Jaouad Alloul: “Pure beauty is being radically yourself in a world that wants you to fit in”
“As an artist I find this pandemic challenging, but at the same time it gave me the required inner work to accelerate on a deep emotional level”
Jaouad Alloul is a multi-disciplinary artist & entrepreneur. He endeavours to give a voice to people struggling with their gender & identity and to raise awareness for LGBT rights in Islam and beyond. His mission is to connect people through art and dialogue.
We are very proud to present the photography work of children for the Sirkhane Darkroom project.
DARKROOM is a small mobile photography workshop for vulnerable and underpriviliged children residing in the south east of Turkey, a few miles from the Syrian border.
The project is part of Sirkhane, whose mission it is to provide hope and beauty through social circus, music and arts for the most vulnerable children effected by conflicts and war
The Province of Antwerp hangs the rainbow flag half mast in memory of the premeditated murder of gay Belgian man David on March 6th, 2021. Location: Provinciehuis, Antwerp.
“I think my Love The Lie music video is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had the privilege of making. Pure beauty to me, especially after a year mostly confined to my own four walls, is friendship and travel; the two focal points of the Love The Lie video. I love being able to see new places, immerse myself in other cultures, meet strangers, eat new foods… and experiencing all of these new sensory adventures with my friends is one of the most beautiful things in the world to me. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit Cappadocia for the first time in life thanks to work and to be able to take two of my closest friends with me to share in the experience with me was just an amazing added bonus. It was one of the best (and most exhausting!) weekends of my life, and now whenever I watch the final video back, it transports me back to a very happy and beautiful time in my life.”
Brugmansia, La Conchita CA, 2016. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in
Emerald Rose Whipple: “Beauty recognises itself through us. It touches on the ephemeral nature of all things. When we witness something that impermanent, we witness a moment in time passing. The fleeting fragility of life is what makes something beautiful to me. I cherish flowers, they are here only for a moment in time, yet they bring innocence and a gentleness to the world.”
MJ Songstress: “When I look at the word BE-a-U-ty, the letters B,E & U pop out, which formulates into BE U! Pure beauty is about being yourself, believing that you are worthy and owning who you are unapologetically, authentically without permission. Beauty comes from within, which allows the soul to radiate through. That’s what pure beauty is to me. A woman willing to be SEEN in any light naturally. I remind myself in the mirror daily “BE U!”
I selected my song & video “SEE ME” for many reasons. It is a song about being SEEN. It’s a song that resonates with me and my own journey of allowing myself to be SEEN. Shooting the music video was also a milestone for me because it represents the day that I was willing not only to be SEEN, to be vulnerable and own and accept everything about me. My face, my body, myself. I was uncomfortable and at first unwilling to let go. Then I took a deep breath and chose to surrender and power through the insecurities and beat up I’ve been holding on to for years. A thing of the past! Cause now I AM here and I love who I am. The power of letting go supported me in believing in my own beauty.”
“I wanted to show the world there’s no difference between boys and girls”- Sultan from Mardin, Turkey
We are very proud to present the photography work of children for the Sirkhane Darkroom project.
DARKROOM is a small mobile photography workshop for vulnerable and underpriviliged children residing in the south east of Turkey, a few miles from the Syrian border.
The project is part of Sirkhane, whose mission it is to provide hope and beauty through social circus, music and arts for the most vulnerable children effected by conflicts and war
I will never pretend that I can define beauty – “ but I know it when I see it “
… and I see it everywhere! I see it in a smile, I hear beauty in a laugh, I watch beauty dancing, I feel beauty in creating and I hope that beauty lives on in everyone’s hearts.
There are now nearly 8 billion people living on earth, with an infinite number of ideas about beauty. And there is more than enough beauty to go around.
Atmosphere by Amber Dewaele. Photo: Daniil Lavrovski
Amber Dewaele: “For me, the true essence of beauty is found when simply looking up to the sky. It’s the reaction between the light and the atmosphere that creates beautiful optical phenomena that for a moment makes you appreciate the world we are living in and forget about all the rest. They have the power and beauty to touch our emotions and make us wonder whether it’s a rainbow, a pink sky or a sunrise.”
It’s these wonders, made by the sky, that were the inspiration for my Atmosphere graduation collection: from corona to coffee table, from light pillar to floor lamp and from sunset to wall unit. Using various materials and respective processing techniques in combination with artificial light, this collection brings the wonders of the sky into the interior.
British-Moroccan photographer Hana Zebzabi wants the world to see the many different sides of Muslim women today. Known for her provocative photographs of confident female models, she’s now hoping to capture the essence of today’s Muslim women in the same way, something that’s difficult to achieve given the restrictions on clothing within Islam. “I adore shooting women, they’re a big inspiration because they’re so beautiful and I can look up to them. When you look at my work, you see a plethora of women being sexy, being free, being sad, being happy, being liberated, just being everything,” she told POPSUGAR. We spoke to Zebzabi about what it means to be a Muslim woman by today’s standards, the importance of speaking out to challenge old beliefs, and her upcoming project, a photo-series focused on Muslim women, called “Not Your Girl”.
Kendra Erika: ” ‘Avalanche’ was written with the explosive intent to showcase my vocal ability amidst having released so many dance tracks in the past. The beauty in the process of writing, recording, and then filming the video for the song is that I started trusting myself with my ability and how it could shine through. From coming up with the melodic and lyrical aspect of the writing stages to then really being in the moment and performing the darn thing and having people come up to me saying how deeply the song and my performance of it has impacted them, shed light on proving to me that I must persevere in what I do. And, to persevere with the solid knowing that “I’ve got this”. That one evolutionary step in the growth process and how it is radiated outwards is what beauty means to me.”
This must be about the most beautiful alternative to a fashion show I have seen so far, with models and dancers including Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presenting Dries Van Noten’s collection for F/W 2021/22. Simply breathtaking.
“The tranquillity of the water heightened the superb effects of this glacial world. Majestic tabular bergs whose crevices exhaled a vaporous azure; lofty spires, radiant turrets and splendid castles; honeycombed masses illumined by pale green light within whose fairy labyrinths the water washed and gurgled.
Seals and penguins on magic gondolas were the silent denizens of this dreamy Venice. In the soft glamour of the midsummer midnight sun, we were possessed by a rapturous wonder — the rare thrill of unreality.”
