist

theatrical

Christopher Boone, a genius teenage mathematician who

indicates traits of autism, a hypothesis from which author

uses his precise knowledge of algebra as an underpinning

Haddon wants to detract. Speaking on the matter, he

of social relationships and communication, an area which

insists: ‘this is not a book about disability. It is a book

provides great challenges. We first see this when entering

about difference.’ We may not know what it is truly like to

the theatre: I found a white sheet draped across my

live in the mind of an autistic boy, but we all experience

designated seat. A note from Christopher himself, it read

the notions of the familiar and the unknown. A deserved

‘this seat is a prime number. I like prime numbers because

winner of seven Olivier awards, The Curious Incident

they are only divisible by one and themselves.’ This was

of the Dog in the Night-Time simply presents our fears

an audience interaction not deserving of a cinema screen

in a different way where the term ‘autistic spectrum’

and gave us a taste of the logic and reason in the mind of

is extended to a ‘spectrum of stimulation;’ a scale with

an awkward character.

which we can all identify.

art.

Unmentioned

until

now,

Christopher

What do two Biochemistry students, a geographer, a History student, a History & English student and a pharmaceutical chemist all have in common? This may sound like a bad joke, but they all make up the mysterious, anonymous team behind the Humans of Queen Mary Facebook page. The team has been taking photos of students, holding conversations with them, then uploading the photo and a snippet of their story on to Facebook. HANNAH BALLARD went to meet the mystery group and ask them a few questions... CUB: So first up, why do you want to be kept anonymous? Ta: First of all, in terms of approaching people I think it’s kind of less interesting if people know who you are as you walk up to them and know what to expect. S: We were also inspired by Humans of New York. One of the rules of HONY is that you can’t ask to be photographed, you have to be approached, so we said that we wanted to keep it uh... Z: Organic? S: Yeah, organic. Ti: I was alright to not being anonymous. But being totally anonymous could be a bit dodgy. Ta: It’s got its advantages and disadvantages.

like when you find out you share something, but you can’t tell much just by looking at someone. It’s always fascinating just to think like, about what people have done, what they’re going through; you just don’t know. Ti: People are like books; everyone has a story, about what has happened to them. You look at people and want to read them. I’m an empathetic person, and interested in other people, but I’m not confident enough to always approach people. This venture is an effort to increase my confidence and to get to know people and understand their stories.

CUB: And what initially inspired you to set up the page? Ta: Overall I think the reason that we all wanted to do it is because QM is quite different to other London universities, as it’s a campus so you get more of a community feel. We don’t know everyone, so it’s just building on that sense of community we already have. S: Yeah I agree, I mean the strangers that go past you every day, they are all humans, they all have ambitions, they all have worries or whatever, and just by taking a photograph and having a brief conversation, we can maybe, you know, shed some light on that. Z: We are all united in one goal, which is education, and yet we differ so much. There’s something beautiful about how you pass so many people in one day and you spend the entire time thinking about what you’re going to do, and where you’re going in life, and sometimes you glance over at someone and they’re sitting there thinking almost as deeply as you are. Ta: Also, there’s something that strikes with people,

CUB: What are you hoping to achieve with this project? Z: I don’t think we set out with like, a particular goal in mind, like a certain milestone. I just thought it’d be amazing to share people’s stories and different insights into people’s thinking and beliefs. S: I think the main question people always ask is ‘why am I doing this?’ I think if you have to ask that question then it’s clearly not worth your time. I didn’t have to ask myself that, I thought it would be fun and fulfilling, and I thought it might teach me something. Ti: Well I’m quite interested in people’s stories; I like to get to know people, and thought this was a great way to do that. Ta: I agree with Ti but also, it’s all about seeing people as humans rather than like a student, or a statistic. When you look at their stories and stuff, the more you realise you have in common with people.

ARTS conversation with; if you can’t hold a conversation then you most likely won’t be able to get a very good quote out of them. Ta: You have to connect. S: I approach people I want to photograph. I want someone who’s looking down, who’s mesmerised with something, someone who looks busy. Probably a bad time to ask someone for their time as clearly they don’t have any to give.

Photo: c/o Humans of Queen Mary

CUB: How has student response been , have you had any challenges? And has anyone said no? Z: Yeah, well when you set out to do something like this, you’re going to be faced with a lot of no’s. S: We spoke to bin men and they would not stop for a minute to speak with us, but on the same day we ran into Ricardo. We asked him what’s been on his mind lately and he said ‘oh I’m rewriting my first novel’ and I was like, wow. What luck. But we had to run into a few no’s before we could get this. Ta: Yeah that’s the thing, not giving up Ti: Once, we were trying to get photos, and I had my camera around my neck. We were going up to people like, ‘hey, do you have a minute?’, and they’re like ‘nope nope nope’. I think people make assumptions about the camera. S: I think people can sometimes be a bit taken aback because this is quite a new thing. Ta: But all the people we’ve photographed have been so positive about the project, no one’s been negative about it, well, to my face. Ti: My biggest challenge is ‘approach anxiety,’ I just get quite nervous about going up to people.

CUB: Who has been your favourite person to photograph so far? Ti: I don’t want to show favouritism... Z: It’s like choosing your favourite child! Ta: Well I’m going to say Kim, because he was the first ‘human.’ S: By doing this I’ve actually cemented a lot of friendships and I’m glad I’ve met these people. CUB: Would you personally want to be photographed? *General agreement* Z: But I’d find it difficult to say something that sounds insightful and inspiring. Ti: It doesn’t have to be inspiring. S: It depends the question you ask. Ti: I’d totally be cool with it, that’s one of the reasons I’m doing it. Ta: I’d worry about saying something you don’t want to be shared with a lot of people. CUB: What quote would you give then? Ti: We don’t ask for a quote, we have a conversation and just take a snippet. Ta: And we always check it’s okay to put online. Z: Yeah, sometimes it can be a personal, intimate experience, when you open up to someone and you share something. And I think that is what’s so amazing; the ability to open up and share is a very human thing to do.

CUB: How do you select people to photograph? Ta: I think we all have different approaches... Ti: Generally, they have to look approachable, not busy and something about them has to catch my eye; like an different style or they’re doing something interesting and I want to ask them about it. Z: It has to be someone you think you can hold a

STARDUST David Bailey @ National Portrait Gallery

ARTS

David Bailey CBE is relevant to your life for an abundance of reasons. Chances are that when you think of a truly iconic celebrity, it is one of his images that will immediately come to mind. You may not even be aware of him, but this is what makes David Bailey a true master of our time. Few photographers can really boast such a revealing feat; an almost creative monopoly over the iconic. Born in Leytonstone (in the next street to Alfred Hitchcock) and living in East Ham from the age of three, Bailey adopted the East End as one of his photographic stomping grounds before going on to notable work for Vogue (during the heat of the ‘swinging sixties’) and a host of other projects. He has since become one of the world’s most celebrated photographers. Stardust is the largest exhibition of David Bailey’s portraits and brings together over 300 prints spanning the entirety of Bailey’s career to date. The portraits have been personally selected and arranged by the photographer and show an all-encompassing array of actors, writers, musicians, fashion icons, models, artists and other subjects encountered on his travels. The exhibition, which takes up the majority of the National Portrait Gallery’s ground floor, sees an effective mixture of photography dedicating rooms and spaces to subjects and topics. From ‘The Rolling Stones’ to ‘Papua New Guinea,’ Stardust, as the gallery director emphasizes, is a great chance for the public (who may still be unaware of David Bailey) to explore his work beyond initial iconic images. On entering the exhibition, nothing prepares you for the sheer variety of celebrities on offer, but also the sense of familiarity the images possess. The surrounding walls play host to everyone from Kate Moss to Nelson Mandela, Karl Lagerfeld to Michael Caine, with a few personal favourites standing out. Fellow Eastender and iconic war photographer Don McCullin is captured in perfect black and white contrast; a slightly harrowing look in his Photo: c/o engyles/flickr

eyes reflecting the horror he has so often observed in the field. Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones is also a really interesting figure in Bailey’s work. As opposed to the iconic shots of Mick we know and love, for me the usually discrete Watts provided the highlights in the Stones room. Elsewhere an Andy Warhol and David Bailey in-bed selfie is worth looking out for as well as the ‘go to’ shot of infamous East End Gangsters: The Krays. ‘Human Skull and Blue Roses’ is another slightly chilling but beautiful photograph highlighting David’s talents and composition away from portraiture in the conventional ‘alive’ sense. A reminder present throughout Stardust is the fact that the East End has never left David Bailey. Whether it is his series of London ‘hard men’ or the long wall dedicated to the nightclubs, people and areas of Tower Hamlets, our beloved East End is an area of the world he holds dear. Colour prints show personal portraits of unknown characters side by side with the black and white bombed out rubble of the London Bailey grew up with. These pictures are showcased with the same importance as a glamorous snap of Bridget Bardot or a career defining shot of Johnny Depp. This exhibition is David Bailey - it is an access all areas look into a vast collection of images that span a broad and exciting career. In residence until 1st June, this looks to be one of the exhibitions of 2014 that everyone ought to visit. The gallery is open daily until 5pm, or 8pm on a Thursday & Friday. Student tickets are £12

Words: Davey Brett

YOU BEAUTIFUL THING.

CUB: How do you come up with the initial idea for a project?

Caitlin Hazell is an illustrator whose work is

CH: I always have lots of ideas, mainly stemming

a daring and often humorous exploration of

from quirky things I find in the everyday, which is

femininity, working in various mediums such as

why keeping a journal to record things is helpful.

collage, clothing, installation and illustration. Inspired by feminism, Hazell’s work often

CUB:

mixes feminine ‘girly’ signifiers with strong

drawings and collage – are they inspiration for

messages of equality. Her diverse and visually

future projects or just a record of time spent? I love

captivating approach has seen her work being

the way you record everything, from photographing

featured in Oh Comely and Rookie Magazine,

strangers you see on a train, to things you see on

whilst still studying art at college. Laura Maw

the pavement. Do you keep written diaries too?

caught up with her to ask about inspirations

CH: They’re a mix of everything - inspiration,

and projects old and new...

ideas, notes, receipts, drawings, and if I can, printed

You

keep

Moleskine

every

month

photos. I used to keep a written diary but it’s just easier to have everything all in one place. On

ARTS

hearing

journals,

load

keep

relatives gave me journals and diaries for Christmas, so I started 2014 tackling three. It’s hard to write every day. A Moleskine gives no pressure of filling specific dates or times, so I go to it whenever and wherever. CUB: One of my favourite works of yours was your one day project on ‘Instability’ where you chose to represent the instability of the female body. I also remember your work on ‘Nipple Censorship’, a

nipple

stitched

onto

white bra, which I thought was incredible. Is feminism something that particularly influences your art? CH:

Thank

Feminism

you

does

again!

influence

me; as a woman I want to represent my sex and the problems

that

face.

Recently I was in my local Waterstones and the lack of books on female artists disgusted me; I’m working on something to do with that at the moment. CUB: Something I love about your work is that it overlaps

Photos: c/o Cailtin Hazell & rookiemag.com

many

artistic

techniques

– you work with fabric and installation, video,

this partially inspired by Frank Warren’s Postsecret

paint, collage, photography – was this a conscious

project? There’s something so amazing about a

decision or is there one thing you prefer to work on?

handwritten letter, particularly one from a stranger!

CH: It’s a very conscious decision, I hate feeling

CH: I took part in the Oh Comely ‘winter care

restricted and bound by a certain medium. I

package’ project and loved it, and I also love

just want to work with everything and keep

Postsecret! It was partially inspired I guess, but

experimenting!

I’ve been receiving very long confessional letters which is just what I wanted, rather than the short

CUB: You’ve recently started a new project where

secrets. I’m really getting to know people despite

you’ve invited people to send you letters in the post

not knowing them. It’s been very emotional. I can’t

about their secrets, dreams and confessions – was

wait to start work about the things I’ve been told!

THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: A Window to the World...

Words: Davey Brett

Along with our senses, film is able to take our mindset, our perceptions, our beliefs and cultural awareness and play these against each other like no other. The foreign language film is especially effective in this respect. Without the reference point of our native tongue, we search for other cues and concentrate on different aspects enhancing the story and opening our mental floodgates to different cultures and ideas. The following are a few recommendations:

CITY OF GOD (2002) Portuguese

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (2011) Japanese

Based on a true story, City of God takes the audience on a detour away from postcard Brazil, swapping Christ the Redeemer and football on the beach for the strife and organized crime of Rio de Janeiro Favela life. As gripping as it is visually stunning, the film follows the story of an aspiring photographer caught up in the brutal everyday madness of the gangs. The film proves especially relevant with the World Cup looming over the horizon.

85 year old sushi master (and owner of a three Michelin starred restaurant) Jiro Ono and his quest to perfect the art of sushi provide the story for this delicately beautiful Japanese documentary. An atmosphere of unrelenting determination is portrayed throughout the film with the often tough oriental family dynamic explored. The sushi is elegantly depicted as a work of art throughout.

SAMSON & DELILAH (2009) Warlpiri Vast and immersive cinematography combine with two great performances from first-time actors to deliver a sublime cinematic spectacle in Samson & Delilah. Depicting a difficult and misdirected youth, the film also highlights the plight of the aboriginal people of Australia and the scars their communities continue to bear. The film is a poignant representation of an indigenous love story facing the harshness of modern day life.

MY NAME IS KHAN (2010) Hindi One of the most inspiring films you will ever see. Centred on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the repeated tagline ‘I am not a terrorist’, the most expensive Bollywood film of 2010 tells the epic story of a disabled man’s family life turned upside down by misguided prejudices resulting from the infamous terrorist attacks. The film casts a poignant spotlight on the western response to a race of people grouped into a dangerous stereotype and a man seeking to change this costly perspective.

FILM

The Legend of Studio Ghibli

Words: Helena Kerr Often regarded as the zeitgeist of Japanese modern

whilst still being children! This is a concept that rather

cinema, Studio Ghibli has opened up our imaginations

embarrassingly is still weak within Disney films.

to a new and wonderful world of magical creatures and parallel universes. The Studio’s first feature length film

Furthermore,

appeared on screen in 1986, Castle in the Sky, directed

philosophical issues of the human condition and the

Ghibli

famous

for

exploring

by Ghibli legend Miyazaki. Suggestively, Ghibli Studios

concept of nature, something that resonates within

has become the antithesis to Disney; interestingly,

adults, and teaches children to question from a young

many of the Ghibli feature lengths have been released

age, exactly just what is inherent to the spiritual side of

in the USA by Walt Disney Pictures.

Japanese culture. These films help to deliver Japanese culture in to the wider world and have become the

What makes these films so beautiful and unique is

starting point of Western infatuation with anime and

their imagination, derived from age-old Japanese

manga cartoons.

Photos: opposite page c/o Dharma Productions, this page c/o

cultures and traditions. A particular favourite, My Neighbour Totoro (1988), is again, often comparable

I urge you to donate the rest of your spare time to

to Disney’s Mickey Mouse; Totoro is easily Ghibli’s

watching the Studio Ghibli back catalogue. It will take

most

you on a magical and out of this world adventure that

merchandise. It is clear that Studio Ghibli is not merely

arguably no cartoons or children’s films created within

a children’s anime cartoon company, it has evoked

European culture could ever capture. Inevitably, you

and brought to the forefront, political issues involving

may not have time to watch them all so my personal

Japan’s history. Take Pom Poko for instance, this

favourites for Ghibli newcomers are: My Neighbour

is when racoons fight to save their land to stop the

Totoro (1988), Ponyo (2008) the Oscar winning Spirited

building of housing, an issue that all can comprehend

Away (2001).

recognisable

character,

selling

swarms

in this age, yet impressively adapted into an out of this world anime in which racoons can shape shift into

The British Film Institute (BFI) is dedicating two full

humans on demand.

months, across April and May 2014, to celebrate Studio Ghibli’s 30th Birthday. Accompanying this, Ghibli legend

The beauty of the studio is that it has a universal

Hayao Miyazaki’s final film for the company The Wind

appeal to all ages, ethnicities and cultures. It has

Rises (2013) will be shown in UK cinemas. This will

quite a revolutionary approach to its characters and

be a wonderful experience for Ghibli fanatics and

questioning of societal norms, such as having strong

newcomers alike. This is taking place on London’s

female leads portrayed as independent and successful,

Southbank, so be sure to check it out!

HOLLYWOOD, CINEMA & A LACK OF DIVERSITY How long are we going to let discrimination rule the Box Office?

Words: Kumari Tilakawardane

It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that mainstream Hollywood cinema isn’t the most diverse. In an age where there are countries outlawing lifestyles, genders, sexualities and essentially people, we also shouldn’t forget that there are people out

2013 was a phenomenal year for global cinema, and

there protesting these outdated draconian stances.

it delivered some of the greatest films of all time.

It’s about time some of those people had a go at

However, the fact that filmmakers are still being

Hollywood.

distinguished by race is ridiculous. Case in point: the 2014 Vanity Fair Hollywood issue cover was the

Hollywood is where most young people get their pop

most diverse in history – 6 of the 12 actors pictured

culture these days – films, TV shows, magazines,

were black. When 12 Years a Slave, Fruitvale Station,

photo shoots, endorsements… you can barely turn

and The Butler came out last year, some journalists

a corner without having Beyoncé’s arse or Natalie

proclaimed ‘the year of black cinema’; while it’s great

Portman’s elbow smack you in your (comparably)

to see more racially-diverse protagonists on-screen,

chubby face. And yet this is a culture which doesn’t

the idea that these films constitute a separate cinema

really celebrate the beautifully diverse world of

to the rest of Hollywood’s output is ludicrous.

The Academy Awards are not the be-all and end-

This year CUB reviewed several great films made by

all of cinema, but they are the most mainstream

women – Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight was listed

representation of the western film industry: Ellen’s

on Quentin Tarantino’s favourite films of the year –

record-breaking

ceremony

and there has been a lot of phenomenal work done

demonstrates its global reach. Buzzfeed recently

by women in cinema this year. There have been very

noted that of 425 nominees for Best Director, 17

few female nominees for any major awards in the

weren’t white men; furthermore there are only 3

technical, directing and writing categories in 2013,

wins between those 17 (Ang Lee twice and Kathryn

and there were no Best Picture nominees written of

Bigelow).

directed by women.

This year, either of the two frontrunners for Best

Here’s hoping we’ll see a more representative cinema

Director could have made history by winning. Alfonso

in the near future.

selfie

this

year’s

Cuarón became the first Latino man to win, while Steve McQueen would have been the first black man to take away the gong. In 2010, Bigelow became the first (and only) woman to win the Director’s Academy Award – and just the 4th woman to be nominated in 85 years of Oscar history.

Photos: this page: c/o Mark Davis & opposite page c/o Les Films du Losange

filmmakers as much as it wants us to believe.

Words: Robbie Laing Stranger by the Lake is much more than a film about gay sex. Don’t get me wrong: there is a lot of gay sex in it. It is actually because of this content that Stranger by the Lake is an important step forward in the advancing of Queer equality, and, more specifically, the widespread acceptance of male homosexuality.

This is the topic that the film tackles, one that is marginalised and divided by a societal partition. This partition is used as an excuse all too often in society: one particular example of this is Cineworld pulling the film from screening two days before its release.

Stranger by the Lake’s late shelving by Cineworld isn’t the only barrier faced by the gay community. On ‘Newsnight’ a couple of weeks ago, I was appalled to hear the Mayor of Sochi proclaiming that his city didn’t have a gay community. This statement was made even more ridiculous after the reporter interviewing him said that he had been to a gay club in Sochi only the night before.

The ‘Newsnight’ report detailed how all too often gay people are dismissed and marginalised globally. This is what one of the strangers by the lake, Henri, replicates when he first admits his love for the main character, Franck, but withdraws his admission and subsequently denies his sexuality.

Henri can be seen as a metaphor for a modern Western society yearning to accept homosexuality, whilst having to deal with structures imposed on it by archaic social protocol. And so, the characters are pushed to the margins of society, in a clandestine location in the south of France. This is what the film reacts against: it is trying to pervade contemporary culture with male homosexual images in order to generate debate.

Although it may be one of the worst PR disasters for a cinema in recent history, I am glad Cineworld pulled Stranger by the Lake. Now people will be talking about it, and common sense will win, in an age where instant democratic debate is so easily facilitated by the Internet. When all is said and done, this is a great movie, and worthy of the Queer Palm award that it won at last years’ Cannes Film Festival. I hope that many of you will go and watch it, so that in unity, society can move on from years of discrimination and alienation.

FILM

AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN QUEER EQUALITY?

Words: Jennie Shearman In the past decade Hollywood has been ‘less Hollywood’. The output of recent successful cinema has been

ScandinavianHollywood

less

affected

Hollywood

film,

with a move away from traditional American ideals. Instead of the all-American protagonist - most often seen in spy films or superhero movies - we are instead seeing something else: the European antihero inspired by European cinema itself. European film has always been highly regarded in the cinematic field; its tendency to lean towards an art-house style and its often-limited and relatively cheap production values have seen modern European film become a genre unto itself, and which has become increasingly popular in the last 25 years. Euro-cinema’s trendiness is nothing new, however. European cinema has been deemed fashionable ever since the French New Wave. So why now is there a perceived turn towards Europe? It’s not so much Europe that Hollywood currently has a fascination with, despite Europe being seen to be incredibly influential over the past few years. It is in fact Scandinavian filmmakers who are fuelling much of Hollywood’s new cinema. There has been much Scandinavian success in Hollywood. For instance Lars Von Trier, a now world-renowned Danish director has received great success and infamy with recent films such as Melancholia and Nymphomaniac (Part 1 and 2). There is also the Swedish produced The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series (based on Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s novels), which has since been re-made Hollywood-style with some more universal faces such as Daniel Craig. Let the Right One In, (2008) again a Swedish production, was also remade in 2010. The remake was titled Let Me In, and starred American actress Chloë Grace Moretz. It must be noted that both The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Let Me In feature lead female characters who are abnormal within generic Hollywood cinema. Perhaps it is the influence of a Scandinavian attitude towards gender, as both these films unflinchingly portray female characters who don’t fit easily into classical Hollywood female stereotypes. These are female ‘heroes’ who are not overly sexualised, nor unconventionally feminine women forced to fit into a contrived tom-boy identity. European cinema and the new Scandinavian-inspired Hollywood cinema seems to offer something new for all audience members who are tired of seeing the same old Hollywood stock characters marched out over and over again. Although often these Scandinavian films are re-made for a wider audience and are given some ‘Hollywood’ traits, their sense of Scandinavian film identity still remains. This crossing of cultural borders between European and Hollywood cinema is perhaps not a crossing but instead the uniting of western cinematic style. Arguably, this is the start of the creation of a more universal cinema, which will perhaps lead to the uniting of other national styles that are not just based in the west, and could potentially launch a truly global cinema.

FILM

Nymphomaniac & Lars von Trier One of this year’s most awaited films has

judgements of people by which hand they

finally

choose first when cutting their fingernails.

make

our

screens.

Broken

into two parts, Volume I and Volume II,

Nymphomaniac

Joe

Gainsbourg reveals that the film is in part

(Charlotte Gainsbourg), who meticulously

meant to encapsulate many of the aspects

recalls her erotic life of addiction and ‘sin’.

of the personally and behaviours of Lars

follows

the

life

online

interview

with

Charlotte

Von Trier himself. Both of these thought The long, drawn out and often blank shots at

processes could be exactly that.

the opening of Volume I, accompanied by the haunting sound of Rammstein’s ‘Fürhe Mich’,

The film has not gone unnoticed, Lars Von

aptly sets the tone and seems nothing short

Trier choosing to skip the Berlin Film Festival

of Von Trier’s previous films. Lying beaten

conference - it was here that Shia LeBeouf

and bloody in a back alley, Joe is discovered

walked off stage after ‘sort of ’ answering one

by the character Seligman (Stellen Skarsgard

question. Shia LeBeouf ’s strange behaviour

of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) who

in general can be suggestively linked to

offers to clean her up. Throughout, there

Nymphomaniac specifically. His plagiarism

remains a growing metaphor, taken from

case, false apology for this, his paper bag

Seligman’s interest in fishing. Joe, noticing

wearing and general boycotting all point to

a ‘nymph’ hanging from the bedroom wall,

an elaborate attempt to generate hype and

is taught the process of how to successfully

press for the two-part film, but who knows?!

catch a fish, as parallels are drawn from her Von Trier as a director often has people

anecdotes.

standing divided in opinion with regards to abstract

his films. For those looking to explore his

touches, which I think entirely succeed.

collection, I would first suggest Melancholia

Intricacies of everyday human behaviour,

(2009) starring Kirsten Dunst, before moving

almost synaesthetic in nature, are magnified,

onto

such as Joe remembering how many thrusts

(2009) can’t really go unmentioned, yet with a

she received from her partner during sex,

big warning, so please watch a trailer or read

with the letters 3 + 5 appearing largely over-

a blurb before watching.

The

film

includes

artistic

and

Nymphomaniac

(2013).

Anti

Christ

laid on the screen. Seligman also displays

Photos: opposite page c/o Nordisk Film, this page c/o CHRISTIAN GEISNÆS

these tendencies, and remarks that he makes

Words: Jessica Pratten

BIRTH, MARRIAGE & DEATH There are certain things in life which mark out the passage of time, and some which are a given for us all. The biggest of these are being born, getting married and dying. To investigate what these celebrations mean across the world, CUB took to campus to find out what happens for these ceremonies in other cultures...

AFGHANISTAN BIRTH: “From what I’ve seen from other births though, Afghan births are a lot like British births: when a child is born all the family help the new parents look after the baby, especially the bedridden mother. However, in Afghan culture, the fourteenth day after the birth is really special; there are a lot of celebrations with family and friends, and the baby

DEATH: “Funerals begin in Mosques for everyone

is given an ‘evil eye’ to ward off evil. Before, male

to mourn. Everyone visits the deceased’s family

births were celebrated a lot more because they

in their home to mourn with them and offer

carry on the family name, but nowadays both sexes

their condolences; everyone wears dark, demure

are celebrated equally.”

clothing, and women cover their heads with a white scarf out of respect. The family and friends closest

MARRIAGE: “The night before a wedding is the

to the deceased cook for their family for an entire

‘Henna Night’ – much like hen nights in Britain

week to let them mourn. Usually you let the mother

– and this marks the beginning of the wedding

cry to vent properly before the actual funeral at

celebrations. The bride comes in wearing a shawl

the Mosque. The body arrives and passes to the

on her head and the Qur’an is placed over her.

graveyard whilst everyone says prayers. The male

The bridesmaids throw sweets at her, followed by

members of the deceased’s family help to lower

a celebration with dances. Everyone gets henna

the body into the ground. After, everyone returns

on their hands, normally a spot or something

to the Mosque, where the men and women are

decorative, but the bride gets a very intricate design

separated so they can pray differently. For a while

for her wedding. For henna night the bride wears

afterwards, everyone continues to visit the grave,

a green dress, but when she arrives at the Mosque

and then again, on the fourteenth day, there is a

for the ceremony, she does so in a white dress, and

large celebration.”

changes her dress after her vows. Afghan weddings are all about colour – only the bride can wear white; everyone else wears vibrant, sparkly clothes. Postvows the newlywed couple sit in a special seat above the crowd, and celebrations continue with a lot of music, food, and dancing – the bridesmaids perform a special dance with candles – until the bride and groom cut the cake, and the celebrations continue for the entire night. The only major difference is the lack of alcohol.”

MARRIAGE: “It’s a huge mix of old and new, there is a great deal of Western influence

now. During

the day, the bridesmaids challenge best men with different tasks. At the wedding I was at, they based

SOUTH EAST ASIA

it on a Korean show - they split us into teams and

Photos: c/o Adam Jones & wikimedia

made us do things like interlock legs and arms and BIRTH: “I honestly find it a little tricky to remember,

not fall over. The punishment if you did? A pint of

because I was really young at the time, but I distinctly

undiluted Vimto.” Traditionally after this there is a

remember the red eggs.” A traditional Chinese

tea ceremony, which takes place at the bride’s home/

naming ceremony involves eggs (for fertility), dyed

Each relative (in pairs, brother and sister, husband

red (as it’s a lucky colour), which are then given to

and wife...) present tea ceremoniously to the bride

those who honour the child’s birth. There are also

and groom, and each person receives an ‘ang pao’-

gifts given to the child by the guests, usually of

a red envelope with a small amount of money in

money or clothes, very similar to a typically western

it. After this, the ceremony commences “It can be

Christening. “It’s all about honouring the child and

in both Chinese and English, to accommodate for

wishing them luck and success in the future.”

older and younger generations” The dinner at the wedding normally hosts huge numbers of people, and the ceremony itself is very similar to a western one, after which there is party with food and dancing.

Chai Tea Shortbread Fusion food became a big trend in the US in the 1980s and has become a mainstay in the world of cuisine ever since. Fusion requires that you take flavours or influences from two styles of cooking and blend them together to make a single dish, where the contrasting cuisines bring out and highlight different subtleties in the other. For this recipe, I took a traditional Scottish shortbread recipe and blended it with Chai tea spices to create biscuits which are fragrant and spiced whilst maintaining their buttery and crumbly texture. A must for indulgent revision snacking!

1 cup salted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar (I use a mixture of caster sugar and soft dark brown sugar) Vanilla extract, 2-3 tsp 2 cups self-raising flour, sieved 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp fennel seeds, ground 2-3 cardamom pods, ground Contents of 1 English Breakfast teabag

Preheat the oven to 190ºC.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

Add the spices, tea, and half of the flour, mixing slowly. Once this is combined, add the rest of the flour and if the mixture hasn’t formed into a ball add a couple of tbsp of milk or water.

Take about 1tbsp of the mixture at a time and roll into a ball in your palm, flatten slightly and place onto a lined baking tray.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown and firm to the touch.

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Words & Photo: Bethan McAulay

FEATURES

WORLD YOUTH DAY

Pilgrimages make up a large part of many religions, used as both a physical journey to a place of significance, and a metaphorical journey with the intention of finding spiritual answers. As a Catholic I have been on several pilgrimages; most recently, I was lucky enough to travel to Madrid for World Youth Day, an event launched in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. The crowds at World Youth Day are incredible; swarms of people lined the streets of Madrid singing hymns and greeting people they had never met as if they had known them their whole lives. I travelled in a group with fifty young

Words: Rachel Nelms

Catholics and became fast friends with many of them. As far as pilgrimages go, it is fair to say that World Youth Day is an incredibly intense and overwhelming experience.

My pilgrimage

lasted just over two weeks, beginning in a small diocese in rural Spain and concluded with Mass given by the Pope in a huge airfield in Madrid. Here, I met morep oeple from different countries than I had in my whole life; people were incredibly friendly, willing to just approach me to start up a conversation. You could be swept away by others – they’d take you by the hand and haul you into a circle of dancing people to join in. One man got as many people as possible to write ‘I love you’ in their own language in a book that he was giving to his fiancée. At one point, a whole tube carriage was singing Bohemian Rhapsody. My best experience from World Youth Day was meeting a Brazilian youth worker called Alexandre. We met in Madrid’s own Dixie Chicken and started talking in the queue for our food. The conversation led to us exchanging gift; he gave me a woven wristband and in turn I gave him a badge and wristband of my diocese. We took a photo together and exchanged contact addresses; when I arrived home from World Youth Day, I had a friend request from Alexandre. We still communicate to this day, mainly around significant Christmas and Easter. This friendship demonstrates the beauty of World Youth Day; despite our different cultures, language and distance barriers, Alex and I have managed to maintain a friendship which would not have been possible without World Youth Day. Behind the large social gathering, the underlying message is evident. World Youth Day is about different nations – Catholic or not – coming together, united in our love and faith for our God. On numerous occasions I was overwhelmed and brought close to tears by the intensity of the faith that I share with millions of others. World Youth Day showed me the reality of how supported I am in my faith, not just by my friends and family but by the global community. This incredible event continues to inspire me and has enabled me to grow in my faith and love for my friends, family and God.

LONDON’S BEST QUEER NIGHTS. Photo: c/o Google

Words: Séan Richardson When I was asked to write about cultural boundaries for this issue, the first thing that sprung to mind was Morrissey’s song ‘Irish Blood, English Heart.’ The culture I grew up in involved my Nan cooking a vat of stew in the kitchen, everyone having freckles and my aunt obsessing over The Corrs (seriously The Corrs, no one likes you but middle aged women who collect china figurines.) But, after much thinking, I realised that I am part of a wider culture; queer culture. So, in due course, here is my rundown of the best queer spots in London for you, heterosexual or

homosexual,

trans*

non-identifying,

dual-spirit

polyamorous, to head down to...

FEATURES

HEAVEN Star Rating: *** In one word: Vintage If I didn’t mention Heaven in this article, I would only be attempting to pass myself off as some kind of cool, alternative, East-London type. Heaven is London’s most famous gay club, sporting four nights a week of outrageous, 80’s-esq fun. It’s the only club in London I’ve found which still has the old, Queer As Folk style, three tier platforms left. Heaven is a shot of pure, unadulterated fun right into the jugular, and an excuse to dance outrageously to some of the most famous gay anthems of all time as well as megamixes of the newest club hits. Downside? I once got kicked out for being ‘too straight,’ also known as having a shaven head. Not cool Heaven, not cool.

DANCING ON MY OWN (DOMO) @ RESISTANCE GALLERY CAFE Star Rating: ***** In one word: SASSTACULAR DOMO is the veritable queen (no-pun intended) of queer nights. DOMO is the shining jewel in an array of boring, hipster rocks. If you are to go to one queer night this month, make it DOMO. Here you will find a range of gender-bending, polytastic, poptabulous students, all pounding away to the best tracks the dance floor has to offer. And I’m not talking cheese. Oh no. I’m talking feminist inspired, Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim style tracks. I’m talking men, women and those who exist outside the binary having the courage to dance semi-naked in a safe environment, where shame is discouraged and everyone’s body is its own temple to be flaunted in the face of heteronormativity. DOMO is a queer utopia, lose yourself in it.

3 Photo: c/o Google

HARD COCK LIFE @ THE NEST Star Rating: **** In one word: Homoggressive For those who hate cheese and loathe pop, Hard Cock Life provides the best in R’n’B, Hip Hop and pecs. If you want a night out involving gym-bunnies dressed entirely in mesh, grinding the night away to heavy beats, HCL is for you. An escape from the uber-camp club, HCL is a refreshing alternative to many of London’s queer nights. The best part? It’s just down the road and in one of London’s finest small clubs, The Nest, complete with cheap entry, cheap drinks and the cheapest quick fix you’ll find in town.

SHE BAR Star Rating: **** In one word: Babygay This year, one of London’s oldest lesbian bars sadly closed down. We mourn the loss of Candy Bar in this article, let us all pay our deepest respects. Thankfully, SHE Bar has come along to save the day. Opening in January, SHE is fun, funky and full of possibility. As a new bar, it doesn’t have a fixed identity yet and is still in its early stages. One of the best spots for women who like women, SHE is a liberation from male-orientated clubs and plays an array of cool tunes. Head down for a sleek, modern bar which is full of potential and driven by some of the coolest women in town.

EXPLAINING: The Arts & Culture Fund Words: Bethan McAulay

Many of you probably haven’t heard of the Arts and Culture Fund (ACF), and that means that you probably have no idea of the work they do and the projects that they fund and support. And for the most part you would be right. But you might be surprised at the projects that the ACF supports, and that you’ve been to one (or maybe more) of them. First of all though, let’s start with the basics of who they are and what they do. They’re a committee set up to help promote arts, cultural and learning projects across Queen Mary, and the money that they use to support projects comes from the Learning Café in the library. The committee itself is made up of a number of people from Student Union Executive Officers, Student Representatives and Queen Mary Staff. The fund supports a wide range of projects from the Neuroscience Symposium set up by QMBL NeuroSoc to a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the QM Theatre Company. The ACF have supported Unite, QM Amnesty International, QM Model United Nations, QM Doctoral Society and Festival 51 hosted by QM Equality. It isn’t just awareness campaigns and trips however, they also helped to fund break-out activities and games with the Learning Development team during the 24/7 library opening.

In 2013/14... 22 projects supported £22,728 given 26

Student Media Outlets with specific projects- including this very issue of CUB. They have also set aside funding for both this year’s QM’s Got Talent and the BL RAG Fashion and Dance Show. In total the Arts and Culture fund have handed out over £45,000 since 2012 in amounts ranging from £250 to £2,700. The ACF also supports the Student Union in many of its activities including projects during Black History Week, International Week, Disability Action week as well as upcoming Spoken Word Evenings and workshops. The University itself has also benefitted from the Fund with the Engineering, Drama and Computer Science departments all receiving funding for various endeavours as well as contributory funding for the Library. So how can you get help from them? Well first of all, you need to be a QMSU Society, Club or student group, an individual at the University or a staff member of Queen Mary or QMSU. So that’s all of you? Great. Next step then. To stand a chance of getting a grant from the ACF you need to submit an application form which can be found by visiting qmsu.org/artsandculture along with guidelines for filling it in and some of the terms of funding. Once your application has been submitted it will be considered by the funding committee and they’ll get back to you with their decision. If you happen to be successful, they ask simply for you to submit a report back to the Fund detailing how the grant was used and the outcomes of your project. The Arts and Culture Fund aim to enhance the student experience through their funding, and are looking to expand the range of projects that they are able to support in the future. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy some of the fantastic projects that the Fund have helped to make possible, and remember who they are if you have a future project that you think could enrich and enhance the experience for students at Queen Mary!

ARTS & CULTURE EXPLAINED

This year, the ACF have also supported four separate

sic

be V

:A ONIN

ROT

SE ICAL

MUS

a igoda

Mu n a c i Afr

Phot

Undoubtedly, music is one of the most effective

The

platforms for crossing cultural boundaries. Having

pounced upon the band, tempted by their citations of

lived

lugubrious,

section

The

Guardian

immediately

Essex

appropriately abstruse African bands such as Konono

town for the whole of my life, I am in constant

No.1 in their list of main influences. The band’s context

need of escapism. A few years ago, I found this in

and stylistic intentions were obviously regarded as

the sunny vibes and musical serotonin of African

marketable to a middle-class demographic with a

influenced alternative rock, exemplified in Abe Vigoda.

casual taste for the cerebral and the avant-garde.

The music of Abe Vigoda perfectly embodies the

However, the trendy music journalists were wrong.

syncretic

between

The hype that had once enveloped the tropicali-

Western alternative music and African music in the

punk genre had ultimately stifled it. It has since

last few decades. Their third album, Skeleton, paved

faded

the way for yet another new pretentious sounding

accessible music of bands such as Vampire Weekend

genre to emerge in the alternative music scene -

who have similar qualities to African musical styles.

‘tropicali punk’. Reverb and tremolo saturated tracks

Abe Vigoda were just too lo-fi, rough edged and

on the album, such as ‘World Heart’, masterfully

dissonant to capture the mass consciousness. They

transpose the equatorial vibes of West African highlife

did not aim to appropriate African music and mould

and Afropop into the urgency and abrasiveness of the

it to suit Western aesthetic tastes as part of some

punk and noise-rock frameworks to sublime effect.

weird neo-colonial, cultural project. They wanted to

exchange

that

parochially-minded

music

has

occurred

into

obscurity,

overshadowed

the

experiment with it and celebrate its idiosyncrasies. Abe Vigoda started out playing sweat drenched shows to diminutive crowds of pre-hipsters in a vegan, straight-edge venue in Downtown LA called The Smell.

Words: Tim Picton

n grou

nder

AU c/o L

MUSIC

CLASSICAL // REGGAE // JAZZ

Whether you like Italian, French, German or Russian

Most people will assume that

classical music, the Royal Opera House presents it.

Ronnie

As a university student you can become a member

expensive for our small student

for free and start taking advantage of reduced prices,

budgets, but this legendary venue

including unsold tickets for productions by The

offers some great discounts for

Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera for only a tenner!

jazz lovers. Become a member

Want more, head to: Barbican Hall, London Coliseum and The Royal Albert Hall.

Scott’s

and

Ronnie

you

20%

off

will

too

will

kindly

give

all

tickets

and

free entrance from Monday to

REGGAE

Thursday after 11pm. Also, for There is a reason why Hootananny’s in Brixton keeps

all you budding musicians, on

getting nominated for London’s best live music

the first Sunday of every month

venue. Entrance is usually free, if you’re over 21 you

Ronnie Scott’s invites you to a free

will always be guaranteed a great night of reggae and

one-day workshop where you will

ska here. They also have a huge garden area, so in the

be formed into a jazz band and

summer you can enjoy your music in the sunshine

perform two pieces on the stage at

with a cold pint and a taco for £1.50. What a hoot!

the club that evening. Jazzmazing!

Some more Reggae venues: The Camden Lock

Jazz & Cigar Club, Pizza Express

Tavern, Bar Vinyl, PLAN B.

Jazz Club and 606 Club.

More? Check out: The Boisdale

JAZZ

CLASSICAL

und

the urated club Night Words: Daniel Swann

However, such interrogations seem

disappear

into

the lofty echoes of these galleries, well over the heads of the swelling crowd that busily make their attendance known

via

numerous

social networks. Speaking recently to Thump, British producer Patten suggested that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the aim obviously is to

have

visitor

numbers

upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - a cynical, yet realistic, claim that art institutions are

simply

utilising

current

attraction

electronic

music

people,

particularly

the get

young

people, through their doors. Despite having the utmost respect

for

organisations A

new

fusion

cultures

has

been

taking

the

various

involved

these events, I see little to

place in Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s galleries as electronic music

organisations

been

combining two aspects of

collaborating to stage unique events in the capital.

modern culture. Events like

and

art

institutions

have

admired

arbitrarily

this have the ability to be a Independent British label Warp Records infiltrated

true meeting of art and pop

the Tate Britain in late 2013; while this year

culture, but it is up to future

Dalston radio station NTS and underground music

participants to produce more

broadcaster Boiler Room have been taking over

than missed opportunities.

the ICA and V&A . These nights have been met with excitement and great attendances, but what they are trying to achieve and whether they have actually achieved it remains something of a mystery. These projects certainly have potential. If done well, collaborations like this could provide a unique sensory

experience

presenting

dance

music

in an environment that is a far cry from its usual dark nightclub habitat. They can also offer a chance for art to interact with the cultural milieu from which it was created; a culture in which electronic music

plays

undoubtedly

increasing

role.

MUSIC

Photo: c/o Oidupaa Vladimir Oiun

A SONG SPREAD BY whispers

September 2013

marked the death of

Words: Laurence Taylor

influential Tuvan throat singer Oidupaa Vladimir Oiun. Beyond his pioneering of the ‘Oidupaa Kargyraa’ style of singing and the fact he spent more than half of his 64 years in prison, little is

Though Oidupaa was influential and a great

known about Oiun’s life. Even the reason for his

musician, his comparatively large following in the

imprisonment is contested. Speculation ranges from

West is against expectations. The appeal of his work

him having committed a slew of murders to having

may be engaging with another culture, particularly

held too much influence in Tuva - a remote Russian

one this remote. Perhaps it is the remoteness

district with a population size similar to that of

which makes his music ‘authentic’ to those who

Tower Hamlets scattered over 2000 times the area.

cynically wish to add credibility to their own tastes.

Oiun seldom travelled beyond the Russian border,

His legendary life story, captured in the title of

but he still achieved a moderate following in the

his 1999 album Divine Music from a Jail provides

U.S. and Europe. Almost no literature exists on

Oiun with a unique draw. Context can heighten

the artist, but searching his name online returns

the enjoyment of listening to music and the allure

many

forums

of a dramatic past can attract listeners in itself.

and music blogs while Last.fm has recorded

Backstories rarely come as dramatic as Oiun’s, his

over 66,000 plays of his music by its users.

death is mourned by academics and music fans alike.

results

Youtube,

discussion

Crossing boundaries or creating a cultural monopoly? It could be argued that white Americans have been profiting off black American music for years. This is often accomplished through a repackaging of existing music to make it palatable to the mainstream; just as Elvis took gospel and made it ‘cool’ and whitewashed. Often the originators of such music are then ignored or undervalued. Who comes to mind when you hear ‘Tainted Love’? Marilyn Manson? Probably not Gloria Jones, who sang it in 1964.

Photo: c/o Kim Erlandsen & Branden Shigeta

MUSIC

This still happens today, as white artists get to play

At this year’s Grammy awards, Macklemore took home

with elements of black culture without having to deal

three awards, beating widely favoured black artists

with derogatory labels like ‘ghetto’ every day of their

such as Kendrick Lamar and Jay Z in every category

lives. Not only do many white artists make money

that they shared. In a recent interview with Rolling

from this appropriation, they are often praised for

Stone, he attributed a portion of the media attention

‘innovating’ or ‘elevating’ their chosen genre, look

that has powered his rise to “the fact that I’m a white

or image. This can be seen in the criticism that

guy, parents feel safe” with their children listening to

Beyoncé has received for the same risqué methods

his music. Being given the power to speak over the

of dress that Madonna used to be so praised for.

true originators and innovators in any fashion, culture

Another example of this appropriation is Kreayshawn,

or musical movement whilst cherry-picking from these

a member of the White Girl Mob, who uses racist

things for themselves is a worrying trend amongst

slang and dresses in Hispanic and ‘ratchet’ clothing.

white artists nowadays, and one that needs to stop.

Words: Holly Macartney-Filgate

GEORGIA Postgrad Maths student ‘I’m wearing a top and coat from a charity shop, and my jeans are from Catalogue Outlet in Bethnal Green. My necklace is vintage and my sunglasses are from Brick Lane.’

RAKEL First Year Economics, Finance & Management student ‘My jumper is from Acne, my jeans are from River Island, my scarf is from Zara and the trainers are from Nike.’

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, KID. Compiled by Emily Goodman Photography by Laura Blair

STYLE

NEEF Second Year Physics student ‘Both my shirt and denim jacket are from Pull & Bear, my jeans are from Topman and my backpack is from Etsy.’

OZZY Third Year English Literature student ‘I’m wearing a top which is from Pakistan, my jeans are from ASOS and the shoes are from Jones.’

YAN Fourth Year French and Business Management student ‘Both my shirt and jacket are from Fat Face. I’m wearing Lee jeans and my shoes are Scorpion.’

ELAINE Economics & Finance graduate ‘I’m wearing a dress from China, my gilet is from Topshop and my shoes are Russell & Bromley.’

KELSEY First Year Medieval History student ‘I’m wearing a vintage dress and shoes, my jumper is from Acne and my coat is from Urban Outfitters.’

STYLE

JACOB Third Year Zoology student ‘My t-shirt is from a Tame Impala gig, my jeans are from H&M and my jacket is Rokit. My shoes are Doc

MARIAM

Martens and my sunglasses are from

First Year Computer Science and Business Management

Brick Lane.’

student ‘My trousers, scarf and shoes are all from COS, My top is from Lacoste and my coat is a Russian brand.’

STYLE SIGNING OUT. Words: Eleanor Doughty

Crossing cultural boundaries is something we do everyday. Living with other students can cross bridges you never knew existed, from the micro bathroom culture to dialectic, sartorial and social sense. It extends further than inhabiting someone else’s space, too. We walk through Whitechapel, the City, into North London; we experience other people’s cultures without knowing. We eat bagels and curry in East London; in Clapham, you can have a (really good) burger from a South African chain. But crossing cultural boundaries isn’t just about the food we eat or the places we visit. It isn’t simply international either; varied cultures in our homeland affect our attitudes too. And though you might think that writing a style feature on cultural boundaries is as much like ramming a square peg into a round hole as an English student sitting inside the hospital grounds, between us with what we wear, we define hundreds of different cultures. Micro-cultures or the mainstream, the country codes and urban barriers are traversed daily in our quest to express ourselves through our clothing. I looked up the word ‘culture’. ‘The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group’ said my dictionary. My buzzwords here are ‘social group’. Going to university we are thrown violently and unwittingly into a diving pool of different cultures. These are evident from hour one, day one; the first night out, or supper with your fresher flatmates. ‘What are

Carven S/S ‘14

Philip Lim 3.1 S/S ‘14

To immerse myself in the spirit of CUB’s final issue of my university career, I crossed a cultural boundary. It was election week and in the spirit of integration, I hotfooted it to Barts for a seat in the Griff Inn. A midweek break from cabin fever was just what the doctor ordered.

STYLE

you wearing tonight?’ my first friend at university asked me before we left for Drapers. Scared of not fitting in – oh, how things have changed – I went for double denim: shorts and jacket with a vest top I’d drawn myself, a throwback to a summer travelling around Europe. I looked totally and utterly ordinary; I’d even offer ‘generic’. People stood out: girls in high heels came from a land where dressing up to go out is ‘a thing’. I was in Converse. First cultural difference. Some boys wore shirts and chinos – some wore shorts and wife-beaters. Second cultural difference.

A hundred years ago in Oxford, a certain kind of trouser was making the rounds. Back in postwar Britain, Oxford was full of bags. Nowadays it is still full of bags – tote bags, not the wide-legged trousers of the Brideshead Generation. The Oxford Bag is a cultural phenomenon of its own: worn by undergraduates at the famous University, the style is said to have originated from a ban on wearing knickerbockers during lectures. Though regrettably Queen Mary doesn’t have its own breed of trouser ready for public consumption – there’s still time, guys! – looking around our campus I think we’ve got a fluid mix of cultures down. Girls and boys in creepers, Barbour jackets and beautiful headdresses dominate Library Square. We’re all accepted, whichever walk of life we come from and however we choose to express ourselves. At the beginning of first year, I sat next to a girl wearing a then-ubiquitous jumper. I recognised her as a potential soul mate; as a ‘fashion bod’ she was right up my street. She turned out to be a constant friend throughout my degree. What we wear can be uniting; in the interest of finding friends, it’s a stellar tool. ‘You don’t have to be posh to be privileged’, so said Joanna Lumley, and you don’t have to be ‘cool’ to wear creepers.

House of Holland S/S ‘14

Marc Jacobs S/S ‘14

The list is inexhaustible; from the very beginning to now, as I approach graduation (gulp) the cultural differences between our various social groups can be seen through our clothes. Fashion is so democratic that anyone can wear anything, slipping effortlessly into another culture. You can even pretend, and who can say they haven’t popped a collar or tried a new shoe out, to fit in with one crowd or another?

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION ENTRIES

We have decided to feature some of our favourite entries on this page. Each show different interpretations of the theme ‘Crossing Cultural Boundaries’.

Clockwise from top right: Rory Eyre Cockburn Leather in Marrakech Davey Brett CUB on Campus Kevin Choi Silent Study Zone Kevin Choi The Berlin Wall Now

RUNNER UP Rory Eyre Cockburn For almost a thousand years (1070), Jemma el Fna marketplace, at the centre of Marrakech, has been a cultural hub for street dancers, snake charmers, drummers and story tellers. Seeing the souks at night time during Ramadan was incredibly exciting. Many markets stay open late, selling everything from fresh orange juice to genuine â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ray-Dans.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (A far cry from Petticoat Lane!) Rory also provided our cover image for this issue.

WINNER Ash Yunah This was taken by the River Ganges whilst visiting India. People there seemed to be free from all the pressures which lie heavily on us in modern society and this inspired me a lot - I learnt to accept different ways of living life purely as different ways of perceiving life itself, without making any judgement. I wanted to capture that serenity and peace of mind in this picture, which features a resting Sadhu - a religious ascetic in Hinduism.

THE CITY AND THE NORTHERN GIRL You Know You’re A Northener When...

ONE

1) You purposely reject all Tube etiquette by standing

YET ANOTHER (NORTHERN) CITY OF CULTURE:

to the left of the escalator, smiling at everyone you meet and making conversation with the person sat next to you, simply to enjoy the look of alarm their faces.

TWO

2) Your friends insist on imitating your accent at every

Well the North has done it again. Following on from

opportunity, usually when drunk, suddenly making you

the success of Liverpool as the European’s City of

sound like an extra from Billy Elliot.

Culture in 2008, government ministers announced plans to create a UK version. Last November Hull was announced as the City of Culture 2017, beating

THREE

Leicester, Swansea Bay and Dundee in a battle of

3) You consider chips and gravy to be a national dish.

bids for the top spot.

It’s not quite bridged the North/South divide just yet, sob, but it’ll grace their chippies soon. Hopefully..

Hull, home to the poet Larkin, the Hull Truck theatre and the Maritime Museum, presented the theme of “a city coming out of the shadows”, which it

FOUR

certainly will be. Hull City Council has announced

4) You refuse to wear a coat on a night out and will

that

freeze to death rather than cover up that new Primarni

ceremony including theatrical elephants, dancing

plans

for

2017

involve

grand

opening

dress. Cloakrooms? Never heard of them.

white phone-boxes and four ‘rivers’ of light, people and sound flowing into the city. Eat your heart out London 2012 Olympics.

FIVE

5) You can cut a long story short by simply using the

The city is also host to an annual Freedom festival,

gift of dialect: “Are yer comin’ down t’pub t’night,

which was inspired by William Wilberforce, a local

rugby’s on”. Vowels waste time.

MP who led a movement for the abolition of the slave trade in the early 1800s. The festival was created in 2007 to celebrate two hundred years since the beginning of the movement - it now attracts over 80,000 visitors each year. If that’s not a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is.

Who said the North was uncultured?

COLUMNS

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS EXPECTING: My Facebook currently seems to have baby brain. My timeline is littered with scans, pregnancy announcements and statuses posted by high school friends asking what the best pram on the high street

EXTENDED NORTHERN DICTIONARY

is, what to do regarding child tax benefit and is a Moses reaaally worth it? (FYI apparently it’s not, babies grow out of them too quickly). Then I scroll down further and see my university friends, usually moaning about essay deadlines and uploading the latest evidence of a messy night out. On my last count of girls I know from high school that are either pregnant, have a child or are expecting their

‘pig sick’ adjective

second it reached a whopping twenty-three. Twentythree... In just one year group. From one high school. And this is despite teenage pregnancy declining in

1) To feel proper gutted about something e.g. “I’m right pig sick about it”

recent years (ONS).

‘dithering’

In 21st century Britain you’d think we wouldn’t be shocked by this, yet I was. I even felt slightly left out.

verb

Hands up girls who feel like they’re doing it wrong, going to university first before settling down? It got

1) ) Like shivering, your body’s response to

me thinking though. Why so many? Turns out it may

the cold e.g. “bloody hell I’m dithering it’s tha’

have something to do with where I live - yet another

cold!”

reason why the North is so wonderful. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) there were 5727 teenage pregnancies in the North West in 2009,

‘mug’ noun

compared to just 3077 in the South West. And if we zoom in even further, there was a whopping 430 in Bradford compared to a measly 71 in Bath.

1) Basically, it’s your face e.g.. “wipe that smirk off of yer mug”

So yes, maybe growing up in a more deprived

2) If you feel had off by someone/something

area does mean you’re four times more likely to

e.g. “I’m such a mug”

fall pregnant than your more privileged, probably Southern, counterpart. (ONS) Yet this is 2014. Young mums don’t necessarily mean bad mums; so let us

‘big light’ noun

shun the silent disapproval and instead embrace the diversity and a woman’s ability to make her own choice.

1) the ceiling light in the middle of the room e.g. “turn the big light off will yer?”

We’ve long since waved goodbye to the 20th century taboo of children outside marriage. Settling down, children, a job, a degree… it’s your own choice to make. However, I will admit the string of pregnancy announcements is one hell of a reminder to take your pill.

Eden Gilby - Columnist.

CULTURAL BORDERS I

was

touched

poignant that called

those who are similar to

dedicated

documentary

us. Religion, ethnicity and

cause

political

repay

watched Grizzly

documentary

recently

Man.

The

tells

the

alignment

force

his

that

life

would

him,

never

and

this

us to passively shun those

concept seems ludicrous;

who

helping those who couldn’t

are

different

and

story of one man, Timothy

actively favor those who

possibly

Treadwell, the enthusiastic

are the same.

or even acknowledge your

activist,

who

dedicates,

but

not

only

gives

his

appreciate

you,

existence. In

our

day

life

life to grizzly bears, his

we are sucked into the

passion causing him and

convenience

only

boarder, we can redefine

his girlfriend to be killed by

knowing about things that

what it is to feel a sense

a grizzly bear in 2003.

affect us. Local charities,

of responsibility to what

regional

London

is around us. Not ‘around

most

papers. We are stuck within

us’ in the usual sense of

about the documentary was

our own confinements due

our

witnessing

selfless

to a belief that we can only

but around us as in what

interaction with a different

do so much, we can only

we have the capability to

species. Timothy’s intimate

help so many, we can only

relate to. We can begin

relationship with a group

know what we are told.

to embrace an openness

of animals shattered the

We aren’t told about those

that is hard to find in a city

social conventions that we

who venture out of these

like London, as it is seen

abide by so rigidly.

constraints and make a

as having everything we

difference on a completely

could ever need to relate

unimaginable terrain.

to. We must acknowledge

What

shocked

such

It made me think about how

naturally

news,

fall

crossing

immediate

cultural

vicinity

that there is more than

into social grouping, how

‘Grizzly

conditioned

as a lunatic for relating

universality that is waiting

stick to what we know

to grizzly bears on such

to be grasped.

and affiliate ourselves with

are

Man’

personal

was

level.

seen

community,

there

COLUMNS

“WHAT THE 4?” Let me fill you in on the absolute gem

Channel

Without

unemployment is up to 10.4% in the North

patronising, the event I participated in

yet the national average is currently at 7.7%.

connects the younger generations and what

That is a pretty stark difference, right?

Four

have

created.

have

some

Words: Lucy Sutcliffe

numbers

prove

my Nan likes to call ‘the youth’ with valuable and engaging debates. It is a new concept

There are many more reasons why us

which left me feeling invigorated - it’s fab.

Northerners fail to relate to many party

‘What the 4?’ (which actually is witty when

members. The claim that many MPs make

Jon Snow says it) is an interactive Twitter

that they can represent us in parliament

fuelled debate show that follows the news

is one we refute (we’re a pretty sceptical

and seeks to informally find answers to

bunch) even down to something as basic as

some big questions.

accent. This alongside the privileges many members have been fortunate enough to

Being the twitter fiend I am, I capitalised

have; titles and lifestyle choices that are

on the opportunity and found myself in the

a dream away for many really do deter us

Channel 4 studio with a small group of my

from believing that they could legitimately

peers ready to participate in a debate titled

represent our interests, because it seems

‘Can the Conservatives ever win back the

they

North?’. There to act as targets for many

alongside other factors is a major cause of

impassioned and difficult questions were

disenchantment.

cannot

identify

with

them. This,

Labour MP Julie Elliot for Sunderland Central and Conservative MP Jacob Rees-

My feelings are most definitely that the

Mogg for North East Somerset.

North is being left behind. However my main message Wthrough all this digression

Born and bred in Grimsby, I obviously

is that the programme itself ‘What the 4?’

have immense pride in the North and

presents us with a small breakthrough with

all its offerings. After living in London I

integrating

cannot help but feel that we’ve been left

who feel disenchanted and totally distant

short changed. I could cite many examples

from politics and important issues, the very

through

same people who will go on to drive these

unapologetically

debates have finally been offered inclusion.

fantastic

new

developments

London

which

benefits

businesses

London. The

only

and

figure, per

younger

generations.

Those

inhabitants

There’s even the feeling that their opinions

head, that

or ideas may pack a powerful punch.

government spend on public investment in London is £2,731 versus a £201 for my home turf Yorkshire and Humber and as we climb further up the country it totals a shambolic £5. It actually is a measly fiver in the North East. The North is left bearing the brunt of the economic struggle is a phrase frequently bandied about by politicians, but it is true.

EDITORIAL TEAM THOSE WHO HELPED PUT THIS ISSUE TOGETHER

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Lauren Cantillon DEPUTY EDITOR: Yuet Ann Chan SUB EDITORS: Alice Harry, Tasha Mathur LONDON EDITORS: Anna Thornton, Lucy Sutcliffe ARTS EDITORS: Hannah Ballard, Belphoebe New, Alice Owen FILM EDITORS: Jessica Pratten, Kumari Tilakawardane FEATURES EDITORS: Dandie Debieux, Bethan McAulay MUSIC EDITORS: Tim Picton, Melanie Moran, Nicholas Cleeve STYLE EDITOR: Eleanor Doughty PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS: Laura Blair, Joy Wamae COLUMNISTS: Eden Gilby, Becky Hipkiss ONLINE MANAGER: Fazal Karimi ONLINE EDITOR: Sophie Lyddon PR & MARKETING: Sean Richardson, Hannah Sargeant, Camilla Bass