#ME issue 7

Conscious Critical Curious 7th Issue - 2015

#ME

Jean Jullien Voyage to China Democracy and the Tribes of Africa Health in a Technological World : Amanda Hamilton  

OURS is the conscious and critical magazine for the curious citizen, a multicultural publication of artistic and social expression. The magazine is dedicated to accepting cultures, sharing talent, challenging ideas and encouraging social examination.

Awareness of the world around us is vital.

We promote the individuality of our readers, however it is the collective and altruistic nature of human beings that evokes change and fuels development.

OUR TEAM OUR WRITERS Atona Damachi Co-Editor-in-Chief

Lami Damachi Co-Editor-in-Chief

Eleanor T. Khonje Managing Editor

Nela Duke

Senior Development Editor

Dena Tsalagka

Fashion Editor

Amandine Mane

Head of Public Relations a.cala@ours-mag.com

Orianne Lopes

Photography Editor

OUR VISUALS Toni Cenko

Photographer and designer www.toniwithaneye.ch

OUR COPY EDITOR Ellen Baker

OUR PRINTERS Grange, A Wyndenham Group Company

Vanessa Esteves Joseph Gaylord Brian Diah Dr. Gary K. Busch Aude Lerner Bérénice Schramm Christine Hurst Bérénice Magistretti Ines Abdallah

OUR POETS Jonita Simmons Evanthia Mantzouki Juanita Arden Rohit Ticku Nneka Nzeadibe Andrés Del Castillo

OUR PICTURES Grégory Casares

gregorycasares.tumblr.com

Anna Karyoti

annakaryoti.com

Cecilia Suarez

almaceciliasuarez.com

Arthur Miffon arthurmiffon.ch

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the editor, addressed "Attention: Ours Permissions" at info@ours-mag.com

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© 2014. Omini & Co . All rights reserved.

Editors' Note The faithful predicament of the modern and privileged is to live privately in public. We have created an odd balance for ourselves where the public sphere and the private sphere are in a constant intertwine. Even when we shut our eyes, wandering into a slumber, and our physical bodies rest, our digital selves stay active, constantly subject to scrutiny.

“Deleted. God I hated that picture of myself, I can’t imagine why he would put it up in the first place. Well, at least it’s gone.”

“I hope my mother doesn’t bring out the old family album. I want those ugly pre-teen pictures of me to stay hidden in the shelves of the study, where they belong.”

Pictures printed and preserved in private plastic pages, placed in pocket wallets and homes of loved ones.

Pictures posted and passed through untouchable digital portals, clicked on and picked at by people who care or plenty of people who don’t care, who may ridicule, admire or ignore a personal portrait, a precious captured point in time.

Photographs, whether preserved or discarded, provide a window into our being. Sometimes we view into the bedroom window and catch a glimpse of our most natural selves; other times, we gain sight into the bathroom and may be ashamed; most times, we see into the reception, where we welcome guests, politely and well dressed.

We delete, detag and hide digital pictures of ourselves that do not contribute to creating our intended identity image: how we wish to be perceived by our followers, friends, families and invisibles (invisibles are people who visit your profile without ever liking, following, sharing or friending you). We delete, detag and hide digital pictures of ourselves that make us feel ugly, insecure and ashamed.

As superficial as it may be, like our work and our words, photographs are a mark that we leave on this earth, and in a digital world, photographic marks are more public and more permanent. Putting a picture online is almost like getting a tattoo. Once it’s there, it’s irremovable unless you spend a lot of money to take it off or simply wait out the shame and it will fade, becoming less visible and less pertinent.

Moments of life can be captured and frozen in time, in a picture; sometimes shared with only those closest to us, other times with the public. Regardless of the effects of that frozen frame, perhaps the way we choose to see ourselves in our own portraits are the most significant perceptions of all.

Atona Damachi Co-Editor-in -Chief

Lami Damachi Co-Editor-in-Chief

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CONTENTS

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Jean Jullien

The illustrator that makes you giggle until your mind hurts

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Wonderful Exhibitions and Art Fairs

Upcoming events in the art world this February and March, from Exhibitions at London's Barbi- can to the Cape Town Art Fair

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Back to the Loving Image Thomas Cullum's intimate digital album features some of the realest, rawest and most honest selfies to date

CITIZEN 38 One Nation: The Amalgamation Jersey

A twist on the Nigerian national football jersey by two young humanitarians creates a platform for the youth to actively improve the country

40 Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation

A great NGO that is out to preserve our earth's wildlife

THINK TANK

44 #Me and #Others

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Are we more self-absorbed and fame-hungry or has it just become cheaper and easier to be?

The Hashtag Generation

Hashtags as a weapon of mass construction

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The Numerous Shades of Self

How we relate to social media: the competitveness, the jealousy, the self doubt

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The Age of Social Media

Instant fame on social media and some unlikely celebrities

It's Not You, It's #Me By not seeing ourselves as owners of our friends or signifcant others we can do less harm

(In) HumanBoxes

"What do you do for a living?" One of our first questions when meeting someone new, what does this say about our society?

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Democracy and the Tribes of Africa

MANY NATIONS OF AFRICA ARE GOING TO VOTE FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF THEIR NATION

WANDERER 68

China

A diary of an artist as she wanders through the streets of Beijing and Shanghai

TEXTILE EXPRESSIONIST

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Narcissism: Drowned in the Self

Love ourselves, look our best, f*ck the rest

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A Letter to Myself

Findings of a textile expressionist

VESSEL

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In the Presence of Others

Can the self exist in the absence of others?

118 Health in a Technological World

Thoughts from Nutrition Specialist Amanda Hamilton

122 Turn the Lights Down Low

Advice on how to have an intimate love life, no selfishness allowed

126 I Tried Tinder

Tips to use the application to its full potential whether you are searching for love or lust

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Though pain is profound, there remains without question an underlying desire to explore it, Explore being bitten raw and ripped because it is a way of feeling and to feel is to be free, And yet..

You hide from this liberation. Content with a mere morsel of something that isn’t meant to be tasted but devoured. Devoured without any restraint or second thought. Yes, yes, I watch these connoisseurs with a sense of shocked pity. But I can’t deny the unmistakeable tug of green envy’s hand. After all, how much pain can you feel when you sample living? When you glide your fingertips over the sea, avoiding the icy plunge?

But you can’t soar with exhilaration without once burning with an insidious rage. The kind of rage that builds a white hot fire inside you but vanishes seconds later. Without these brief flashes of lightning in your soul you can’t be electrified by ecstasy, you can’t shiver with bliss and you can’t be alive.

You are in a state of a self made purgatory. You are on the edge of the cliff edge and you are in every sense of the word dead my love

The Feeling of Living Written By : Juanita Arden

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Jean Jullien THE ILLUSTRATOR THAT MAKES YOU GIGGLE UNTIL YOUR MIND HURTS

The humour of New York and London-based French artist Jean Jullien’s illustrations ease us into his world and his mind, where he frequently critiques and questions society, gently pressing at the restrictive seams of judgment, prejudice and stereotypes: an unrecognised activist. At times his illustrations are simply hilarious; other times they are a peculiarly honest window into our society. We exchanged words with the artist about his work, his motivations, and his thoughts.

Note: this interview took place before the attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. We came back to Jean Jullien for comment and he sent us his reaction from the day; see page 15.

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HIS WORK Jullien says that our mindless mistakes inspire many of his illustrations. “For example, the guy who can’t sleep because of his phone,” he says. Many nights we stay up checking our email, stalking on Instagram or Facebook, messaging loved ones, reading news, playing Candy Crush when we know we should be sleeping. We keep telling ourselves, “Tomorrow is going to be an early day”, but for one reason or another, our eyes linger on the bright screen, our thumbs tapping away and our index fingers almost mechanically stroking up and down. And then we wake up only to curse ourselves for staying up to spend time with our phones and we think, “I could do better with that time I guess” – at least that’s what Jullien says.

At times, many of us get lost in the digital and social world.

It keeps us constantly connected, sometimes for the better and other times for the worse. But much like in an 18th century marriage we stay loyal, we make the relationship work; divorce is not an option. Stay logged in. Stay connected.

“I had a show last year called “Allô”, which was mainly about communication and social and asocial behaviours, which was pretty well received. So, stemming from that, I wanted to do something contemporary that talked about us as a species but not necessarily with the same tech angle.” At first, Jullien wanted to explore how we interact in a city, following his recent move from London to New York. After much experimentation, he decided to focus his latest series entitled “Us” on humanity and togetherness.

Jullien’s favourite piece from this latest series is an illustration of a couple in the bathroom, where the man is shaving his legs. “This is one of the few times I managed to do something that I considered graphically beautiful – well, beautiful is a big word, but satisfying – because of the lines, the way it’s composed,” he says. “Also, it’s a sweet couple, you know, it’s also something people can relate to. It’s a morning scene of a couple in a bathroom. So there’s this first level of reading: OK, sweet couple. And then the second, where you see the detail and then you can create a debate about gender and whether this is right or not and then people can have their opinions.

“Fifty or 60 years ago, people would be like, “What’s going on there, she’s a hippy and he’s homosexual.” You know, people make very quick assumptions. That’s something that nowadays, call it metrosexuality or women’s liberation, it’s just something that more people think, “Yeah it’s fine, whatever they want.” It’s normal. So the message behind it is this sense of progress. It’s not a big political stand; it’s just a nice little bit of contemporary progress in everyday life.”

For many people, this is not strange and the characters in the illustration should not be stereotypically labelled, though

unfortunately for what I fear is most of the world, they would be. So many of us are open-minded and accepting and progressive, yet so many of us still are not. It is shocking, disheartening and frustrating. In many countries, homosexuality is still outlawed, including Nigeria, which is Africa’s strongest and fastest developing economy. How can a country that is moving forward so quickly still be so backwards?

Jullien talks a little more about the practical side of his vocation. “One of the key approaches to my work is to try to have very varied production,” he explains. So as well as creating his own illustrations, Jullien does commercial work (including an advertorial campaign for the London Underground), editorial work (usually more political and intellectual) and owns a political cartoon blog with two friends, called “News of the Time”.

Jullien also works closely with his brother, Nicolas, an electronic musician and animator. Together, they own a website called jullienbrothers.com where they display animated commercials and videos for his brother’s music. The brothers are currently working on completing a 30-minute pilot of three episodes, each 10 minutes long, of a new cartoon series that they hope to launch in 2015. The cartoon will be in a similar category to series such as “The Simpsons”, “South Park”, and “Family Guy”... “only made by two French brothers that live in London so very low-key,” says Jullien. Based on the intelligent social and political humour already evident in his illustrations, we imagine the series will be highly entertaining and influential.

Jullien has participated in multiple collaborations with a range of different organisations and people. His favourite collaboration was with an organisation called The Journey to Nantes (Nantes is his French hometown). In 2012, the organisation commissioned him to create a public space that would also be an art piece on the 32nd floor of the tallest building in Paris. So Jullien decided to create a unique bar for the room dubbed Le Nid (French for ‘the nest’), which recently welcomed their one millionth visitor. “I had no restriction whatsoever in terms of theme, so I decided to base it on the nest of the bird. For fire and safety reasons, we couldn’t create an actual nest with wood, so I decided to symbolise the nest with a 41 metre long bird – so the whole space is invaded by this gigantic rubber bird.”

“It was fantastic for me because even though I collaborate with people, I am very used to doing my style, my signature, very ‘me me me’ and then I realised that I had to let go obviously because of the limitation of my skill set. I had to trust other people to do the best they could to translate my idea, my vision, into something and the result was far beyond my expectation. It was much better than I imagined.”

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"This is one of the few times when I managed to do something that I considered graphically beautiful - beautiful is a big word, but satisfying.

Because of the lines, the way it’s composed"

"It’s a sweet couple you know, it’s something also people can relate to. It’s a morning scene of a couple in a bathroom. So there’s this first level of reading: OK, sweet couple. And then the second, where you see the detail and then you can create a debate about gender and whether this is right or not and people can have their opinions.”

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HIS MIND “I feel like we are toddlers in the world of hypercommunication,” says Jullien. He explains that we still make mistakes which are not necessarily serious but which we may perhaps regret, as we throw ourselves into a world of privacy breaches and embarrassing posts we later realise we should never have shared. “There are more and more scandals and things like that when you realise that essentially all of your information is used and exchanged for commercial purposes by advertisers so [airing dirty laundry on social media] is definitely not for me,” he says. “I guess I just think people should be a bit more careful.”

Even though Jullien can relate to those of us who at one time or another regretfully shared too much, he doesn’t normally post about personal aspects of his life on social media. “It’s very much a work tool. So I pretty much try to post something every day.”

Despite keeping his private life private, Jullien is not immune to the seductions of social media. “I see things that capture my attention and end up procrastinating, so yeah, I’m pretty much subject to the same things that my characters are subject to in my images,” he says.

We aren’t 100 percent sure we believe him just yet but Jullien insists he could easily go a month without social media; he does admit that a part of him would miss it, however, we think it’s the activist in him that would miss it the most. “I got addicted to the idea of sharing my work and seeing the exchange with people. That, I really enjoy and have become quite fond of, but I definitely could do with a bit of a break – like everyone.”

Other people would experience extreme withdrawal if they had to quit social media for a month. I am referring to those of us who are constantly taking selfies and usies and using hashtags to share them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

The X and Y or “selfie” generations are often considered more egotistical or self-centred (or at least self-aware) than former generations but are they not equally intrigued by observing, following, re-tweeting, liking and sharing the lives of others?

Jullien says, “We are more than ever interested in sharing our own lives, but also more than ever fascinated by everyone else’s. So that’s not self-centred; that’s a form of dependence on hypercommunication.”

“I don’t think we are more self-centred; I think it’s easy to make it look like that,” he goes on to insist. “There’s simply just that same sense of wanting to capture something and it’s gone mass because people are new to the trend and people get carried away– but it happened before too, in a different form.”

Jullien makes an excellent point. Are selfies just history repeating itself, only digitally? In times long before selfies, the wealthy commissioned artists to paint massive portraits of

themselves and their families; as children, last century, we would take stacks of Polaroid photographs while we were on holiday. How much has society truly changed?

Perhaps we are taking many more photos of ourselves simply because technology allows for it. Taking a picture is quicker and easier than ever. Rather, perhaps it is true and generations X and Y are doomed to be generations too self-centred to improve the world. But then again, how much has the world improved over the past 20 years; are we still not fighting the same wars? I suppose only time will tell.

As Jullien says, social media is new and uncertain territory.

In the 90s we had rap disputes; today we have Twitter wars, where musicians, actors and the general public shamelessly take to the battlefield. While some of us insult our exes and mock our peers, others of us choose not to air our dirty laundry on social media, where it virtually never goes away.

The thoughtful artist prefers to play it a bit more coyly. “I am not one to judge, but it’s not for me,” he says. “If people want to do it that’s fine. If someone does something I don’t like and I don’t want to see it, I can unfriend them, very much like you would do in real life. You would stop hanging out with someone if they talked about their life in a way that bothered you.”

Social media isn’t all bad, of course. “It started as a beautiful idea: social media is people exchanging and communicating.

It’s fantastic, it’s great, especially for people who know people who live abroad. My family is back home, so social media is a great way to stay in touch.

“Beyond that, social media can be a unifying and political tool. The positive aspect, which is going to sound very corny, is this idea of togetherness and that’s undeniable. It has done that on many levels: political, family, friends, all that. It has definitely managed to bring people together.”

The ability of social media to connect people makes it an excellent political platform. “I think [social media] definitely should be used as a political platform, because equally, people with the wrong intentions will not hesitate to use it for propaganda.” The anonymity that social media provides can allow people to be horribly incorrect, saying things they would never openly say in real life. “It’s a free-for-all because essentially as an independent individual online you’re not physically responding and therefore you are not physically endangered, so people say stuff that they never would in real life and people get really passionate…It’s an extremely complex thing, going political online,” explains Jullien.

Jullien aims to engage people with his illustrations in the hope of provoking respectful dialogue and an exchange of ideas between people from all around the world. “As corny as it sounds, the more you talk about something, the more

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chance you’ve got to solve it,” he says.

“People engage and talk rationally, instead of bombing each other, instead of beating each other. It is very corny but it’s true. It’s culture versus nature and I strongly believe in culture. And I think if my work can help generate discussion and communication between people, especially in this fantastic age of hypercommunication where I am able to show an image to someone in Peru as well as in Tokyo as well as in London, I think it’s fantastic and I just want to carry on doing that. I just want to carry on communicating with people and hopefully create a platform where people can continue to communicate without me. ” Political and social commentary is evident in some of Jullien’s work. “It’s something that I really want to do in my work; it’s important to me, but I can also see how tricky it is,” he explains. “People are extremely prone to seeing evil in what you do; you never know how someone can interpret something,” he continues.

For example, race is often a sensitive issue. Art’s beauty lies in its susceptibility to interpretation, but at times this can be problematic. “I am a white male in my thirties so whenever I touch on the situation in Ferguson, for example, it’s…

I think it is important to do so but I also know that it is a very sensitive issue.”

Taking a stand on such issues opens you up to strongly opinionated commentary. “As soon as you take a stand, you expose yourself to harsher criticism than if you were focusing on sharing beautiful drawings or narratives,” says Jullien. Regardless of the possible dangers of publicly taking a political or social stand, he believes it’s worth it. “In my practice it is definitely something that is key and I find really important.”

The first drawing the illustrator did about Ferguson featured a handcuffed black man with a white policeman tracing around his body with chalk as is done for a dead body on a crime scene, only the man was still alive. He explains the illustration depicted a specific case of a white member of the police force inflicting violence on a black citizen.

“Justice isn’t blind; it’s partially sighted in the sense that I think for that specific illustration, some people didn’t necessarily get the image. I think in my case some people were thinking – “hold on a minute, Eric Garner or Mike Brown are not necessarily innocent,” which wasn’t what I was trying to say. I know from talking to some people that that was the feedback I got. Usually people are nice, I don’t really get insulted when I go political, you know, but as explained, actually it was a statement saying that yes, justice is corrupted and not just that it’s partially sighted.”

“I am not a politician [but] I have my opinions on gay rights, on abortion, on immigration, on racial equality and all these things. They are pretty left centred,” says Jullien, on his political standpoint. These ideas are carefully portrayed in his

work, which is hilarious as much as it is progressive. “I tend to have an image that is not offensive to anyone,” he explains, adding, “I don’t want people to feel like I impose my opinion.”

“I think there is some sort of social role and a moral role that illustration or the kind of work that I do can have. I don’t think it’s for everyone. I don’t think it’s a duty, absolutely not.”

But growing up in France and reading about how influential World War II propaganda posters were, young Jullien quickly understood the power of art. The manner in which simple illustrations were used to fool the state and influence society truly struck a chord with him.

“I would like to be able to carry on discussing current issues and political issues, to talk about gay rights, to talk about police brutality against black people. I guess the more my audience might grow, the more I am going to have to think about the way to do it so that I don’t offend people and I still comment on society in a way that isn't hammered and that is not too middle of the road either.”

Intelligent and thoughtful humour is arguably Jullien’s strongest tool in engaging observers in a peaceful and progressive dialogue.

“I think humour is the graphic hook in my images.” That means humour grabs the audience’s attention, reeling people in. He says that humour is a powerful motif in his work because he believes as long as you don’t offend anyone, you can talk about anything. When people laugh about something, they’re usually willing to observe and take it in, even if they do not necessarily agree with the message, allowing for civilised debate. “Fine, you know you don’t have to agree with me, but I’m glad that my image could capture your attention, enough so you would take the time to read it and actually formulate an opinion,” he explains. It works as a three-step process.

To master the tactful art of thought-provoking humour, says Jullien, the first step is to have a well-composed image that is appealing to the eye, seductive. The second step is for people to find it funny: that way, they feel comfortable. The third step is for people to consider the message, but he says that it is also important that they do not feel as though they must consider the message. He adds, “It’s important that they are able to enjoy the image whether they understand what it’s about or not. It’s seduction, and they can say – “oh, OK, there’s a message too.”

“Drawing is nice for entertainment or for kids but to realise that you can make a real change, a real difference, have a meaningful dialogue and help things move forward for me was fantastic. This is the direction I want to take my drawing in; I knew that I was going to draw one way or another but this is the way I believe in.”

A.D.

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instagram.com/jean_jullien/ jullienbrothers.com jeanjullien.com newsofthetimes.tumblr.com

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Art Basel Goes To Hong Kong

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WHEN March 15-17, 2015 WHERE Selected Galleries and Cultural Centres in Hong Kong WHAT The show's sixth exhibitions will feature a selection of works from proven masters and emerging artists from Asia as well as across the globe.

INTRIGUED? artbasel.com

Nengi Omuku at Omenka Gallery

Art Dubai WHEN March 18-21, 2015 WHERE Selected Galleries and Cultural

Centres in Dubai WHAT Art Dubai presents 90 excellent galleries from the UAE and the rest of the world. Galleries will showcase work from three categories: Contemporary; Modern (devoted to masters from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia); and Marker, a themed curated section of film and radio programmes, artists’ and curators’ residencies, educational initiatives for children through to professionals.

INTRIGUED? artdubai.ae

WHEN March 21 to April 8, 2015 WHERE Omenka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria 24 Ikoyi

(Modupe Alakija) Crescent WHAT UK-based Nigerian painter Nengi Omuku exhibits her work "A State of Mind" at Omenka Gallery. Her metaphoric pieces explore transformation through a unique colour, alluding to wider themes of race, understanding and a mutual belonging.

INTRIGUED? nengiomuku.com and omenkagallery.com

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WHEN Jan 15 to March 14, 2015 WHERE Galerie Art Bartschi &

Cie, Geneva, Switzerland, 24 rue du Vieux-Billard WHAT Italian artist, Andrea Mastrovito displays his work "Les Étrangers" at the opening of Galerie Art Bartschi & Cie’s second space in Geneva’s Quartier des Bains. The exposition will feature Mastrovito’s collages, drawings, books and sculptures based on the novel "L’Étranger" by Albert Camus.

INTRIGUED? andreamastrovito. com and bartschi.ch

Andrea Mastrovito at Galerie Art Bartschi & Cie

WHEN March 13-22, 2015 WHERE Maastricht Exhi-

bition & Congress Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands WHAT TEFAF is one of the world’s leading art fairs, presenting 275 leading galleries from 20 countries.

INTRIGUED? tefaf.com

The European Fine Art Fair

WHEN March 12-15, 2015

WHERE selected locations in Reykjavik, Iceland WHAT The seventh Design March transforms Reykjavik into an intimate and expressive venue for design, ranging from fashion to furniture and architecture to food design. The festival features the strongest local designers and a few international ones as well.

INTRIGUED?

designmarch.is

Design March

Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector

WHEN Feb 12 to May 25, 2015 WHERE Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street,

London, England WHAT The exhibition will feature research objects such as popular collections and rare artefacts acquired by contemporary artists, exhibited with examples of their work.

Featured artists include Andy Warhol, Jim Shaw, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Peter Blake.

INTRIGUED? barbican.org.uk

WHEN Feb 26 to March 1, 2015 WHERE Victoria & Alfred Waterfront,

Cape Town, South Africa WHAT The third edition of the Cape Town Art Fair will present a diverse selection of only the finest contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora to showcase an exhilarating diversity of work representative of the richness, promise and investment of art from Africa.

INTRIGUED? capetownartfair.co.za

Cape Town Art Fair

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Back to the Loving Image THOMAS CULLUM

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Thomas Cullum’s intimate digital album fashions an open window, granting us a view into the unique and dynamic universe of the young creative. At times we feel almost like invaders, intruding into his most personal spaces; other times we feel like friends that share everything; and on occasion like a lost lover admiring from afar. Often we see things through his eyes: his celebrating friends, his stimulating creations, the cuddly dogs he so readily admires, all sorts of odd and not so odd daily bits and pieces.

Moments captured on social media have a tendency to be so perfect. Too perfect: perfectly organised sock drawers, perfectly positioned food, perfectly coordinated attire, perfect smiles, perfect adventures, perfect people. That’s what most people love to share.

Thomas gives us something real, raw, revolutionary.

A storybook of life that is simple and true. Our rooms are messy, our hair at times un-brushed, our clothes un-ironed, unmatched, our urges uncontrollable, we shit, we pee and we eat food that does not look like art.

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- Why have you photographed me so much?

- I don’t have the impression that I’ve photographed you that much. I’ve certainly taken your picture less often than I wanted to. Besides that, I don’t know why it is that I take your picture…maybe it’s because I can’t caress you, but I never even asked if I could caress you or not…

- The idea horrifies me.

- You see: It’s easier to ask if one could take your photo than to ask to caress you…I take your picture as if preparing my own rations of you, a personal stock for when you’re gone.

These photos are like a caution, a security deposit: I’m not even sure if I’ll ever develop them one day. It would be by the fact of love, if your absence became intolerable to me, then good, I’ll be able to go back to my little roll of film, and develop your image, and with it caress you without horrifying you, or bewitching you. They tell stories, that to make a reluctant somebody fall in love with you, one must simply leave a few cloves to rot, a few cloves under the bed of the unknowing. A photo is a similar manipulation, like a hex I could cast upon you. In taking your picture, I bind us together if I like, I make you become a part of my life, I become a small part of yours, and you can’t do anything about that…”

An excerpt from Herve Guibert’s L’Image Fantôme Translated from French by Thomas Cullum

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HIS WORK A common technique in your work is capturing a picture within a picture. This is particularly interesting when the picture is one of your photographs, collages or drawings. In terms of this technique, what does photography represent: an archive, a memory or an artistic vision in its own right?

All of the above. It’s a way of documenting ideas, seeing how things work together, changing it and being able to still reference the work from before. I make a lot of mistakes too, sometimes I photograph a drawing when I’m only halfway done, because I’m always either halfway done or have gone much too far. Only recently, I’ve begun to really have fun with it. I started collaging a bit, but had such a hard time committing to glue. It seemed much more fun to arrange the elements on the ground, or a table, and mix things, recycle ideas. I’ve also photographed a lot of computer screens. I left home a long time ago, my family, my best friend, they live in the states. When I first arrived in Europe I was Skyping almost every day with friends, and began photographing them on Skype. When the connection is good, it’s as if they’re really there.

How did you come up with the name "Buddy That's Cute" as the title for your blog?

I’m completely crackers for anything cute. Dogs, cats, pigs, bats, bears, whatever, you name it. Ugly dogs, fat cats, amputee animals, really my heart melts and boils so easily.

I’ve learned to control it a bit better, but I come from a long line of cute-lovers. Like everyone in my immediate family, I see a cute dog across the street and my voice raises two octaves above normal and I want to be its best friend and I exclaim “Buddy that’s cute!” It’s fairly inappropriate most of the time.

The pictures on your blog create an intimate mood. The viewer feels close to you, even if they haven't ever met you. Is that what you intended to achieve when you began it or did it just come unexpectedly?

I’ve loved sharing my work for a long time. I’m really my own number one fan, which I think is normal because my photos are of my life, my friends, my loved ones, my memories. It’s nostalgic, but not sad. People seem to talk about nostalgia like it’s such a sad thing but I don’t feel that way.

When I take a photo I like, I want to share it. Few people I know have taken photographs of me that I liked; I tend to think I look doofy. But the rare occasions that someone takes a picture of me that I like, I don’t know…it feels good.

When I take a beautiful picture of one of my friends, and I see them light up when they see it— it’s a great feeling.

The gift of giving, it’s a really powerful thing, and for me a really selfish thing at the same time, I often compare myself to a bandit.

When I still used Facebook almost all my photos were on Facebook, much more than I put up currently on Tumblr.

I had a meltdown and had to rid myself of Facebook; it stopped being a practical tool for me and just felt like some sort of cyber heroin den. I wasted way too much time on Facebook. I stayed Facebook-free for almost two years, only recreating a very discreet profile as a communication tool.

It’s funny that the youth of today think Facebook is for old people… Now that I use it in such a practical manner, it really doesn’t bother me. I was super happy without it, I think if you have any doubts about how much time you spend on Facebook you should really consider leaving it behind.

It’s easy to let one’s perception of reality get distorted. My Tumblr really started as something on the back burner. I always wanted to make a website, but I’m horrible with computers so Tumblr was a great option for me. To hear that one feels the same intimacy browsing the site as I would myself is really a huge compliment.

How do you feel photographs can capture emotion?

Photography is a completely compulsive act for me. I’m a very emotional guy, I’m really easily moved. So many instants, a nice sky, a handsome regard, the light… It’s like this growling in the pit of your stomach. You’re nervous and excited at the same time, you think, I have to capture this on film, I have to be able to reference this at will. We become thieves. Time only moves forward, but we’ve developed a tool that allows us to capture time… It’s an incredible thing, it’s so simple when you think about it…like magic, magic is simple. In certain cultures the belief is that in having your photograph taken a part of your soul is absorbed into the camera. Maybe it’s true.

Do you get feedback from your followers and if yes, how do they react or comment?

Until about a month ago I don’t think I’d ever gotten more than 10 notes on something on Tumblr, I really don’t have many followers. I’ve had a little spike recently; my open legs seem to have gotten to a few people. A select few - real sensitive types - will sometimes talk to me about what they admire in my work and I’m always extremely flattered, but it’s still a fairly rare occurrence.

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Why do you think we as a society, love to photograph ourselves and our day-to-day life and share these photographs? What is your own intention in sharing?

It’s curious, so many of us do it. For me, it’s just a part of my photographic process. But the whole “selfie” culture is something that I’ve always found a little hard to stomach.

The duck mouth bothered me, the peace signs and the toilet at the bottom of the photo. I have a hard time taking good “selfies” with a telephone, but some people are good at it. If someone I know posts a good selfie, it’s my pleasure to like it. Otherwise, I think sharing the other facets of our lives is great, it's normal. It’s maybe a little dangerous. There are people who do things, and then maybe they share it. But a lot of people using social media give me the impression that they are doing things so that they have something to post afterwards. It’s too bad, I’ve been there before and it got me pretty down. Living life sincerely goes a lot farther, even if it isn’t getting any likes.

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Social Media & Thomas I use Facebook to…watch videos of cute animals or send pictures of NOFX graffiti to my stepdad

I use Tumblr when…I want to share something easily

How often do you check your social media accounts ?

What would you miss about it ?

I check Instagram fairly often if my phone is near me. I would miss the animals.

I use Instagram while I… am waiting for somebody, but not while seated in front of them

What are your thoughts on social media addiction and on the technologies that give us access to them ?

I think that it’s an important issue. We are such a technologically advanced culture, it’s so rare to make eye contact in the bus or the street or in a cafe because it’s sometimes as if everyone is looking down at a screen. But it’s also a really powerful tool, the ability we have as a people to share information in this day and age is incredible. Technology is wonderful, but I hope that the present and future generations are well educated and take full advantage of technology, not just to make telephones and computers smaller, but also to realise the state of the world today and how some of our resources can be used to make the tangible world around us a better place before it’s too late.

I use Vimeo to…share videos easily, for free and in good quality 3 words to describe social media ? Not that social What is your favourite social media platform and why ?

Instagram. I only see things from people I want to see content from, it’s almost always cute, and it allows me to delete things off my iPhone without using that Cloud that everyone’s been talking about.

Which selfie moment are you most proud of ?

I dropped my pants in a fairly crowded museum once to take a selfie in front of pictures of other men without pants. Very meta, very proud moment.

A.D. & O.L.

If you could take a selfie with anyone, who would it be ?

I would love to take a selfie with a bear or a lion or some other beast. Living through would only be the cherry on top.

Have you ever sent a naughty selfie?

More than I’d like to admit.

buddythatscute.tumblr.com

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From his dark corner whispered to me: 'Hush now, it's me I feel the little villager inside me Things are coming; conquering me.

I was a new comer Everything was expected from me Conquered the world but still in need A colour that will never get out of me Reached out for all to get them out of need But what was returned to me was out of relief Keep trying hard to succeed but it stayed with me, stalking me in every breath A horror that grows me apart from turning in sane My kin insist; destroy my gain, Try to promote a certain behave But a day will come when wearing my fear I will prove for once what do I bear'

To My Father and the Sweet Boy That he Carries in his Chest Written By : Evanthia Mantzouki

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One Nation THE AMALGAMATION JERSEY

Unity can be said to be something that the world craves but has yet to be found in Nigeria. The Amalgamation Project, founded by Emeka Okocha, has provided a way of promoting social innovation through youth collaboration.

tively tackle social issues. As a result the team provided a definite platform for people who wanted to contribute to their concept and help broaden the conversation, allowing an array of voices to shed light on social and political issues.

Emeka says, “lack of creativity behind the Nigerian football jersey,” a supposed symbol of the country’s unity, inspired him to begin the project. It started as a simple idea to promote the country’s “unity” and grew as people began to positively respond to the design and the concept behind it.

In 1947, statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo famously described Nigeria not as a state, but as a “mere geographical expression.” Awolowo’s statement is still widely held to be valid today, embodying why and for what purpose the jersey was created.

Emeka points out that Nigeria’s official jersey design was just given to its people without the opportunity for input, in the same way that our country was designed and given to us by the British instead of the nation coming together organically. Emeka further explains that the Amalgamation Jersey represents more than a design, rather it symbolizes Nigeria’s ability to help itself and create its own story. It also makes it possible for the youth to share their own personal narratives.

Emeka did not set out with the intention of selling the jersey; he just felt an urge to create it and present it to the public. The jersey, however, has taken on a life of its own, leading him, his brother, Sadiq Okocha and his business partner Adaora Mbelu to think on how to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to the jersey, and they started to brainstorm on how they could expand and add value to the project –not just monetary value but value for Nigeria’s youth.

And so the Amalgamation Project was born, it inspires, promotes and drives conversation about Nigeria’s current social and political situation, and fundraises and tackles social issues. The team initially aimed to fundraise and increase dialogue amongst the youth, but then given that the jersey was, after all, christened the ‘amalgamation’ jersey, they decided to narrow the focus.

Emeka decided that perhaps encouraging commentary on the national state of affairs was not enough it was also important to bring Nigeria’s youth together in order to proac-

THE TRAVELLING JERSEY The travelling jersey and its accompanying journal were designed and produced to be passed through the hands of Nigeria’s youth. The design of the jersey stems from the “historical amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates to form Nigeria and the Y shape in the middle of the Jersey symbolises the convergence of Rivers Niger and Benue highlighting the coming together and flowing unity of the state.” Individuals are given a journal where they ask a question, but first must answer the question posed by the jersey’s previous holder and share any stories or hopes they

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have about developing the nation. After this, the jersey and the journal are passed on to the next individual. The jersey is in circulation in Nigeria at the moment. It was first produced and sent out to people Emeka knew, with the idea that it is to be continuously passed on; by now, it is with people with whom neither he, nor the initial contact, has any connection.

When asked how people have been able to get involved with the project, Emeka revealed that it was predominantly social media that was used to spread the word.

Emeka hopes that the Travelling Amalgamation Jersey and journal return full of the voices of the nation so that the Amalgamation Jersey can show people accurately and with emotion what the youth of Nigeria is saying; though the jersey acts as the campaign mascot, the most important thing is what their stories are. The team wants to publish the journal; they want to allow people to pick it up and see firsthand our youth’s voices, and vision for Nigeria.

SOCIAL MEDIA Emeka expresses that “the majority of the growth that [they] have seen is people wanting to get involved” on social media, through people wanting to support and understand their story: how they started from nothing and with “just an idea and creating a concept” to were they were able to grow and embark on journey to unite a fragmented state.

The Amalgamation Project has used social media to positively impact the jersey by providing an open platform for people who want to speak up and voice their opinions without fear of judgment.

In turn, the travelling jersey has been significant to the project’s social media growth, as individuals would post images of the jersey on their social network when they received it; and with each recipient having a couple of hundred followers, it provokes enquiry into what the project is all about and exponentially sparks greater interest.

As the launch of the jersey coincided with the 2014 World Cup, the team was able to leverage the attention garnered from this international event and use it to spread the word about the project. Emeka and Mbelu became very aware of football’s ability to unite a nation. He explained that the atmosphere in Nigeria while the World Cup was underway was harmonious, but after those three months, the elections rolled around and the country separated again into tribes and into the regions of east, west, south-south and north.

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He decided to launch around at that time was to demonstrate to people how connected we can be as a nation and how powerful football is as a tool to achieve this unity, with the hope of pushing this unity beyond the realm of football.

THE IMPACT OF THE PROJECT Emeka feels that the impact of the jersey on his peers has manifested itself in a combination of individual actions and social growth. At first, the impact was seen online through the different media forums but has now developed further and can be seen increasingly in the proactive work of individuals –such as the toy drive for the Heart of Good Hospice in Surulere (A neighbourhood of Lagos, Nigeria). Here, they were able to find out exactly what the children required and cater to those needs. When the word was put out, they received overwhelming support from a number of different people who were able to come together to help. Emeka quickly realised that individuals were wanting to act but a platform upon which to coordinate themselves had not presented itself– and this is what the Amalgamation Jersey provided.

The foundation's philanthropic work is committed to transparency– something that has historically been problematic in Nigeria, especially as we try to tackle corruption. However, the Amalgamation Project team is able to account for and show exactly what is being achieved with all money and resources that go into the project.

Emeka, and Adaora Mbelu are doing their work with the Amalgamation Project with the support of the Anusha Aswani of the Tolaram Foundation, as their technical project partner, working together in bettering and bringing together what is seemingly a broken nation, divided by the prejudices rooted in its former colonisation. “Bit by bit, we are trying to make things better in Nigeria,” say Emeka.

Of course, there is no way they could have reached this point alone; the jersey was woven for unity, and it has been a collective effort through every retweet, post and follow to share each individual story and unite Nigeria.

N. D. Follow the Journey: Facebook & Instagram: @amalgamationjersey Twitter: www.twitter.com/OneLoveJerseyNG #OneNigeria #OneJersey #OneLoveFootballNaij www.amalgamationjersey.com

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Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation Defenceless and innocent wild animals are facing continuous destruction and human interference. The Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation aims to combat this epidemic specifically for big cats. This non-profit organisation aims to rescue big cats from the appalling circumstances they increasingly find themselves facing.

The workers at Black Jaguar-White Tiger care for, feed, and provide the animals with thousands of acres where they can live in a semi-wild habitat. The question of why they are unable to be returned to their natural habitat in safety is continuously asked and the answer is twofold: firstly, humans have taken it away from these majestic creatures. Firstly, human interference is destroying their natural habitats.

The remaining tiger habitat is only 3 percent of what it was, while lions have only 18 percent of their natural habitat left.

Meanwhile, poaching is at an all-time high. Due to the combination of human interference and poaching, these animals have been born and bred in captivity, which makes it nearly impossible for them to survive in the wild by themselves.

Our planet and everything in it is suffering every day due to

the shortsighted conscious and unconscious actions humans have taken to its detriment. The Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation has taken steps to illustrate that big cats and indeed all animals are unique, intelligent beings that are able to display an array of emotions just like humans.

By using visual social media tools such as Instagram, the foundation has been able to successfully bring much-needed attention to the staggering decline in numbers of big cats in the wild. The foundation hopes that if individuals are bombarded with images and videos of the animals via their social media platform, they will eventually stop viewing them as just animals, but rather as living beings with emotions: a vital part of our world and ecosystem that we must actively care for and protect. The animals do not have a voice with which to demand their rights; it is up to us to speak for them.

N. D. blackjaguarwhitetiger.org Social Media : @ blackjaguarwhitetiger

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Fly, hey you, rise high Unburden yourself, let go of your cynical mom and dad The uninspiring best friend That funny looking cat, who is not proud to be your pet.

Having risen a little now, how do you feel?

Does not the air feel fresh here, much easier to breathe?

But wait, something is still clutching you, holding your left leg Isn't she the young lady you see often these days?

Yes, the one who does not matter to you, except for late nights when you think of her.

Let her go, she would only inhibit her path is entirely different, her aspirations they lie somewhere else.

I see you are excited already; your movement is getting swift Can you foresee now the journey that lies ahead?

What is that big black block, next to your heart?

You call it ego, funny name indeed; He is the closest to you that anyone has ever got?

Really? He speaks what you want to say?

Validates your every eccentric thought?

He's been your strength all along, through joy and angst, especially during your pitfalls?

But don't you see he is hindering you, controlling you like a parasite He would never let you soar, that would be end of his life.

Let him go.

You are there now my friend, ready to navigate to the highest of echelons Devoid of any burden, any past, Fly now and never look back again.

Bohemian Life Written By : Rohit Ticku

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#ME and #Others Over 25 years after the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN, social media continues to revolutionise the way we see ourselves. A platform created to share writings, photos or videos, and made so people can essentially never lose touch, social networks have become the places where Internet users expose their “selves” and sketch their identities.

#WHOIAMWITHOUTYOU Professor in the University of Geneva’s Sociology department, Dr. Patrick Amey, says that “today, we are seeing a detraditionalisation of the institutions which used to provide fixed identities…today, acts of recognition are delivered by others, especially by our peers. Identity is a construction and success on the web and social media implies putting forward not civil identities but personal identities”.

Social media values more the projected, built or negotiated identity and not necessarily our professional status, asserts Professor Amey. At the same time, virtual networks provide a space to create a “mise-en-scène” of our identity and environment.

to images and their rarity”, says the professor. About a decade ago people would spend hours flipping through and sharing their photo albums, where each photo represented a key moment to remember and treasure, or a special experience.

Nowadays, the personal pictures circulating online tell our life to ourselves and to others; “it is a sort of suitcase, carrying our daily life,” he adds. As a result, social media becomes a life-streamer.

While currently very popular online, self-portraits are not really a new phenomenon. Since the mid-15th century, artists have used self-portraits to introduce themselves to the society in which they lived and to show their stature and personalities. The self-portrait practice has simply become more accessible thanks to technological progress.

Amey adds, “Social media takes part in controlling and building a social environment that is chosen and not imposed.

The workplace, wandering in the street or the family are imposed environments – at least not chosen.”

Glassey believes that, again, what has changed is the value put upon those self-portrayals and the way they are shared.

Thus, in this quest to build a controlled identity-context for ourselves, images are being shared online to the point that every minute there is a new picture to see, especially pictures of daily life and the infamous self-portraits dubbed the “selfie”.

Furthermore, selfies have proven to be an effective method of portraying who we are, and of forwarding our singularities.

This further helps build our individual identities and shows off our personalities. The selfie is a simple tool that can be used to communicate our image online. These self-portraits allow us to acquire a certain form of recognition and gain a certain status and visibility among our peers.

According to Olivier Glassey, professor and sociologist at the University of Lausanne, daily life photographs and selfies represent the two types of personal images floating on social media.

Daily-life photographs have become extremely common that they have entirely “modified the sentimental value attached

According to Professor Glassey, “Selfies are an act of exposition”, as they allow people, teenagers and adults alike, to submit their image to the judgment of others. They are somehow looking for credit and acknowledgement. It may sound narcissistic, says Glassey, “but it is not as simple as that, authors of selfies depend upon feedback. It does not

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"These self-portraits allow us to acquire a certain form of recognition and gain a certain status and visibility among our peers."

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make them that self-centred,” he continues. So, a selfie itself is not necessarily narcissistic; it is what happens afterwards that may be considered narcissistic because authors of selfies usually expect comments from viewers to boost their ego.

We all want some recognition but at the end, where to draw the line?

#CANTGETENOUGH But what happens when your popularity becomes a leitmotif? The quest for celebrity-hood started with the emergence of reality shows on TV, which gave the illusion that anyone can become famous just by living their daily lives. That anybody could be a superstar just by exposing himself or herself.

The rise of social media opened up another avenue for everyone to become famous without going through traditional media channels. It provides easy access to instant stardom among our peers, but also among a larger public audience thanks to the way social media broadcasts information.

“Social media induces an amplification of the speed of information transmission, gossip, buzz, and so on. Information circulates so fast and is received by a large number of Internet users. The value of the information is based on preferences: “likes” and collective enthusiasm online,” says Glassey. As a result, success and credit are embodied by “retweets”, “views”, “likes”, “shared” rates, and not necessarily by the opinion of a community of experts.

Yet the Internet is full of surprises and other buzz; social media cannot turn everyone into a celebrity. According to Professor Amey, more and more people think that they have a special talent that would lead them to celebrity-hood and they therefore do everything to become famous. Unfortunately, on social media, “there are many applicants but few are chosen,” he says. Users are hard to please and it is even harder to get the attention of traditional media.

“Many people try to be famous, but if there is no public, it means nothing and if there is no feedback, it is frustrating.

Also, followers can be bought to give the illusion that you are popular,” says Glassey, on social media users and perceived popularity.

#IAMFAMOUS Well, if you are already a superstar then social media provides a space in which to manage your image and spread your aura online. For celebrities, social media enables them to “control their image, share their experience with their fans, show their private life; social media guarantees a sustainable, renewed and close relationship with their fans; it keeps up their legend and even builds their myth,” says Amey. Selfies, moreover, are the most popular way to post among famous people.

In 2013, Ellen DeGeneres took at the Oscars what came to be the most viewed selfie of all time. In an article for the New York Times, actor, writer and filmmaker James Franco reflected on the celebrity selfie, concluding that “if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible.” He argues that the celebrity selfie has value regardless of its quality because it is "ostensibly an intimate shot of someone whom the public is curious about. It is the prize shot that any paparazzi would kill for…it is the shot that magazines and blogs want, because it will get their readers close to the subject.”

A celebrity selfie is not simply a portrait of a star, but a self-portrait, letting on a little about their private life. It is not just a question of vanity. It goes beyond getting credit by their peers. It is about getting attention and marketing. As Franco says, “attention seems to be the name of the game” on social networks.

“LIKE” MY #LIFE Today, it has become increasingly important to flaunt our preferences, our passions, our causes, our attitudes, our private lives. Social media has increased the pressure to determine our identities, our interests and our environment.

We are what we show. We all almost have no choice but to express our individualism.

Social media channels were created to keep us connected to each other and complement social spaces like cafés or societies. “That is the real revolution of social media,” says Professor Amey.

You can be reassured. Real human relationships are still meaningful in 2015. “A friend by definition is someone that we meet, that we do activities with,” Amey affirms.

The danger is that these social platforms could become the only space for personal achievement. Amey adds, “certain social groups marginalise activities that cannot grant them status among their peers.”

We need others to judge us and approve our existence: please “like” my life and give me credit.

When we really think about it – despite the freedom to envision and exhibit ourselves, does social media end up limiting who we are and who we can be?

To Grow and To Enrich

An unbiased, independent and unencumbered review of your financial affairs, to help you grow and enrich. www.pomonawealth.com rebecca.ellis@pomonawealth.com pascal.crepin@pomonawealth.com

Tel: +41 43 268 0960 Pascal: +41 79 123 1089 Rebecca: +41 79 789 5313

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# The Hashtag Generation

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In Ancient Greek mythology, Narcissus was an arrogant hunter renowned for his beauty. To punish him for his disdain for others, Nemesis, the Goddess of Revenge, lured him to a pool where he saw and fell in love with his own reflection. He was so entranced by his image that in a vain attempt to make contact with this mirage, he fell into the water and drowned.

This myth, which constitutes the origin of the term narcissism, is still relevant today; only the handsome hunter has now been replaced by a self-absorbed generation of youngsters keen on posting as many ‘selfies’ as they can on their various social media accounts.

If the young (be they adolescents or young adults) feed on the constant frenzy generated by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, then how can they be proactive in social, political or ideological matters? Posting a comment or a tweet about a conflict is one thing; going out onto the streets to protest against it is another. So where does that leave us?

Over the past 100 years, there have been a great number of demonstrations initiated by the young to fight for a cause they believe in.

In 1919, over 3,000 Chinese students marched from Peking University through the city to protest against the granting of Shandong territory to the Japanese.

This came to be known as the May Fourth Movement.

The Vietnam War also sparked some strong outcries.

Between 1966 and 1969, countless American and European students mobilised in protest. In the U.S., students went as far as publicly burning their call-up papers following the introduction of a draft lottery which called men to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means.

And one of the most legendary student protests of all time was the “May 68” riots in Paris. It began with just 150 students occupying a building at the University of Nanterre and turned into a mass movement of over a million students, lecturers and later union workers, marching through the streets of Paris protesting against capitalism, consumerism and traditional institutions.

These young people fought for a cause or an ideal. They sought peace, equality and a fairer society. Today, however, the social and political contexts have changed. We are no longer faced with the threat of a Great War and, after realising that Communism is not a viable economic system, we

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have generally and doubtingly accepted capitalism as the optimal one. Today, we are threatened by other issues: ones that aren’t bound by national or geographical delimitations.

Terrorism and global warming have transcended borders and require a global response.

So how do we address global issues? Well, remember those narcissistic selfie-taking hashtag youngsters? They’ve got one thing right: they’re online. Think of the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the recent student mobilisations in Hong Kong and Mexico. All of these incidents went viral and attracted global attention via social media. Since the disappearance of the 43 students in Iguala, Mexico, the Mexican people have been expressing their anger towards their government by posting strong comments with the hashtags #YaMeCanse (I am tired) and #AyotzinapaSomosTodos (“we are all Ayotzinapa– the name of school where the students went missing).

It is fair to say that hashtags have become the new weapons of mass construction as opposed to destruction. However, as there is a constant overload of news and information streaming from the web, it is essential to be able to distinguish between what’s important and what’s trivial. After all, child brides in India should take precedence over Kim Kardashian’s derrière!

Social media is a new dimension of our lives, and it is essential that we learn how to use it. Selfies are fun, but social and political issues must not be neglected. We should therefore strive towards turning the “Me” ideology into an “Us” ideology. The only danger is the ephemeral aspect of the web: one piece of news might create a sudden buzz, but it will fade just as quickly. So the key is to stand by a cause, no matter how many followers it has, or doesn’t have.

All in all, one might say that the younger generation has the advantage. Indeed, the older, governing generation is often too jaded or embittered to aspire for a better world, or have lost the will to dream big. That is why it is up to youth to infuse hope into bureaucratic and administrative deadlocks.

The hashtag generation may be self-involved, but they have the power to change things –starting with just a few clicks.

B. M.

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The Numerous Shades of Self Online space is competitive and self-promotion is necessary to be visible. Who wouldn’t want to become a celebrity overnight?

Not all of us can come close to reaching the celebrity heights of Psy’s Gangnam Style, with over 2 billion Youtube views, but we can achieve our 15 minutes of fame in smaller arenas.

For many social media users, the online experience is an esteem booster; it provides many individuals with the gratifying feeling of an inflated sense of self. Each time you get a like or a retweet, the ego purrs a little and longs for yet more caresses of recognition. For others, the experience is not so great.

The Salford study reported that participants found that their self-esteem suffers when they compare their own accomplishments to those of their online friends; some hard words to digest, given that the social media experience is supposed to be social. No wonder, as the fireworks blast around me on this New Year’s Day, I’m staring down at my phone, liking pictures of friends standing atop the Great Wall of China, or better still, bungee jumping at Victoria Falls to kick off the New Year. I am then driven to taking my own stunning shot of the fireworks and hurriedly posting it so that I can get my own likes. Instead of feeling connectedness, this just results in me feeling #jealous. This attitude is purely ego-driven – which is not necessarily a bad thing, but leads to complications when it comes to my sense of online self.

Sense of self can, ironically, be easily compromised by self-promotion in online arenas. Sense of self is important because it grounds personal identity. Our online profiles are representative of who we are – or who we think we are.

Through this intersection of social media and our real lives, the real and ideal move in flux with each other and elements of the real become exaggerated in the online ideal.

In essence, our online selves represent our best parts and eliminate many of our flawed components. I think everyone has a quieter, private self that is shared in personal, intimate moments. It’s this private self is arguably missing in our online worlds.

It’s been said that “Some people, who always talk about how busy they are, are really trying to claim how 'important' they are.” There is a lot of busy work going on as we shape and brand ourselves online. I don’t think that social media is inherently a good or bad thing. Great networks exist and people can inform themselves and be informed about more and more. But when I think about my own online identity and the platforms that I use, I notice a divided image: one in which #ME depends on my audience.

Constructing an identity is rarely a deliberate and thoughtout process. Online space gives us a lot of room to identify and create images of ourselves; the important part is to be reflective about the identity we are creating, striking a balance between being present here, now, in 3D; and in that tight web of social space online.

B. D

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The Age of Social Media “IN THE FUTURE, EVERYONE WILL BE WORLD-FAMOUS FOR 15 MINUTES” - attributed to Andy Warhol

If you’ve been anywhere near social media lately, you will probably have heard of Alex from Target – or should I refer to him by the hashtag #AlexFromTarget. This phenomenon is the most recent demonstration that Andy Warhol might just have been right!

Fifteen-year-old Alex is an employee at megastore Target in Frisco, Texas, and while he was working at the cash register, a teenage girl took the liberty of taking a photo of him working and posted it on her Twitter account, simply because she found him attractive. Surprisingly, the photo instantly went viral within the online community, and the next morning, the young boy woke up with 300,000 new followers on his Twitter! He was later featured on CNN, and flown out to Los Angeles to appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”.

Furthermore, in the midst of all the excitement surrounding #AlexFromTarget, there were even “Meet & Greets” organised all over the country to meet the young boy and $20 extra

bought you the right to have your photo taken with him.

Yet inevitably, as time goes on, and I mean just a few weeks, the hype surrounding Alex from Target will die down, and people will eventually forget it ever happened. If this story doesn’t illustrate the power of social media today, then I do not know what does.

These days, you do not necessarily have to have an artistic gift to become famous; it does not matter if you cannot sing, dance, act or model. Do the Kardashians come to mind, anyone? But that’s not what I am referring to. Even though those talents might be considered the “conventional” and “expected” prerequisites for attaining celebrity status, sometimes all you need is to be original, or humorous, or sexy, and have a certain of novelty factor attached to your social media account.

I think it might be better to present to you a few examples to clearly explain my point. If you have an Instagram account, I

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can almost guarantee you’ve heard of @fuckjerry. This user, whose real name is Elliot Tebele, has amassed 1.8 million followers and counting, just by posting funny photos on Instagram, and adding artsy and/or humorous captions to them.

Moreover, he clocks up a minimum of 10,000 “likes” on each post. He does not even take his own photos! He simply finds them online, edits them, and comes up with a witty caption.

His followers include Kim Kardashian, (who has not “unfollowed” him despite his many popular memes mocking the mega reality star), Cara Delevingne, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Victoria Secret angel Adriana Lima. He was recently featured on “The Business Insider”, in which he explains that he has started receiving payment to post or mention a particular brand. He is also considering starting up his own business around the social media phenomenon known as “fuckjerry”.

Another celebrity born out of the social media world is notorious millionaire/playboy Dan Bilzerian. Thirty-four-yearold Bilzerian is infamous for showing off his lavish lifestyle on Instagram and Twitter; he regularly posts photos of himself with stunning (and practically naked) women, powerful assault rifles, glamorous cars, towering stacks of cash, and military equipment such as tanks; and usually all of the above in the same photo! On the one hand, most women see him as the epitome of narcissism, sexism, and materialism, whereas many young men consider him an icon of “awesome”. Dan Bilzerian could easily be the topic of an article on his own; however, regardless of the perception people have of him, he has more than 5.6 million followers on Instagram! He is a trust fund beneficiary and it is said that he has more than doubled his inherited fortune by gambling, mainly playing poker.

Ever since he gained social media fame, he has appeared in Hollywood movies such as “Olympus Has Fallen” and “Lone Survivor”, investing a million dollars into the production of the latter. Dan Bilzerian is another clear example of the crucial role of social media today in the making of new and unusual “celebrities”.

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She is very careful not to be too obvious; she leaves a bit of mystery in every post and I believe this is what has made her so popular. For the heterosexual ladies, she regularly posts videos and photos of her daily workouts; most women would probably love a figure like hers, and to that effect, a vast number of her followers are women. Jen Selter is a perfect example of the need to be clever about how to present yourself on social media to reach “celebrity status” online. Bear in mind, I have only mentioned three social-media-made celebrities; there are, needless to say, many more.

Over the past two years, Twitter and Instagram have continuously grown in popularity and most users attribute a lot of importance to their number of followers, or how many “likes” they get on a particular post or photo. And the reason is this: people believe that this reflects their social status.

Users usually monitor who “liked” or did not “like” their photos, and who “followed” or “unfollowed” them. I can bet you friendships have been made and broken because of social media. Moreover, many people have such a (usually innocent) tendency to expose their lives on social media that as research indicates, the level of “social stalking” has increased.

"Whether we like it or not, social media has become a crucial tool in the making of modern-day celebrities."

Of course, there are also many sexy ladies on social media, who gain thousands of followers just because of their looks.

However, some women know how to tailor their image and social media accounts to reach millions of followers. One of those ladies is Jen Selter. Just by opening Jen’s page, it is obvious she has an amazing behind, but she is definitely not the only woman in the world with a jaw-dropping figure. And yet she boasts more than five million followers on her Instagram page! Jen has mastered the art of appealing sexually and aesthetically to men and women. She is obviously appealing to heterosexual men, but she also knows the kind of poses her particular brand of male admirers would “like”; she often poses in a natural setting, in regular sportswear or bikinis, making her seem like she is a regular “accessible” girl, and not the regular type of glamour model with porn star looks.

I do not mean in a criminal sense (that would be for another article) but for instance, a suspicious or jealous boyfriend or girlfriend may go to major lengths to keep tabs on their significant other on social media, by checking regularly whose photos they are liking, who they are following, asking their friends to follow someone for them so they can keep an eye on them, etc. Furthermore, and even more shocking, is that the “followers” aspect of social media has generated its own business! If you simply type “buy followers” into Google, you get dozens of pages offering to sell you followers. However one must tread carefully because most of these pages are spam and can infect your computer with a virus. On the other hand, there are legitimate businesses that will sell you followers – or at least the appearance of followers, because as one would expect, the majority of these followers are not real people, perhaps just computer-generated.

Whether we like it or not, social media has become a crucial tool in the making of modern-day celebrities. Even previously established celebrities, or those that have reached fame through other means, create social media accounts and use them to keep their fan base active; marketing scheme or not, it works.

Today, anyone can be famous, from a top singer, to a Target cashier in Texas; social media has made anything possible.

Andy Warhol might just have predicted the future.

T. N.

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It's Not You, It's #Me

It's hard to avoid the implicit egotism that flows into relationships. Whether we are looking at romantic relationships, friendships or interactions with strangers, egotism often dominates. It creeps its way in; we don’t understand the complexities of the lives of others, we don’t build mutual relationships, and we try to claim ownership over them. There is a sense that, as the old breakup line goes, the problem is not you; it’s me.

SONDER One of the real problems that paves the way for egotism in relationships is that we consider the other person only in relation to ourselves. They are supporting roles, extras, bit parts in our lives. Often, we don’t know their story; we know them as a stock type or stereotype. Even when we know their stories completely, they are side plots in our narrative. If we take the necessary step back, we can build more fulfilling relationships.

We know about stereotypes, the sets of assumptions we make about people based on a limited number of cues: race, gender, ethnicity, religion and any of the other lines we use to separate ourselves from others. Stock types, meanwhile, come from theatre, based on traditions like the commedia dell’arte. Within that style, there were a very limited number of characters: the old man, the lawyer, the doctor, the young woman and the heroic soldier. Actors would not play roles that were unique to the play in question; they would play the role as defined by broader conventions. How the character dressed, how they would behave, even their name was defined by stylistic convention.

We often expect the same from people in our lives. There are certain behaviours we expect from store clerks, waiters, bus drivers, security guards. We sometimes even extend these assumptions to our friends: there is the funny one, the serious one, the geek, the smart friend. Whether down to someone’s identity or their role in our lives, stereotypes and stock types are sources of some of the most pernicious microaggressions

in our society. We try to push people to obey the rules laid out by their role. We care far less about who they really are and what they really do, and relate to them as an assumed set of traits, not as complete people. We see them primarily in the role they play in our lives and how they connect to us, and fail to give the richness of their lives the respect it deserves.

A powerful antidote to this is the idea of “sonder”, a concept put forward by the blog “A Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows”.

Sonder is the moment of realisation that everyone around us is the centre of their own story, a narrative as rich and interesting as our own in which we are the bit part, the stranger outline filled in by stereotype.

Every day, we fill in the stories of others with assumptions; we don’t have access to their full saga and can’t know all about them, and therefore we can’t do otherwise. However, before judging or acting based on those assumptions, seek a sonder. That clerk who is rude to you isn’t just a disrespectful teenager; maybe she has had a long shift, or a fight with a friend. That homeless man beside you on the tram isn’t just a smelly drunk, but might be a father, a brother, estranged from a family and battling mental illness or addiction. These moments take us out of the centre of our interactions with strangers and beg that we imagine the complexity of the other party.

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU Because we naturally put ourselves in the starring role of our own narrative, it’s easy, all too easy in fact, to lose sight of the idea that we are not necessarily the focus of everyone else around us. Moreover, it’s easy to let ourselves fall in one way or another into an unbalanced relationship or friendship because we, or those around us, are too egotistical and focused on our own needs.

Much of the time, when faced with another person doing something or failing to do something that troubles us, we presume and assign malice or intent. If we are not invited to

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a party or not wished a “happy birthday”, if a clerk is impolite or someone on the street bumps us, it is easy to think that the other person is being intentionally rude; that their intention is to be unpleasant. This would seem illogical, unless, of course, there is a clear reason for it. If we are so at odds with someone that they would go out of their way to be rude, it’s reasonable to assume we would know why. It’s more likely that the other person is simply responding to circumstances we aren’t aware of: the birthday was forgotten, the party too crowded, the clerk having a bad day, or the stranger on the street not looking.

As with sonder, it is worth considering the fact that other people have lives as rich and complex as our own. We assume malice on the part of others because we are pattern-seeking creatures. We are hardwired by evolution to see even false patterns and significances, part of the learning procedure that protects us from harm. But, we need to move past this and not assume the worst. Often people mean no harm by minor slights, and we should think carefully before taking offence. It’s likely not about us.

Moreover, we should be sure that our happiness does not dictate the happiness of others. It’s very easy to fall into a friendship or romantic relationship in which we are taking too much or giving too little. Even committing small social slights can escape our notice, because we don’t see anything wrong with our behaviour. Often, others are too polite to point out our faults and failings, or don’t feel strongly enough to press the issue. We can get away with a lot more than others would like. We can often ask more than they want to give, but over time, these things can hurt the other person and poison a friendship. Whenever we ask or act, we should consider what the other person might be able to offer or do, and work within that. By thinking only of what we want, of what we need, we take a friendship or relationship and make it into something else.

POSSESSION When we speak of others, we use possessive terms much of the time: “my friend”, “my lover”, “my child”, or “my colleague”.

We rarely mean them in this way, but the thought implied by the language can make its way into our ideas. This can help to unbalance our attitudes and make us jealous, and can shape the way we think of many situations related to relationships.

As mentioned, it can be all too easy to ask too much or demand too much in a friendship or relationship. If we see the other person as “ours”, the danger of this increases. When we see ourselves as the focal point of a relationship, we slip easily into manipulating the other party, because our focus is on how we feel. When the other person in our relationship is seen as simply part of us, the instinct to manipulate and the ease of doing so intensifies. It is worth taking a moment to consider how our use of possessive words affects our thinking about relationships.

One of the interesting and clear examples about this is how we talk about infidelity. When a significant other leaves us for another, it is often to think of their new partner as having stolen “our” significant other. This is an interesting thought.

Did we have ownership of our partner in the first place, meaning that the other person could steal them? No, this isn’t what happened. Our significant other may have broken an implicit or explicit promise, we might feel betrayed, but our significant other wasn’t stolen by any means.

In fact, even that sense of betrayal isn’t necessarily justified.

Just as with the idea of the other being stolen, this is a potentially hazardous way of thinking. The betrayal was not likely an act intended to hurt us. Instead, in most cases, the other person has simply moved on. As mentioned before, this sense of betrayal comes from making ourselves the centre of the story.

A similar thing happens after a relationship ends. Because we too often think of friends as possessions, we often find groups of friends being divided by couples breaking up. We treat our friends as if they were sets of crockery or libraries of books. The ones that properly belong to one or the other are divided out, and the rest are split based on opinion or sentimental value. This is hurtful and awkward for the friends involved. In addition to the manipulation, it puts the couple breaking up at the centre of the story. The friends’ stories are pushed to the side and this becomes cause for further hurt.

Once we realise that the other person’s story is a true and as meaningful as ours, we can let go more easily. By letting go of the offences, we can move on, and live happier lives, and let our lovers and friends be happier, too.

So, we need to let go of the idea of “owning” our friends and romantic partners. We need to see them as others, intimately connected others, but others with their own plans and lives and motivations. By relaxing these feelings, we can be better friends and happier people.

WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE? The world is made up of protagonists; we need to recognise that we are not the centre of the relationships we keep.

Friends, strangers and others have stories as rich and complex as our own. By thinking of those stories, we can have better relationships, and by making sure that our actions do not become manipulative or harmful, we can make sure not to drive off friends or have unbalanced relationships. By trusting that slights aren’t meant with malice, we can let go of them, and not feel hurt by them. And by not seeing ourselves as owners of our friends or significant others, we can eventually do less harm to others around us. In the end, the less we feel like the phrase “it’s not you, it’s me” applies to our relationships, the better off we will be.

J. G. www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com

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(In) HumanBOXES THE SEARCH FOR #ME THROUGH STANDARDIZED HUMAN BOXES

The regular reader knows that I like to write about fitting – and not fitting – in society’s boxes, as my origins and skin colour/hair type do not match usual equations and expectations of human genetics. I shall therefore make another stop on this identity quest of mine. There are indeed many more boxes, beyond ‘just’ those of race and gender, that definitely affect the type of life one can lead in our complex, bureaucratic societies. And I have had to experience the effects of this additional categorisation recently.

Box #1 “Working/Not-working” We all know this: the first thing one asks a new encounter after learning her or his name is “what do you do for a living?”

This seemingly automatic and well-meant question already divides the world into those who work and those who do not, or who simply do something else that does not correspond to the traditional definition of work as a remunerated activity.

For example, if one was to ask a good friend of mine who is a political activist and philosopher subsisting on minimal state benefits, he would tell you that he works to better our society by investing time and reflection in various political activities. This would, however, not likely be an acceptable answer in the eyes of the majority, who would instead see him as an infatuated or committed sponger.

As for me, I am at the moment unemployed; I just finished my PhD and am looking for academic positions, something which requires time and dedication as I need to submit research projects for funding application or apply to post vacancies – if the latter even exist in my field. I am still involved, on a voluntary basis, in at least two research projects, for which I am supposed to write something or manage certain activities, in addition to having to do some final corrections on my dissertation before looking for a publishing house to get it out to the scarce public that will hopefully be interested to read it. In spite of all this, I am considered to be “out of

work” at the moment, since I am either finishing my studies, or working without any remuneration. With this in mind, Box#1’s limitations become quite obvious.

Furthermore, as the prevailing ideology of the world we now live in is capitalism, wherein the market is the main social force, if you do not work or engage in activities that correspond to the market’s definition, you are outside of the system – and you therefore lose some sort of social, if not human, usefulness…nay, relevance. This strange alienation is what one experiences when entering the wondrous realm of institutional unemployment.

Box#2 “Officially unemployed/Just unemployed” So here I am, registering at the unemployment agency after having worked part time throughout my PhD programme.

My last position was not renewed and did not, in any case, correspond to what I wanted to do upon the completion of my studies. The first thing one notices when starting the paperwork to become an officially unemployed human being is that it is no easy task - even for someone like me, formally educated and whose personal situation is almost flawless. I cannot imagine the efforts such a process requires for people in difficult family, health or economic circumstances, not to mention people who lack the necessary language or literacy skills to perform all the related tasks in order to gather the documents and provide them to the officers. That’s without even thinking of the reflective and critical-thinking frameworks that one would need to be able to observe with some kind of distance the experience she or he has been thrown into.

Indeed, during the first meetings you have with one of those officers, to take stock of your initial situation, they assess who you are on an employment level. You even have to watch a cartoon video where they explain who is a good unemployed

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person and who is not, providing you with concrete examples of dos and don’ts, antagonising the comparison happening to illustrate the examples with nationality and gender: the “good” character is a female national, while the “bad” one is a male foreigner (a national of a neighbouring country whose citizens, according to extreme-right parties, routinely come and steal local jobs). Once again, either you fit or you do not. As a national of said neighbouring country, viewing the cartoon was not my favourite moment in the whole process, to say the least. Luckily, I am of the opposite gender and can therefore say that I have at least one thing going well for me, which is nice (Reddit-pun intended).

The best is, however, yet to come and takes place during my first meeting with the counselling officer in charge of assisting me with my job search – that is, in reality, making sure that I am indeed looking for a job and not being another of those infatuated and committed (or not) spongers. Said officer, quite charming, starts the meeting by saying that upon reviewing my resume, she wants to make sure she understands my field of expertise, in particular in terms of how it aligns with her job database, where she is to tick boxes to refine her own search. The exchange goes like this: Officer: So you have a doctorate in Law, right?

Me: Yes, I mean in International Law, to be exact.

O: OK, so, please correct me if I’m wrong, but the relevant keyword for your area of studies is “legal”, right?

Me: [One second of silence where I try not to burst out in genuine laughter, and regain my almost-not-lost composure] Yes! Indeed! Yes, law is about legal. Thank you!

She needs to put me in a box but she is not sure which one is the correct one. And I have not even completed a PhD in semiotics, which, when it comes to keywords, could have been much more arduous a find.

The point I want to make here is not about me knowing more than her – we all know things that others do not know. Rather, this situation is, in my view, very telling of the fact that the system is designed to (perhaps) help the vast majority while incurring the least possible cost, meaning that counselling officers are in charge of too many files, spanning areas so varied that they are inevitably not able to be knowledgeable about all the fields. And this is totally understandable: they are human. However, they are themselves interchangeable loops in a vast inhuman machine that, precisely because of its size and its economic constraints, fails to treat its users in a human way. And this can be brutally illustrated with a third and last situation.

Box#3 “Deserving unemployed/Undeserving unemployed”

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useless (given that her expertise and resources are unsuited to my specialised training and the positions I am looking for), and establishing that she is satisfied with the personal job research reports I am submitting to her each month, I feel I am worthy of the unemployment benefits I am still awaiting – two months after my initial registration. The payments office has not replied to an email I have sent them and has assured me on the phone that I should hear back from them soon enough. My daily budget is quite strained but I manage somehow to pay all my bills.

Three weeks later: still no news and the fragile economic balance on which I rely is threatening to collapse. I spend three days trying to contact the relevant office on email, countless unanswered phone calls and finally, after I leave a handwritten note at the reception desk, I get a phone call at 5pm on a Thursday night. I am utterly relieved when I register who is on the other end. The feeling of relief only lasts for a minute, however, as the officer tells me straight off that after calculation, I am five days shy of the statutory minimum 12-month minimal contribution during my previous job and am thus not entitled to any benefits. That’s it. It’s taken them two and a half months to do a calculation he has explained to me in 30 seconds and it’s this that decides what I am entitled to or not. Contributing to an unemployment fund is compulsory; unemployment benefit is a right. Or not, as it turns out. You need to beg for information, only to be told that you actually are not deserving.

How violent is this? How inhuman is the whole process? You do not fit in their boxes. You are not worthy of a penny. And here we’re back to Box#1, where work, where your existence in society, is defined by remuneration, by how much the market, backed up by the legal system, says you’re worth. Of course, some would say that the system has become rigid and violent as a result of all the spongers it needs to protect itself from. It all depends on your definition of what a “sponger” is; it all depends on who you truly are.

But this, the system does not want to hear. It only reads stories on paper.

Post-scriptum for the kind and worried reader: do not spend sleepless nights concerned over my case. I am a privileged, officially unemployed human being who has found a way to retroactively pay missing contributions in order to meet the minimum required 12-month equivalent total. I am a privileged, officially unemployed human being who will pay more in order to be paid a tiny bit to survive while looking for the remunerated job she has studied for a long time to be qualified for. There are always solutions where there is money. While race and gender are oppressive constructs, poverty as defined by lack of resources (be they monetary or relating to knowledge acquisition) sometimes feels even more dehumanising.

B. S.

Finally, after having heard my nonetheless very charming counselling officer acknowledging herself that she is quite

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Democracy and the Tribes of Africa This is the season for many of the nations of Africa to go to the polls and vote for the leadership of their nations.

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Month Country Type JANUARY Zambia Presidential By-Election FEBRUARY Nigeria General MARCH Egypt Parliamentary (Phase 1) MARCH Libya Constitutional Referendum MARCH Togo Presidential APRIL Sudan General APRIL Egypt Parliamentary (Phase 2) APRIL Tanzania Constitutional Referendum April Mali Municipal MAY Ethiopia General MAY Burundi Legislative MAY Mauritius Parliamentary JUNE Burundi Presidential JUNE South Sudan General OCTOBER Cote d'Ivoire Presidential OCTOBER Tanzania General NOVEMBER Burkina Faso Presidential NOVEMBER Chad Parliamentary NOVEMBER Guinea Municipal NOVEMBER Guinea General NOVEMBER Libya Presidential NOVEMBER Niger Parliamentary

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Wabenzi

There are elections coming up for a number of countries.

These elections are often hotly contested by political parties and vast sums of money are being spent in the pursuit of political victory by one or more groups. These often look like political parties but, most often, they are not mass parties with a mass following. Still less are they based on any notable political ideals, principles or goals. They are mainly the struggle among political caciques (who are political chiefs or bosses; a term derived from Spanish culture) for the best spot at the economic trough for themselves and their faction of the political tribes that constitute the African constituencies.

These political tribes of Africa are not based on ethnic divisions or loyalties; they are the sociopolitical aggregations of like-minded individuals whose identities extend beyond the boundaries of their nations.

The most socio-politically and economically influential tribe, which holds power across Africa, is the “Wabenzi” a Swahili term meaning “the Benz people”. These are the people who are members of the ruling class and are often seen driving their favourite imported car bought by the government: the Mercedes-Benz. They populate legislatures, ministries, presidential palaces and military headquarters across the continent.

They often represent less than 7 percent of the population and control almost 90 percent of public/private wealth. They distribute the contracts for the sale of the nation’s wealth; they take their commissions on any trade in the resources sold by the nation; they control the banks where the nation’s wealth is stored; they are the partners of overseas corporations seeking trade with the country; and they are largely unaccountable to anyone outside their tribe or clan. For the Wabenzi, elections are an irritating and expensive period of

rejigging the flow of national wealth due to their clans and arranging the electoral process so that more often than not any choice, like in many democracies, is a choice between two evils. The only outcome of the elections is a Wabenzi chief taking his place at the fount of the public wealth. To get there they conduct mass public shows of strength at which they “spray” cash at the electorate in a gesture of sharing the wealth.

The second most important tribe in Africa is the “Bintoos”.

They have been sent abroad to complete their education and have experienced life outside of Africa. They have “been to” Europe, “been to” America, “been to” Asia and have returned with real or faked degrees (for younger generations it's usually the former) and in large part a heightened sense of entitlement far in excess of the skills they bring back with them. Since they then have some form of credential which ostensibly proves their worth, they seek out the service jobs in the ministries, banks, financial institutions, local government or the media. This is in order to earn as much as they can, exploiting their relationships with the Wabenzis they serve, so that when their turn comes they can accede to full membership in the Wabenzi tribe. They are rarely candidates for office themselves but offer their notional skills and contacts to the office-seekers and peddle their influence among the other Bintoos and their overseas contacts to promote an acceptance of the fantasies of good governance by the competing office-seekers. Election times are the best periods for revenue accumulation by those with positions in the media. They get paid for praise-singing and also paid not to publish scandals.

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Mozambique they are largely gone as farmers or landowners.

The Wazungu there are usually expats. In West Africa they are mainly French neo-colonials supported by the French government and companies, or are technicians with the oil or mining companies. In both cases they are mainly economic players as opposed to political actors. There is a new breed of Wazungu in Africa these days: military trainers from various NATO countries but mainly from America. They are largely non-political and are primarily engaged in training African troops to kill other Africans more efficiently.

Bintoos The third powerful tribe in Africa is divided linguistically, along regional lines. In West Africa they are known as “Siriman” a popular term for the Lebanese traders (“men from Syria”) who own most of the small businesses in the region. Originally these were often Lebanese Christians with long-standing ties to Africa. Depending on the country, a number today are Lebanese Muslims with ties to Hezbollah.

In East Africa this tribe is better known as “Bunya Muhindi” (“money-lenders from India”) who also operate the small business sector and, like the Siriman, are a source of credit in local neighbourhoods (the term ‘bunya’ or ‘vaniyah’ in Gujarati is an Indian word for money-lender). In East Africa the Bunya Muhindi are usually Gujarati traders; sometimes referred to as the “College of Patels”. In both West and East Africa this tribe is largely apolitical with one half of the family supporting the current government and the other side of the family supporting any possible opposition group of the Wabenzi that looks as if it might take power. These are economic as opposed to political players.

The next important tribe in West Africa is the “Oyibo”, “Toubab” (West African) or “Obroni” known in East Africa as the “Mzungu or Wazungu”; the “white people” who are in Africa but are not considered by the Africans as legitimate beneficiaries of “Africanness”. They had their peak under colonialism but have been drifting away in large numbers since the 1980s. There are still Wazungu in East Africa who have agricultural holdings but in places like Zimbabwe, Zambia and

At the bottom of the heap are the “Wananchi”, the common people, also known as “Povos”. They represent the large bulk of the African people and are primarily rural. These are mainly the poor, dispossessed, diseased and despairing millions of Africans who, after 50 years of “democracy”, have not been able to improve their positions very much. In 2013, the 10 countries with the highest proportion of residents living in extreme poverty were all in sub-Saharan Africa. Extreme poverty is defined as living on U.S. $1.25 or less a day. There were 414 million people - nearly half of the 1.1 billion population living in extreme poverty across sub-Saharan Africa according to the World Bank.

What have the African governments of the WaOyibo benzi done about these problems? Most African nations became independent states 40 to 50 years ago. In African countries like Nigeria there was a thriving agricultural sector at the time they gained independence. There were good roads, functioning railroads and a health department that worked. What have all the billions of dollars which have passed through the hands of the “Agbadas” the “Grand Boubous” (the flowing robe of the African Wabenzi) gone? What have they achieved in improving the lot of the Wananchi? There are an unspeakable number of refugees and displaced people in Africa as a result of civil strife. They live, hidden, in strange lands or locked in the bush. They cannot register, they cannot vote, they have no country; they can do very little to change much in their lives. Of what value is democracy to them?

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This lack of effective governance has had its consequences.

One of the key roots to the rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria has been a direct result of the drying up of Lake Chad. Straddling the borders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon in West Africa, Lake Chad has been a source of freshwater for each of these countries. Maps drawn from a series of satellite images show a dramatic decrease in the size of the lake over the past 30 years. Since 1963, the lake has shrunk to nearly a twentieth of its original size, due both to climatic changes and to high demands for agricultural water. Since 1963, the surface area of Lake Chad has decreased from approximately 25,000 sq km to 1,350 sq km. This has caused enormous problems despite the fact the each of the African governments pay large sums for its improvement - money which has been diverted from its proper purpose to benefit the Wabenzi of all the neighbouring countries.

The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), a regional body that regulates the use of the basin’s water and other natural resources, maintain that inefficient damming and irrigation methods on the part of the countries bordering the lake are partly responsible for its shrinkage. As parts of the lake dry up, most farmers and cattle herders have moved towards greener areas, where they compete for land resources with host communities.

Others have gone to Kano, Abuja, Lagos and other big cities for menial jobs or to roam the streets as beggars.

Those who remain in Lake Chad’s shoreline communities such as Doron Baga are threatened by the speed with which the lake is vanishing. The Doron Baga settlement, which used to be by the lakeside, is now 20km from its edge. The once busy Baga market in Maiduguri, where truckloads of fish from the lake used to be processed and then transported daily to other parts of the country, is now quiet. The villagers must now travel by canoe and on foot for days from Doron Baga to Daban Masara, then to Darak in search of food. Darak was an affluent fishing community to the east of Cameroon’s border with Nigeria. These are towns where Boko Haram now are thriving as herders fight farmers for land and water and have no assistance from the Federal Government. It is small wonder that Boko Haram is spreading across this area.

Together they are scouring Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and elsewhere for land.

Ethiopia alone has approved 815 foreign-financed agricultural projects since 2007. Any land there that investors have not been able to buy, is being leased for approximately $1 per year per hectare.

What is most important is that this lease of land also includes the lease on water rights. Africans are being driven from their lands because the water needed to farm and survive is being diverted to the farms bought or leased to foreigners.

Food cannot be grown without water. In Africa, one in three people endure water scarcity and climate change will make things worse. Africa’s existing irrigation systems are being destroyed by large-scale land grabs with the support of the rentier Wabenzi. No lessons have been learned from the destruction of Lake Chad.

While it is true that Africa has been exploited by colonials, neo-colonials and occupiers over the years, it is no less true that they achieved their ambitions in an alliance with the rentiers of the Wabenzi. Just as the thriving slave trade into the Americas functioned with the active involvement of African kings and chiefs, the rape of African resources has been achieved by the active co-operation of the Wabenzi with the exploiters.

So now we have a new round of elections coming up in Africa.

The bunting is out and the radio and press are full of praise and scorn for potential adversaries in the battles for supremacy. For most of the Wananchi, the Wazungu, the Siriman and the Muhindis there will be no material changes in their lives as a result. In classical Athenian society, a free-born Greek with the right to vote was known as an ‘idiot’. That tradition has continued in Africa. Despite the rigging of the electoral rolls, the stuffing of ballot boxes, the intimidations at the polling booths, people are still going out to vote, even though they understand that these elections are a travesty of how elections are supposed to be conducted. Democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on what is for supper.

Dr. G.K.B.

What passes for an agricultural policy among the Wabenzi is a scheme to sell African land to foreigners and to collect the rents for doing so. One of the growing trends in African agriculture has been the sale of African land to foreigners who invest in large-scale modern farms for export of foodstuffs and biofuel-producing crops to their own countries. This has had a profound effect on African farming and a devastating effect on the availability of already scarce water supplies.

Leading the rush into African land are international agribusinesses, investment banks, hedge funds, commodity traders, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as UK pension funds, foundations and individuals attracted by some of the world’s cheapest land.

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"Just as the thriving slave trade into the Americas functioned with the active involvement of African kings and chiefs, the rape of African resources has been achieved by the active co-operation of the Wabenzi with the exploiters."

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2012 began for us without electricity, which means without technology: low battery in the camera, no internet, and no social networks. Little by little, I realized how dependant we are on technology and the automatic link between development and progress.

Indeed, progress means to go forward, but it is not a synonym for technology or modernity. Modernity is a hand that uses the lantern, which is technology, to show us the way to follow, but leaves the context in darkness.

(Baudelaire?)

On the other hand, development is not a goal; it is a process toward progress, not toward modernity. In Kant´s words, progress involves “chronological unfairness.”

Progress takes many resources, which leaves fewer for those in the future, who will actually reap the benefits. It also demands labor and innovation from those in the past, who do not get to enjoy the fruits of their works. It is unfair to the past and future generations. In an attempt to compensate for future generations, sustainable development is one of the ways to mitigate the chronological injustice.

Kant argued that progress is not a measure of prosperity or knowledge, but rather a necessary step toward enlightened culture and the abolition of the war, which in others words means a culture of peace.

I squish another ant with my finger.

Sustainable development is just one side of the coin. On the other side, there is the culture of peace. As human-centred approach to address current global challenges, the concepts of culture of peace and sustainable development are intrinsically linked. Peace must not be considered as the mere absence of war, but as an environment where human rights are observed and where every person has the possibility to realize his or her potential.

The core elements of peace and sustainable development are the respect of life, human rights, dignity, freedom, stability, social harmony, duty of forgiveness, justice, tolerance, mutual respect, solidarity, gender equality, and a lasting and sincere dialogue.

In my reflection, I have done my best to try to explain (or confuse) the difference between modernity, progress, technology and development. This practicum is our time to act, stopping occasionally to think about the meaning of the words that we wish implement.

The unfortunate ants were stuck between a rock and a hard place, or between the screen – technology and my finger – humanity.

From the Edge of the Sphere: Progress as Development of Modernity Written By : Andrés Del Castillo

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One day, I went to China for six months. I had been offered an internship in a course so I booked a flight without asking too many questions. Having little to no real knowledge of this country, nor any particular feel for Asia in general, I went with no expectations, curious to see what it would be like. A photograph of my brother as a child, dressed up as an Emperor and posing in front of the Temple of Heaven, and a carpet made last century, brought back from a trip, that dominated our living room, were the only tangible traces of China in my parents’ house. Of course, in my mind were visions of the Forbidden City and headlines about the Chinese economic boom.

Happy for the forthcoming change of scenery, I left a quiet and peaceful Switzerland to find myself in Beijing, with 17 million people, six devices and an incomprehensible language.

Although it was from a certain point of view something of a nightmare, the idea of a giant brouhaha was very exciting to me.

So I left on a Friday morning in March, loaded down with two 30kg suitcases. I found myself on a plane: me, Cecilia, a young woman in her 20s, surrounded by a cluster of 50-yearold Chinese businessmen reading the Financial Times or something of the sort. We hadn’t even taken off and I was already feeling as though I was on foreign territory.

Seven hours later, even though it seemed as though we were only in the middle of the flight, the plane landed. What I had taken for clouds turned out to be smog. Aesthetically, though, it’s oddly beautiful. The atmosphere seems cottony, filtering the harsh yellow of the sun into a white, softening light.

My cousin, who has been working as an architect in China for over a year now, was there waiting for me at the airport.

We took the di tie or subway towards the centre. Built for the 2008 Olympic Games, it is brand new and gleaming, thanks to an army of people cleaning it continuously.

After two changes, we descended at the Ping’anli stop and left the bright basement of the underground for a noisy, dusty street, full of people walking around, on scooters, dragging

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old carts filled with all manner of cargoes. We moved along.

To my left stood a Chinese-style building made of dark wood and strung with red lanterns; there were houses, a karaoke bar, restaurants, and a video-game lounge. On the other side, vegetables and grilled food were for sale next to a makeshift bicycle repair shop. The amount of noise in the street was impressive. For someone who grew up in the sometimes post-apocalyptic-seeming silence of Switzerland, it was quite a shock: there was loud talking, yelling even, the shrill ringing of passing bicycles, and a continuous honking of horns.

Loudspeakers hung in the window of a shop, spewing Asian pop music that – and there is no other word for it – sizzles.

It was only 9am but the activity already seemed to be at its peak. The street was like an anthill that had been kicked. At the outset, I was impressed and seduced by so much animation. This street! So alive, so ultimately Chinese. It was one of the places that struck me most in this city with its authenticity and character. It is emblematic of the centre, one of the places where traditional homes have not been destroyed to make way for bigger buildings.

This area is one of the hutong: Chinese traditional neighbourhoods connected by narrow streets. Hutong means “well” in Mongolian; Beijing was built by the Mongols, in orthogonal form, and they named each neighbourhood after the well around which it was built. Today, this term refers to the Chinese traditional neighbourhood with narrow streets where the traditional Chinese courtyard houses are built.

Luckily, my cousin lives in one of them. By Chinese standards, it is considered a luxury home as a bathroom has been fitted into it. Generally, there are no toilets in the houses; the inhabitants use public toilets, which are numerous in such neighbourhoods. To get into the house, we pass a first gate, turn left, and then right. At the end, a metal door – which is never closed – is the door to the house. My cousin tells me that there is no risk; theft is rare here.

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We are privileged. Around us, families live in cramped spaces, their only windows overlooking the passage that we use to reach the metal door. I learn that next door, four students live in a small room and the beautiful ancient tree above us is rooted in the neighbour’s kitchen. We enter and find ourselves in a courtyard, overlooked by four doors leading to four bedrooms. The bathroom and kitchen are in the yard, separated from them. This is a European house share: my cousin shares the cost with a French architect intern who has been there for a year and an Italian who has been there for five.

For some time now, China has been attracting a large number of Westerners to its major cities. In Beijing there are roughly 200,000 expats. In Shanghai, the vestiges of the British and French presence give a Western hue to this village in which laowai – mandarin for foreigner – are numerous and can often be found roaming the city by Vespa. There, I went to drink at the “Intern Café”, set up by students from the Lausanne Hotel School. Along this road full of bars, I only heard French, Spanish, Italian and English.

Following the 2008 crisis, many skilled workers left their countries for the opportunities offered by a blooming China.

Its idiosyncrasy was its constant transformation since its economic boom in 2005. Things move and change quickly. It would seem that a year of evolution in China would be the equivalent of 10 years’ worth in Europe. In this context, educated people who came from abroad would feel themselves sprouting wings; even better, they are offered unthinkable opportunities. Even though they don’t know the language – making day to day life more complicated – everything seems possible in China; everything is doable and very quickly too.

On the second day, I accompanied my cousin to a picnic in Chaoyang Park, where several of his friends were waiting for us. In my head, I was naively imagining a vast green space.

We arrived instead at what resembled a massive fair in which a crowd of Beijing residents had decided to spend the day.

Moving vendors were selling toys of every sort; there was a big Ferris wheel and candy shops. The laughter was drowned out by the Korean “Gangnam Style” music that was making waves at the time. We passed the artificial lakes to sit in a

quieter corner. We ended up eating Gruyère cheese brought here from Switzerland, then playing badminton while all around us people raced their colourful hi-tech kites in the air.

During the voyage I noticed the prevalence of public spaces in China, as much for their variety as for their function. Put in place as true leisure areas, parks like Chaoyang allow people to relax and play. Another, Ritan Park, the oldest in Beijing, accommodates tai chi groups, and groups of women dancing with fans to Chinese music, on a daily basis. At the foot of a century-old tree, I saw dozens of couples dancing tango, and some metres from there, children ascending the face of a rock-climbing wall. Other, smaller spaces offer ping pong tables and gym equipment, allowing older people to engage in physical activity. The vast majority of people living in confined spaces spend their free time outdoors.

Whenever friends want to go out, many go singing. Chinese karaoke, more commonly called KTV here, is everywhere.

From the outside, it is only recognisable by these three letters. But, on the inside, one may find a luxurious, state-of the-art space often infused with a baroque eccentricity that only the Chinese could boast about. Going to karaoke is like going to a hotel. Having arrived in the reception, you indicate the number of people and you are assigned a room with a giant screen and a low table. In Shanghai, the sobriety matched the black furniture, while in Beijing we found ourselves, 15 people, surrounded by beach décor with bouquets of plastic flowers, wrapped in murals of the sun. They go all out. Servers pass by to see if everything is going fine and to check on the state of the room – necessary due to the rate of drunkenness among the singers – and primarily to take drink orders. Sobriety is not generally the order of the day but behaviour is completely varied. The expatriates have a tendency to sing songs at the top of their voices in groups, while I remember hearing the locals singing songs (always love songs) in Chinese that seemed sad. Some let their hair down; others express themselves.

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The third day, I left for work. But a problem cropped up quite quickly: I couldn’t take the bus and the subway did not in fact stop at my destination. The stops and schedules are written in Chinese and no one understands a single word of English.

I called a taxi and luckily, he managed to read the address that was written in Pinyin (phonetic Chinese written in Latin letters) on my cellphone and drove off. I quickly got used to this practical and cheap means of transportation, the price of which is contrastingly prohibitive in Switzerland. Being unable to speak with the drivers, I discovered the city little by little gazing through the window, driving through the periphery.

One Saturday in April, tired of being driven around, I bought myself a bike in the market. I chose a purple one and paid what seemed to me like a reasonable price, only to then discover that I had been scammed. Fair enough! The trees were blooming, the sun was out, so I climbed on my bike and put on a mask to protect myself from the particles in the air. Five minutes later, sweating, I removed the accessory, which seemed to be completely incapable of protecting me from what it should. I took a deep breath of polluted air and headed off again, in a cheerful mood.

Not so long ago, Beijing was a cycling city. Today, it’s a city where bicycles ride on a road parallel to the one reserved for cars but on which motorcycles and carts can also venture and where cars are free to park. This first day on two wheels, unaware of the danger, I pedalled at full speed, enjoying my new Oriental life. All of a sudden, I bumped into the leg of a man in a suit getting out of his Audi. I humbly apologised.

He threw me a dirty look without responding. Feeling quite sheepish I headed off again, with a twisted handlebar.

My willingness to learn the language weakened with the passage of time. However, it is still necessary to learn the basics, if only to be able to buy pineapples from the walking vendors. The only phrase I learnt was the following: “Wo shang tsu tsi tso ba” which literally means “Me to want to go 798” (the art district). Along with my grasp of numbers, my

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restaurant and taxi vocabulary was broadening. This basic language was necessary for my survival here. Though as it permitted only limited communication, it was impossible to socialise with the locals; the language barrier was insurmountable. I built strong friendships with Chinese expats to the United States, Singapore and born elsewhere. It’s from my stay that I developed a business relationship with Jannis, with whom I came to create a photographic project and after whom it is named.

At the end of my stay, my parents joined me, 18 years after their last trip to China. Upon arrival, their judgment is clear.

It is no longer the city they had visited. China has changed on the surface along with its inner workings. Although enthusiastic about the quality of life, which has improved for a large part of the population, the country’s modernisation has reduced the variety of traditions it preserved. We are disconcerted by the uniformity in the urban landscape, the mounting numbers of gigantic grey and identical buildings that we see in the trains taking us to Shanghai or Xi’an. In this last city, we go to see the thousands of terracotta warriors, magnificent remains from the rule of Emperor Qin (c. 221 – 207 BC). The army was built directly in front of the Emperor’s tomb, to guard him in the afterlife. The size of the work and the finesse of the creation take our breath away. A crowd of Chinese people gathered to see the statues. In China for the most part, Chinese tourists tend to be assiduous visitors, proud of their country and of its over 4,000-year history.

For me, the Chinese experience was rich. The cultural difference allowed me to be a spectator in a world that I grasped over six months, without having been able to penetrate it. For the first time in my life, I felt truly foreign. At the first glances from the locals, I felt embarrassed. But then I accepted being photographed by a group of middle school students, by a woman asking me to pose with her husband, by young girls, by Chinese tourists. I, who came there to live the human experience, I was also an object of curiosity for the locals, reinforcing this impression of foreignness and a division between myself and the outside world.

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"Beijing was built by the Mongols, in orthogonal form, and they named each neighbourhood after the well around which it was built. Today, this term refers to the Chinese traditional neighbourhood with narrow streets where the traditional Chinese courtyard houses are built."

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PURE & PRECIOUS

© Crédits photo Sébastien Veraguas

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The truth is that in 1994, when I asked for a birthday gift, you said that I didn't have to get a gift for every birthday but that you loved me dearly. I cried blood and tears, threw my chubby self on the cement floor. Then you gave me two lovely mangoes, but you knew what I wanted- flour, sugar, milk and butter, molded into sweet perfection. I was grumpy for a day and half.

The truth is that in 1996, when I ate too much fried yams, I ended up in the operating room with appendicitis. You thought I would die but I came back home free of tummy aches for a very long time.

The truth is that in 1997, when you told me I would be spending the next 6 years of my life in boarding school, I was not shaken, neither was I afraid. Mother put up a good fight, but the professor and father in you prevailed. It turned out to the best years of my teenage life.

The truth is that in 2010, when you called me and said that you finally found Mr Right, I was elated. You waited so long to settle and when you did, you quickly conceived and bore a son. Then your mama died, your son died, and Mr Right died and left you with a deadly disease all in the same year. Effing Mr Right!

The truth is that.

Written By : Nneka Nzeadibe

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Narcissism DROWNED IN THE SELF

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- LOOK 1 -

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- LOOK 2 -

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The icon allows little girls to recognise or to find themselves in a role model. After the mother, it could be the Barbie doll, but after that, what makes Barbie come to life?

The featherweight models on the catwalk.

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- LOOK 3 -

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What is the role model?

Who creates the dream?

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The excessive media exposure (dare we call it exploitation) of the female fashion icon could only lead to its progressive popularisation.

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In “Who Are You, Polly Maggoo”, a veritable cinematographic oddity full of visual ingenuity and parody, we see a critique of the obsessive frenzy over fashion and the arrogance in the world of television.

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- LOOK 5 -

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- SELFIES -

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LOOK 1

Ivy wears Purples hand-beaded silk dress with long tail and feather shoes by Sorapol couture www.sorapol.co.uk Handmade silver jewellery by Sheeva www.sheeva.com

LOOK 2

Estelle wears white printed crop top by Sorapol couture Detailed shoulder piece, fringing, tassels and beads

by Get Clobbered.

Three-tier structured stud earrings by Kirsten Goss www.kirstengoss.com

LOOK 3

Jake wears checked blue suit by Ben Sherman Floral pocket square by Richard James Black shoe by Just Cavalli

LOOK 4

Ivy wears hand-beaded maxi dress with detailed gold fish tail by Sorapol couture Handcrafted deco stud earrings by Kirsten Goss www.kirstengoss.com Tada & Toy double finger ring with long-link chain

by Layana / www.layanalondon.com Tada & Toy shark fin ring with milky aquamarine

by Layana

LOOK 5

Estelle wears nude lace maxi dress and cape by Bursadi couture Lace shoes by Sorapol couture Black bracelet linked starring by Sheeva Sun ray stud earrings by Kirsten Goss White feather headwear by Alexandra Harper

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LOOK 6

Ivy wears multicolour hand-beaded jacket, feather skirt and shoes by Sorapol couture Red feather headwear by Lisa Jayne.

LOOK 7

Daniel wears checked black suit by Hugo Boss Printed pocket square by Atelier Scotch Blue brogues by Oliver Sweeney

LOOK 8

(Ivy's and Estelle's looks mentioned above) Daniel wears casual suit by Ben Sherman Blue leather shoes by Oliver Sweeney Jake wears black suit with silver studs by Versace (vintage - stylist's own) Black leather shoes by Just Cavalli

SELFIES

Daniel wears navy mesh jacket by Baartmans and Siegel Jake wears camel suede jacket by EDWIN Black leather bracelet with silver cross by Sheeva Ivy wears gold fringe top and skirt by Judy Wu, Gold chain by Versace (Estelle's outfit as above)

PHOTOGRAPHER TONI CENKO FASHION EDITOR DENA TSALAGKA STYLING STEVEN DOAN HAIR Danny Defreitas MUA Sotiris Lovaris MODELS Daniel Roberts, Estelle Digridi, Ivy Watson, Jake Lockhart THANKS TO Space Model Management, Nevs Model Agency, Leni's Model Management

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS SHOOT, UNFORTUN ATELY A NUMBER OF ANIMAL SPECIES ARE GOING EXTINCT EVERYDAY DUE TO THE OFTEN NARCISSISTIC NATURE OF HUMAN SOCIET Y

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1. Coral Necklace, OSCAR DE LA RENTA.

2. Fringed Mirrored-Leather Brogues, MARNI.

3. Grey Bonded Cotton-Blend Jersey Blazer, LANVIN. 4. Alexandria 18k Gold Earrings by Diaboli Kill, NOT JUST A LABEL www.notjustalabel.com

5. Rabbit-Felt Hat, BURBERRY PRORSUM. 6. Grey Wool Bag by Woolings, NOT JUST A LABEL www.notjustalabel.com

7. Polka-Dot Canvas Loafers, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN. 8. Floral-Print Windbreaker, CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN. 9. Silk Skirt, ROBERTO CAVALLI. 10. Lunar Olive Wood Camera, HASSELBLAD.

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What a hash tag Was, I said I don’t know, Think It’s that Thing People use Today To communicate Instead Of words, Make Themselves Look better In a photo-shopped Polaroid Of their

Ruminations : "Someone Asked Recently" Written By : Jonita Simmons

Non-perfect Self And their Non-perfect Existence, Heard some Even Get famous, Cause They took A picture Of so & so, Some 2nd hand Celebrity Or teenage Singer, Go figure!

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In the Presence of Others

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Human beings have long considered ourselves above and beyond the other creatures of the animal kingdom. Our intelligence is unrivalled (at least when considering the species as a collective rather than its individual units); our capacity for language and our cultures, unparalleled. We are masters of this earthly realm. Just as omniscience is central to the notion of “God,” so too are certain, higher types of thought central to the notion of humanity; here I refer specifically to the idea that we humans are the only beings on earth to possess self-awareness and that are capable of self-recognition. Up until recently, less than half a century ago in fact, there was little if not no evidence to the contrary.

In 1970 American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. dared to question this belief. He chose as subjects of his study one of our closest relatives - chimpanzees. The procedure he developed for this purpose - the mirror-image stimulation or simply the mirror test - is beautifully straightforward in its reasoning: a being that possesses self-awareness should be able to recognise itself when it sees its own image. To test this, chimpanzees were placed in a cage individually with a mirror for a period of 10 days.

During that time, Gallup observed and noted their behaviour.

understand whatever it was they had on their faces (though by this time the dye had already dried).

Since Gallup’s landmark study, there has been a bevy of research demonstrating this capacity for self-recognition and self-awareness in a number of other species – orangutans, elephants, dolphins and even magpies to mention but a few.

The doors of the once elite members' club of self-awareness aren’t wide open, but they are certainly slightly ajar.

Self-recognition, though, even in humans, is not inherent; it develops. For example, studies in developmental psychology have reported that it is around the age of 18 months that an infant first learns to recognise her or his own reflection in the mirror.

"After a few days they came to realise that the animal gazing at them from the mirror was in fact themselves."

During the first two days or so, the chimps interacted with their reflection in the mirror as though it were another chimpanzee, which is not altogether surprising considering that the chimpanzee had never before seen its own facial characteristics let alone a mirror. After the second or third day, however, their behaviour began to change. Rather than interacting with the reflection as though it were another chimpanzee, the chimps began to use the mirror to examine themselves – checking for food in between their teeth, making silly faces, looking at and grooming parts of their bodies otherwise invisible without the use of the mirror; they had come to the realisation that the chimpanzee in the mirror was in fact a reflection of themselves.

To be certain that it wasn’t simply his own biased interpretation of the chimpanzees’ behaviour, Gallup set up another test. He anaesthetised them, painted part of one of their eyebrows – a part of the body, as we all know, that can only be observed using a mirror – with red dye, then put them back in the cage.

The resulting behaviour left little room for doubt. The chimpanzees used the mirror to examine their faces, touching their dyed eyebrows with their fingers several times and then examining their fingers, sniffing them in an attempt to

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Even before studies demonstrated this American sociologists George Herbert Mead and Charles Cooley put forward the idea that the self emerges through interaction with others, and specifically by taking the viewpoint of others.

Cooley’s notion of the looking-glass self captures this succinctly, “There is no sense of ‘I,’ … without its correlative sense of you, or he, or they.”

To examine this notion Gallup once again observed the reactions of chimpanzees. This time he compared chimps reared in two different manners. The first set of chimpanzees had been born in the wild and had engaged socially with other chimpanzees; in other words, they had been raised in a group. The second set had been born in the laboratory and raised there in isolation, with no interaction whatsoever with other chimpanzees.

The experimental procedure was the same as in the first study, as were the results for the first set of chimps, those raised with other members of their species. After a few days, they came to realise that the animal gazing at them from the mirror was in fact themselves. Subjects from the second set of chimps, however, were completely unable to recognise themselves even at the end of the 10 day period.

Once more, to be certain of the results the chimps were anaesthetised, their eyebrows painted with red dye, and they were put back into their cages. Again, the group-reared chimpanzees realised that the reflections were of themselves as demonstrated by the use of the mirror to examine their eyebrows and again; those raised in isolation did not.

For this latter group of chimpanzees, it appears that their isolation made it impossible for them to take the perspective of another chimp and thus to imagine themselves from an

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external perspective. Having never interacted with another chimpanzee they did not find it odd that the image in the mirror continuously and perfectly imitated their own movements.

The chimps were young, however, and so Gallup wondered, would it be possible to remedy this deficiency? To answer the question he put two of the isolation-reared chimpanzees

in the same space for three months, before separating them once more to attempt the mirror test. This time, after a few days they each began using the mirror to clean food from their teeth, make faces, and to groom and examine themselves. The introduction of another made possible the recognition of the self.

We are well aware of the impact of the social context on things

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such as attitudes and behaviours, central to an individual's conception of her or himself. Yet for some reason it is oddly tempting to disregard such findings, to relegate them to the domain of the curious but altogether irrelevant; especially given the obsession with individualism present in so many of our societies. Nonetheless, it may very well be that the self as we know it is perhaps completely dependent on the existence and presence of others.

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Health in a Technological World THOUGHTS FROM NUTRITION SPECIALIST AMANDA HILTON

The broadcaster and best-selling author of “Eat, Fast, Slim” discusses the importance of internal and external health, the effects of social media on our health, popular health and diet trends from the past year and of course divulges some advice on how to stay healthy and prevent disease.

Society has criticised magazines and brands for portraying unhealthy body images. Today on Instagram, everyday people flaunt amazing bodies and are followed by thousands - even millions. People can become instant models by exhibiting a little skin in a selfie. The race for followers amongst pretty people on social media is competitive. How do you think these images in the media contribute to unhealthy body images for everyday people, since people sharing these “perfect bodies” are also everyday people and especially since a lot of these photos aren’t necessarily retouched?

How do you think social media has influenced body image, particularly for younger generations?

Social media makes it easier to comment, both positively and negatively, on any subject. Face-to-face situations have the filter of conscience and consequence. So, yes, to answer your question, I think social media does pose more risks for young people and their body image at a time when they are forming their self-esteem and resilience. Given that many adults still face the same vulnerabilities, you could argue that it is a risk all round. Saying that, I think social media is good overall. The bigger question is how to help young people build self-esteem.

Social media and blogs allow for people who are not specialists to give health advice? What do you think of this phenomenon?

It's annoying. I am a great believer in never straying into advice territory that you really can't back up. However, I suspect that most people don't take blogs as gospel - or I hope not, at least!

If you realise that there's always someone better-looking, prettier, richer – or whatever external measure you want to use – than you, it's easier all round. Extreme beauty is genetic fluke; wealth is often down to luck. It isn’t the route to lasting happiness as we will all get old and wrinkly in the end! It is a kind of insanity really. So, make the best of what you have got, certainly, but place your personal value where it counts.

Eating organic and preservative-free food is another one of 2014’s popular trends. To what extent do you think eating organic and preservative-free food benefits health?

Preservative-free usually means unprocessed, and that’s my personal priority. Keep food as real as possible. Organic labels in supermarkets are often out of the reach of many pockets, and that's OK. Go organic on milk, though and think quality not quantity on meat.

"Skinny thick" is another social media trend of 2014.

The trend is based on eating and exercising to have a thin waist and big butt and boobs. The term now has a Twitter page, Instagram page and a blog, where mostly women send half naked pictures of themselves with the #skinnythick hashtag. How do you think health trend selfies can contribute to the objectification of women in social media?

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of training in nutrition. Most allopathic medical thinking is based on treating illness, not preventing it or reducing risk.

So, I have huge admiration – and gratitude – for what can now be done when one is sick, but I think we need to put way more focus in general on preventing problems in the first place.

On your Facebook you recently posted “Read this if you are planning to give up smoking or a high-sugar diet as your resolution...There are no guarantees in life (I know people who have done everything 'right' that still have developed cancer) but if you have a choice and willpower, why not go that extra mile?” referring to an article by Cancer Research UK. To what extent do you think our lifestyles and diets impact our general health?

Where would you draw the line on genetics vs. lifestyle?

Genetics loads the gun. Lifestyle fires it. It’s not my phrase but I’ll borrow it as it sums it up perfectly.

Health-trend selfies I don't engage in really, but at least these women are actually doing something! I've got Rebecca Ennis on my Pinterest as a body inspiration. Far better that than aiming to be a number on the scales.

In 2013 you swapped your nutritious diet for that of an average British woman, which included a lot of saturated fats and processed foods. Even though you only added 250 calories to your 2000 calorie a day limit, your cholesterol levels increased from 5 to 5.7, you gained weight and experienced other negative consequences in just 7 days. Do you think nutrition is a key to preventing diseases? Do you think that this concept is not promoted enough by general practitioners and other health professionals and if so why?

It is obvious that nutrition is 100 percent vital for disease prevention. It makes me so frustrated that diet is dismissed by some sections of the medical community as if it is of little consequence. The fact is, doctors receive fractional amounts

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#glutenfree

#skinnythick #organic What role does social media play in your career?

I was a bit slow to start with when it came to social media really. I am an introvert in many ways. However, I now really value its place in my career and as a communications tool in general. I also love that Facebook helps me to keep up with friends and family.

In your book “Eat, Fast, Slim” you propose healthy ways of fasting to enhance weight loss, slow ageing, boost energy and improve sleep. In your work you have always focused on looking and feeling good as well as being healthy. Do you think the average person focuses on looking good on the outside and forgets being healthy on the inside when they think of nutrition?

When we are relatively young, most of us are driven to commit to healthier diets or lifestyle changes to change or improve how we look on the outside. As we get older, that shifts. I don’t really worry about it to be honest. The outward changes are the side effects of changes on the inside but if the motivation is to fit into a pair of jeans rather than prevent diabetes, the end result can be the same. I don’t judge.

Ask Amanda’s Advice on Twitter @amandanourish For more information visit www.amandahamilton.com For information on Amanda’s wonderful and rejuvenating wellness, yoga, detox and weight loss breaks visit www.nourishholidays.com Check out Amanda’s Best Selling Health Book “Eat, Fast, Slim”

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Turn the Lights Down Low It’s the night of your three year anniversary with your partner and there is nothing that you would like to do more than to leave your office, go home and spend the night canoodling, whispering and reminiscing on the years spent together.

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It hasn’t been an easy road getting to this moment of serenity and contentment in your relationship, as there were many long nights in the past spent in tears caused by misunderstandings in communication, lack of gratitude for acts of service and to top it off, absolute sexual frustration coming from both sides. For a long time, you were not sure how you could be so committed to someone you were not sure understood your truth; someone you were not sure could make you moan with pleasure until the cockerels started to crow in the wee and chilly hours of the morning.

Now you have learned each other’s ways and are able to speak each other’s language and understand each other’s thoughts. After having read of this idea in one of your Harlequin raunchy novels, you realised that this individual that you had chosen to walk through life’s ups and downs with was nothing less than your heart’s twin.

However...

Even though the two of you were committed to staying with one another, as you adored and loved each other, the reality was a relationship spent with absolutely no sexual gratification on either side. Yes, you were the best of friends and understood each other’s ways, but that was only until it came time to light some candles to set the mood right, pull out the sexy lingerie, and turn up Marvin Gaye. You tried and tried but could not last more than five minutes making love.

For years, both of you were left orgasmless, feeling more frustrated with other as time passed.

As reported by magazine Psychology Today, sexual complaints or frustration arise in practically every marriage or serious long-term relationship when partners do not know how to communicate their needs to each other. Psychologist Dr. Guy Winch concedes that the reason partners are not able to communicate their sexual needs and preferences and hence live in frustration is because our socialisation process has misinformed us by teaching us that sex has everything to do with self-gratification instead of being a selfless act that’s meant to give one party pleasure through giving pleasure to the other. Sex ought to be an expression of love, of giving the best of who you are in the most intimate space. In those moments of lovemaking, you and your partner ought to express a certain openness, freedom, and nakedness that you cannot publicly share with the world.

Everyday we are bombarded with messages that tell us to focus on “me” – because #YOLO: you only live once. It’s therefore important now more than ever to make it a priority to consider others, even in the most private aspects of our intimate lives. To learn to make love on another level, consider some of the eight tips below the next time you are in bed with someone:

"Every day we are bombarded with messages that tell us to focus on “me” – because #YOLO: you only live once.

It’s therefore important now more than ever to make it a priority to consider others..."

Five years later, after sessions of therapy which could have been avoided had the idea of lovemaking on both of sides been an act of service and love to the other, things now look much different within the four walls of your bedroom. It was a struggle of its own to get here though. Because of wrong, preconceived notions of what sex was supposed to be and look like from both you and your partner, talking about it and getting on the same page was very difficult. In order to learn how to be sexually happy and fulfilled, you had to understand how your partner related to sex and vice versa and how, with each of your own understanding and ideas, you could make each other happy. Both of you had to learn that sex within the context of a relationship is one of the greatest expressions of love, with both individuals having given first and then having received as part of their willingness to give.

1. What each individual en-

joys in bed is different. Do not allow society’s assumptions of what women like or don’t like or what men like and don’t like determine what you think your partner should like or not like. Talk to your partner and learn what they enjoy in bed, what scares them the most about sex, and how far they are willing to go without feeling uncomfortable.

2.

Take note of everything that makes your partner scream the sounds of pleasure. Make sure to keep those in mind when you are in the throes of lovemaking.

3. In the same light, pay attention to the ways in which

your partner responds. If your partner asks you to not do something because they don’t like it, be respectful and stop.

Even if they communicate that subtly by showing signs or making sounds of discomfort, make sure to take note, and stop. If they like something, on the other hand, continue to do it!

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4. Be honest about your needs without making what you 6. Keep interest and keep the mood alive and going even if want or need sound more important than what your partner needs.

you have already been satisfied with a mind-blowing orgasm, until your partner does the same.

5. As someone’s partner, it’s important that you know your 7. Don't allow gender binaries or what you learn about genboundaries and are able to communicate them without being defensive.

der roles restrict your sexual relationship with your partner.

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8.

Be willing to be the one who gives more and be ready to be shocked at how much more you will end up receiving.

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Today, you are ready to get back home and turn the lights down low. It’ll be a night of sensual lovemaking, of giving, and of sharing. In an age and time where everything you read and watch is all about self-gratification and selfish ambition, it’s more important than ever to defy that in your home – including in your bedroom. That way it won’t just be you screaming until the wee chilly hours of the morning but your partner as well.

E. T. K.

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I Tried Tinder !

Tinder, just over two years old and almost indisputably today’s dating app of choice; it is also the combustible catalyst that can ignite chemistry between two bodies…So what kind of bodies can you find on Tinder? What sparks? And most importantly, how do you get the fire started?

Here is some advice to help you to ignite the flames – for one night only, or for a lifetime.

2. The product range !

1. Your profile: know how much to give away !

If your goal is just to increase the list of products that you are going to consume, go ahead and design your own packaging. In this case, what matters more than anything is the container, not the contents. That means, don’t beat around the bush: you are allowed a maximum of six pictures to send the right message to a potential mate, who will judge you with timeless animal instinct and bow to the theory that “exposed skin=sexual availability”.

If it’s the opposite and you’re a bit of a romantic, you may have the hope of finding the rare pearl; it would therefore be wiser to prioritise understated pictures – though without seeming hung-up and prudish.

If you are a collector at heart, don’t limit yourself to one small selection. Don’t be afraid to cast your net wide to find a whole range of products, from the dullest to the most exotic.

You don’t spend three hours in one store stuck in front of a sweater trying to choose one colour, do you? Do the same thing with potential companions: know how to be quick and efficient, to be productive without being too finicky! Hurry up and submit to the temptation before it slips away and keep in mind that “Greed starts when we are no longer hungry.”

Regarding the search for Princess Bella or Prince Charming, the advice is the same for mobility. Wherever you travel, you will find that you have a choice of men and women that could suit you. For your search, unlike the large-scale consumers, don’t be afraid to take your time, to analyse them, and to select them with discretion. The greater your patience, the greater your reward.

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3. The spark !

The way Tinder works means that all the handsome males on your potentials list (or at least the majority of them) have chosen you, too. This is when the game can truly begin. Great hunter or huntress that you are, you don’t hesitate for an instant; pique their interest, make the first move, gather the necessary information to know if they would be a good lover for a night when it came down to it. Don’t be generous and tell yourself that maybe this or that one could potentially be interesting. You are not there by any means for the person of your dreams, and just to have a good time, so be discerning and only keep the best products!

For the more sentimental people, don’t fall into a slump of depression if your heart-stopper doesn’t respond to you instantly and isn’t a great conversationalist. Remember to be patient and gently arouse interest so they become madly addicted to your exchanges. Don’t give too much too quickly, so that they don’t get tired of you, and if they ever start to target alternative prey, just remember that the good ones ripen while the bad ones rot.

4. Light the flame !

You know all the excitement of getting the clothes you ordered online in the post, combined with the anxiety over knowing whether they will fit you like a glove?

The enthusiasm and pressure of finally meeting your chosen men will be there for the one night stands. Still, remain prudent and don’t hesitate to stack up your rendez-vous back to back so you always have one of them on hand. Don’t feel awkward about sending back a product if it’s not to your liking.

For those meeting Princess Bella or Prince Charming, the romantic in you will betray itself by wracking you with apprehension and an anxiety leading up to the date, desperate to know whether you will get along, or fall with shattered expectations from the cloud upon which you had been perched for weeks on end.

Whether you’re looking for love or a lover, on Tinder you are just a little girl with matches – desperately trying to light a flame to warm her heart or her body, by striking them one after the other.

I.A.