ART + CULT ISSUE B SS 2020 your personal white space (aaaahh breathing room...)
verbose və:’bəʊs adj. using or expressed in more words than are needed.
2 the_verbose issue b : bipolar spring 2020 the_verbose
On the eve of this release, the world was forced to shelter in place. As I clicked “publish” and closed my laptop, little did I know what awaited me in the morning: a global crisis that would soon reveal itself as the harbinger for existential crisis (I know), and social and political movements as businesses and communities simultaneously dismantled to come together. The bipolarity of this fueled the hyper connectivity between physical and digital space which was the core of this second issue back in early 2019 as I set out to map global intersections through art. In a quest to identify the common threads in vastly different mediums, messages, cultures and geographies, we can now reflect on the creative intelligence breeding change and elevating the human spirit in an uncertain and transient world.
This second issue, b, represents bipolar. Through travel and serendipitous encounters, I’ve been documenting creativity to build a narrative around the visible confluence of human interaction from polar opposite worlds. wuuuut? The result: a curation of art + culture that collectively guide us out of emotional cues and robotic reactions, adrenaline and apathy lacing swipes and likes, and towards stories inviting us to look beyond the pictures, and respond with questions, and with intention. My interviews get personal in effort to decrease the distance between people and the pages, print or pixel. May you read every line and in between them to hear some powerful voices. As I continue educating myself, I am grateful to share what I discover with those who join me on this ride. If this magazine inspires you to go do more of what you love, we’re winning. Your turn.
Thank you to the musicians (Brian Eno Music for Airports remastered 2004) and photographers for your imperative art forms that had me hustle this issue in two months, dancing to a different beat every hour. with love, Angela
ANGELA GLEASON KIM ELAINE creator curator . dubai curator . los angeles
STEFANIA LIQUIDBLOX SHARP PRINTING curator . berlin digital . finland print. los angeles
who SANCERRE PANDA YOU support . france cat . copenhagen curator . anywhere
HOUDA_RAHMANISAAD_ZAALMICHEL_YORDANOVSIMONE _THORENFELDTFRANK
ty JJUMBA_MARTINMELISSA_CHAULETTHOMAS_PLAFFJULIA CANAVANMARCGIOVANNI STREETCREDS
issue B : spring 2020 3 heard in a club shared online found on a trip 08 24 58 volume darkmode sneaks up off on
farveblind stefania tejada bleu de fes 10 26 60 reviving rave w/ soul female forward the berber in Copenhagen from Colombia rug brothers in Tangier
henry loussian laurence jones jovanie philogene 122 102 74 an artist’s revival LA in photorealism un voyage in of old Beirut from London paper gifts from Haiti
4 the_verbose SIDENOTE
guest contributor 06
found on a trip word on the street 58 90 sneaks phones on down SIDENOTE
guest contributor 22
SIDENOTE bleu de fes marie visti hansen 60 92 guest contributor the berber economist uncovers 56 rug brothers fashion in Kampala in Tangier
SIDENOTE
guest contributor 88
jovanie philogene sandro giordano 74 104 un voyage in the fall, in photos paper gifts from Rome from Haiti
issue B : spring 2020 5 side note
melati wijsen climate activist byebyeplasticbags.org
icon by Jie-eah
“Dancing with politicians — it’s three steps forward, two steps back, and then again and again.”
6 the_verbose VOLUME UP
issue B : spring 2020 7 the_verbose // volume up v
CURATED BY TAXIS & WALNUTS
mike jones los angeles dj / musician @friendofsarahconnor @brwnluxxry
8 the_verbose olume UP vimala paris v experimental @vimalamusic
photo // laurent nalin
akvilina dj / model lithuania @akvilinaubartaite
photo // greta bernotaite olume UP issue B : spring 2020 9 the_verbose // volume up
10 the_verbose F25CM farveblind interview #25 copenhagen musicians
MORTEN RYGAARD @moreten_rygaard
issue B : spring 2020 11 the_verbose // volume up
FARVEBLIND REVIVING RAVE W/ SOUL IN COPENHAGEN
12 the_verbose PHOTO CREDIT Roskilde ‘18 by Abdellah Ihadian
I had known about Farveblind (colorblind in Danish) for two weeks before this interview.
Anyone living in Copenhagen will tell you it’s impossible to avoid the music scene. From How was a new generation cultivating Roskilde to Distortion to the Copenhell metal crowds and producing music in a binge and Jazz week. The social advantage is forthcoming music capital? I reached out that these fests are shoved in your face so you before their tour in Hong Kong. It was a are effortlessly aware of the hottest local music cold Wednesday eve in the meat-packing tribes. Farveblind was on the lineup for Roskilde district. NoHo, that’s where we met. Great in 2018. Naturally, I googled the entire lineup lighting. Fantastic club soda. Magnus posted on a wall somewhere in Vesterbrø. There Pilgaard Grønnebæk and Jens Asger Lyk- they were. Different. Mixing genres, dodging keboe Mouritzen. Meet these crazy kids. categories. EDM. Rave. Grime. Dance. All of that, but niche. Genre-neutral? They oozed DIY (applause).
issue B : spring 2020 13 the_verbose // volume up
FARVEBLIND
V_ Your latest track, Jewls, And if that works, it should Magnus / It’s really just a matter just came out. Congrats. It’s work live also. of if there’s enough money in the aggressive. It’s cool. I was concerts. But then, we just made listening to Indima, which was Jens / I mean it’s really, you know, some music, and and it got better, a bit softer, and then heard this about trying to take our sound to so we realised that now our track. Way more demanding, the next level – In some ways, it’s productions are just as good as but good. So, talk about this hard to be a musician nowadays. our live music, and we can do the new sound, and about how On one side you have to be the whole thing. And that’s when Jewls Jewls came together? business man and on the other side came out. Jewls is a new place and you have to be this unique icon. it was with this track, we just felt the Magnus / So actually, Jewls was You need to self-promote on social vibe all the way through. the first track we produced with media. Which is fucking hot if you’re Steve (Steve Dub - cue Prodigy, that character. Then again you need V_What’s a successful show? Chemical Brothers). And I guess to be very original. we had kind of been struggling a Magnus / It’s small steps. bit with our sound. We are a really Magnus / ...and do it all the time. For me. Success is always great live band. We’ve been playing And be ready, all the time. developing. There’s no end goal. a lot of live shows, and I guess we It’s really just, like if we showed kind of missed out on the whole up and people were there having production thing that goes before a great time, that’s success. If we the concert acts. Like, the whole get to perform at a new location, learning how to be a producer. We that’s success. And also working were a live band first, and producers with Steve for example, and these second. DJs from around the world is success. The fact that we get to Jens / The initial ground music play in Asia is success. So it’s always was done first. You know it was very evolving and developing. very basic. We started to get into V_How much of your personal this dilemma where people liked identity is your band image or Jens / It’s really a never ending it. We didn’t expect that. But they brand? thing. It’s quite healthy for an artist, did. So we needed to keep doing or not even an artist, but even a it, give it value for the audience. A Magnus / I guess it is. The thing small business, to have these ambi- performance. about when it comes to this kind tions and these realistic milestones. of niche techno EDM vibe, people Our first goal was to figure out who V_How much of your audience are always super serious. And we we are. And that’s ongoing. influences your sound. When try not to be. you know the venue, and your V_ Mixing genres. How did the crowd does the music cater to Jens / The thing is, we are not track come together so fluidly? this, or do you take a chance on people that can manage or create it just being all you? a character, because we are not Magnus / I think it was really actors. So, we need to portray a natural process for us. It’s Magnus / I think the beautiful ourselves as we are. We’re kind of definitely one of our quicker tracks. answer would be it’s all us. But the dorks. Nerds. Like the whole production was a thing is, we are that market. So it’s long process. But when we started actually not that well thought out, V_So you have this reputation from the first sample to the demo but we are trying to advance our for having great visuals in your with vocal and everything that was own music while we produce it. shows. Tell me about it. more natural than the two other So we always have this dance test. tracks. I don’t know if you’d agree:
14 the_verbose We started to get into this dilemma where people liked our sound. We didn’t expect that. But they did. So we needed to keep doing it, give it value for the audience.
issue B : spring 2020 15 the_verbose // volume up
Success is always developing. There’s no end goal. It’s really just, like if we showed up and people were there having a great time, that’s success. If we get to perform at a new location, that’s success.
16 the_verbose PHOTOS FROM ROSKILDE ‘18 BY ABDELLAH Jens / Yeah I do, I do. It’s kinda just that V_ Club scene: fast. dark. How do IHADIAN stomach feeling in a way with the beat you grab that energy from the “da da da da da “… and the base line audience and adjust? going on. It was pretty cinematic. Pretty theatrical. Then we laid down a beat, and Jens / You mean like how we adapt to thought, “how cool would it be for this the audience? track?” It really invites the kind of track that almost feels Grime. But the tempo is V_Yeah, how do you read your off by like 40 meters for it to really have a audience and adapt? Grime element. Jens / We both grew up in Aulbourg, Magnus / It’s super super slow compared Denmark. A small town up North. Which to like the Grime scene. They’re like always also meant that when you played a this really quick beat, but our song was concert, you couldn’t expect a lot of audi- really slow. ence. If there were an audience you prob- ably knew in advance who they all were. V_ Was that intentional? And I remember one of the lead business industry people he said to us, you always Jens / Yo, that’s the beauty of it. Like you even if you’re playing for 5 people or 500 know, us being a producer duo getting people you always have to expect that to work with several features, is also the even just someone in the crowd will take freedom to work with genres. So that was on the experience. So I think we had to definitely the experimental and exciting handle it very much like if we get a crowd part about it; To get this full step, and that’s not reactive, if the audience isn’t together with this guy, an amazing rapper.. having a party with us, then we need to Why not take it back to the early nineties, create that ourselves between us. We first slow like, Fresh Prince of Bel Air stuff, you played for our friends and people who know, get that attitude but in that music didn’t know us. history, to get that all in there, how do you fucking combine it?
issue B : spring 2020 17 the_verbose // volume up
V_ So how dramatic has it been in terms Jens / It’s kind of like a philosophy apart from the different of where you started out and where you genres and mixing, you have this really fucking useful tool are now in the music scene? called the internet. We all do. It’s pretty easy to look up artist all over the world. One of our main goals is to make Magnus / I’d say it’s been stressful but not ourselves discoverable. dramatic. An evolution. Of course there’s always the economic part of it. Magnus / We were like, “Where’s the most unreachable area in the world. It’s North Korea, but they don’t really Jens / The most dramatic part was when we have internet. And then we started searching through played at this festival here in Denmark, called several blogs and we landed on South Africa. Then we Spod Festival. We had five showcases in two days, discovered Khaya N9 and wrote to him. We needed to play two shows the first day, and in the night, and then get the up the next day and play at 2am. Then the main stage the day after. We thought we Which was fucking awesome. But standing there the night before the main stage, fucking tired, ½ had like found the hour before I was so frustrated, at my biggest moment about this thing called sleeping? Nigerian prince.
Then we played and the energy came back but that was pretty dramatic. But he didn’t’ reply for like half a year. And then he wrote back while looking for another email. So we said hey let’s go. He was sure it was spam.
V_ Tell me about the artist you collaborated Jens / Skype was a useful tool. And whatsapp. It was a with from South Africa, Khaya N9? hard process because he shared a microphone with his band, which he could only have one day every second week. And it wasn’t really a good microphone and the internet was really shitty as well. But we managed.
18 the_verbose FARVEBLIND
Magnus / He flew 18 hours to play 4 V _The Nordic music scene. Go. mins. After the track was made. We had a production rehearsal before the concert. Magnus / It’s a cold vibe of music. It’s He landed, rehearsed. Slept, played and not a vibe you find anywhere else. It’s went home. melancholy but with parts of hopes. That sounds really cliché. It’s super minimalistic. Jens / I remember Especially the indie, House of Tides… super delicate. And with Copenhagen I’ve him thinking that figured out we have a huge techno scene and people from all around the world see penguins existed we’re apart of that. They see Copenhagen like the new Berlin. People are exploding, in Denmark. because it’s really fast.
He’d been out of his little city like 2x in his The thing is, maybe we have this curse life. We had the funding to fly him out but where we know a lot of artists that are not he didn’t have a passport. “Shit get a pass- exactly our vibe but kind of in the same port man!” We applied for a visa for him a genre. So it’s always a tough collaboration month before the concert, and he picked it because we think of how to fit a country up 2 hour before his flight out. song on EDM or techno. Hopefully the future will be a bit easier. V _Well, sounds like you already had your dream collaboration. Who’s next Jens / Regarding what we look for, on the list? Who would you like to it’s basically everything as long as it’s produce with? authentic. For us it’s really about the stories. Like, working with this guy Jens / I’d like do something very Nordic. from France, early in the morning late Magnus / Yeah, we need to do to bed, he takes four showers a day something easier. and is a dancer. KillASon. And he’s a rapper.
Magnus / So we just finished a track with him. But he may want to fix it. He’s mental. A lot of musicians these days are part of a crew - where people are kind of the same and meet in these dark basements and create their genre, hip or rock or whatever. I guess one day we’re together with a singer-songwriter and the next day with the greatest hip hop artist in the world.
issue B : spring 2020 19 the_verbose // volume up
FARVEBLIND
V _Where are you finding some fresh music scenes?
Magnus / There’s a lot going on in central America. There’s some market there. Argentina, Chile, Santiago, specifically. Tel Aviv for the rave scene. South Africa is really nice. The Unkle is from there. Bruce Maneauver. The Streets.
V _Where do you like to hang out in CPH?
Magnus / The studio. And We Do Food. We like that place for food, Jens / It’s just a matter of how much time we have and what’s easy. It’s a really We have good friends. unhealthy lifestyle.
V _Friends and fam where do they play a role in your career?
Jens / I don’t think I’d be able to do this without the support of a significant other.
Magnus / Our friends know we’re touring a lot and if they’re able to, they will go with us. We tell them “You know you’re going to sit in a car for four hours then do a sound check, and then do nothing for hours. They’re like “yeah we’re in!”
20 the_verbose I remember one of the lead business industry people said to us: you always, even if you’re playing for 5 people or 500 people, you always have to expect that even just someone in the crowd will take on the experience.
PHOTO CREDIT Rikke Kolding @rikkelkolding
@FARVEBLIND Interview November 2018
issue B : spring 2020 21 the_verbose // darkmode off
side note
The People vs. Tech by Jaimie Bartlett
icon by Riduwan Molla
...could the social-validation feedback loop be the dopamine effect replacing substance abuse?
22 the_verbose DARKMODE OFF
issue B : spring 2020 23 the_verbose // darkmode off da
CURATED BY TAXIS & WALNUTS
joe keefe
photographer @giganticphoto
ark24 the_verbose mode da
tishk barzanji london visual designer @tishkbarzanji
rebekka reinhard munich philosopher / writer @rebekkareinhard
photo // peter lindbergh mode issue B : spring 2020 25 the_verbose // darkmode off
S28CD
stefania tejada interview #28 colombia digital painter
26 the_verbose THE BIRTH OF VENUS 2018
issue B : spring 2020 27 the_verbose // darkmode off
UNTITLED LEVELS OF REALITY 2017 2019
Her life growing up in Colombia has played a large role in shaping her views around women and girls STEFANIA in society. It is through her art that she articulates the beauty of strong and confident females, while TEJADA exposing some of her deep truths through delicate features and gestures.
FEMALE We first discovered Stefania through a friend who shared her IG account. Days later we ordered some F ORWA R D FROM of her prints, and insisted we feature her in this issue for all the obvious reasons. So who inspires COLOMBIA this creative soul that inspires us? Chimamanda We’ll let one of our favourite artists shed light on this as she Ngozi Adichie, Greta Thunberg, Marina Abramovic, deep dives into the power of emotion behind her expression- Michelle Obama, Simone de Beauvoir, Kate Millet, less faces. Her digital painting has generated an international Joan Didion to name a few. And when she isn’t response from men and women embracing their unspoken painting? You might find Stefania with a book in connection with visual communication. It isn’t by accident that hand, called Akademie X Lessons in Art and Life her digital paintings have also hit a sweet spot with some of the and Frank Sinatra on repeat. We also asked her for biggest names in fashion and consumer goods. Her dedication the ultimate guide to her Colombia - very telling of to her craft and to female empowerment has began to sustain the artist herself. That’s your bonus track at the end her life as an artist while currently residing in Paris. of our interview. Now, meet Stefania Tejada.
AMAZON 2019
28 the_verbose AMAZON 2019
issue B : spring 2020 29 the_verbose // darkmode off
GUCCI 2019
30 the_verbose STEFANIATEJADA
She (my mother) would always say no. And that is what I needed to hear. For me, that word is so motivating, so in your face, so definitive. There was no room for negotiation.
V_ Has your family played a role in your work and life?
Stefania / I, in fact, have a big family but we are not But in all honesty, I’m grateful for that (now). Those the typical close family. Each group pretty much keeps answers coming from my mother really pushed me to- to themselves. I believe the people that have played a wards working on my future, on myself and the kind of role in my work have been my parents and my siblings. person I wanted to be. I used to be really shy and had Even in the beginning, when they couldn’t understand a huge lack of confidence growing up. I didn’t have the world I had chosen to live in, they would help the my own opinions. I was a follower. And this woman only way they knew how: by supporting me emotion- completely broke every single piece of that being and ally when things got rough. forced me to learn how to be self-sufficient, indepen- dent and strong (sometimes a bit too much). My dad is the understanding one. He has always been there for me even if he doesn’t agree with probably My family used to be very traditional, where sons and 90% of my decisions. He’s driven by an enormous daughters would be raised to fill their parents’ shoes sense of responsibility and protection towards his but when it was my turn to go to college, I really went family. My mother is a completely different case. towards something completely creative and unexpect- She had to work really hard her entire life and had a ed at that time and place, away from administration very complicated life, so she’s a Latina woman with a and economics, which were the classic careers every- ‘tough-love’ philosophy. She would always say no. And one in our family went for. that is what I needed to hear. For me, that word is so motivating, so “in your face”, so definitive. There was It was shocking for pretty much everyone, and there no room for negotiation. She would say: “You took the was a lot of teasing and mocking regarding my future decision to do that, figure it out. Or are you too weak? for a couple of years. I had to really push towards get- Didn’t I teach you how to do things for yourself? Did I ting out of the family bubble and be confident about waste my time?” She would say something like, “That’s the decisions I was making, I had to take risks in a lot of it? Have a good day.” And hang up. She would really cases without the support of anyone. But at the end of push me towards a state where all I could feel was the day when I started doing really well, working every a high level of adrenaline and a rush of positive and single day from 4am to 1am on something that I ab- negative emotions. solutely loved, balancing a daily job and my personal work; you really don’t have space for self-doubt or to worry about what anyone is thinking.
GUCCI 2019
issue B : spring 2020 31 the_verbose // darkmode off
GIRLS BOTANICAL 01 GIRLS BOTANTICAL 03 GIRLS & BOTANICAL 05 2019 2018 2017
V_ What do you love about your Colombia? What would STEFANIA you change?
Stefania / What I love and admire about Colombia TEJADA is the strength of its people. The ability we have to survive and conquer regardless of the situation we are in. We can come together as one and stand for what is right.The last couple of years, women all over the coun- try have been taking a stand and speaking up, demand- ing equal pay, and justice when it comes to violence, sexual assault, and abortion.
There is an enormous amount of women coming together through feminism, and creating a cultural revolution in our country. Our communication is filled with understanding, courage and strength.
32 the_verbose Two major groups are Las Viejas Verdes & Dos “Two major Latinas, who are taking into account the importance of education towards women’s rights. They guide groups are Las and inspire women to speak up and know that they are not alone in this fight. This is a major issue we Viejas Verdes are living and we all need to be an axis of change. & Dos Latinas, Nowadays, our government has been making a lot of poor decisions towards our future and our land. who are taking Decisions are being made without taking into account the life of millions of people and putting into account the money only in the pockets of our governors. We recently had several strikes in every major city and importance of the response given by our politicians focused on chaos, major violence and aberrant behavior to- education towards wards women, children and men. Instead of actually listening and understanding where we are coming women’s rights.” from, the response was given from a position of indifference and arrogance. There is no possibility of change without humility.
V_ When did art become your channel for expression? And what motivated you to pursue this art form?
Stefania / It became my channel for expression when I was living in México. I was living with two friends who were also in creative fieldd: industrial design and animation; and we encour- aged each other to explore, to create, to try new things. We were always doing something: paint- ing, pottery, animating, taking photos, just making things all the time.
I think it was more of a kind of therapy for me. What I could share through these portraits, through these women. It became extremely personal, and for a person who doesn’t trust a lot of people, this was my way of communicating. Their eyes were my
issue B : spring 2020 33 34 the_verbose ERROR 2019
eyes, and their feelings, their expressions were also my own. After a while, some of my friends started connecting with my pieces and then people I didn’t even know. I figured if it helped me, it might also help them. Give them strength and courage.
V_ What have been some of your personal struggles over the years? Has your artwork played a role in overcoming challenges?
Stefania / Perhaps having confidence in myself was one of the first struggles I had when I started my career. I’ve also had to deal with a lot of criticism from men, especially when I was working in Bogotá, I was even called male chauvinist and femi-nazi in front of the entire office by my boss and an intern during the same conversation just for saying: what happened to gender equality?
In the end it just made my skin thicker and made me realize that I wasn’t going to achieve my purpose by being surrounded by those kind of people. I just thought: you’re fighting for women empowerment and equality and this is where you work? I was gone in less than a month. And it was indeed for the better. Let’s call it intuition.
So, yes, my artwork plays a huge role in over- coming every challenge I’ve been through. It’s what moves me, what makes me a better human being, what encourages me and that’s what I want to give people as well.
issue B : spring 2020 35 the_verbose // darkmode off
STEFANIATEJADA
V_ Have you found that V_ You have a self portrait your art requires context “The Birth of Venus 05” and explanation? from 2018. On IG you include text that calls Stefania / I don’t think it requires attention to mental health context and explanation. It’s very and ‘feelings as part of strange, because a lot of people education.’ What prompted connect with my work and when this piece, and how did it they ask me about the piece and I feel to share this? tell them the story behind it, they already knew in some way by the Stefania / I created this piece feeling they get from the piece. because there are a lot of things I Not exactly the precise story but still don’t talk about, maybe because the feeling itself. As if they had felt I don’t want to be labeled by them. it as well, they recognize it. It’s like I don’t want the conversation to be looking in the mirror. disrupted by past events, I want to focus on the present. This piece was What I want to accomplish with my a way to put myself next to my other work is to create conversation with women, to say in some way that I the self. To understand that you understand, that I’m one of them. must feel, that it is completely okay To release myself of certain feelings. to be angry about things that When it comes to my work I don’t happened in the past, and that the plan anything. The piece figures person must use those feelings itself out during the process, as I towards something positive in think it should be, as life is, as we their lives. To use every single humans are. I like the unexpected, to emotion and transform it. It’s the not know what it will end up being. only way to heal. After I post something personal, I leave my phone as far away from me as possible. I force myself to open up about my story and that’s something that I find really difficult. Some subjects are so personal and putting them out there for the world to see requires courage. A lot of it.
36 the_verbose WITHIN THE DREAM 2019
WITHIN THE DREAM 2019
issue B : spring 2020 37 38 the_verbose When it comes to my work I don’t plan anything. The piece figures itself out during the process, as I think it should be, as life is, as we humans are. I like the unexpected, to not know what it will end up being.
TITLE year
issue B : spring 2020 39 the_verbose // darkmode off
V_ Do you consider men to be an important viewer or component for communicating your themes on women and female identity?
Stefania / Of course. I’ve actually have some male audiences who would showcase my work to the women around them. This is about all of us, female and male. Honestly, it’s inevitable. I never plan it or think about it, they just con- nect in another way, they feel connected by the force of the portraits and their energy. By the positive impact. I think they are the man of this new era.
V_ What are some of the challenges you’ve had to overcome as your work gains attention?
Stefania / Learning to take the positive feedback and letting go of the rest. Knowing and trusting that I know myself well enough now, that I know this person, how she feels, what she would accept and what she wouldn’t and respecting that. That I’m still learning and I can’t be so hard on myself. Also, learning to say no to opportunities where respect is not fundamental and to remove the ego.
V_ Have you spent time on your personal brand WOMANHOOD and marketing, and do you 2018 find that to be important for success?
Stefania / I have not spent time on any of those things. I work on myself, the real person
40 the_verbose GIRLS & BOTANICAL 04 2017
and that is what I share in my work and on my social media accounts. I don’t want to “create” something that is not me just for likes or follow- ers. What you see is what you get.
V_ Are there other themes you would like to explore, or new audiences to reach?
Stefania / What I want to explore right now are different techniques. I want to experiment with a more realistic and less digital approach and be able to touch the piece, have more control over the surface, the space, the layers, the textures. At the moment I’m working with oil painting and acrylics and we’ll go from there.
V_ Do the women in your work reflect women in your life?
Stefania / More than women in my life, it represents my personal experience but most women in general have lived the same or worst situations than I have. We are all connected by a lot of issues and circumstances. We are We are all all together. So by saying this, I want to say that my work connected by a reflects all women.
lot of issues and V_When you look at your early artwork, how do you see it has circumstances. changed over time? Also, when did you first go public with your We are all artwork and what was that like? WOMANHOOD 2018 together. So by Stefania / The technique has changed but the purpose remains saying this, I want the same. Of course when you have been doing this for a couple of to say that my work years you improve as an artist, you change, you evolve. I went public reflects all women. with my artwork back in 2013 I think, while living in México. In the beginning I didn’t really see it as “my work.” It was just a hobby.
issue B : spring 2020 41 the_verbose // darkmode off
STEFANIATEJADA
Women should be motivated to pursue their careers, to travel, to live, to be themselves. The world has so many opinions towards what we can or cannot do with our bodies, who we should love, what we can achieve and what not.
42 the_verbose me and that’s what I reflect in my what I would like to see is totaly V_Could you share a bit about work, but my focus goes towards equality, and see men stop making your technique from concept to the power of women. It speaks decisions towards a body they know computer? about hope and strength. nothing about.
Stefania / When it comes to my The Latina woman is a very V_ How much effort is behind personal work I never know what complicated being, she has sending a message versus I’m going to create. I look at a lot been through hell and back, illustratrating aesthetic beauty? of portraits, campaigns, photo- she is a fighter. graphs in general and all I see Stefania / In my case, just by are the faces. I can look for days V_ Why is female identity living, the meaning of the piece or weeks until I finally see an ex- and the role of women impor- comes to me. It’s a feeling or pression that speaks to me, that tant to you? Where do you an emotion towards a current makes me feel something inside. hope to see more women in situation that I’m dealing with It’s very emotional. I always start the future different from today? or towards something I see with the face and then I move on happening around me. It’s like a to the body, the movement or Stefania / When I was grow- puzzle. I collect the pieces and stillness, then I choose the gar- ing up as a woman in my home- then it all fits together when I get ments. town, people were very skeptical to work. towards our success, we were I feel a lot of emotions and I think objectified, doubted. And a V_ Tell us about the role of plants I’m extremely vulnerable and lot of people, including elderly in your work. And how do you that’s why there’s so much in the women, focused on the fact that choose your backgrounds – are pieces I create: patterns, tex- our goal was to get married and they tiles, ceramics, wallpaper from tures, color, saturation in some have children. That we needed to places you know? cases. I create a basic sketch of behave like “ladies”. There were the piece and then move onto two extremes, you were either When we were growing up my digital to add every single detail. “The Virgin” or “The Whore”. mother had this fascination and Nothing in between. One or the need to have nature around us. other. That you should feel lucky They didn’t have money at the V_ Color and expression stand if a man chooses you and that our beginning of our lives so she would out as key elements in your work, role is to take care of the family. buy plants and put them in vases in and particularly as they relate to This was the 90’s. Evolution ar- the middle of the house and sort of the clothing and backgrounds. rived very late to this place.I really created her garden. I saw her taking But the focal point tends to come gave a lot to talk about in this care of them with such precision back to the faces. Can you talk small town when I left and pretty and love. She would take the leaves about this, and explain some of much decided to live my life how- of the big ones and rub banana on the choices you make around ever I wanted. Women shouldn’t them and I remember asking her these patterns in your work? have to go through that for their why she was doing that and she first 17 years of life. said it fed them. I honestly don’t Stefania / I believe it all comes Women should be motivated to know where she read that and for from my Latin-American back- pursue their careers, to travel, to some reason I do not find it weird at ground. Here we were living in live, to be themselves. The world all. It makes total sense to me. paradise, surrounded by the has so many opinions towards strength and power of nature, so what we can or cannot do with When they built the house close to much color, so much life but there our bodies, who we should love, the lake she had a massive land of was so much violence and fighting what we can achieve and what nothing and started putting seeds over power and control when I was not. I don’t see anyone making of all kinds of plants all over the growing up. I think that stayed with any rules at all towards men. So place; they planted some small
GIRLS & BOTANICAL 06 2017
issue B : spring 2020 43 “What I want to accomplish with my work is to create conversation with the self. To understand that you must feel, that it is completely ok to be angry about things that happened in the past and that the person must use those feelings towards something positive in their lives. To use every single emotion and transform it. It’s the only way to heal.”
44 the_verbose FRIDA KAHLO 2017
“I paint my life. Perhaps not exactly as it was, but in some way, it is still what surrounded me for almost 20 years. Sometimes it felt like a small piece of paradise and sometimes it felt like a beautiful prison. It really depended on what I was going through.”
trees and I remember my dad saying tion of different kinds of blue tiles as that it will take them like 20 years to well which gave it a vintage vibe that Colombia anyone? grow and I looked at my mother and I loved. ART // said: “Are you crazy? It’s going to Botero Museum take forever!”. Now, 24 years later V_How do you use fashion in your Mambo and galleries (San Felipe) that house has the most beautiful illustrations, and why is that impor- HOTEL // garden, with incredible trees, it’s all tant? Bio Habitat Hotel (Armenia) green, like a small jungle or a piece DANCE // of paradise. It takes time. To pursue Stefania / Fashion is a way to com- Delirio (Cali) something, to achieve a goal, to get municate what you think, what you Videoclub (Bogotá) the life you want. It takes time, it takes see or what you feel. It is a statement EAT // work, it takes courage to trust your about the life that surrounds us. How Platillos Voladores (Cali) gut even when everyone around you could that not be important? GET LOST // is doubting you and believing you’re La Guajira insane for working towards something V_Favorite collab so far? El Tayrona they cannot see or understand. It takes courage to try the most absurd, Stefania / It would be my insane and outrageous things in order collaboration with Lenny Letter to achieve your goal. through the article “Why Kesha’s case is more than just about Kesha” My obsession with tiles began with written by Lena Dunham. With this my uncle German. He is an architect piece I understood the power that and was the person my parents hired an image holds. How one piece can to built their lake house and their represent an entire movement or a permanent home. He uses a lot of moment in time. How it speaks to Interview February 2020 tiles in the bathrooms, in the kitchen others and makes them feel. stefaniatejada.com and the pool was made of a combina- @STEFANIATEJADA
issue B : spring 2020 45 the_verbose // sneaks on
side note
SALLE PRIVÉE @salleprivee
Icon by Oleksandr Panasovskyi
“We have nothing new. And having nothing new is very new in fashion.”
- Patrick Munsters
46 the_verbose SNEAKS ON
issue B : spring 2020 47 s
CURATED BY TAXIS & WALNUTS
artsi ifrach
marrakech
fashion designer @masionartc
photo // suzana holtgrave
48 the_verbose n eaks o n s
tulum art club tulum art pushers @tulumartclub
artist // jacinta kaiser
hania raad beirut artist @caravansarie eaks o n issue B : spring 2020 49 the_verbose // sneaks on
B26TR bleu de fes
interview #26
tangier
rug restoration
HOUDA RAHMANI @houdarahmani
50 the_verbose BLEU DE FES BERBER RUG BROTHERS B26TR IN TANGIER Tangier. A city of chaos, poetry, and stopovers.
The nexus of art and business. The epicentre of debauchery, trade, international traffic of every product and service human pushed and shipped. The Beatnik’s foreign affair. Tangier: the house of spies, a heroine and a survivor. A city whose soul breathes the very beauty and mystery it bleeds. Beneath it all, lies the Berber history, celebrated among the cultural elite in Morocco and Algeria.
“Never in my life have I observed anything more bizarre than the first sight of Tangier. It is a tale out of the Thousand and One Nights... A prodigious mix of races and costumes...This whole world moves about with an activity that seems feverish.”
— Eugène Delacroix, in a letter to Alexis de Tocqueville
We discovered Bleu de Fes while dodging a lo- cal petty thief. Ducking down alleys and into the closest storefront when the man in a green beret appeared behind us. We ducked into Bleu de Fes and stayed. An hour later and a rug later, we had lost the stalker and won the story of the city with the two founding brothers who have been court- ing an international community of designers with the finest Berber rugs in the country.
Meet Abdou and Adil Marouani.
issue B : spring 2020 51 52 the_verbose issue B : spring 2020 53 the_verbose // sneaks on
BLEU DE FES
54 the_verbose There is a big difference between the local and international clients.
The foreigners come to purchase a rug for its authentic art, for it’s experience and quality.
10% of local clients share this aspect. The rest of my clients purchase a rug for its sumple usefulness.
However, the Morroccan BLEU DE FES customer doesn’t have the same purchasing power...”
issue B : spring 2020 55 the_verbose // sneaks on
BLEU DE FES
BLEU DE FES
56 the_verbose The rugs are principally created for berber wives who express their lives and emotions through the symbols, letters and the figures. These rugs are works of art which all have a message. They could be compared to the spiritual sacredness of a rosary.
V_What was the beginning for Bleu de Fes? trésorerie à l’époque. Bleu de Fès bénéficie d’un grand espace pour exposer mes collections, d’un Adil / Bleu de Fes began with my passion for emplacement stratégique dans l’ancienne médina de Tanger the colours of the rugs while working in the et avec l’aide de mon frère, et l’amour partagé pour les tapis, factory of ceramics that my brother Abdou le succès a été au rendez vous au bout de quatre ans. owned (the actual Bleu de Fes.) This has been the formation in Marrakech, the home of my V_There is deep history behind the rugs and their dear brother, here he had a store of rugs. My Berber culture. What are some of the Berber traditions passion for the Berber rugs came from here. with the rugs? I appreciate very much the art of the rug and the gesture to society. Adil / The rugs are principally created for Berber wives who express their lives and emotions through the Upon my return to Tangier, my brother and symbols, letters and the figures. These rugs are works I decided to change the ceramic store into of art which all have a message. The success of the a store for Berber rugs. At first, it was a risk Berber rugs internationally has a spiritual aspect that to buy the collections , then I realised that I emerges through the knots of wool. They could be had an infallible epic treasure. Bleu de Fes compared to the spiritual sacredness of a rosary. benefits a lot from exposing our many collec- tions, and from our location - strategic in the (fr) Les tapis sont principalement crées par les femmes medina of Tangier and with the help of my berbères qui expriment leurs vies et émotions à travers les brother, and the love for the rugs, the success symboles, lettres et chiffres. Ces tapis sont des œuvres d’art has been happening over four years. qui ont tous un message. Le succès des tapis berbères à l’international est l’aspect spirituel qui se dégage à travers (fr) Bleu de Fès a commencé par ma passion pour les nœuds de laine. On pourrait le comparer au spiritualisme les couleurs des tapis exposés dans le magasin de sacré du chapelet. céramique que mon frère Abdou possédait (qui est maintenant l’actuel Bleu de Fes). J’ai donc fait une V_What are some of the symbols and patterns formation à Marrakech chez mon beau frère qui represented in the rugs and the role of these avait un magasin de tapis. J’ai suivi un stage chez elements in the design? lui pendant un an. De là est venu ma passion pour les tapis berbères. J’ai beaucoup appris sur l’art Adil / The symbols and forms found in these rugs are the des tapis et la gestion d’une société. A mon retour reflection of the culture and the Berber traditions. Among à Tanger, j’ai décidé avec mon frère de changer these symbols you find the alphabet, signs of astrology, le magasin de céramique en magasin de tapis animals, the universe… berbères. J’ai pris des risques en achetant des col- lections très couteuses alors que j’avais une faible
issue B : spring 2020 57 the_verbose // sneaks on
(fr) Les symboles et formes qu’on trouve dans ces tapis sont le reflet de la culture et traditions berbères. Parmi ces symboles on retrouve l’alphabet, les signes astrologiques, les animaux, l’univers… “The quality of my V_You have many customers from around the rugs, the original colors world. How do people discover your shop and what are the different customers you encounter? and their forms, also Adil / I have different types of clients: (1) The toursists their cultural history that pass by chance in front of our boutique, often a bit lost in the medina. (2) The intentional client who has make them authentic heard about my rugs through word of mouth. (3) And the client 2.0, who has been to my website or found me to Bleu de Fes stores.” through our social media.
I post photos of my rugs very regularly on Facebook and Instagram. The community mangaement has helped Bleu de Fes become known. I make a habit to take photos in my store with the client and their purchase. But I always ask foreigners to take a photo after their purchase, with the rug in their element.
58 the_verbose We also have presence in several magazines : Tanger pocket, Elle decor (France), Milk (France), Schoner Wohnen (Allemeagne), I Heart (Morocco).
(fr) J’ai différents types de clients :(1) le touriste qui passe par hasard devant ma boutique, un peu perdu dans la médina (2) le client initié qui a entendu parler de mes tapis par bouche à oreille.(3) Le client 2.0, celui qui a vu mon site internet et qui me suit sur les réseaux sociaux.
Je poste très régulièrement des pho- tos de mes tapis sur mes comptes Facebook et Instagram. Le commu- nity management fait autour de Bleu de Fes rencontre un franc succès. J’ai pour habitude de prendre des photos dans mon magasin avec le client et son achat. Mais je demande aussi aux personnes à l’étranger de prendre une photo après réception avec le tapis dans son élément. Je figure également dans les maga- BLEU DE sines suivants : Tanger pocket , ELLE FES décoration (France), MILK (France), Schoner Wohnen (Allemeagne). I HEART (Maroc)
V_Tangier is full of rugs and unique carpets for sale. What makes your collection unique?
Adil / I have very good materials from the rug markets and the quality and wool I use. I am in the process of creating the rugs from A-Z. The quality of my rugs, the original colors and their forms, also their cultural history make them authentic to Bleu de Fes stores.
(fr) J’ai une très bonne maitrise du marché du tapis et de la qualité de la laine utilisée. Je BLEU DE suis le processus de création d’un tapis de A à Z. La qualité FES de mes tapis, l’originalité des
issue B : spring 2020 59 the_verbose // sneaks on
BLEU DE FES
couleurs et des formes ainsi que leur histoire culturelle font de Bleu de Fès un magasin authentique.
V_The culture and lifestyle in Tangier. What about Tangier do you love, and what makes it different from other cit- ies in Morocco like Marrakech, Agadir, or Fes?
Adil / The particularity of Tangier is its Arabic and Andalou character that is found everywhere in the city. Knowing geo-localisation, the entrance to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic ocean makes Tangier an international city with managed passages. It’s the port to Africa. This city has maintained its authenticity compared to Marrakech or Agadir. She reunites the blue of the sea, the green of the forrest, and the reliefs of the mountains. Here we find an exceptional quality of life.
(fr) La particularité de Tanger est son caractère arabo andalou que l’on trouve partout dans la ville. Sa géolocalisation, entre la mer méditerranée et l’océan atlantique font de Tanger une ville internationale avec beaucoup de passage. C’est la porte de l’Afrique.
60 the_verbose The particularity of Tangier is its Arabic and Andalou character that is found everywhere in the city.
This city has maintained its authenticity compared to Marrakech or Agadir. She reunites the blue of the sea, the green of the forrest, and the relief of the mountains. Here we find an execptional quality of life.
issue B : spring 2020 61 V_What are some of your favourite Moroccan traditions?
Adil / One of my favourite traditions is the family reunion around tagine or couscous on a Friday for example. I appreciated the elegance of Andalouse music traditions like Issaoua, Gnawa, berber. All the clothing for marriages, like the Mariee is representative throughout different outfits, like the caftan.
(fr) L’une de mes traditions préférée est la réunion de famille autour d’un tagine ou d’un couscous le vendredi par exemple. J’apprécie également la musique traditionnelle andalouse Issaoua, Gnawa, berbère. Toutes les coutumes qui entourent le mariage, comment la mariée est représentée à travers ses différentes tenues (caftan…)
V_What do you think other countries could learn and appreciate about Morocco?
Adil / Other countries should take note of our way to welcome and share with any individual. For example, in Morocco we are able to sleep three days and eat three days for free.
(fr) Les pays étrangers devraient prendre exemple sur notre Certain rugs are very manière d’accueillir et de partager avec n’importe quel individu. Au Maroc, on dit qu’on peut dormir 3 jours et ancient and can’t be manger 3 jours gratuitement. restored. I prefer to keep their authenticity. V_What is the restoration They can always be used process with the rugs you for elements of decor, collect? Adil / Certain rugs are very ancient and can’t be restored. for example hanging on I prefer to keep their authenticity. They can always be used as elements of decor, like hanging on a wall or as a a wall as a painting. painting.Other rugs, I send to an artisan craftswomen who is specialized in Berber restoration. Her job is to retain parts that have been damaged over time.
62 the_verbose (fr) Certains tapis très anciens V_What kind ne sont pas à restaurer, je préfère garder leur of influence authenticité. Ils peuvent toujours servir d’éléments do you see décoratifs, par exemple accroché à un mur dans un Moroccan tableau. Pour les autres tapis, je les envoie chez des artisanes culture has berbères spécialisées dans la restauration, elle s’occupe abroad? de retisser certaines parties abimées par le temps. Adil / Interior decoration is very influenctial for Moroccan culture abroad. We find many elements of decor in French V_How would and Spanish homes. Pottery, fabrics, embroidery, ceramics, you like to see leathers and jewelry… your business La décoration d’intérieure est très influencée par la culture grow in the marocaine à l’étranger, on retrouve beaucoup d’éléments future? décoratifs dans les maisons françaises et espagnols par Adil / Ensuring the quality of exemple. La poterie, les my merchandise is my priority. tissus, les broderies, le cuir, le I intend to find someone carrelage, les bijoux. capabale of managing the marketing for international commerical sales.
(fr) Assurer la qualité de ma marchandise est ma priorité, je projette d’engager une personne compétente pour la gestion et le marketing de la vente à l’international.
Interview January 2019
bleudefes.com @bleudefes
issue B : spring 2020 63 T27HP jovanie interview #27
haiti
paper goods J OVA N I E PHILOGENE
TIKADO
It was a drizzly Saturday night in the Roman neighbourhood of Testaccio. I rang the doorbell of a classic palazzo where a mix of internationals were dining on the top floor.
This is where I met Jovanie. I’d been living in Rome for a few months and had began making friends with the locals. She was one of the guests at this home and one that stood out. Fashion and perfect skin aside, it was the way she could command conversation, and her laugh. Of course a lawyer by trade from Haiti was working on a paper company in Rome. In her free time. It wasn’t long before that took off and I was front row to capture Tikado in its infancy. the_verbose // sneaks on
Jovanie / I am from Haiti. I was born in Port-au-Prince where I lived all my childhood and young adult life. I started law school there and eventually moved to Growing up, I remember Montreal where I finished my studies and got my master’s in international law. While I was living in my mom would play Montreal, I also sat for the NY bar (but I’ve never lived in the USA). his songs loud on our V_ Are you from a large family? Do you have vivid stereo every week on childhood memories in your neighbourhood?
Sunday mornings Jovanie / I grew up with my mom and 2 sisters (I’m the youngest). My parents divorced when I was (magical!). very young (a toddler). I grew up around very strong women, my mother being one of them. My grand- mother was the family’s matriarch. They have had big influences on my life and have shaped who I am I’ve continued this tradition today. Seeing them taking charge of their lives and living it to the fullest was a great inspiration for me and Sunday morning at my while growing up. I come from a very artistic family with a famous musician grandfather and an aunt that house are filled with French used to be the principal dancer in Haiti’s top ballet company. I remember being very artistic and creative songs and my loud singing. myself when I was a child. I studied ballet, played the violin and did theater. I would put together recitals, plays and dance performances for my family convincing my sisters and cousins to join in the fun. I also won some prizes.
66 the_verbose V_What are some Haitian traditions with which you grew up?
Jovanie / I grew up loving music and it’s no surprise that for the longest time the Haitian Carnival (traditionally held in Port-au-Prince) was my favorite holiday: a huge annual event (January/February) in- volving costumes, elaborate floats, music and people dancing in the streets to celebrate.
V_How might you recognise a native immediately?
A way you might recognize a native immediately: You know you are Haitian when you grew up having to greet everyone in a room with a kiss regardless of whether you know them or not (and you have to do the same when leaving!). It still feels unnatural to me when I must stop myself from doing that in a non-Haitian setting.
V_any particular cultural stereo- types you’ve seen over the years related to the Haitian community that you could address? “You know you are Haitian when Jovanie / Stereotypes: A lot of you grew up having to greet people don’t realize that Haiti is a francophone country often thinking everyone in a room with a kiss we speak Spanish like most of our neighboring countries. We are also regardless of whether you know the largest creole-speaking com- munity in the world. them or not (and you have to do
[One of the stereotypes I’ve had to the same when leaving!).” deal with is people thinking I left my country to get a “better life”. The truth of the matter however is that, I love my country. I didn’t flee it (I was lucky not to have to do that and acknowledge that others have had to in the past). But, in my case, I left to better represent my country on the international scene. To be one of the educated, worldly, inter- national Haitians, sitting around the decision table with other educated, worldly international citizens
issue B : spring 2020 67 68 the_verbose ITALY 2017
issue B : spring 2020 69 the_verbose // sneaks on
J OVA N I E PHILOGENE
(To show that I am an educated, worldly, international Haitian, and that we do exist). While I recognize/consider that my experiences have shaped who I am today, I am nonetheless the product of my country, of my society’s culture.
V _Resilience. Perhaps one of the many qualities we can recognise in the Haitian people this past decade. What do you love the most about your people and your culture?
Jovanie / Haitians are known to be quite resilient indeed. In my circle of family and friends, I am surrounded with people who have gone through great struggle and pain but found the strength to continue living life to the fullest. It’s just what we do, we dust ourselves off and we carry-on.
I’ve met and know of a lot of Haitians around the world who have shown this ability to thrive in uncertainty, to understand and adapt to continuous change. There is this characteristic mixture of strength and resig- nation that is thought to define us.
70 the_verbose I am surrounded with people who have gone through great struggle and pain but found the strength to continue living life to the fullest.
issue B : spring 2020 71 the_verbose // sneaks on
V _How did you arrive in Rome, and how have you integrated over the years throughout your journey? What are some of the basic needs for anyone relocating to integrate in a new culture and environment?
Jovanie / I came to Rome for my career. I was first here in 2006. As strange as this may sound, i found that Rome reminded me of Port-au-Prince a lot in that it’s a beautiful, crowded and chaotic city. Anyone relocating needs to be patient and open-minded because things won’t be like back home and, some things you will miss, but some others you will learn to appreciate. I always tell this funny story to my Italian friends: in Haiti, we eat spaghetti for breakfast (spaghetti with hotdogs and ketchup to be precise) but after a few years in Rome - although I’ll still indulge in this Haitian delicacy when I go back home - I’ve become a total “pasta snob” and I will not enjoy my pasta if it’s not properly al dente, using the freshest of ingredients!
72 the_verbose V _What do you miss the most about your home country, and do you see yourself returning permanently one day? Have you found a Haitian community in Rome?
Jovanie / I have a big family and we are quite close. I miss people (cousins, friends, uncles and aunts) coming in and out of our home, dropping by and staying for dinner. It’s really something I enjoyed and although i have a great network of friends here, it’s just not the same. I’ve been fortunate to meet a small com- munity of Haitians in Rome and it has been nice to have that haven where I go to reconnect with my culture. I’ve also developed a friendship with a designer whose high end creations are inspired by Haiti and she has been a great source of inspiration.
V _Your paper collection. First, tell us where the idea began and how long did it take you to finally put the idea in motion?
Jovanie / We currently offer paper goods: wrapping paper, note cards, notepads, greeting cards, and gift tags. Our designs embody the Caribbean experi- ence - and many other islands in the area - with imagery that evokes the culture, the lifestyle, and nostalgia that may be appealing to expats or those who have been to and love the Caribbean.
issue B : spring 2020 73 Tikado means small gift in Haitian creole and this is what we want the brand to be: a small gift from us to our customers. My favorite product so far is our notebook. I love the feel of the natural paper, the vibrant colors and of course I love how the imagery makes me feel, it transports me home.
74 the_verbose
V _The process in finding an V_ What is your hope for the V _Where might we find you illustrator to depict your vision collection, and how do you find on a Saturday morning? of Haitian culture in narrative time to build the brand and the visuals was no easy task. What materials themselves? Jovanie / You’ll find me at the were some of the challenges Testaccio Market on Saturday leading up to your decision on Jovanie / We are starting with mornings either buying some the patterns and colors? paper goods and hope one day fresh goodies or taking pictures to expand into home goods as of the colorful stalls or both. Jovanie / A lot of the very well. We are currently sourcing Also, one of my favorite things talented illustrators we found our material in Europe, the design about living in Rome is the quick had either never heard of Haiti is done both in the Caribbean access to some of the most or never been to the Caribbean, and internationally. beautiful beaches in the country. so it was a challenge. I was very I love to be near the sea, so it will heavily involved in the design and be no surprise to know that I very illustration process. We worked much enjoy a Sunday lunch in with local artisans and using their Ostia or Fregene or a lovely designs, we collaborated with seafood dinner at one of my graphic illustrators who were able favorite Sardinian restaurant in to bring to “digital” life some of the city. When I get very nostalgic the ideas I had when I was first about my country, I head to the thinking of creating Tikado Co. nearest Cuban restaurant where I am guaranteed to eat some fried plantains and rice and beans.
issue B : spring 2020 75 the_verbose // sneaks on
A lot of the very talented illustrators we found had either never heard of Haiti or never been to the Caribbean, so it was a challenge. I was very heavily involved in the design and illustration process.
76 the_verbose V _Music. We need to know what’s on your current playlist.
Jovanie / I love everything Bruno Mars. He has such talent: he is a true artist! Stevy Mahy, Olivier Duret, JPerry are my go-to, feel-good Haitian artists. I also listen to a lot of reggaetón and Nigerian music (I have a few Yemi Alade albums).
I also grew up listening to a lot of French music and one of my favorite French artists is Charles Aznavour. I saw him twice in concert, the last one in Rome on my birthday a few years ago. He reminds me of my childhood. Growing up, I remember my mom would play his songs loud on our stereo every week on Sunday mornings (magical!). I’ve continued this tradition and Sunday morning at my house are filled with French songs and my loud singing.
@tikadoco Interview July 2018
issue B : spring 2020 77 the_verbose // phones down
side note
regag bread al labeeb grocery jumeirah, dubai
icon by Amanda Siegmann
Ragag – is a traditional Emirati homemade bread. The word Ragag comes from word raga meaning thin.
78 the_verbose PHONES DOWN
issue B : spring 2020 79 ST
CURATED BY TAXIS & WALNUTS
zabou london street artist @ZABOUARTIST
80 the_verbose REET T
Bip san francisco S illustrator / street artist @bip_graffiti
sef.01 peru street artist @sef.01
REET issue B : spring 2020 81 the_verbose // phones down
M24KE
marie visti hansen interview #24 kampala economist
MARTIN JJUMBA @jjumbamartin
82 the_verbose issue B : spring 2020 83 84 the_verbose MARIEVISTIHANSEN
On a Saturday afternoon in V_ Marie, where and “Sometimes the Aarhus, I took a walk through how did you begin your Dokk 1 and discovered Marie career and your work as less money you Visti Hansen. Let me back up, an economist, and how I discovered beautiful women did your work take you to have when you photographed against a backdrop Uganda from Denmark? that wasn’t the Western world and travel, the more you in a style reflecting first, strong Marie / After high school I female subjects, and second, travelled for eight months experience, because unfamiliar fashion. This led me to throughout Asia with two f the photographer, Jjumba Martin, riends of mine. We were you constantly have which then led me to Marie: The backpackers with very little Danish economist and designer money. But I believe that to negotiate and who envisioned the exhibition, sometimes the less money after having spent years observ- you have when you travel, the engage with ing, researching, and uncovering more you experience, because not only growth opportunities you constantly have to people to find in Uganda, but also confronting negotiate and engage with paralells between women in polar people to find solutions to solutions to opposite worlds. everyday challenges, like how to get from one place to the everyday challenges, After my visit to Aarhus, I was in other, where to stay, or where touch with Marie to ressurrect this to sleep...It was a life changing like how to get from topic, and her work with the wom- experience, and when I en in Kampala. We met for coffee returned home at age 21, I one place to the on a summer day in the local hub questioned everything and of Nordhavn’s residential port at a was determined to find a more other, where to stay, the Dane staple, Original Coffee. authentic way of life. I did two While Danes, sunbathing and wa- quite radical things: where to sleep... ter logged, populated the docks and highrise neighbourhood, when I returned Marie dove right into her quest behind the exhibition which was home at age 21, aimed at capturing a positive view of Africa; the resourcefulness and I questioned creativity of Kampala’s burgeoning female presence - one marked by moved to the “free town” everything and was fashion. Marie committed herself Christiania and started therapy. to this positivity, stating, “...we are After two years I applied for determined to find in great need of positive African the Danish School of Design images in the West.” Her work and much to my surprise I was a more authentic will be relevant for years and it was admitted. After graduating from a great honour to get our hands the design school I worked way of life. on her story and share it. some years as an industrial de- signer while at the same time producing unique pieces of art at a workshop I shared with five other women. I had fantastic years at the design school and at the workshop Freja, but I believe creativity is more a way
issue B : spring 2020 85 the_verbose // phones down
MARIEVISTIHANSEN
of being present in life than it is started working in Kampala I was V_How did the Kampala Street about producing pieces of art, overwhelmed by how different Fashion project begin, and and deep down I knew I wanted to everything was. It was difficult to what challenges and successes study more. Meanwhile, I had mar- maneuver, and people constantly were involved in making the ried and my first son Oskar was three acted differently from what I expect- project possible? when I began studying economics. ed. But after understanding more of I had my second son, August, three how the society worked, I found that Marie / I was back in Kampala in years later upon graduation. I then people acted quite rationally taking 2016 after six years of absence, and began working for a Danish design the Ugandan context into consider- it was very clear to me that there had firm, reorganising the company to ation. And I think that in summary, been a significant development. There deal with a rapid expansion. At my most important experience has has been high economic growth and the same time, I occasionally did been the very simple, that people - although the growth from a Danish consultancy work for The Danish despite very different circumstances perspective is not very evenly and Chamber of Commerce which had are really basically the same in Den- fairly distributed - it has still left some a framework contract with the Danish mark and Uganda. positive marks. The number of people development agency Danida, aimed living in extreme poverty has been at increasing the exports from In the summer 2017 I reduced and in the streets you sud- developing countries to Denmark. did a large interview denly saw all these amazingly dressed survey of market women women. The women are by no means Later, I was offered a full time job in Kampala. The markets wealthy, they dress in secondhand at the Chamber of Commerce and are large and seemed very clothes, cheap, imported garments this led to my first visit to Uganda chaotic to me, it was hard and sometimes in cheap tailor made in the mid 2000s where we worked to imagine that I could dresses, but they do it with amazing to implement a project aimed at understand and relate to talent and resourcefulness. Dressing supporting a group of internally anything going on there. well is not easy, it requires an under- displaced women from Northern standing of proportion and colours Uganda in their endowers to export But after having talked intensively which few people master, so where crafts to Denmark. with 50 women I had a different did this talent come from? experience. I understood the women V_ From Denmark to very well and recognised their wor- This was my curiosity and also my en- Uganda. What is it about ries, their strategies to survive and thusiasm because it is so positive, and Uganda that attracted you, their overwhelming love for their chil- we are in great need of positive African and what similarities were dren which motivated them to work images in the West. The word famous you able to observe? harder than one can imagine. I have Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi lived the luxury version, and you can Adichie did a TED talk called ‘The dan- Marie / The countries obviously in multiply every worry I ever had with ger of a single story’ where she talks many ways are contrasting. Denmark 100 to describe their situation, but about the danger of always portraying is one of the world’s richest countries the core priorities were exactly the Africans as in need or expressing their while Uganda is one of the poor- same. When you experience that gratitude for the help we in the West est; Denmark is Scandinavian and people struggling are exactly like have provided, and the Kenyan author Uganda Sub Saharan; Denmark is yourself it becomes even more dif- and journalist Binyavanga Wainaina in a very old country while Uganda ficult to live with the unfairness and his famous essay “How to write about gained independence in the sixties. the poverty… Africa” splendidly ironizes over the Denmark has a very homogeneous cultural stereotypes I, in all modesty, population while Uganda has more wanted to contribute to a more true than 40 different ethnic groups and and diverse image of Africa. I was as many languages. When I first really lucky when, through a
86 the_verbose issue B : spring 2020 87 the_verbose // phones down
I understood the women very well and recognized their worries, their strategies to survive, and their overwhelming love for their children which motivates them to work harder than one can imagine.
MARTIN JJUMBA, MARIE VISTI HANSEN, RAMAH SHOOZ AND NAZIL MUZUNGU, KAMPALA 2016
88 the_verbose MARIEVISTIHANSEN
Danish NGO, I got into contact with the photogra- Marie / One of the good things about travelling pher Martin Jjumba. Jjumba as I call him, is not only and experiencing other cultures, is that it chal- a fabulous photographer, he is also a young African lenges your own cultural values because you see who manages to embody the best of Ugandan and people acting differently from what you expect Western culture. In the beginning of the project I and actually managing alright. When your cultural had no funding, but Jjumba agreed to do the proj- values are challenged by other ways of doing ect anyway. And not only him, but also his friends things, it forces you to look carefully at yourself Nazil Muzungu and Rahmah Shoos worked for free. and decide where you would benefit from em- I only paid the expenses of the photo shoots. bracing aspects of other cultures, but also where you feel that your own cultural values are worth I’m used to being the consultant who works from fighting for, this is in my opinion a very important agendas defined by the donors and with all the exercise which I wish people would address with resources on my side, stepping out of that role more courage and openness. was a huge relief. Here I can truly say that there was a huge transfer of knowledge from Uganda to V_ What was life like for you Denmark. I really learned a lot about photography growing up in Denmark? and about fashion as a means of personal creative expression. After returning to Denmark I, based on Marie / I am the third child in a family of four Jjumba’s amazing photos, obtained funding from children. My father was in the air force, so we The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Fund for moved every three years, but only within Development Communication for the exhibition Denmark. My father travelled with his work, “Kampala Street Fashion” in Copenhagen, and at a time where this was not so common, and later for a tour in Jutland, in connection with which one of the absolute highlights of my childhood I was really happy to be able to invite Jjumba to was when my father returned from his trips Denmark. The exhibitions resonated with the Dan- with presents for us kids. ish and international audience and were visited by more than 30.000 people. I remember one time when he came home from the UK with a box of crayons and one had a V_ When you began to photograph these colour I had never seen before. I suppose today women in Kampala, was there hesita- you would call it neon green, but my sister and I tion or enthusiasm on their part to be had endless talks about whether the colour was involved with the project and how were green or yellow. A very strong reminder that the they approached? world is big and amazing. Both my sister and my two brothers have either studied abroad or Marie / The women obviously had to understand travelled intensively, and I think this desire to what the project was about, but once we had ex- experience the world comes from this early plained it and they had agreed to participate, I was influence from our father. really amazed by their readiness and talent for pos- ing. They all expressed themselves freely in front of V_ What could women around the the camera in a way that you would never see world learn from the women you met in Copenhagen. in the Kampala Street Fashion project? . V_Are there things you have learned Marie / I think there are many things to learn, about your own country having spent first of all to accept one’s body as it instead of many years abroad, immersed in a always focusing on the flaws; also, to understand different culture? that dressing well is not so much a question about money than of talent. Since I completed
issue B : spring 2020 89 “When your cultural values are challenged by other ways of doing things, it forces you to look carefully at yourself and decide where you would benefit from embracing aspects of other cultures, but also where you feel that your own cultural values are worth standing up for...”
90 the_verbose issue B : spring 2020 91 92 the_verbose I think it has something to do with Western women still having this dream on finding the ‘one’ the project, I have had the chance to get to know many the knight in shining more Ugandan women and I have tried to understand why amour who will come they strike me as more confident than Danish women with and rescue us, make this courage to define womanhood on their own premises. everything alright. I think it has something to do with us Western women still struggling with the illusion of finding the ‘one’ the ‘prince Ugandan women, as on the white horse’ who will come and miraculously make I understand them, everything alright. Ugandan women as I understand them have no such illusion. have no such illusion; they know they have to manage by They know they themselves, this is on one hand tough but it also gives have to manage by empowerment and self pride. themselves, this is on one hand tough but it also gives empowerment and self pride.
@marievisti | [email protected] @jjumbamartin Interview January 2019
issue B : spring 2020 93 the_verbose // phones down
S30RP
sandro giordano
interview #30
rome
photographer
“STIAMO ALLA FRUTTA”
Pratica di Mare, 2016
94 the_verbose S30RP
issue B : spring 2020 95 the_verbose // phones down
SANDRO At first glance, the public display of clumsiness, to put it lightly, is GIORDANO the very ridicule intended to create humour. The exaggerated positions of humans stripped of their dignity and of all professional credibility THE FALL strikes a chord. I remember seeing an image of a women falling out of a IN PHOTOS car from this series and sending it to FROM ROME friends with the caption “Mondaaaay.” Come to find out that’s exactly what the artist aims to create. Satire. But who knew from that first glance that each staged image, which takes hours of coordination, was telling the story of deeper human conditions: obsession, neuroses, despair, loneliness, fear. Dark space. Precisely the irony that the former Italian actor Sandro Giordano, aka Remmidemmi, embodies in his work titled, “In Extremis, bodies with no regrets.” (google translate In Extremis in Latin).
So who is this artist that has green tea and a banana with two rice cakes and honey for breakfast? Who is this artist that clearly read the psychology book, “Taking Back your Life” (by Alice Miller), and apparently recently ordered two Martin Scorsese DVDs online? We also found out he loves music from the 60s and is super into Zola Blood, Radiohead, Balthazar and Nick Mulvey these days. He wants to visit Scotland. And you know what what bothers him the most right now? Violence against children and animals. Note.
Leave it to an Italian to revive the divine in comedy and tragedy through “PRONTO INTERVENTO BUONASERA” art. Meet Sandro Giordano, and
Lecce, 2013 “In Extremis (body with no regrets).”
96 the_verbose
V_Given your acting background, do you come from a family of artists?
Sandro I don’t come from a family of artists. Since childhood, I’ve always been the “different” one, but I often involve some of them in my photographic work, and they have a lot of fun. My mother and cousin have repeatedly worked as models, for example. Another cousin of mine lent me the garden in 2015 to take a photo. I must recognize that they “SUGAR FREE PLEASE” have always supported me, even Roma, 2019 when I was an actor, especially my mother. Obviously, for her I represent the pride of the family.
(IT) Non vengo da una famiglia di artisti. Fin da piccolo, quello “diverso” sono sempre stato solo io, ma coinvolgo spesso alcuni di loro nel mio progetto fotografico, e si divertono moltissimo. Mia madre e mia cugina hanno più volte lavorato come modelle, per esempio. Un’altra mia cugina mi prestò il giardino di casa nel 2015 per realizzare una foto. Devo riconoscere che mi hanno sempre sostenuto, anche quando facevo l’attore, soprattutto mia madre. Ovviamente, per lei rappresento l’orgoglio della famiglia.
issue B : spring 2020 97 the_verbose // phones down
SANDROGIORDANO
V_Rome. How do you A genius idea. che insieme ad altri componenti remember Rome as It was a travelling show, and della sua famiglia riceveva i a child and how has was not staged in the classic numerosi ospiti serali e si occupava the city played a role places where theatre is per- di portare avanti le contrattazioni in your work? formed. I played the role of tra “prostitute” e “clienti”, come Lia (a transvestite), the brothel fossero delle vere maîtresse. Sandro I prefer to think of owner, who together with other All’entrata venivano dati al (Rome) the way I saw it as a members of her family received pubblico dei finti dollari con child, therefore, beautiful. Now the numerous evening guests cui avrebbero “comprato le it seems a little abandoned by and took care of handling prostitute.” I loro monologhi itself. A lot of Romans treat it negotiations between duravano circa quindici minuti, poorly, completely uncivil, and “prostitutes” and “customers”, quindi, la possibilità di vederne this pains me. It’s not by chance as if they were a real Mistress. diversi, era molto alta. Quando that In Extremis was born in At the entrance, the public was il pubblico finiva i dollari, poteva Barcelona, a city that is light, in given fake money with which andare dalle maîtresse a comprarne which you feel free to express they would “buy prostitutes”. altri, esattamente come al casinò. yourself. These are conditions Their monologues lasted about Credo di non essermi mai that I don’t encounter when I’m fifteen minutes, so you had a divertito tanto. in Rome, unfortunately. chance to see several of them. When the public ran out of V_ In Extremis. What (IT ) Preferisco pensarla a come money, they could go to the really inspired you to la vedevo da bambino, quindi maids to buy more, just like at start this project? bellissima. Ora mi sembra un the casino. I guess I’ve never pochino abbandonata a se stessa. had so much fun. Sandro It all started with a bad Molti romani la trattano male, bicycle accident in 2013. In those in modo del tutto incivile e questo years I lived in Barcelona. I no mi addolora. Non a caso, In longer wanted to be an actor. Extremis è nato a Barcellona, una I had left Italy and worked as a città che ti rende leggero, in cui barman in some bars and clubs ci si sente liberi di esprimersi. in the city. I was going through a Condizione che non riscontro bad period, on the threshold of quando sono a Roma, purtroppo. (IT) Il periodo che ricordo con più forty years old. I felt like I had to entusiasmo è quello che riguarda start over from the beginning. V_ You have worked in theatre. uno spettacolo teatrale chiamato What is one of your memories “Dignità Autonome di Prostituzi- One fine day, a large hole in the from that period in your life? one”, che ho fatto per sei anni. street near the house sent me Era un vero e proprio bordello flying about three meters. When Sandro The period that I dell’Arte in cui il pubblico (clienti) I got up off the ground, dirty and remember with most pagava gli attori (prostitute) per covered in blood, I realized that enthusiasm is of a theatre andare nelle loro stanze a sentire il I was still clutching the protein show called “Self Dignity of mononogo. Si faceva l’amore con bar that I had bought after the Prostitution” which I was part l’Arte, un’idea davvero geniale. gym. The whole time I fell and of for six years. It was really a retreated, I never let go of the true brothel of art, where the Lo spettacolo era itinerante e non object, rather than freeing my public (clients) paid the actors veniva messo in scena nei luoghi hands to lessen the blow. (prostitutes) to go to their room classici in cui si fa teatro. Io inter- and hear a monologue. They pretavo il ruolo di Lia (un traves- There I realized that my life was made love with art. tito), la tenutaria del bordello, heading in the wrong direction.
“BATTUTE BUTTATE”
Roma, 2014
98 the_verbose “I must recognize that the neuroses of middle class people are the psychopathological disorders that attract me most. Obsessions and mania that the lower middle class would not even imagine.”
issue B : spring 2020 99 the_verbose // phones down
After a few months, just for fun, I started to talk about my accident, recreating everyday situations in which people fall and crashed, like a catharsis. The first official photo I took on my balcony at home.
(IT) Tutto è nato da un brutto incidente avuto in bici nel 2013. In quegli anni vivevo a Barcellona. Non volevo più fare l’attore, avevo lasciato l’Italia e lavoravo come barman in alcuni bar e discoteche della città. Stavo attraversando un brutto periodo, alla soglia dei quarant’anni sentivo di dover ricominciare tutto dall’inizio. Un bel giorno, una grossa buca in strada, vicino casa, mi ha fatto volare per circa tre metri. Quando mi sono rialzato da terra, sporco e ricoperto di sangue, mi sono accorto che stavo ancora stringendo “SUNDAY 2PM” in mano la barretta proteica
Madrid, 2014 comprata dopo l’allenamento in palestra. Per tutto il tempo in cui cadevo e mi ritiravo su, non ho mai lasciato andare l’oggetto, anziché liberare le mani per attenuare il colpo. “The moment they are on Lì ho capito che la mia vita stava prendendo una direzione the ground they have the sbagliata. Dopo qualche mese, un po’ per gioco, ho iniziato opportunity to reflect on a raccontare il mio incidente, ricreando situazioni quotidiane their own life and what in cui la gente cade e sbatte, come fosse una catarsi. La caused the “down”, and in prima foto ufficiale l’ho realiz- zata nel mio balcone di casa. that precise period of time, V_ “Worn out decide whether to get back characters not wanting to save themselves” is in your on their feet or stay down.” bio. Why do you think they have given up? And what: a sense of desperation, hope- lessness, loneliness, fear?
100 the_verbose “SOTTO AI TUOI OCCHI”
Venezia, 2019
issue B : spring 2020 101 One fine day, a large hole in the street near the house sent me flying about three meters. When I got up off the ground, dirty and covered in blood, I realized that I was still clutching the protein bar that I had bought after the gym. The whole time I fell and retreated, I never let go of the object, rather than freeing my hands to lessen the blow.
102 the_verbose “E PRENDEMMO IL LARGO VERSO IL MARE BLU”
Sitges, 2018
Sandro Despair, loneliness and la possibilità di riflettere sulla propria (IT) Il tema della caduta è universale, fear are some of the elements that vita e su ciò che ha provocato il credo essa sia la cosa più democratica lead these characters to a blackout “down”, e in quel preciso lasso di che esista al mondo. Siamo tutti poten- of mind and body. It is only at that tempo, decidere se rimettersi in piedi ziali vittime perchè colpisce indistinta- moment they are forced to the o rimanere giù. mente, senza preoccuparsi dello stato ground and it doesn’t allow them sociale, religione o colore della pelle. to react. What may seem like a V _ How do you imagine the I miei personaggi conducono, ognuno renunciation is nothing more than profiles of these characters? Old, a loro modo, la vita quotidiana che an intermediate phase between young, white, rich, middle class? conducono tutti, ed è proprio lì che mi immobility and reactivity. The focalizzo. Devo riconoscere che le nev- moment they are on the ground Sandro The theme of the fall is rosi delle persone medio borghesi sono they have the opportunity to reflect universal. I believe it is the most i disturbi psicopatologici che mi attirano on their own life and what caused democratic thing in the world. maggiormente. Ossessioni e manie che the “down”, and in that precise We are all potential victims because il ceto sociale medio basso non arriv- period of time, decide whether to it affects us without distinction, erebbe neanche ad immaginare. get back on their feet or stay down. without worrying about social status, religion or skin color. My V _ Do you see yourself in (IT) Disperazione, solitudine e paura characters lead, each in their own your work? sono alcuni degli elementi che portano way, the daily life that everyone questi personaggi ad un blackout di leads, and that’s exactly where I Sandro Part of me is in every mente e corpo. É solo quel momento focus. I must recognize that the photo. I could never tell the story che li costringe a terra e non permette neuroses of middle class people of psychopaths if I weren’t the first. loro di reagire. Quella che può sembrare are the psychopathological disorders In Extremis is my therapy. Through una rinuncia, non è altro che una fase that attract me most. Obsessions photos, everyday I exercise fears and intermedia tra immobilità e reattività. and mania that the lower class anxieties. It is also my colorful way of Nel momento in cui sono a terra hanno could not even imagine. surviving an increasingly grey world.
issue B : spring 2020 103 the_verbose // phones down
(IT ) C’è una parte di me in tutte le foto. Non potrei mai raccontare gli psicopatici se non lo fossi io per primo. In Extremis (bodies with no regret) è la mia terapia. Attraverso le foto esorcizzo le paure e le ansie di tutti i giorni, ed è anche il mio modo colorato di sopravvivere ad un mondo sempre più grigio.
When you landed on the concept of the fall, was it intentional to avoid blood or bodily fluids? Did you set limits for this work?
Sandro As a good horror film nerd, I would do blood splatter and various bodily fluids, but I try to limit myself. The fall, in the eyes of the beholder, is already violent in itself, then I make it ironic in my own way, but if in my sets I added blood and body fluids, the project would immediately take a tragic and dramatic direction.
(IT) Da buon nerd del cinema horror, farei solo cadute splat- ter a base di sangue e frattaglie varie, ma cerco di limitarmi. La caduta, agli occhi di chi guarda, è già di per se violenta, poi io la rendo ironica a modo mio, ma se nei miei set aggiungessi sangue e fluidi corporei, il progetto verterebbe immediatamente su una direzione troppo tragica e drammatica.
V_ Technique and production. What kind of planning goes into a single scenario?
Sandro It depends on the complexity of the set I want to create, how many objects to arrange, how many people are “PRIMA” present in the shot. On average,
Roma, 2019 it takes three or four hours to build the scene, then the most important moment arrives, the position of the models.
104 the_verbose SANDROGIORDANO
“Through photos, everyday I exercise fears and anxieties, and it is also my colorful way of surviving an increasingly gray world.”
issue B : spring 2020 105 “BACTERIA”
Arezzo, 2018
SANDROGIORDANO
106 the_verbose The heart of the photo is in their bodies. If I miss this phase, the risk of doing a mediocre job is very high. The human body is the channel of transmission that exists between me and the public and the great difficulty lies in shaping it so that it is as decomposed as I want it.
The rotation of an elbow or knee can determine the success of one photo. For this reason I almost always work with professional actors, they know how to listen to my suggestions and above all, they are On average, it takes trained to endure the ache. The actual shooting time three or four hours to ranges from forty to ninety minutes. I give them just build the scene, then a few breaks. I’ll tell you one thing, the final shot, the the most important one I choose, is always one of the last, just because moment arrives, the body can’t take it anymore and it is exhausted to the position of the the point of giving me back the right dose of irony models. The heart of and tragedy. the photo is in their bodies. If I miss this (IT) Dipende dalla complessità del set che voglio creare, phase, the risk of quanti oggetti disporre, quante persone sono presenti doing a mediocre job nello scatto. Mediamente servono tre o quattro ore per is very high. costruire la scena, poi arriva il momento più importante, la posizione dei modelli. Il cuore della foto è nei loro corpi. Se sbaglio questa fase, il rischio di fare un lavoro mediocre è molto alto. Il corpo umano è il canale ditrasmissione che intercorre tra me e il pubblico e la grande difficoltà sta nel plasmarlo affinchè risulti scomposto come lo voglio io. È sufficiente larotazione di un gomito o di un ginocchio per determinare il successo di una foto. Per questo motivo lavoro quasi sempre con attori professionisti, sanno as- coltare i miei suggerimenti e soprattutto, sono allenati per sopportare il dolore. Il tempo effettivo di shooting va dai quaranta ai novanta minuti, concedo loro giusto qualche pausa. Ti dico una cosa, lo scatto definitivo, quello che scelgo, è sempre uno degli ultimi, proprio perchè il corpo non ce la fa più ed è stremato al punto da restituirmi la giusta dose di ironia e tragedia.
V / What is your role in the work we see? Art director, photographer, actor, stylist? And what kind of team do you bring in to produce these projects?
Sandro I do everything. I find the right location and the necessary items, which include clothes, shoes and wigs (if required). Sometimes I draw the scene in a notebook, other times I build it in my head looking at the shots on the computer taken during the loca- tion inspection. Meanwhile, I pull all the people together (assistants, models) and set the shoot date.
issue B : spring 2020 107 the_verbose // phones down
V_You talk about frailty. How do you define this in your work? SANDRO Sandro At the precise moment in which we hurt ourselves, whether it is falling or slam- GIORDANO ming against a door, we are vulnerable and This is all related to the aesthetic aspect, then there completely alone, therefore fragile. The is the technical one, which for me is the most exact opposite of what we show to the world complicated. If it weren’t for the valiant right arm I’ve instead. In our Western culture, showing one’s had at my side for a couple of years, I’d be a finished fragility is interpreted as an act of weakness, man. He is my camera assistant, and takes care of the so we wear masks, to protect ourselves from lights on the set and is also my graphic designer for judgment and phantom attacks from others. post production. Nothing more wrong. Being fragile is equiva- lent to being human, and how much more (IT) Io mi occupo di tutto. Trovare la giusta location e human is needed right now? In Extremis does gli oggetti necessari, in cui sono compresi abiti, scarpe not grant discounts to anyone, it takes away e parrucche (se richiesto). A volte disegno la scena su un that mask. quaderno, altre volte la costruisco nella mia testa guar- dando al computer gli scatti fatti durante il sopralluogo. Nel Nel momento preciso in cui ci facciamo male, frattempo metto insieme le persone, eventuali assistenti e che sia cadere o sbattere contro una porta, siamo modelli, e stabilisco la data di shooting. Questo per quanto vulnerabili e completamente soli, quindi fragili. riguarda l’aspetto estetico, poi c’è quello tecnico, per me il L’esatto opposto di quello che invece facciamo più complicato. Se non fosse per il valoroso braccio destro vedere al mondo. Nella nostra cultura occiden- che ho al mio fianco da un paio d’anni, sarei un uomo finito. tale, mostrare la propria fragilità è intrepretato Lui è assistente camera, si occupa delle luci sul set ed è come un atto di debolezza, quindi indossiamo anche il mio grafico per la post produzione. delle maschere, per proteggerci dal giudizio e da fantomatici attacchi da parte degli altri. Niente di più sbagliato. Essere fragili equivale ad essere V_Have you explored other umani, e di quanta umanità in più ci sarebbe bi- formats or mediums in you work? sogno in questo momento? In Extremis non con- cede sconti a nessuno, ti toglie quella maschera.
Sandro I come from the theatre and I am a great devourer of cinema. I try to see at least one film a day. V_ Most comical or I have never thought of other media channels for this tragic story from a shoot? project, because I conceive the photos as if they were static short films. Each photo tells a story, interpreted Sandro Fortunately, no one has been hurt by an actor, the action is determined by its position, yet, apart from a few bruises or scratches the clothes and objects underline the character’s back- on the models. However, there are several ground...The same ingredients that are required for funny anecdotes. One related to Berlin Trans making a film. Express, a photo taken in a Berlin street four years ago, in which I was the model. During (IT) Vengo dal teatro e sono un grande divoratore di the shooting, while I was in position, a police cinema, cerco di vedere almeno un film al giorno. Non ho car stopped and two officers got out to check mai pensato ad altri canali mediatici per questo progetto, what was happening. I did not move an inch perchè concepisco le foto come fossero dei cortometraggi and I let my then German assistant, fortunately statici. Ogni foto racconta una storia, interpretata da un German, explain to them that it was an artistic attore, l’azione è determinata dalla sua posizione, gli abiti photo. In the meantime, dressed as a woman, e gli oggetti sottolineano il background del personaggio… among other things, I too chuckled awkwardly Gli stessi ingredienti che sono richiesti per la realizzazione in an attempt to calm them down. For several di un film. seconds they didn’t react in at all. I started to
108 the_verbose At the precise moment in which we hurt ourselves, whether it is falling or slamming against a door, we are vulnerable and completely alone, therefore fragile. ...In our Western culture, showing one’s fragility is interpreted as an act of weakness, so we wear masks, to protect ourselves from judgment and phantom attacks from others.
issue B : spring 2020 109 the_verbose // phones down
“MEAL IN THREE MINUTES”
Arezzo, 2018 secondi non hanno reagito in alcun modo, ho iniz- iato a sudare freddo, pensando che da lì a poco ci avrebbero portati in centrale. Poi, all’improvviso, uno sweat cold, thinking that soon they would take dei due, ridacchiando, ha estratto lo smartphone us to the station. Then, suddenly, one of the chiedendo se poteva scattare delle foto ricordo two, chuckling, pulled out his smartphone ask- perchè non aveva mai visto niente del genere. Spiaz- ing if he could take a souvenir photo because zante, no? he had never seen anything like it. Mind-bog- gling, isn’t it?
(IT) Per fortuna, ancora non si è mai fatto male V_ What reactions nessuno, a parte qualche livido o escoriazione per i modelli. Di aneddoti divertenti, invece, ce ne have you received sono parecchi. Uno riguarda Berlin Trans Express, una foto realizzata in una strada di Berlino quattro from your work? Who anni fa, in cui ero il modello. Durante lo shooting, mentre ero in posizione, si è fermata una macchina do you find connects della polizia e sono scesi due agenti a controllare cosa stava accadendo. Non mi sono mosso di un closely to your work? centimetro e ho lasciato che il mio assistente di al- lora, fortunatamente tedesco, spiegasse loro che si Sandro The photos elicit various reactions, trattava di una foto artistica. Nel frattempo, vestito positive in most cases. I receive weekly gifts da donna, tra l’altro, anche io mugugnavo gof- and tributes from all over the world and in 2018 famente nel tentativo di tranquillizzarli. Per diversi they inspired a challenge on Instagram: tens
110 the_verbose SANDROGIORDANO of thousands of photos of people who fell in Remmidemmi style. This makes me very happy. Then, there are feminists who criticize me for the simple reason of seeing more women than men (IT) Il grande sogno sarebbe “crashed”, claiming to be sexist and misogynist. “schiantare” le stelle del cinema I think women are more comical, therefore func- hollywoodiano, piano piano ce la tional to my project, that’s all. I also often clash farò, nel frattempo posso comin- with the bigotry of pro-Catholics, unsurpris- ciare da quelle italiane. Un altro ingly, one of the countries that loves my work is si concretizzerà a breve. Da circa France, the lay person par excellence. quindici mesi sto lavorando a un libro, che avrà le stesse dimensioni (IT) Le foto suscitano diverse reazioni, positive di un vinile e sarà realizzato in sole nella maggior parte dei casi. Ricevo settimanal- 500 copie, numerate e firmate, in mente omaggi e tributi da ogni parte del mondo e cui racconto il background dei primi nel 2018 hanno ispirato un challenge su Instagram: sette anni del progetto attraverso decine di migliaia di foto di gente caduta in stile un’ottantina di foto. Non so ancora Remmidemmi. Questo mi rende molto felice. Poi, ci la sua data di uscita, sicuramente sono le femministe che mi criticano per il semplice entro la fine dell’anno. motivo di vedere “schiantate” più donne che uomini, tacciandomi di essere sessista e misogino. Credo che le donne siano più comiche, quindi funzi- onali al mio progetto, tutto qua. Mi scontro spesso I would like anche con il bigottismo dei filocattolici, non a caso, uno dei paesi che ama il mio lavoro è la Francia, people to take laico per eccellenza. themselves less V_What’s next? seriously and
Sandro The big dream: “crash” the stars bring out the of Hollywood cinema, and I will slowly but surely. In the meantime, I can start with the playful side. Italian ones. Another (idea) will materialize short- ly. For about fifteen months I have been working Adults are so on a book, which will have the same dimensions as a vinyl and will be only 500 copies, boring, we numbered and signed, where I will tell the background of the first seven years of the should all be project through about eighty photos. This information has not yet been released, children again. but certainly by the end of the year.
Interview February 2020
@__remmidemmi sandrogiordanoinextremis.it
issue B : spring 2020 111 the_verbose // bonus track
H29BA
henry loussian interview #29 beirut artist
SAAD SALLOUM @skylinkd
112 the_verbose H29BA
issue B : spring 2020 113 the_verbose // bonus track
HENRYLOUSSIAN THE REVIVAL OF OLD BEIRUT
A month before the city of Beirut began to go on strike against the country’s government, aka, the revolution of 2019, I had booked a trip to visit. Obviously, I reached out to a friend there who could guide my stay. And obviously, he has great taste in recommendations. Enter Henrymoon.
After my stay at the Henrymoon guesthouse, I discovered Henry himself. Eager to find out more behind his creative juice and design rolodex, I asked him for an interview. Here we discovered his world, his love for old Beirut, his jewellry, and his spirit. The interview came back in the form of 30 separate voice messages through whatsapp - which rolled into this issue minutes before our scheduled publish date. What schedule? A few months later, here we are with Henry, and a new section called, bonus track. As the best is usually for last. It was worth the wait.Meet Henry. V_You have worked on and designed more than one these houses, and enter the ones that were ready to property, but I only saw the Henrymoon guesthouse. be demolished. I bought the accessories from them: How did you began this work restoring old homes in marble columns, arches, tiles… all the ornaments Beirut? of the house, and I took pictures of these houses before they were demolished. Today there are only Henry / Not long ago I discovered the old Beirut, not 100 remaining. This first achievement gave me moti- the one we are living now. I discovered the houses built vation. The achievement to collect these ornaments, between 1800 to 1930 - the year they stopped build- and to have them in my storage. I felt, wow, like I can ing these houses. I didn’t like them when I was younger have the last pieces from old Beirut. because they were all the same and not interesting to me, until I entered one of them 10 years ago and I felt Five years ago I started to build my own home with beautiful. This house I saw, is a piece of art with a very these accessories. Which I was so proud to have rich background. My friend showed me this house and I them and give them new life. The arches and the fell in love. So then I started searching for a house similar windows for the light and the sky. The paintings. Just to this and I fell in love with the old city. At the time, to look at them .Wow. I wanted to build. So, I started there were only 200 of these old houses. building on my own, by myself. There is not an architect. I can’t afford one. I saw how the pieces It was impossible to buy one of these houses because were taken out of these original houses and put the investors sell the land with the house, which costs them back together again the same way in my at least 10 million dollars. For an artisan like myself, it is house. It was a very nice experience. I felt like, impossible to have that quantity of money. I wanted to “Wow, I can do that.” have it so badly. So everyday I continued to search for
ITALY 2017 the_verbose // bonus track
HENRY LOUSSIAN
When the house was built, that build old Beirut like Tuscany. and where I transformed and was another achievement. I have The same exact style, with the rebuilt them; together with my the touch of an artist and paint- specialty of the tree arches. If experience. So the same acces- ing, but I didn’t imagine myself you go to Tuscany you will see sories shown before and after painting again the same painting the same house but without will be in this museum. This will from a 100 years ago. I felt like the arches. Because it can get show my true love for old Beirut. Michelangelo (laugh out loud). very cold in Tuscany and not This now, is my home in Batroun. in Beirut. So these arches are The one with all the windows. It V_There is a lot of French and very open only in hot places is 3 floors (2.5), and everything Italian influence in Lebanese like the Mediterranean and the you see in the photo is collected architecture. Where have you Middle East I think. from the old houses in Beirut. seen this influence in your Only the structure is concrete. I work? V_ As an artist, with your own was so proud to have built this Sistine Chapel, what is your on concrete with all the acces- Henry / Most of the original history with art? sories and the parts from the old paintings were done by Italian houses. Everything you see is artists, not French. And most Henry / My Sistine Chapel is from the old house. of the impact on our houses is the Batroun house. It will open Italian. We had influence from it’s door as a museum for the Another achievement was Tuscany. The inspiration of the 100 houses demolished from transforming a normal apart- Lebanese house is from Italy. Beirut and include their photos ment into its authentic old We had an old leader who lived and their accessories, as well Beirut style, so you feel you are in Tuscany and he decided to as where they were located, in an old house. For example,
116 the_verbose Batroun Villa Photo by Saad Salloum
issue B : spring 2020 117 the_verbose // bonus track
HENRY LOUSSIAN
for lovers of old life, they can power and money. At one time honey inside. And my name see my work and do it again this old house was fashionable is Henry, so it came about for themselves. They have a and powerful, and now living in this way. There isn’t a deeper chance to have their parents a tower is fashionable. answer. and grandparents again. V_ Does the current political V_ How do you view the new Who is one of your icons, situation effect your work on generation in your country? or favorite people? the houses?
Henry / A lot of Lebanese are Henry / The political situa- ashamed and unhappy and tion is the most dangerous don’t have hope for seeing old for old Beirut. They will Beirut again. I, myself, see old continue to demolish the Beirut in my eyes and in my old city, and give licenses heart. They must see my love for to demolish. The politicians old Beirut, and for our identity. and municipalities like to For me it is like a grandmother make money. With these who loves all her grandchil- old houses, they can’t make dren the same and gives them Henry / My icon is a singer. money. Every apartment has everything she has. The children Fairouz, the Lebanese singer. to pay the government taxes are most happy when they are So old and so authentic. She everyday, every year. And the at the house of their grand- makes me feel like I’m living in rich people spend a lot of mother. Beirut for me is like my the old Beirut. Her songs and money on their properties. grandmother and I am so happy the music and the spirit makes It doesn’t really effect my to have her spirit with me in me dream. It gives me the feel- work but I want to (still) give Batroun. It’s like her house. ing that I am still in the spirit of the idea of old Beirut. old Beirut. In my ears and my Let me tell you this briefly. When heart. Her voice is so Beirut. V_ What do you believe I had finished the house I Yesss. makes Beirut different and discovered who owned these unique? houses…the rich people mostly. V_ How did you arrive at the They could afford to build name “Henrymoon”? Henry / My city is so houses like this. The mental- different from your city ity of Lebanese to be modern Henry / The house which I and other cities. We should and open to the East and to the transformed from an apartment, always keep our authentic West continues, and they have is named Henrymoon because cities to enjoy them because the same mentalities. So at one if you are on the balcony you if you come to Lebanon and time, it was the most expensive can see the moon rising. The you see only towers, which and the most powerful to have house gave me a lot of feel- you have in your country, a house like that with the power ings about a honeymoon. I can which specialty do we offer? of money. These same families feel myself with my wife always My aim is to protect what is and people are destroying them having a honeymoon. That’s left in Beirut, but I can’t today to have the latest trend: to why I made it a guesthouse, to protect it. I can give the live up in a tower (high rise). It’s give this feeling to others: the vision of its authenticity and always been this mentality of the moon from the balcony and the an experience of it.
118 the_verbose The weekends. I have the feeling of the weekend throughout the whole week. I’m always doing what I like to do, it’s a big blessing. I push you to do that. I always have the feeling of the weekend. There is no weekend in my life.
V_ How do you feel about the recent revolution in your country?
But old Beirut and new Beirut are so different, and I feel Henry / I do not have anything positive from politics. that we’ve lost it. I am not happy about the old Beirut Nothing. All these kinds of politics and political revolu- today. I like to share something special from our country. tions and acts… I don’t believe in them, and I’m not with I like to be different. We are in the Middle East, so for them. Because the last revolution people were feeling all of our visitors, we should should give them and feed hopeful. They were optimistic. And I’m not optimistic. them different from their country. This is why I like to be Being an optimist in this country, or in the Middle East, different than you or him or her. Because if we are all makes you move faster, makes you angry and unhappy. the same modern cities, we have no speciality. Our And you lose hope very fast. Being normal and not language, our food, our style. Wherever you go now, optimistic, rather going with the flow, is better becuase you have McDonalds. You don’t go to new places most of the revolutionists believed their revolution was anymore because you have it where you are. the only hope. Most of them have now travelled on (left)
issue B : spring 2020 119 the_verbose // bonus track
The most important thing in the morning is to have coffee and then go to the seashore to swim. In the summer and the winter.
because they lost that last hope they had, which was this relolution. My friends, about two, were agreeing with me and they stayed here because they didn’t have this hope for the revolution. I didn’t see it as a revolu- tion, rather just big parties. I’m not with any poilitical party. I believe we must live everyday not planning for the future. And not thinking of the past.
V_ What is one of your dreams?
Henry / Really most of my dreams have been accomplished. I don’t really have a dream, because I was blessed from the beginning. Everything I can’t buy, I can do. I can always do it with my hands. Magic hands. I think about God a lot these days. I have achieved a lot. And I feel really satisfied about how my life has been. I dream about having peace because I have children and I want them to have better days. I’m working on it. If you don’t have peace then you can work on it from inside. Jesus said this, it’s always from the inside to the outside. We can all do it. I’m speaking about the peace in Lebanon. My country.
V_ How have the locals responded to your work?
Henry / The local communities, to tell you the truth, I was shocked. They are used to seeing people demolish these old houses. So what I have done? My experience and acheivement was a big shock for them. They didn’t respond in a way I was hoping. They like it, they love it. But for them it’s always a state of a dream, they want to keep old Beirut as a dream. They don’t want the reality to be accomplished.
villa in Batroun Photo by Saad Salloum
120 the_verbose Many have never lived in these kinds of houses, espe- cially people my age.So they don’t know the houses inside nor the spirit of the house, or the ornaments, or the rooms. When I finished my house, I expected more respect for my work. But, that is also why I share this house, and with people like you, to dis- cover them, and to introduce the authentic house to a new genera- tion and to show them how our grandparents were living and how Beirut was. And with the museum, maybe 20-30 percent of people will then see and appreciate this more.
V_ What is one of your favourite places?
Henry / Before I discovered the old Beirut, Paris was always one of the best places. I love authentic cities. When I discovered Beirut, it was the first city in the world I had known. I would like to visit Rome and Portulagl and Cuba. Yeah. Because they have what I love about architecture and authenticity and colours.
V_What have been some of the challenges in rebuilding these homes Henrymoon or as an artist in this time? Guesthouse Photo by Henry / The first challenge with Saad Salloum my art and business, is that I am a jewelry designer. Handmade jewelry, and not expensive. No gold or diamonds, no. I like stones and metal, leather, threads and beads. So when I started my art as a jewelry designer, the big challenge was to do something that people would pay for. I like to sell art to have money to make my other dreams come true like build- ing houses. But the first challenge is to have money for this other art. I never liked to make art for free. But when I built this house here in Batroun, it was a piece of art for me, and I believe the real art is
issue B : spring 2020 121 I didn’t grow up in a peaceful period. Now, (Beirut) makes me feel excitement. When I travel sometimes I feel I want to come back because it’s different here. I can feel the sprit of the Middle East. I like it. I like to be in the Middle East. We are so charming.
122 the_verbose Henrymoon free. So this house Is a piece of V_ What do you have in mind Guesthouse art I can share with people for 2020? Photo by for free, even if just for the Saad Salloum experience. I like the houses and Henry / The project for 2020 is the jewelry. I like everything. But open these two dreamy rooms I also like to be free from them. in the house in Batroun, my I like to go to the sea and swim. house. There are not a lot of To be free from things human projects because now we have made. I became a spirtual per- coronavirus. And we don’t know son and a follower to Jesus. And how we will survive these days. I now I am above these human have two kids and suddenly they made things and following the closed the schools for safety. light. And I would like to one Imagine our situation, there is day join him in the sky. Because no freedom, no creation. There I have achieved everything. All is nothing but thinking about of my dreams have come true. I corona. THANK YOU. like nature. I like freedom. And everything created by God. This is how I would like to spend my time from now on. And I’m not leaving work or my houses but now I have a spiritual side. Interview November 2019
issue B : spring 2020 123 Lebanese native + mastermind behind @plastik released limited prints for his photo series “MILK”
curated to Eggsample days of print by Ye:Solar + Eva Be
Eli Rezkallaha @elirezkallah
The Pink Sindrom @sindroms_ a publication by Danish CD Miruna Sorescu On June 01, in the wake of social @mirunasorescu explores and economic unrest we decided pink through the lens of to launch a print countdown youth, naivety, euphoria, ahead of our summer print intimacy + artificiality release, which celebrated artists around the world who turned curated to Ninna Nanna to print sales online to either (Instrumental) by Ghali support social movements, or their small business. The curation was in collaboration with friends The Pink Sindrom and research through our wide @sindroms_ network of creative circles to capture as many themes, cultures, and geographies in 21 days! We’ve paired each print with a song so you can dance while you read. NY-based artist captures Full experience @the_verbose rec culture with his signature light + shadow The following organizations were trix, put up for print to supported through our IG 21 days support @campaignzero of print series: curated to Chin Chin by Campaign Zero | Noga Erez Amplifier Art | Black Lives Matter | Yourban 2030 | Artists Support Pledge | Jude Goergen Art Plus | @jugoe_ Okay Africa |
124 the_verbose New Orleans native Filipino-British Palestinian artist + behind shoppeblack. graphic artist + CD social activist is us is a UN Programme behind A-Ok clothing, celebrated for for People of African releases a series of inspiring youth Descent Fellow + int’l typography giclee creativity and researcher who schools prints exploring innovation, noteably us on black dandysim depths between art after securing the first in her book “The + design. curated to It Picasso of the West Shantrelle P. Lewis Dandy Lion”. curated to Melvin Galapon Starts Now by Blond:ish Khaled Hourani Bank in his gallery @apshantology Boiling Point by Casxio @mynameismelvin @haledhourani6 in 2011. curated to Venezuela by La Chica
Edinburgh-based artist Mexico City-native Los Angeles-based released a COVID-19 mashup master brings visual artist with a poster series for DL imaginations to print color-fueled narrative as an emergency PSA w/ his signature object behind irreverent response for social meets animal pastel aesthtics released a change with the pop art. His effort to flash print sale from nonprofit bring a smile to an IG his 2018 series “Open @amplifierart feed is working. Air” on June 05 Damien Cifelli curated to The Story Paul Fuentes Jimmy Marble raising $9K+ for #blm @damien_cifelli of O.J. by JAY-Z @paulfuentes_photo Oxum by Ley Line @jimmymarble curated to 2020 Vision by Young M.A.
Artist behind Greece- South African artist Ghanaian artist who based @kypseliprintstu- behind, “Give Thanks redefined iPhone dio joined forces with to Thoughtful Hands” photography, reflects #artistsupportpledge and known for the positive energy offering prints inspired depicting a spirit + self within communities by architecture + ge- expression of post- throughout Africa ometry. curated to: Guts apartheid nostalgia, while empowering Eleanor Lines by Kate Tempest + Loyle released new work for underprivileged @eleanorlines Carner Harness Hamese print this summer. Prince Gyasi children through his @harnesshamese curated to: Baby Girl by @princejyesi np @boxedkids Bryce Vine curated to Postatles by Federico Aubeles
Sudanese artist Miami-based slash Canadian illustrator documents class divide girl: author, educator, behind “Hang Me Out with “Vue Urbaine” visual artist recently to Dry” (2018) continues in his architectural joined #voguechal- her craft with paintings of the empty lenge with her female vulnerability neighborhoods femme-focused prints + empowerment in of Khartoum. curated empowering diversity her isometric meets Khalid Abdel Rahman to Retox by Essaie Pas in entrepreneurship. amorphic characters. @khalid_rahman_art Reyna Noriega curated to Candy Walls Holly Stapleton curated to Svefn-g-englar @reynanoriega_ by TR/ST @_hollystapleton_ by Sigur Rós
Japanese photographer French publisher + Brazilian multi-disciplin- unpacks the power of creative force dropped ary artist building collage photography in identity his annual ltd edition art on themes of cultural + fashion w/ a tribute #allgonebook with a identity + modern heri- to iconic designer nod to Virgil Abloh’s Yohji Yamamoto in his Figures of Speech + tage driven to connect to book, Fluence: The 200 pages of artist the future without forget- Continuance of Yohji collabs influencing ting the past. curated to Takay Michael Dupouy Kellem Monteiro Yamamoto. global street culture. @kellmonteiro Ghetto Kraviz by Nina @michael_lamjc @takayofficial curated to I Opened a Bar curated to Sekoia by Kraviz + DJ Slugo by Sophie Hunger Fakear
San Francisco-native + Istanbul-based mural- Seoul-based self-taught fine artist ist + multidisciplinary silkscreen artist + dedicates her work artist confronting print master releases to the female form, concepts of ugly, “Oranges and elevating a voice joins 60 street artists Antibodies” while of femininity with releasing sketches for supporting black lives “Tension” / street cred np @yourban2030 matter. @treehouse.la supporting street art Tiffany Cole curated to Sposa son Merve Morkoc on the covid emer- Kelly Belter curated to Lostfound @bybelter @tiffanycole disprezzata (Antonio @lakormis gency. by Ferris Francisc Harris Vivaldi) by Cecilia Bartoli curated to Mannigfaltig by Dominik Eulberg
issue B : spring 2020 125 theverbose.com
2017. Born in California and cultivated between Rome and Dubai, the_verbose is a magazine project in the making: interviewing people along the way about their art and culture. All passion, no profit. Interested in pitching your story? Need a place to let your inner journalist out? The door is open: [email protected]
made in copenhagen / printed in los angeles the_verbose © 2020 All rights reserved.