Lifestyle - Communities

Array

Visibility, Sustainability & Creativity – Black & African Designers At Berlin Fashion Week

Black and African-owned brands took center stage at Berlin Fashion Week: redefining fashion and using it as a tool for resistance, sustainability, and storytelling. From Buzigahill’s powerful Return To Sender show to NOMMO’s visionary platform and AZEA ZALEA’s deeply personal debut, these creatives are shifting the industry’s focus toward justice, heritage, and innovation. This isn’t just fashion — it’s a movement.

Janice Heinrich @

Style, Individuality, Inclusion – Five Brands Redefining Adaptive Fashion

While the fashion industry likes to perform diversity, it still lacks true inclusivity and accessibility on many levels. Not only is there a lack of disabled models on the runway or in front of the camera, but mainstream brands are missing awareness and consideration for the clothing needs of disabled individuals. Learn more about five adaptive fashion brands that are challenging outdated stereotypes about disability and are transforming the fashion industry one garment at a time.

Janice Heinrich @

Reclaiming Stolen Archives – A Look Into Kamal Al Jafari’s “A Fidai Film”

“A Fidai Film" (2024) is Kamal Al Jafari’s act of cinematic resistance. Through the reworking of looted footage, he poses a counter-archive sabotaging the colonial gaze through the camera of the dispossessed.

Amany Hassan @

Pride in Fashion – How Black Queer Editors Changed the Industry

As corporate Pride campaigns dwindle and queer visibility fades from the mainstream, it’s essential to reflect on fashion’s deep-rooted indebtedness to LGBTQIA+ creativity—particularly that of Black queer pioneers. From André Leon Talley and Edward Enninful to the rise of a new generation of visionaries, we explore how queerness has always been at the heart of fashion—even when the industry tries to forget it.

Janice Heinrich @

Painting Memories: Monilola Ilupeju’s Journey Through Belonging, Lineage, and Arrival

In this intimate conversation with artist and author Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, we explore the emotional landscapes of arrival, memory, and intergenerational connection. Speaking from her exhibition Musafiri – Of Travellers and Guests at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Ilupeju reflects on the quiet rituals that shape her practice, the tension between displacement and belonging, and how painting becomes an act of care, vulnerability, and ancestral remembrance.

Luïza Luz @
Three Black models wearing Afro-futurist white sculptural garments by African designers at Berlin Fashion Week 2025, symbolizing sustainable innovation and cultural identity.

Visibility, Sustainability & Creativity – Black & African Designers At Berlin Fashion Week

Black and African-owned brands took center stage at Berlin Fashion Week: redefining fashion and using it as a tool for resistance, sustainability, and storytelling. From Buzigahill’s powerful Return To Sender show to NOMMO’s visionary platform and AZEA ZALEA’s deeply personal debut, these creatives are shifting the industry’s focus toward justice, heritage, and innovation. This isn’t just fashion — it’s a movement.

Janice Heinrich
Model Aariana Philip Taylor confidently walks the runway in an inclusive fashion show during New York Fashion Week, representing disabled, Black, and trans communities.

Style, Individuality, Inclusion – Five Brands Redefining Adaptive Fashion

While the fashion industry likes to perform diversity, it still lacks true inclusivity and accessibility on many levels. Not only is there a lack of disabled models on the runway or in front of the camera, but mainstream brands are missing awareness and consideration for the clothing needs of disabled individuals. Learn more about five adaptive fashion brands that are challenging outdated stereotypes about disability and are transforming the fashion industry one garment at a time.

Janice Heinrich
Two prominent fashion editors, André Leon Talley and Anna Wintour, seated front row at a fashion show, dressed in elegant, luxurious winter attire.

Pride in Fashion – How Black Queer Editors Changed the Industry

As corporate Pride campaigns dwindle and queer visibility fades from the mainstream, it’s essential to reflect on fashion’s deep-rooted indebtedness to LGBTQIA+ creativity—particularly that of Black queer pioneers. From André Leon Talley and Edward Enninful to the rise of a new generation of visionaries, we explore how queerness has always been at the heart of fashion—even when the industry tries to forget it.

Janice Heinrich
Painting of a woman sitting in an armchair against patterned wallpaper with a potted tree nearby; intimate domestic scene suggesting migration, memory, and stillness.

Painting Memories: Monilola Ilupeju’s Journey Through Belonging, Lineage, and Arrival

In this intimate conversation with artist and author Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, we explore the emotional landscapes of arrival, memory, and intergenerational connection. Speaking from her exhibition Musafiri – Of Travellers and Guests at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Ilupeju reflects on the quiet rituals that shape her practice, the tension between displacement and belonging, and how painting becomes an act of care, vulnerability, and ancestral remembrance.

Luïza Luz
A still from The Village Next to Paradise showing a man in a brown cap and blue jacket sitting beside a young boy wearing a box with eyeholes on his head, against a bare wall.

A Look Into This Year’s Arab Film Festival ‘ALFILM’ in Berlin

The 16th Arab Film Festival Berlin (ALFILM) casts a daring gaze into the past and future with its spotlight on "Canceled Futures, Endless Pasts"—a theme that unearths archival ghosts and imagines alternative realities through speculative fiction. With a compelling lineup that includes To a Land Unknown and The Village Next to Paradise, this year’s festival bridges personal memory and political struggle, offering cinematic stories from across the Arab world that challenge dominant narratives and invite audiences to rethink what could have been.

Amany Hassan
In the month of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the voices that speak for intersectional feminism and sacred rebellion. Céline Semaan’s “A Woman is a School”, published by The Slow Factory, calls us to reclaim our bodies, our stories, and our collective wisdom. A reminder of the power of language to emancipate us in times of struggle.

Mind, Body, Language: How the Book “A Woman is a School” Rewrites Rebellion

Language is power. In the month of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the voices that speak for intersectional feminism and sacred rebellion. Céline Semaan’s “A Woman is a School”, published by The Slow Factory, reclaims language and the body as sacred vessels for eco-liberation and justice. Her words call us to action: it's time to stand together in solidarity for justice and collective healing. A reminder of the power of language to emancipate us in times of struggle. None of us is free, until all of us are free.

Luïza Luz
Calvin Candie, holding a cigarette holder, confronts Django in an intense standoff inside an opulent room.

How Cultural Appropriation is Irrelevant to Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino has long been praised for his bold storytelling, but his approach to Black narratives raises important questions about cultural appropriation and blaxploitation in white cinema. While his films often feature diverse casts, the depth of his Black characters remains limited, catering to a broad audience rather than authentically representing Black experiences. His frequent use of racial slurs and reliance on shock value spark controversy, yet his dismissive response to criticism is even more troubling. This article explores how Tarantino profits from marginalized cultures while avoiding accountability, urging audiences to critically engage with the media they consume.

Jasmin Kraenzel