#arts and culure

[shaimaafekry]

Blessed Friday 🕊️

Cairo, Egypt 2024 🌿

[fortunaestalta]

[inthewaytoamultilinguallife]

hello, ive been learning portuguese for a bit and i was wondering if you had any recommendations for media? like youtubers, blogs, movies or series. if you do, thanks in advance

uff fuck, i will sure try my best but i can’t promise anything

I normally get my dose of Portuguese via going to academic workshops or working alongside Brazilian people, so I don’t exactly engage with media in Portuguese as a conscious learning process, I'm afraid. Like, for example, i normally just get a bunch of Instagram reels and TikToks cause I'm on the Brazilian side of instagram/tiktok, and not exactly because i follow any particular account or something, and i don’t level or recognize how hard the Portuguese is in each one, etc 

I have some series that i remember watching and liking tho, which are:

De volta aos 15: a drama/comedy series around a 30yo woman that time travels a few times to when she was 15 and tries to fix everyone's life, as one does

A sogra que te pariu: a very absurd sitcom in the best latinoamerican style (and set during covid)

Samantha!: Another comedy, now about a kid star from the '80s who is trying to launch herself back

Lulli: comedy, drama and romance. A medic student gets electrocuted and starts hearing everyone's thoughts

3%: suspense, fiction, drama. Set on a diasporic word where, while everyone gets a one-time change to better their life, only the 3% makes it

Ciudad invisible: Drama, mystery. This one has lots of references to folk culture and stories! It's about a man who, after a family tragedy, starts seeing different mythological creatures that will help him uncover the past

omnisciente: sci-fi, drama, thriller. The city is controlled and watched all the time everywhere by drones. A woman tries to solve a murder that the drones never picked on + plus discover how fucked up the system and the drones are

Coisa mais linda: Drama, romance, set in 1959, after getting cheated on and left alone, a woman sets herself to open her own bossa nova club

ninguem tá olheando: comedy, drama, fantasy after discovering some secrets of the bureaucratic angelic system, a guardian angel set himself to break every rule that there is for protecting humans

Valentina: drama a young trans girl moves to a more conservative rural town 

Alice júnior: Coming of age film about a YouTuber trans girl as she challenges her catholic school's conservative ways 

[classic-asian-art]

Der Gott Krishna mit seiner sterblichen Liebe, Radha 

Wasserfarbe aus Papier

[academicsworld]

Leopold Museum, Vienna

[mmikegood23]

Style with latin flare

Created by DALL•E 3

[omgthatdress]

The Indianapolis Museum of Art

[delicatelystrangepolice]

Some thoughts on fandom and discussions around art and how I don't really know how to feel about it

(because I was trying not to write something and I wrote this one instead)

I've been thinking to write something about that one post-s3 Lisa's interview (in fact, I did write some drafts with way too many words and scattered thoughts) but ultimately I decided it's not worth it 1) spending my time writing about something I DID NOT like and 2) engaging with a discussion around here because... I'm kind of on the fence about how I want to spend my time on tumblr.

Anyway, this led me to some thinking. From my previous experiences I was very sure that criticizing the creators was always a fair game. I always had a clear belief that creators and the audience are two separate entities and they of course have an overlap with discussing the given art, but ultimately they should be kept separate. It's the creators' choice if they want to engage with the audience but I think it can lead to some problems when the fans can't freely express themselves because they are afraid to hurt someone's feelings.

With the internet culure and social media this line between the creators and the audience blurred heavily - for better or for worse, I don't know, it probably has some benefits. But I remember when last year I was watching some Hearstopper interviews and Jo Locke's brought up something - someone commented it's nice that they casted more unconventionally attractive person for his role and I think he got a bit offended and described it as 'backhanded compliment.' It made me think.

I thought that the comment was fair - yeah, it's good that we maybe starting to see less supermodels casted for average people roles. I also thought yeah, I understand that because maybe I was never in any heavily marginalized group but sure as hell I never saw myself represented on screen when I was a teenager. I think that commenting on the casting choices is totally within the fair game of discussing a piece of media. And it's not Locke's fault - he was asked about it, he answered honestly how he feels, all good. But I think it put in people's minds this idea that the evil audience can harm the creators simply by commenting on the creation.

I saw some of it in YR fandom, the idea that criticizing something can harm the people who created it. That somehow we should be protective of them and only talk about privately about the negative things. And I personally think that having a big audience can get harmful, especially for young actors (or artists in general) especially if the social media is involved and they are there in the open to have fans coming on them personally - commenting on their private lives, looks, career choices etc. But I don't agree that it's the audience's job to censor themselves just because there's a chance someone can see their thoughts. To put it simply, it's not okay to harrass the creators on their profiles but it should be totally fine to write something on your blog.

It's the audience's job not to reach out to the creators with vile comments but it's the creator's job not to seek out the discussion in fandom spaces if they feel too sensitive to handle it.

I don't think the distinction is hard to understand and to execute.

I'm a big fan of having the discussion being there in the open. One of the benefits of the internet is the fact that people can gather around something they feel strongly about and seeking others to share the those feeling. Benefit of the fandom is that you can find someone as crazy and as weird as you. But when when the creators start to be a part of the fandom - I think the discussion stops being as honest as it could be.

And the honesty is the only interesting part for me.

[doodles-with-noodles]

I realized I can do polls

[elixaaaaa]

hi! so i'm gonna use this as a pinned post

i go by elixa and i prefer he/they pronouns. i'm autistic, i have arfid and i'm the process of looking into hypermobility, so i reblog a lot of things related to gender and neurodivergency.

i also reblog and tag things for mutuals so if you see emoji's as tags they're probably not dedicated to you.

here's my sideblog for pretty things @elixorium

and i made this one to rb/infodump about my current special interest (mechanical keyboards) @sleepykeebz

more special interests/hyperfixations i had/currently have under the cut!

note: colored ones are currently active

nature-related

rewilding and reforestation

proplifting

terrarium building

bats

cats

camping & supplies & meals

vanlife

tech-related

eink devices

mechanical keyboards

animal crossing pocket camp, minecraft, ooblets, cult of the lamb

romanian cinematography (new)

alt culture

street art, murals

urbex

abandoned train stations and railways

skateboarding

diy hairstyles

diy

wood staining

clothing alterations

journaling, commonplacing, stationery

miniatures, dioramas

pickling vegetables, jam-making

making silly drinks, coffee

freeze drying or dehydrating food

random deepdives

troubled teen industry in conservative states in USA (conversion therapy)

researching tragedies compulsively after they happen

cults

skincare

jiului valley in romania

sustainability

cleaning

nordic culture and tv shows

music related

australian indie rock

british indie rock (garage)

spoken poetry type rap

raves & edm culure

goth stuff

feelin' this one today lads

[7vyntheefaerie]

The Poetics of Difference by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

i partially think of this piece alongside Hortense Spillers essay "The Idea of Black Culture." there is a call in Black literature to take hold of narratives of difference, reconsider how we discuss difference, how difference is encouraged to be discussed. i also think of think of this piece as the many ways Black queer marginalized genders have taken up creative forms to stake claim to resistance in ways the state is not privy to. how we use culture and history to channel liberation into our art forms. to me, this book provides a roadmap to all the ways revolution can be participated in through ignition, culural work, messengers, and map making.

relevant chapters:

there are only four!! and they are all critical

*will add link, specific references to forms, their creators, and where/how they are used in liberatory work, soon!*

[talistrongbackcommless]

Ctrl+Alt+Del

At the risk of sounding terribly conceited, some thoughts inspired by my friends talking about how much of what is good advice can sound so trite when received from an external source, but can eventually click and become so, so important once you've come to the same conclusion yourself.

So, with few exceptions, mostly having to do with a genuine failure to understand the advice, I have historically responded well to good-but-trite advice, especially when presented in a written form. See, for instance,

Live Laugh Love

which immediately, for me, became a "Yeah, no, that's just great advice, live this life fully as you can, it's the only one you have. Laugh when you feel like it, and sometimes when you don't, because laughter is a great expression of human emotion and a good release valve. Love with your whole heart because the alternative is to live in the shadow of joy."

Only later, as the phrase ubiquitized, and the mass produced "art"ifacts destroyed any sincerity the phrase ever could have had, (and the toxic positivity way too many people baked into it took over as the culural meaning of the phrase) did it ever start to bother me.

I'm not trying to say I'm a perfect flawless being here, but it can be quite confusing, in a funny but also alienating way, to see how broadly the sentiments below

resonate with people. Especially among my friends I chat with most regularly.

The biggest problem I have with a lot of advice, really, is seeing people's negative takes and internalizing that I, gets-it-on-the-first-read-Georg, have obviously misread or otherwise been mistaken.

Hate to have to say it, but I'm pretty sure the only thing standing between me and enlightenment is attachment to the feeling of connection with my peers

[laura-a-bordo]

.˚˖ 20/09, língua inglesa: gramática contextualizada ˚₊‧

A temática da aula foi "decolonialidade", estudada a parit dos textos de Ballestrin (2013), Grofogel (2016) e Maldonado-Torres (2018). A partir da base teórica, foram feitas reflexões sobre o os legados do colonialismo e sua influência nas estruturas políticas, sociais, econômicas e culturais da sociedade. De acordo com Quijano (2000),

"A colonialidade é um dos elementos constitutivos e específicos do padrão mundial de poder capitalista. Se funda na imposição de uma classificação racial/ética da população do mundo como pedra angular do dito padrão de poder e opera em cada um dos planos, âmbitos e dimensões materiais e subjetivas, da existência social cotidiana e da escala social." (p. 342)

A partir desse conhecimento, aplicação da DEcolonialidade consiste em enxergar e analisar discursos, mídias, posicionamentos, sistemas, entre outros, a partir de uma visão crítica e elaborada, que enxerga além do padrão europeu, branco, hétero, cis, masculino, imposto como verdade absoluta ao longo da história.

A tarefa proposta em sala de aula foi a elaboração de um mapa mental referente aos termos vistos nos artigos e textos estudados em sala de aula, e também a construção de um breve texto explicando tais termos:

Decolonility is a concept studied by Ballestrin (2013), Grofogel (2016), Maldonado-Torres (2018), and many others, defined by the act of critical thinking when analysing historical, economic, and social-cultural consequences of colonialism AND decolonization. As teachers, it is important to encourage critical thoughts on classes such as english, portuguese, history, etc. It is also important to recognize the social and cultural context of the students: Are they from a private school? Public school? Are they from the countryside? Or from big cities? A way to “expose” the students to different thought processess and contexts is by using multimodality in classes. Movies, music, books, podcasts and other types of midia can help the students learn about culure, about voices other than theirs. As discussed in class, for someone to trully be “decolonized”, they have to watch, feel, think and BE it – art, as a form of multimodality, can make that happen with more ease, since there is such a connection to human nature, culture and creation.

Referências

The structure of knowledge in westernized universities: epistemic racism/sexism and the four genocides/epistemicides of the long 16th century. Publicado no Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, v. XI, issue 1, 2013, p. 73-90. Traduzido por Fernanda Miguens, Maurício Barros de Castro e Rafael Maieiro. Revisão: Joaze Bernardino-Costa.

MALDONADO-TORRES, Nelson. Analítica da colonialidade e da decolonialidade: algumas dimensões básicas. 2018.

BALLESTRIN, Luciana. América latina e o giro decolonial. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Política, nº11. Brasília, maio - agosto de 2013, pp. 89-117.

[news30]

Court grants order to freeze another five properties linked to Lotteries corruption

The National Prosecuting Authority's Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) have obtained a preservation order to freeze five properties worth millions of rands linked to their ongoing probe into fraud at the National Lotteries Commission.

The AFU and the SIU obtained a preservation order from the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria last month to freeze three luxury properties, a plot, and a portion of a farm linked to the "siphoning of lotteries grant funding meant for community development projects".

Their probe found that five non-profit organisations used funding meant to uplift poor communities to buy the properties.

The NPOs are Taung Culural Music and Arts Expo, the South African Art and Development Association (SAADA), Dinosys, Matieni Community Centre, and Zibsicraft (Pty) Ltd.

SIU, AFU obtain freeze order linked to lotteries commission probes

The organisations are the Taung Culural Music and Arts Expo, South African Art and Development Association (SAADA), Dinosys, Matieni Community Centre, and Zibsicraft (Pty) Ltd.

The properties that have been preserved are:

A luxury property in Midrand linked to musician and director of SAADA, Arthur Mafokate A luxury property in Cape Town linked to the Ramulifho Family Trust represented by former NLC legal representative and Trustee Lesley Ramulifho A plot in Pretoria owned by former NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda and his wife Tshilidzi. A luxury property in Pretoria linked to the Marang Family Trust represented by the head of the NLC’s legal division Tsietsi Maselwa A portion of a farm owned by the BDH Group represented by William Elias Huma who was a board member of the

[politicsweb]

SIU, AFU obtain freeze order linked to lotteries commission probes

“The SIU investigations in the affairs of the [NLC] have revealed that five non-profit organisations (NPO) received grant funding of approximately R56.3 million for community development projects in South Africa.

“The SIU investigations revealed that the acquisition of the preserved properties was funded by the NPOs with money they had received, under the auspices of grant funding, from the NLC. The properties, therefore, constitute proceeds of unlawful activities hence the application for a preservation order pending the final determination of the application for final forfeiture,” an SIU statement read.

The organisations are the Taung Culural Music and Arts Expo, South African Art and Development Association (SAADA), Dinosys, Matieni Community Centre, and Zibsicraft (Pty) Ltd.

National Lottery Commission fraud: SIU freezes assets

“The SIU investigations revealed that the NPOs funded the acquisition of the preserved properties with money they had received, under the auspices of grant funding, from the NLC. The properties, therefore, constitute proceeds of unlawful activities, hence the application for a preservation order pending the final determination of the application for final forfeiture.

In terms of the High Court order, which was granted on 21 December 2022, they are prohibited and restrained from selling, disposing of, leasing, transferring, donating, or dealing in any manner whatsoever with respect to the immovable properties,” he said.

[bookofmac]

the idea that if satire isnt obvious enough it'll go over people heads is not incorrect, some people are not good at writing satire or social commentary, that's the nature of writing. However, we need to not act like people arent dodging and missing really easy points of interpritation in very obvious

i'm using a pop music example here because i think its the most accessable form of short form media that people have access to that they also miss a lot of meaning in

The song Down Under by Men at Work is seen by many to be a short hand for 'Aussiness', largely due to people with aussie accents in the chorus extoling the virtues of living in a land down under. It's fun and up beat rock song, and has a flute in it. It was the number one song on the US charts for 4 weeks

The song largely is about the exploitation of Australia and how it in the 70's and 80's it was being marketed overseas. Everyone in the song talking about Australia in the song is actually not in aus while talking it up, and the one Australian talking about it fondly recalls our long history of binge drinking. It's about perceptions of Australia, expecially a very white Australia with the 'men plundering' line especially, and what we are doing to the land with out massive and hugely invasive mining industry. it's a deeply satirical take of aussieness and hits on several points that were and are parts of the ongoing cultural critique in Australia (americanisation, alcohol consumption, mining, culural exports ect)

now, i understand if not everyone get it. the music and key allow it to be really up beat and there is no direct comment about then PM Malcom Fraiser selling us out to the US, the way that contemporaries like Red Gum or Midnight Oil might. However the mix of hyperspecific things (vegemite, certain slang) and general things (women glow and men plunder) it allows people to have it be persived as a flag waving anthem when theres a lot of that counter to that in the song itself, even in the surface level of the lyrics.

This is not a failure of the song, and it's not nessisarlly the failure of listener eithe, In the 40 years since the song came out the aussie new wave came and went and context was lost, especially for non australian audiances. This is fine as that is the case with lots of art, the immediate cultural context doesnt make or break a piece of arts worth or importance. However this often leads to complacensy and thus a homogenisation of opinion.

so now, a lot of people will hear the song in the context of 'funny aussie character' ala junkrat overwatch and be content in associating both with Australia. you listen and enjoy, but you dont engage. which sucks because there IS a conversation in the interplay of how non australians depict us and how the song Down Under is interprated abroad. but that requires us to engage with that coversation, and not have it spoon feed by this 'clarity of purpose' because the context will change and the purpose will be LOST, you can not rely on it to maintain the message you want to send.

i hate that man in the 'satire requires clarity' muscle shirt so much, he is my mortal enemy