Tanushi Bhatnagar

“Where does my nation begin and end on my skin?”

This is one question asked by one of the members of Beyond Borders multimedia book club, a project by the UBC Middle Eastern Studies Student Association (MESSA) to deconstruct stereotypes about the region. On January 31, Beyond Borders gathered at the Global Lounge to watch music videos by change-makers in the Middle East.

This week’s theme, “Songs of Revolution,” echoed the mission of the club: to spotlight Middle Eastern people on their own te

Kajol Bafna, a 25-year-old Political Science graduate had a kind of an awakening when she was told that a particular shade of lipstick was not suited to her skin tone at a beauty store. “Why not?” she thought, “Why should a girl wear what others think she should?”

Those answers culminated into her own beauty venture Boss Lady. She decided to drop her dream of becoming a lawyer and pursue her natural talent of makeup artistry full time. The 25-year-old Mumbaiite started her vegan beauty company three years ago when she was shocked at the lack of sustainable and cruelty-free beauty products, both, homegrown and internationally. It was then when she decided to be her own boss and create a homegrown beauty brand, which is as good as international bigwigs. Hence, Boss Lady Cosmetics was born.

One of the biggest names in the Italian rap scene, Ghali Amoudini, shot to fame overnight in 2016 with his record-breaking debut track Ninna Nanna. The 28-year-old Milanese has since delivered hip hop hits like Ricchi Dentro (2017) and Marymango (2020) and has become a popular youth icon in Italy and abroad. His music is heavily influenced by the American ‘Rap God’ Eminem, and originated and thus thrived in the underground Italian rap scene when Ghali discovered his natural talent for writing. H

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a wishing well that keeps on giving. This time, it may just have come out with the best television series score the franchise has ever seen. Loki’s musical theme is just as twisted and dark as the show itself. British composer Natalie Holt has translated the larger-than-life theatrical feel of the series along with Loki’s grand troublemaker charisma into the score.

Imbibing her own ‘glorious purpose,’ Holt credits her colleagues and the script as her inspiration

After years of selling misogynistic fantasies masked as insecurity for women worldwide, Victoria’s Secret (VS), the lingerie and personal care mammoth, has come upon a business-altering decision. Everyone’s aesthetic and sexual fantasy – the VS Angels have fallen.

After multiple accusations of sexual assault, overt body shaming, and transphobia, their refusal to take action against high-profile executives guilty of inappropriate behaviour has led to its downfall. 2018 was possibly the worst yea

The people of India express their culture through cuisine and celebrate every little occasion with a splash of food and drink. The participation of food in culture makes restaurants and small eateries an integral part of the social setting in India. Before the pandemic took over the world, one might have presumed, and rightly so, that restaurants in India will never face a setback. However, the onset of the pandemic brought with it a stringent set of government-imposed restrictions on various ev

Raised in Singapore and now based in London, Sukki Menon is an unstoppable young force that has left a powerful impact on the world. Menon, theatrically known as Sukki Singapora, is the first-ever burlesque performer from Singapore.

Simply put, burlesque is a bold performing art. It combines female sensuality through striptease with a comical, theatrical segment. Along with being a performer, an artist and an activist, Menon also recently appeared on Netflix’s popular docuseries Singapore Socia

While global struggles to end stereotypes and appropriation are rife on social media, Indian cinema is more concerned with dismissing using Brownface as an excuse for artistic liberty. Behind the garb of skin-lightening product commercials, light-skinned Indian actors continue to darken their complexion for multiple roles.

In its second season, the recent OTT hit show The Family Man stars Samantha Akkineni, a Tamilian actor, as the main antagonist. However, she is shown several shades darker th

Engulfed by the best of fashion, an army of henchmen and all the riches in the land, she attracts everyone’s attention with her glamorous entry on screen. Her bewitching blood-red smirk and sensual saunter exude dominance and a single glance is deadly enough for the meek. That’s the femme fatale we all know and either love or hate in movies.

The femme fatale trope first made its way into the American film noir and flourished in the Forties and Fifties in detective and horror sagas as a female a

If you have jammed out to “Stressed Out,” “Ride” or “Heathens,” you are no stranger to Twenty One Pilots. The Grammy-winning Ohio-based duo released their sixth album, Scaled and Icy, on May 21st, after a three-year wait following their 2018 album Trench. A product of over a year-long effort under lockdown conditions, Scaled and Icy, short for ‘scaled-up and isolated’, was recorded and produced remotely from guitarist-vocalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Joshua Dun’s respective homes.

Although a p