culture
Museums and Galleries On Display By Zhanhui Jiang, BA Social Anthropology ‘Still Life’ is the first exhibition post-Lockdown that Gagosian London, a contemporary art gallery, presented mid-June. Piero Golia choreographed a set of sculptors of ‘happening’. The concept of time was materialised in the gallery space by events of biological
features
By Matthew John Turnbull, MA Japanese Studies Renku has a long history in Japan, dating all the way back to the Heian Period (794 to 1185) and beyond. It was popularised by poet Matsuo Bashō and, during the Edo Period (1603-1868), finally saw widespread practice as the use of poetic
features
By Maliha Shoaib, BA English and World Philosophies The SOAS Festival of Ideas featured a series of panels and events from 19-24 October, including a speech from Maliha Shoaib of The SOAS Spirit at the Opening Programme. (Credit: SOAS Festival of Ideas) Tell me a bit about the theme this
Opinion
By Javier Vidal Cano, BA Chinese Studies The passing of the National Security Law in July 2020 marked the end of an era for Hong Kong and the start of a new, more sinister chapter for its 7.4 million inhabitants. Ever since its implementation, the city has been weathering
Opinion
By Clayton Barrington-Russell, BA Arabic and International Relations In a historic move described as ‘A treacherous stab in the back’ by Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formally signed a deal ‘normalising’ relations with Israel on 15 September. This involves increased cooperation regarding security, healthcare, tourism, and trade in
Opinion
By SJ Armstrong, MA Postcolonialism Studies ‘There will be bodies in the streets.’ Bill Gates’ dire premonitions about Africa’s response to the impending pandemic was dystopian- mass graves, collapsing economies, political disarray. His warnings of failed states and disrepair have come to fruition this year, but not in Africa.
culture
Absurdism in absurd times By Ella Dorn, BA Chinese and Linguistics I spent my otherwise peaceful, rural lockdown investigating the discography of German punk icon Nina Hagen. While her bout of technically skilled but incredibly weird records from the ‘70s to ‘90s have been all-but-forgotten by contemporary journalists, her music
Sport and Societies
SOAS MENA Society: Our society has, for the past few years, come in and out of existence and hasn’t had the strongest foundations. However, as of 2019 a team of students, including myself, decided we wanted to make a properly functioning society that would represent the MENA in SOAS
Sport and Societies
By Katherine Brown, MA Chinese Studies Novak Djokovic landed himself in hot water at the 2020 US Open earlier this year, after accidentally hitting a line judge in a fit of rage with a tennis ball. The furious reaction from the six-time world champion arose after he had lost a
Sport and Societies
By A Sianni Wedderburn, BA Politics and Arabic Sport: a heavily polarised topic – motivating, thrilling and disappointing people like no other. Partially due to it being a community-based activity, creating a social base, partially because it is a way to identify with something bigger than yourself. The primary goal is
Opinion
By Umar Kaleem- Ur Rehman, BSc Economics In our pursuit of a carbon neutral economy, the prime minister is perceived as the most able to achieve it. Now that we have determined who our Batman is, who do you believe to be our Robin? Who is the second most powerful
International News
By Nahidah Khan BA Development Studies and Politics On 3 November 2020, the USA is due to hold its Presidential Election. When coupled with the following 24 hours, an already consequential event transforms into one with environmental implications. The US is set to formally exit the Paris Agreement on 4