World Cup 2010: Ghana wins over Serbia 1-0 & Brixton goes mad.

As Australia is supposed to play against Germany tonight, I thought it was either Germans or, - more likely - Australians who were making all that cheerful preparatory noise around the corner. (There's loads of them living in Brixton and this all happened literally around the corner form my crib) So I got a bit curious and went out with my camera to see if I could take some scandalous photos of drunken Ozzies. Turned out Ghana had won their match against Serbia; which apparently was reason enough to have a party in the middle of the road next to Tesco's haha. Cars, busses, cyclists; everyone got stopped in the middle of the road by Ghanaian football fans. This was an amazing Brixton impromptu; London I heart you! x

Londonesquapades

I'm in the process of developing a product for the popup-shop event that we're organizing to fund our 3rd year degree show, it'll take place between 31 May and 7 June. You should all come and buy our things. It's going well but it's all a bit full-on and right now I'm kind of stuck. So just to get away from the intense research, prototype & brainstorm sessions for a bit I though I'd edit and post some photos that I took with my BlackBerry during the past year. These are bits of my London life and this collection makes my life look a bit like a Lomo-romance, which it absolutely isn't. I used to love to cross-process but don't have the time or money to indulge in such luxury analog photography anymore. :'( Back to work now. x

London's biggest bass promotors united under one roof for the first time...

Finally! 6 promoters gather and go head-to-head under one roof to make history as they present their respective sounds with a collection of the biggest selectors playing the baddest beats in town with a truly legendary line up! Click on respective links for more information on location, line-up and tickets.This shit is going to be off the hook. x

Back in playpen of mayhem.

Ready for summery goodness.

?...

Where I come from we celebrate Carnaval, a 3 day lasting Roman Catholic festivity by origin, which takes place before a strict period of fasting as it is supposed to be the last opportunity to eat and drink lavishly. Nowadays, celebrating Carnaval constitutes dressing up like a cunt and behaving like a total whore for 3 days in a row, Burgundy style. Not my cup of tea (anymore). Anyway, when I was a little BNZL this meant that I could dress up and wear whatever I wanted and for as long as I can remember (and would allow myself to dress up) I would choose to wear the shinobi shozoku. I love ninjas. I've also always been a fan of hoodies, something I apparently inherited from my father. As a teenager I would even wear them inside, it drove my mum crazy. I love wearing them and looking at people wearing hoodies, especially girls. (It's a girl crush thing, in case you were wondering.) I'm also quite fond of the hajib, which in case you didn't already know is a type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women. I grew up with a lot of Maroccan and Turkish kids and their lovely mums always used to wear the most beautiful veils. Wikipedia says "The Arabic word 'Hajib' literally means curtain or cover (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to cover, to veil, to shelter"." I was raised a Protestant Christian but do not consider myself to be bound to one specific religion, including Islam. In fact, I find beauty in all religions and I believe that we pretty much all believe in the same thing, but I also believe that Humankind Inc. (including atheists, agnostics etc) is heavily undermining the true foundation of it's faith by making a big deal out of who's "God" has the biggest you-know-what. AAANYWAY, the whole concept of instant privacy by covering your head and face (or identity if you will) in public or wherever you wish to I just find incredibly appealing. It feel safe, almost invisible. Also, I can not sleep when my face is not covered, so when I need to sleep in airplanes, public trains or any other public space I need to bring a scarf. So a while back when I finally had the money to buy American Apparel's Unisex Circle Scarf, I was over the freaking moon. I finally have the perfect scarf that keeps me perfectly warm and allows me to cover my head, face and, if the situation calls for it, turn it into a skirt, a dress or a top. Awesome! However, today I went shopping and as I was standing outside a store, wearing the scarf as seen in self-portrait below as I was cold, an older Muslim gentleman approached me and said to me "Young lady, you would look beautifull in a niqab." (a niqab is a face veil worn as part of the satorial hajib.) I smiled and said thanks (I guess??) and he laughed and walked off. I've walked around like this many times before and I never got any weird looks or remarks, at least not that I know of. But that man's remark made me think and suddenly something just didn't feel quite right. What if by wearing a short skirt and the scarf draped around my head this way with my my hair peeping out I'm offending women to whom this type of dress actually has a deeper religious meaning? Living in a city where eccentricity, individuality and expression of identity is no less than praised, I'm probably worrying too much but I am actually curious to find out if I do offend anyone by walking around like this...
Food for thought.

I'm back...

I came, I saw and found my third home. It's been an amazing month in Indonesia, going from spiritual but touristy Tanjung Benoa on Bali to a transit stopover in Ujung Pandang on Makassar to my beautiful Maluku islands for a family visit in Ambon City on Ambon Island, followed by finding my roots in my grandparents villages Kampung Mahu (maternal) and Kampung Haria (paternal) on Saparua Island. I've been there and despite the recent wars, corruption and the poverty I now consider Indonesia to be the most beautiful country in the world in so many ways, hand down. Bleh, I'm more jetlagged than I want to admit and am still trying to adjust back to London life, so more photos and stories will follow soon.

I wouldn't have wanted to miss this trip for the world!

-x-

Liang beach, Ambon island.

My last week in London.

Free B&W film from whispering RG Lewis salesman.
Editorial partnership with Andreas Ryalen established.
So little left to do and so much to look forward to.

Mulled wine for brunch and beer for dinner.
A hundred goodbye kisses and sentimental hugs.
Stupid drunk last-minute shopping on stiletto heels.

Tripped over a fruit vendor and hurt my knee.
Helped by a guy with the dope sneakers.
Too many invitations to parties that I want to attend.

36 hours away from a 17 hour flight to Indonesia.
The molecules are frozen and my world is wonderful today.
People of London/Paris/DenBosch I will see you next year.


Take care, safe travels if you're going on a holiday or journeying home, where ever that may be. Definitely do drink too much alcohol and eat so much food you'll put on 100 stone. Be saturated and content. Happy Christmas and all the best for 2010. Here's an ugly season's greeting card for you.

-x-

Hangover photo upload III

Oldskool hiphop @ Plan B - London, a new day, messing about with light, dubstep @ Pardiso - Amsterdam

Hangover photo upload II

Outdoor cricket lunch, a very decent design studio's boardroom, a final crit, where the pears grow.

My 1st internship.

Click on images to see more.

UK - NL Hip Hop

Here's a bit of nostalgia for you. As I'm preparing to go back to the Netherlands for a holiday, I thought I'd show you this video that I found a while back. A couple of years ago, one of my favourite Dutch beatbuilders Kubus and in-your-face UK rapper/spoken word poet Bangbang started a collab and produced an album called Pie & Mash. Their track 'Camera' features one of my alltime favourite Dutch rappers Sticks (ex Opgezwolle member, current Fakkelbrigadier) who I've had a major -lyrical- crush on since 2001 - Spuugdingen Op Die Mic'. It's about stigmatization and the role of the media in several conflicts. This video was shot in the Netherlands and these visuals brings back mad memories of my old neighborhood West1 in DenBosch (NL) where I lived with my moms from 1988 untill 2001.

Banksey revisits us

A while back I was taken to the opening of Banksey's show at the Flower Cellars Gallery (which is by the way a gorgeous space) in Russel street. Rare and original Banksy works including plenty of architectural pieces from the last 8 years were on display. This time the catalogue was on sale... £££££