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Pride, Tradition, and Controversy: A Glimpse into One of South India’s Oldest Festivals

Dozens of men and boys gather on the side of a road in Alappuzha, a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, on a late afternoon in mid-March. They’re hard at work building one of 13 Kuthira, or large wooden towers, using saws, ropes, and their bare hands. The towers are offerings to the Hindu Goddess Bhadrakali, the protector of the good. Each represent a Kara, or region surrounding the Chettikulangara Devi temple, the home of the celebrated deity....
CULTUREESSAYS

The Power of Art: Life Lessons with Lonnie Holley

In 1979, Lonnie Holley made his first sculpture. Like most of his art, it was something born out of an ugly situation. Holley’s niece and nephew died in a house fire in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Their mother, Holley’s sister, fell into an even deeper depression when she realized she did not have enough money to buy her children tombstones. “You can imagine me having to absorb all my family’s tears and my tears,” Holley told The Fader in 2013, “I was just wondering, what could I do?”...
PerformanceVISUAL ART

A Glimpse of the Future: LA’s Inaugural Weedrave

One might be forgiven elsewhere in the country for thinking of weed smokers in prototypical terms, couchlocked and snackish, dazed day to day. But here in California, where marijuana has been a source of public debate and policy for years, it becomes clear there's no single type of cannabis consumer. From grandmas doing monster dabs on youtube to patients with chronic pain, the face of pot has changed dramatically over the past decade. So it seems inevitable we get Weedrave, a 12 hour rave for the self-professed stoners among us. Founded by Michelle Lhooq, a journalist with bylines at the L.A. Times and GQ Magazine and a book about weed due out next spring, the 12 hour event featured panels, rooftop yoga, CBD tonics, a dab bar, THC gummy samples, and a free pre-roll and bite-size edible with the purchase of a ticket. Performing DJs included False Witness, Kosmik, Mesmé, and Kokonut, among others....
CULTURE

African Diaspora Through Music and Dance

Bloco Obini, an all female drum ensemble brings music and dance from the African diaspora to audiences across Los Angeles. In addition to performing, founder of the group, Kahlil Cummings and Ensemble member Rachel Hernandez also teach drum and dance class that fuses together West African, Afro-Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban styles to a diverse group of Angelenos. “When we bring the workshops together,” Hernandez said. “We bring the Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian [styles] to show the differences and also to show the similarities of how things relate and how they were just separated within the diaspora by boats and which way they went....
DANCEMUSIC

Welcome to the fan club: The digital superfans changing entertainment

Jamjamj had no idea her YouTube channel would amass nearly 250,000 subscribers in just five months. The 17-year-old American, who wishes to remain anonymous, started her channel back in May 2018 out of a desire to create videos honoring her favorite K-pop boy band, BTS. Her first edited video was a tutorial for a mobile BTS game—and it hit 100,000 views in just four weeks. “I’ve been editing videos for a long time. I started when I was like 10,” she said. But it wasn’t until recently that her mother allowed her to start actually publishing her videos online. The teenage BTS superfan is part of a larger generation of digital fans who are playing an active role in shaping fandom and entertainment. While a pre-internet world had teenage fans taping fold-out magazine posters of boy band members on their walls, Jamjamj and her cohort actually create original content on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr for each other to consume. Their content not only attracts new fans but also helps them better understand an idol, TV show, or storyline....
CULTUREMUSIC

Frieze: LA’s Pop-up art fair in a faux NYC

Kelly green stickers papered the ground, emblazoned with philosophical quandaries in Futura all caps: “ARE THERE ANIMALS IN HEAVEN?” “WHO BUYS THE CON?” “IS THERE LIFE WITHOUT PAIN?” But this wasn’t just aimless litter underfoot; it was artist Barbara Kruger’s installation “Untitled (Questions 3),” one of the many exhibits on display at the art fair, Frieze LA. Frieze, which bills itself as a “media and events company,” is an arts and culture magazine publisher that has grown into an international powerhouse, throwing well-attended bashes in New York and London. Over the weekend of February 16 and 17, artists, curators and celebrities descended upon Paramount Studios to see and be seen at Frieze’s inaugural LA festival....
REVIEWSVISUAL ART