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Who Gets to Take Up Space? Women, Desire and the Ordinary in All We Imagine as Light
This essay is adapted from the introduction I presented at Rialto/Griffioen for a screening of Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. I had the privilege of introducing the film and wanted to offer the audience a few ideas to carry with them into the screening: about women and the city, migration and home, intimacy,…
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The Body Remembers the Room
This week, on April 15th, I had the honour of delivering the opening keynote for the Social Safety Week 2026 at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, a programme that understands something many institutions still struggle to name: that social safety is not a decorative value to be displayed at the edges of institutional life, but part…
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The Beauty of Grief in Performance Art
To the one who walked through light like it was ash, You came to me not with thunder, but like rain that had forgotten how to fall. On a screen already too full of noise, you entered quietly, like a question. I didn’t know your name then — and I don’t write this letter to…
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Intersectionality and Film at the Filmacademie
Almost every year I get to work with the vibrant students of the Filmacademie. An opportunity that I greatly look forward to as it always leads to powerful conversations in which I get to learn just as much as the students. The diversity and inclusion workshop involves the theory of Intersectionality and unpacking films and…
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Museum VoorLinden in a weird year
In the summer 2020, we took some time off to go visit spaces that resonated our inner landscape. It was a beautiful time for innovation, but mostly there was devastation followed by a constant creeping feeling of calamity. When my friend Marrije suggested that a visit to the Museum Voorlinden is a must. I took…
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Come Join Us: English Pronunciation in a Global World
Hello everyone, We sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are doing okay. With the current mandate on social distancing, these are indeed challenging times, especially for the most vulnerable amongst us. Please know that you are not alone, we are in this together. There is no opportune moment, but we wanted to share…
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When a poem is written like a telegram addressing a painting…
I am putting it on my agenda to feed the mind everyday with things of beauty, insightful words, and objects that inspire thought. It is an informal resolution for 2020, which so far has gone reasonably well. Recently, I read Sharon Olds’ Poem in the Form of a Telegram to Someone Looking at Henri Rousseau’s…
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Last Controversial? Day in Basel
On our last day in Basel we decided to visit the Kunstmuseum. The museum boasts of the largest and most significant art collection in Switzerland. I can confirm that they indeed have a vast array of artworks, which needs much-much-much more than one day for viewing. The art pieces that stood out for me included…
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Open Letter to YouTube Influencers
Dear Content Creators, I admire you so very much for doggedly creating videos on all kinds of subjects: from “monthly favorites” to “makeup tutorials.” I have been entertained and educated. I marvel at your ability to generate so much material day after day in such innovative ways. I have seen “draw my life” and “kitchen…
