This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Stranded in the North Atlantic and battered by harsh winds and volcanic eruptions, the bleak shores of Iceland loom large in contemporary crime fiction. Despite its diminutive population, which is settled sparsely over much of the small island nation, Iceland has produced a remarkable number of crime novels, reflecting the larger explosion of Nordic crime fiction across an international market. While the

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Matthew Plowright is Head of Communications at the Migration Museum, an organisation that explores the many ways in which the movement of people to and from Britain across the ages has shaped who we are – as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. The museum stages an acclaimed programme of exhibitions, events and education workshops throughout the UK, as well as in an arts and community space, The

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). The opening  statement  of the Don McCullin retrospective at Tate Britain is bold and uncompromising: photography is ‘not looking, it’s feeling’. This is how legendary British photographer McCullin describes the sixty years  he spent as a photojournalist, capturing some of the most devastating scenes of suffering the world has seen. McCullin’s reflective  comment  concisely  sums up the response that his

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Illustration by Grace MacKeith London, the city we live in, is found in perpetual movement and chaos. With sometimes too much, and never too little to do, a state of constant stress can arise. Nothing allows time to stop in this city. With the condensation of multiculturalism and through the current political period of uncertainty, it is sometimes a real necessity to detach oneself from this fast-paced s

Paris is still hot and sticky from its recent heatwave but on July 12th in the halls of the Panthéon, the voices of hundreds of undocumented migrants can be heard shouting in unison, “What do we want? Papers. For whom? Everyone.” The scene is as chaotic as it is impressive. Standing on the ashes of national figures such as Hugo, Voltaire and Curie, they call for the right to hold documentation allowing them to live and work legally in France. The ‘Gilets-Noirs’ (black vests),

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Pluto's Kitchen by Işıl Eğrikavuk, Co-commissioned by Block Universe and Open Space (Image: Arron Leppard) Huma Kabakcı is the Founding Director of Open Space, a charitable arts organisation that seeks to foster experimental art practices and explore the interconnected nature of politics and art. With physical roots predominantly in London with links to Istanbul, Open Space emerges from two diverse cultu

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Islands have occupied much of my research interests since taking up Dr Emily Mann’s second-year undergraduate course: ‘Competing Ventures, Contested Visions: Constructing European Empires in the Early Modern World’. A lot of the scholarship on this period is concerned with the study of commodities and luxury items, charting their arrival and integration into European cultures. One of the products that ar

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Mahayana Buddhism teaches of six realms of corporeal existence, all of which hold their own vices. The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts, adjacent to Hell, holds those consumed by their desires. They traverse barren landscapes, cold, starving and untouched. The consuming need for substance is an Uroboros tragedy, a snake eating its own tail: one can only be ‘full’ once they accept the wisdom of emptiness. Don’t

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). Following a difficult breakup and a transatlantic move to New York City, Olivia Laing finds herself in the midst of a crisis – alone in New York and experiencing poignant isolation. Her remedy? Art. In a sharp non-fiction titled ‘The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone’, Laing gently rips to shreds any of the New York glamour and glitz installed upon us by the likes of Nick Carraway or Carr

This article was previously published in Issue 20, ISLANDS (March 2019). What better way to illuminate the theme of ‘islands’ than by re-enacting Desert Island Discs? Radio 4’s much-loved series has been entertaining the British public since 1945, and today it stands as a treasured tune-in across the country. My castaway is Dr Esther Chadwick, who kindly agreed to share her choice of eight discs, a book and a luxury item, along with some insights into her interests and ambiti