Nostalgia and Memory in Wong Kar-Wai’s Films

BY

Megan Lee

Without a memory of the past, we cannot operate in the present or think about the future. I hope to not merely focus on the relentless nature of time that seems to haunt us every day, but rather the yearning for a past that no longer exists.Thus, I want to introduce some films by the renowned director Wong Kar Wai that correlate with this rather abstract theme of memory and nostalgia.

Indigenous Art Taking Centre Stage

BY

Alison Chiu

Indigenous art invites us to embrace a spectrum of human experience that is both profoundly unique and universally resonant. This journey through the realms of artistic expression holds a mirror to the richness of Indigenous cultures, encouraging a deeper, more nuanced appreciation of diversity within the global tapestry of art.

'Rebecca' and 'Beloved': Memory and Societal Constraints

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Alison Chiu

Both 'Rebecca' and 'Beloved' intricately weave memory into their narratives, highlighting its multifaceted role: as a lens to decipher the present, a haunting force driving towards insanity, and a path leading to redemption. The protagonists, though tethered to different cultural backdrops, universally depict the human struggle of navigating past traumas. Their stories transcend individual experiences, suggesting that personal memories intersect with broader societal narratives, crafting shared histories. This "shared memory" speaks to the interconnectedness of our experiences, reinforcing that while memories are personal, they resonate within a collective consciousness. Thus, memory isn't just a personal voyage but a communal tapestry, urging a collective understanding of past legacies.

Babel

BY

Audrey Xia

Set in an alternate 1830s England, this book is a harsh critique of British imperialism, the hypocrisy of academia and systematic oppression of the minorities. It is meticulously researched (no doubt due to Kuang’s background as an academic), both on the history and culture, and on linguistics and translation, which is the biggest theme of the novel.

Must I Go

BY

Audrey Xia

In this book, an old woman, nearing the end of her life, reflects on her experiences and memories by annotating on the diaries of a dead man, with whom she had a fleeting affair with when she was a young girl. It explores big questions like love, old age, family, generational trauma and much more.

Pride on TV

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Arshia Seth

Finding representation of your queer identity in television can be very difficult these days. LGBT characters are often based entirely on stereotypes or practically irrelevant to the storyline. I love to binge-watch TV and love to see LGBT representation in media so I’ve combined two of my favourite things to make a list of my top 8 TV shows with LGBT main characters (and where to find each show!)

Zhang Xiaogang's 'Big Family No. 9'

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Megan Lee

In Zhang Xiaogang’s bloodline: Big Family No. 9, we may not relate to the stifling and oppressive emotions conveyed, or fully understand the figures’ individual histories and unnerving nuances, yet we resonate with the lingering sense of nostalgia and hazy emotional undercurrents. We empathize with those who have been stripped of their voice to tell their story. We remind ourselves of our own beautiful, cultural heritage.

On Matthew Wong

BY

Darren Chiu

A self-taught Canadian artist known for his dappled, dreamy landscapes and still lifes that invite you into his world and encourage you to contemplate your own. At the heart of his paintings is this sense of blissful melancholy. Behind the vibrant colours and dreamy landscapes, his paintings explore his sense of self and personal journey through his rather solitary life.

Sputnik Sweetheart

BY

Katrina Arens

This novel explores whether loneliness is borne of not being around others or of being apart from one's self. A novel full of "almosts", it seems that longing can never truly be divorced from true love.

'Sentiment' in Contemporary Asian Music

BY

Alex Foo

With the rise of K-pop and J-pop, Asian musicians have come a long way in the West. But outside of popular acts like BTS, Blackpink, Ado and Fujii Kaze, Asia is a mine full of hidden gems. So, all the music that I'll be recommending in this article will be by underrated Asian artists that deserve your support!

'Sentimentality' in Volume Alpha

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Sky Phisuthikul

In our increasingly globalised and technologically advanced society, it is important to highlight the growing importance of the arts in a virtual sense. Music in video games has often been something that has been dismissed and overlooked despite its significance in many of our lives.

Reading Translated Literature: 'The Odyssey'

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Yvonne Tang

In this age when Asian countries have begun to take great strides towards globalization, demand for books translated to and from Asian languages continue to grow. One who has spent a substantial duration of their life in an Asian community may feel, while reading translated English texts, both distant and closely connected with the language being used within a book.

唐詩 : Poems from the Tang Dynasty

BY

Marcus Yeoh

Each dynasty in Ancient China marked alternating periods of unity; each dynasty was unique, thus leaving behind a wide range of unique artefacts that chart the historical development of the country. The Tang Dynasty is well remembered for the era's contributions to poetry, partly the result of Xuanzong's creation of an academy for poets, which helped preserve over 48,900 poems written by well over 2,000 poets of the era.

After Dark

BY

Christine Bunagan

Through using visceral yet beautiful observations, Murakami throws readers into an unknown abyss of turbulent feelings, darkness and melancholia. Although the book is rather short and can be finished in a single sitting, the beauty of the story lies not in its fairly straightforward and insignificant plot elements, but rather the excursion into the mentality and rhythms of night in an isolated city filled with longing.

No Longer human

BY

Max Lee

This novel is one of my favourite books of all time and is filled with dark franticness and insights that parallel Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground". Dazai uses the theme of alienation to create a novel that is almost unbearably "human", evocatively tearing apart the veil of fictions we delude ourselves with to not acknowledge the depths of depravity inherent in reality.

'Girl': Kincaid's Experience Conveyed Through Language

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Megan Lee

Kincaid uses a myriad of ways to convey an evocative sense of the young girl’s struggles in navigating social worlds as a female. What is perhaps most striking about her writing is how it reads almost like an exhaustive declaration of the damning expectations imposed on young females, of the complex relationships between each generation, and of the many obstacles a woman must overcome to be respected.

The White Book

BY

Victoria Chew

Han Kang does an exceptional job exploring fragility and vulnerability, reminding us of all that is ephemeral in the world. She skilfully uses the colour white not only as an evocative symbol for her own grief and loss, but uses this meditation of colour to suggest that certain memories remain inviolate to the ravages of time and suffering.

The Marginalization of Asian Actors

BY

Megan Lee

The marginalization of Asian actors is still a prevalent problem and an incredibly insidious form of divisive racism that remains largely misunderstood due to how the Asian community is commonly stereotyped as a “model minority,” and has thus been excluded from conversations regarding racism and discrimination.

The Art of ‘Bad’ Art: on Tracey Emin’s My Bed

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Megan Lee

In Tracey Emin’s My Bed, we realize that art is about expression, meaning, and the authenticity of human emotion. In using such an evocative installation, Emin not only illustrates the active and almost rebellious voice she takes on as an artist but emphasizes the beauty in chaos, in sentiment and in depicting the feeling of feelings.

'Courage' In Timi Kakandar's 'Strength Of A Woman'

BY

Morade Oduntan

From the hair to the bold strokes of colour on her face, this piece is nothing short of captivating. The sky-blue background strikingly contrasts with her dark hair in a style similar to African threading, used to stretch and protect the hair.  This divergence brings out the complexity and details of it, causing it to be one of the most prominent features and immediately catching the viewer’s eye. 

The Memory Police

BY

Tom Startup

What do we become when we forget things? Are we still the same people? What is left of us when all our memories are gone? These are just a few of the deep questions raised by Japanese writer, Yoko Ogawa's intriguing and original novel, 'The Memory Police ', which was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize.

'Loss' in Tetsuya Ishida's Art

BY

Sasha Semark-Masters

Born in 1973, Ishida’s work captures Japan’s ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s, which was a time of economic recession. From his early career until his death in 2005, Ishida portrayed vivid imagery of the challenges to Japanese life and morale in his paintings and graphic works.

'Female Rage' in Film

BY

Elena Mokhzani

If you’ve been on the internet for some time, especially amongst younger generations, you might’ve seen the word ‘feminine rage’ come up every so often.  I find that over the last year and a bit, girls across the internet have taken an interest in how pure anger and distress is portrayed in media by women. Especially with the release of ‘Pearl’ directed by Ti West, starring Mia Goth as the titular character in the iconic barn scene. 

'Maternal Relations' in Everything Everywhere All at Once

BY

Megan Kwok

A love letter towards Michelle Yeoh, second generation immigrant mother-daughter relationships, and optimistic existentialism- Everything, Everywhere All At Once has been named one of the best movies of the year and rightfully so. Created by the Daniels, the movie accurately and emotionally portrays the trials and tribulations of second generation families in Western society, but also provides a sense of comfort and relatability to those not in the diaspora.

Xu Bing and Language

BY

Megan Lee

Xu Bing (徐冰) is a Chinese artist known for his printmaking skills and installation art, as well as his creative artistic use of language, words, and text and how they have affected our understanding of the world. Xu Bing's art mostly reflects cultural issues which raged during his early life in China. Most notably, the cultural and linguistic reforms enacted by the Communist Party in China under Mao Zedong's leadership.

'Egregore' In Almagul Menlibayeva's Photography

BY

Priyasha Brahma

Almagul Menlibayeva's photography and video work address acute issues of central Asian modernity, casting a critical and contemporary eye on post-Soviet social and political transformation while reviewing the role of women, mythology and culture. She describes her work as exploring the 'egregore' (a shared feeling or sentiment that arises from the thoughts of a culture) of Central Asian identity and revitalising it into 'an active entity, just like a creature itself'. 

'Liberation' in Baya 
Mahieddine's Art

BY

Selen Soyer

The Algerian artist, Baya Mahieddine notably inspired Picasso’s Femme d’Alger series through her graceful paintings of communal Algerian women. As an orphan, art provided Baya with a vibrant mechanism to cope with her difficult upbringing and express her intersectional identity.

'A Room of One's Own': Woolf and Gendered Constraints

BY

Alice Rothwell

'Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses, possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.’ This eloquent and fiercely critical extract from Virginia Woolf's extended essay ‘A Room of One's Own' articulates an essential conflict between the capabilities of women, and their inability to pursue them under societal constraints, which she demonstrates to be intertwined with the focus of the essay's study: 'Women and Fiction.’

Cycle of Female Oppression in Aryana Sayeed’s ‘Baanoo-E Atash Nesheen’

BY

Neda Aryan

Baanoo-E Atash Nesheen (The Lady of the Land of Fire) is a song released by Afghan popstar, Aryan Sayeed, in 2013. She sings to the women of Afghanistan, capturing the experiences faced by many of them a poetic yet unshrinking way, which evokes both sorrow and perhaps a fleeting sense of solidarity. Depressingly, while the song was released ten years ago, the situation in Afghanistan has not improved, but has gotten worse.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

BY

Megan Lee

Ocean Vuong’s novel takes the form of a young Vietnamese American writer's letter to his illiterate mother — her education having ended at seven, when her school in Vietnam collapsed after an American napalm raid. In his letter, the unnamed narrator combines a series of seemingly unrelated memories, events, and musings in an attempt to convey some inexpressible truth.

‘Herstory’ of Art

BY

Nadia Sun

Throughout history, women have been deprived of rights, respect, and recognition. This is no exception in the art world. For Women’s History Month and the topic of Women’s Voices, I present an unsung artist to hopefully shed some light on her story and magnify her artistic voice.

Selling Sentiment – How Fashion’s Relationship with Nostalgia has changed.

BY

Nadia Sun

It is a widely known truth that fashion returns in cyclical terms, and this is largely credited to its tie with sentiment. When a new generation dominates the workforce, elements from decades prior resurface as people begin to reminisce about their childhood.