On her new album, The Living World’s Demands, Baltimore-based musician Ami Dang uses ambient synth sounds to ask big questions about where we are today. Dang’s sitar and experimental synth conjure a dreamlike atmosphere and their vocals ask us to respond to the nightmares of our time. Dang highlights the struggle for reproductive justice, the … Read More
Aruni Dharmakirthi approaches textile art with the looseness of drawing; her stitching is a clean singular line, edges are often left purposefully frayed, and her compositions are uncluttered — simple, almost abstract, shapes floating in wide expanses of negative space. Subtle patterns emerge frequently, sometimes printed on the fabric, sometimes created by hand. And her … Read More
These poems by Dipika Mukherjee are excerpted from her new collection, Dialect of Distant Harbors, out now by CavanKerry Press. The artwork here accompanies the poem “Wanderlust Ghazal” and is illustrated by artist Gladys Simpson.
LA.MIMI’s music demands you listen with headphones. The non-binary Pakistani-based artist’s tracks are roving sound baths with careful, eerie lyrics. The details in the sound spin around and above your head as you listen, ready to disappear into the ether of an empty room. With their debut EP M.BRYO, LA.MIMI is committing memory to song. … Read More
Following close on the heels of their first solo music project Ushamami, music producer and multimedia artist Mena Sachdev returns this fall as Blue Mena. With the September release of their music video for debut single “Knocked Out,” Blue Mena exudes continuity and growth from Ushamami, as they construct a distinct alternative pop-rock sound to center queer … Read More
bismillah the eyes stand before him as he knives deep into the throat of the bakra an act of adoration in another world he might have licked the knife never looking in the eyes of those killed he said he wasn’t hungry hours before the deed was complete he meant that in a dream the … Read More
It’s a quiet day, and rain pours incessantly outdoors. You’re awake and alone, accompanied only by the humdrum of your own breathing. You made yourself a chai, but it quickly lost its warmth while you weren’t looking. You’re feeling blue, but can’t quite discern why. Or perhaps you’re keenly aware, but can’t seem to see … Read More
Birmingham, England – July 2021: My cousins and I ran Around the house Picking hiding spots. Why are you hiding? My grandfather asked Who are you hiding from? It’s a game We laughed as I Stuffed myself inside the bathroom Lights off, crouched behind the door. He nodded You can’t hide from God He nodded … Read More
“One Time in Lebanon,” the third single from British-Indian singer and songwriter Prianca RA, is unusual for placing agency where it rightly belongs – in the hands of protagonist Habiba, who carves and expresses her own life story. In a world that all too often relegates women to unnamed and obscure character roles, the song … Read More
The Night is Dark and Full of Rainbows, by contemporary artist Sharmistha Ray, is a seductive image: A marigold crescent rests at the bottom of an indigo square. The square is inside a vertical rectangle and framed by a diagonal rainbow, such as one thrown by a prism. Rays of color seep through the blue … Read More
