Graffiti is all over Europe. It’s abundant. It’s divisive and it’s reactionary. It’s a sign that younger people in particular are reclaiming space, sharing views, saying, “I’m here!”, being political, or in some cases just being rebellious assholes. Graffiti is not one thing, and to dismiss it or belittle it is to also lose sight …
Service in Germany is a mixed bag. It’s lank efficient but they seem to take pleasure out of trolling tourists. We went to the Tourism Office in Hannover to try and buy a SIM card and the woman there tried to sell us a monthly train ticket. If you work in the Tourism Office, surely, …
Assimilating into German culture means embracing hyper-efficiency, weirdness, and feeling like you’re getting trolled as a tourist. We arrived in Hannover on Friday rush hour… Being in a busy train station (Hauptbahnhof) in peak traffic, with petulant luggage, after a very very long trip stinking like pollcats straight outta Sontra (well maybe not straight) is …
You know what gives you the edge when you travel? Being fucking smug. It’s nice to be in the airport terminal and in high volume sotto voce saying, “Thank god we went for that 6km run before we came here!” Sometimes, I really think I run just to be smug. But let’s hold up a …
You cannot separate food, stories, and place. Food frames and contextualises the culture, history, social order, and of course, the politics of a place. Food is personal. Nothing proves this more than the the latest shitshow courtesy of the Department of Land Reform, Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DALRRD) Food Safety Authority (FSA). In a naming …
It’s holiday time for kids, and I can honestly feel the seismic shift in happiness. I still remember watching the second hand move, and then the collective breathing in, and silence… And then the shrill gleeful sound of the school bell shattering through our bodies. Today these two gorgeous young whipper snappers came into the …
‘There are no big stories left, just paths through the clutter and the inevitable soft landing.’ (Ivan Vladislavic) The other day I emailed my hero. I was thinking about Jono and my vision for Hilton, BOOMTOWN, the gallery, and storytelling. Who’s the landmark writer that I want to attach to a mural? Only one name …
I wrote this piece sporadically throughout last week, and didn’t have much time to edit it, or to engage with it. In between finding last minute quotes for an extra stretch tent, making decisions about generators, doing some painting, chasing up on vendors, helping to put a gallery space together, and remembering to buy toothpaste …
‘Wake up Jaqui; it’s time to go to the Royal Show!’ On this occasion, it was 3 am, I was in Room 36 at the Hilton Hotel, and my brother Nicholas thought it would be bloody hilarious to wake me up from my slumber to enjoy a few seconds of euphoria, before realising it was …
The right stories come at just the right time. They’re like Gandalf that way. Just before every septic tank in the Msunduzi Municipality hit the fan, I sat down to watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film had a mixed response in the US, and I’m not here to defend my position on its …