Posted November 23, 20213 yr @1463124985111797762 @1463159230664519688 @1463135407768576008 Dua announces SERVICE95, a weekly newsletter that will include celebrity interviews, artist recommendations, travel tips, highlight activism around the world + much more — Sign up at https://t.co/ay6H8KGTB7 “Subscribers to Service95 will receive up-to-the-minute intel on everything and anything, with an attached personal letter from @DUALIPA reporting from wherever it is in the world she happens to be on a weekly basis.” — @NME From British Vogue:
January 17, 20223 yr Author No tour for South Africa but at least we get some focus on SERVICE95😭😭 @1482863816245317636
January 25, 20223 yr Author The first season of Service95’s podcast ‘At Your Service’ will have a “dozen” episodes, featuring guests such as CL, Elton John, Lisa Taddeo, Edward Enninful, Russell Brand and more Source: Wall Street Journal
February 5, 20223 yr Author I still need to read the first issue but loving the attention she is giving South African music :heart: First podcast will be available on 11 Feb! @1489600187672711172
February 6, 20223 yr Author Issue 001: Welcome to Service95 Six hours a day and then some… That’s the time I’m putting in rehearsing for my upcoming Future Nostalgia tour. Oh, and I’ve also taken on another full-time job; Service95, the exciting global style, arts and culture newsletter you’re reading right now. Soon, you’ll also be able to listen to Dua Lipa: At Your Service, my accompanying podcast where I interview some of the world’s most fascinating, inspiring and influential names across music, literature, entertainment, fashion, activism, politics… Am I exhausted? Ha. Actually, I’m exhilarated! I feel like I’m strapped to a rocket, ready for take-off – and I’m hoping you’ll join me for the ride. Every week we will bring you brilliant articles by incredible writers I admire from all over the world. I’ll also share personal recommendations and discoveries (this long-time habit of creating lists and sharing them with loved ones is what inspired Service95 – just call me your cultural concierge). So, with that in mind, seeing as I’ve just left the UK to begin my tour, here are some of my favourite London food haunts. Keep the seat warm for me – and welcome to Service95. 5 of my favourite restaurants in London: Westerns LaundryGymkhana RoviBerenjakLore of the LandDua x Parveen Narowalia Amapiano: The New Wave Of South African House Music That’s Going Global Faridah Folawiyo ‘Amapiano to the world!’ The prophetic catchphrase of devout followers of this contemporary South African genre of house music is coming to pass. Right now, amapiano is catching on far beyond its origins in the townships of Joburg and Pretoria. ‘Ama’ is the isiZulu word for the plural of ‘piano’. So, pianos. Lots of them. As reflected in its bilingual name, the genre is a mesh of influences, combining kwaito (a mid-tempo South African house genre) and bacardi (a heavy percussive Pretorian house sub-genre) with jazz-leaning piano melodies. Amapiano songs are often long, meandering journeys, building up to at least one climax, a drop, a beat change, a new melody and sometimes, all of the above. Amapiano has been gaining popularity throughout South Africa since 2016, but is now seeing a global surge. London’s 2020 Yam Carnival had a tent dedicated to it, and Fat Joe went viral on Twitter for vibing to the genre. The Instagram account danceagram_sa, dedicated to videos of people dancing to South African house (most frequently amapiano) has amassed more than 200k followers. And TikTok’s viral #DakiweChallenge permeated friend groups who wanted to recreate the Matrix-like dance move. Faithful members of the amapiano community have been key players in its export. There is DJ Maphorisa, a producer (think Wizkid, Drake and Major Lazer) and ambassador for South African house, Kabza de Small (the self-identified ‘King of Amapiano’), Mr JazziQ (formerly of the duo JazziDisciples) and Vigro Deep. There are also the DJs, often personalities with global followings, who have mastered the combination of mixing and performance. It is not uncommon to see Major League DJz – twin brothers who’ll be headlining Pianochella at London’s O2 Academy Brixton in May 2022 – acrobatically climb onto their booths as they perform, revelling in the crowd energy. TxC is the twin-sister DJ duo whose matching style, performance and dancing have attracted crowds from Lagos to Dar es Salaam and Maputo. Yes, people come to listen, but they also come to watch. As amapiano crosses borders, it has evolved. Nigerian Afro pop has already co-opted the sound, making it punchier (and yes, shorter, for an audience lacking patience for the mounting beats). That said, purists are keen to maintain its authenticity, because as DJ Maphorisa says: “If you don’t involve us, it’s not amapiano.” 5 amapiano songs to download now: Adiwele, Young Stunna ft Kabza de Small Blue Skies, Mr JazziQ & JazziDisciples ft Vigro Deep & Rams de Violinist Nkao Tempela, Ch’cco ft Mellow & Sleazy Superman, DJ Stokie ft Kabza de Small, Masterpiece YVK, Madumane Macnose, JazziDisciples Faridah Folawiyo is a London-born writer and art curator based in Lagos Yumna Al-Arashi ‘Let’s Build A World That Includes Everyone, By Design – And Through Accessibility’ Sinéad Burke I live in a world that is not designed for me. As a physically Disabled person, much of my agency and independence is limited by the design of places, spaces and products. This is most obvious when I approach an automatic door and it doesn’t open because the sensor is set to a specific height. Or, when I try to order a coffee and the counter is so high that the barista can’t see me and continues to shout, ‘Next, please!’ Neither are accessible to me, but maybe one is to ensure the safety of children and the other is to allow baristas to stand to make coffee. Nevertheless, both serve as a reminder that places, spaces and products are often created in the likeness and experience of the designer, meaning they make assumptions over who uses their product, who lives in our world, and who gets to work as a barista. The ‘mismatch’ between me and my environment isn’t unique. Think about a pair of scissors that is only usable for those who are right-handed, or that the standard office temperature was developed around an average man’s metabolic resting rate. It was 2019 by the time ballet pointe shoes first colour-matched Black and mixed-race skin tones. In the midst of a pandemic, antigen or lateral flow tests are inaccessible to those who are Blind, and face masks remain a barrier to the Deaf community. A way to change all that? Let’s build a world that includes everyone, by design – and through accessibility. I define accessibility as a continuous and evolving practice that is achieved through intentional, meaningful and intersectional participation of people with a lived experience of exclusion. I believe that if we design a more accessible world, we build a more equitable one too. Accessible solutions don’t merely give agency to Disabled people, but vastly improve all our lives. For example, did you know that text messaging was originally designed for the Deaf community? The first text message was sent in 1992 and created by Matti Makkonen as an accessible method for Deaf people to communicate with each other and the non-Disabled community. Today, text messaging is the world’s most-used data service with 22 billion texts sent per day. (This data doesn’t even include the messaging capabilities of Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok.) I believe that innovation lives in the bedrock of unreached communities, but where to begin? Here’s my blueprint: Disability is not a dirty word Say the word Disabled and avoid euphemisms. Support Disabled artists and activists, such as: Christine Sun Kim, Rosie Jones, Chella Man, Éabha Wall and Dr Rosaleen McDonagh We don’t know what we don’t know At school, at home, in the cinema, on a Zoom call or at work, always ask yourself ‘is this accessible?’Sinéad Burke is a writer, academic and disability activist based in Dublin. @tiltingthelens Juliette Abitbol, Edouard Sanville The Parisian Homewares Brand Bringing Joy To The Mundane Ellie Pithers Feeling flummoxed by the vogue for tablescaping? Don’t overthink it. Instead, invest in a few candy-coloured, hand-blown glass candlesticks and, say, a quartet of napkins embroidered with radishes, courtesy of La Romaine Editions. The digital homewares platform was founded by Parisienne Pauline Vincent, a womenswear-turned-homewares buyer for the French department store Galeries Lafayette, in 2021. Struck by the realisation that “putting energy into the mundane daily things makes life more joyful” during the confinement (as the French term lockdown), she used her maternity leave to build a business. ‘Expressive’ is the watchword for the pieces stocked on her e-shop and which arrive in themed drops. First came flowers, and the bestselling daisy-shaped candlesticks from Paris-based artist Samantha Kerdine. Next, all things red, including a morello-cherry-hued vase by designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen, a school friend of Vincent’s now based in New York. For spring 2022, the theme is la moisson, or the harvest, for which Vincent has cooked up designs featuring an ear of wheat. “It’s going to be quite eclectic,” she enthuses. For now, she’s dealing with a rush on novelty vegetable-shaped knife rests, which debuted at a dinner she held at buzzy Paris restaurant Mokonuts. “I sold 50 boxes in one day!” Ellie Pithers is a freelance writer and British Vogue contributing editor based in Paris Inga Beckmann / @whiskey_Inga ‘It’s Feminism Combined With Athleticism And Punk’ – Meet Hong Kong’s Inclusive Roller Derby Crew Marianna Cerini Drew Barrymore’s 2009 film Whip It, about a girl who trades her small-town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller derby, is a millennial cult hit. The origins of the sport date back to 1930s Chicago. More recently, it has become one of Asia’s fastest-growing subcultures. And just like the movie, the cast of Hong Kong Roller Derby, the city’s first and only group practising the sport, is female led. Part endurance race, part wrestling match and all on roller skates, when it first appeared this full-contact game allowed men and women to compete on equal grounds at a time when such a concept was unheard of. With Hong Kong Roller Derby, that egalitarian message has evolved into an unapologetically feminist one. Created in 2013 with just five members, the crew now boasts 30 skaters – from creative types to young entrepreneurs – competing in tournaments across the world. “Roller derby is like feminism combined with athleticism and a little bit of punk,” says Snooky Wong, a founding member who’s been leading the team for several years. “It’s a way to feel strong and be part of a community of seriously cool people.” What it’s not, explains Wong, is exclusionary. “We’re an inclusive bunch, and are always open to growing our crew.” So much so that she and a teammate have opened the multi-floor skate emporium Madame Quad, where everyone is invited. (You can also find Wong and Co in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park every Tuesday night.) “Roller derby might look intimidating, but the ethos behind it isn’t,” says Wong. “It’s the most welcoming sport I’ve ever done.” It is also not what is traditionally expected of Asian women. “In Asia, there’s this assumption that women should avoid physical games, or else they might get bruised or bloody and inherently unattractive,” Wong says. “Roller derby is very ‘unladylike’. But that’s what draws a lot of us to it. It defies expectations.” Marianna Cerini is a Milan-based journalist who lived in Asia for over a decade. Her work has appeared in Vogue Italia, Condé Nast Traveler and CNN Style
February 12, 20223 yr Author First podcast out now :cheer: Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vzFLx71j6...ource=copy-link
February 13, 20223 yr Author Issue 002: Dua Lipa reads book at dinner table, where she is eating a taco In Praise Of Being Alone This month, I went out on a date – the first I’d been on this year. It was my New Year’s resolution to go on this exact date, not because of the company I’d be keeping, but in fact, the lack thereof. I was quite nervous at the idea of going alone, so I brought a book from my nightstand, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (check out my other book recommendations below), and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all felt. I ate at an amazing restaurant in New York called Cosme – don’t miss the duck carnitas or the cornhusk meringue. At the risk of sounding all ‘eat pray love’ about it, not for a second did I feel alone. Instead, I delighted in how much I enjoyed spending time with myself. I felt – in the words of Arwa Mahdawi, one of this issue’s writers – powerful. The Vanishing Half by Brit BennettShuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart To Paradise by Hanya YanagiharaAnimal by Lisa TaddeoPachinko by Min Jin LeeDua x Jason deCaires Taylor Why Jason deCaires Taylor May Be The Greatest Sculptor You’ve Never Heard Of Maria Padget You won’t see his art inside a gallery. In fact, unless you grab your snorkel and fins you won’t see Jason deCaires Taylor’s sculptures at all. All his best work is very much out of sight – because it’s under the sea. And that’s kind of the point. After studying at Camberwell College of Arts in London, deCaires Taylor spent time designing theatre sets and teaching scuba diving. In 2006, he took a giant leap of faith, sinking his life’s savings into creating the world’s first public underwater sculpture park in Grenada. Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park is now one of National Geographic’s 25 Wonders of the World and deCaires Taylor is credited as one of the world’s foremost artists integrating contemporary art with marine conservation. Take The Raft of Lampedusa, on the seabed off Lanzarote. It depicts 13 refugees on a raft, drifting into an uncertain future where the sea itself – as recent tragedies in the English Channel and Mediterranean attest – is a mortal threat. But the sea also needs protecting – from us. deCaires Taylor calls his underwater art attractions ‘museums’: “Every day we dredge, pollute and overfish our oceans, while museums are places of preservation, of conservation and of education.” That’s the message behind The Coral Greenhouse in the Great Barrier Reef, formed of figurative statues designed to be colonised by clusters of coral growth. In an area where destruction of coral reefs is rampant and climate change threatens their very existence, this artwork will become a vibrant botanical garden and its human forms an evolving marine hybrid; part-human, part-plant, part-coral. There is also an element of a politically charged rebellion and wit in deCaires Taylor’s work, a nod perhaps to his origins as a street artist. Take The Bankers off the coast of Cancun, where: “Each sculpture is in a prayer position to show that monetary items have replaced his god.” The subsea bankers have cavities between their buttocks in which crustaceans and eels can make their homes. An eel living in a banker’s bottom? Now that sounds like art. 5 of the best places to see Jason deCaires Taylor’s work Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA); Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park; Molinere Beauséjour Marine Protected Area, Grenada Museo Atlántico; Las Coloradas, Lanzarote Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa (MUSAN); Ayia Napa, Cyprus Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA); Townsville, Australia Maria Padget is a British writer and social justice campaigner, who has worked with organisations including Oxfam, Skoll Foundation and Soneva Namoona Getty Images How A Systemic Lack Of Legislation Is Failing To Protect Russian Women And Girls From Domestic Violence Maria Koltsova Activists and human rights advocates have been campaigning for a law against domestic violence in Russia for years. However, the situation remains one of the worst in Europe. In the past decade, it’s estimated that 65% of all women killed in Russia died at the hands of a partner or a relative. And more than 80% of women convicted of murder in Russian prisons had been defending themselves in situations of domestic violence. Since the 1990s, a number of laws have been drafted. The last such bill, drawn up in 2019, was never considered by the State Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament. Prior to 2017, the Russian Criminal Code included an article on domestic assault, but it was then amended, recategorising first-time assaults as ‘administrative offences’. According to the latest independent survey, 75% of Russians are in favour of legislation. Opponents however, including senior public officials and representatives of the Orthodox Church, argue that such a law would permit interference in family life which is “incompatible with the institution of the family and with traditional family, moral and spiritual values”. Organisations providing practical and psychological support for women in Russia are also thin on the ground. There are 14 based in Moscow and 25 in St. Petersburg, however most are private or religious organisations with insecure funding. In some regions, there are none. In mid-December 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considered a number of high-profile domestic violence cases against Russia. It issued a pilot judgement highlighting systemic problems in Russian domestic legislation and ordered the authorities to take urgent steps to rectify the situation. One of these was the shocking case of Margarita Gracheva, whose husband chopped off her hands. The police officer she had approached shortly before the crime took place had ignored her complaint. As Margarita Gracheva’s lawyer, Valentina Frolova explains, the fact that the ECHR has passed this judgement does not necessarily mean change will follow. Russia, she explains, is the only remaining country in the Council of Europe with no law against domestic violence and one of the few not to have ratified the Istanbul Convention on combating domestic violence. “A decision by an international body cannot of itself rectify the situation,” continues Frolova. “It is the Russian government that must take the necessary steps because while the ECHR specifically refers to actions which must be taken to protect victims, this (complex) problem will not be solved overnight. For example, Moldova and Italy have passed the relevant legislation, but complaints against them continue to be filed with the ECHR, and there are also problems with protecting victims from domestic violence in those countries. System-level work takes time and effort. You need to train the employees of government agencies, the police, the courts and social services.” For several years, Russian activists have been running campaigns to draw attention to the problem. In 2019, a flash mob ran on social media under the hashtag #янехотелаумирать – ‘I didn’t want to die.’ People used it to relate stories of women who had died from or been victims of domestic violence. The Khachaturyan sisters, who killed their father, whom they alleged had abused them over a period of several years, received fairly widespread public support. Their defence lawyers say that the killing was necessary self-defence, and that the existence of a system for the protection of victims of domestic violence would have prevented the tragedy. Most recently, in October 2021, the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko declared that a draft law on domestic violence would be put before the State Duma in the autumn session of 2021. However, this never happened, and the fight continues to put in place meaningful legal protections for women and girls in Russia. Maria Koltsova is a Russian journalist based in Moscow who specialises in human rights 1: Lune, Agnidhra Ray; 2: Olio, Tenzin Lhagyal; 3: Misho; 4: Outhouse, Taras Taraporvala; 5: Bhavya Ramesh 5 Indian Jewellery Brands Everyone Should Have On Their Radar Praachi Raniwala For a long time, Indian jewellery has been synonymous with high-octane ostentation – a Maharaja hangover, if you may. However, a growing coterie of creatives are using their roots and culture of craftsmanship to create thoroughly modern pieces to elevate a global wardrobe, be it in Mumbai or Milan. Here are a just a few of the brands you’ll want to pay attention to… Misho Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Rihanna and Naomi Osaka are all patrons of this brand. Founder Suhani Parekh views jewellery through the lens of wearable art, so that every design – be it her cult AirPod jackets, XL hoops or zodiac pendants – is treated like a sculpture. Outhouse In the market for avant-garde jewels with a playful twist? Sisters Kaabia and Sasha Grewal have you covered. Whether bold florals, gilded scene-stealers or layering-friendly pendants, every piece is an interplay of edge and elegance.Lune This female-run indie brand, born on the shores of Goa, takes its cues from the moods (and phases) of the moon. Our favourites? The hoops and stackable bangles from its Crater Collection, which are handmade with molten gold. Olio Steeped in nostalgia, these artistic pieces borrow from South Asian history and ancient amulets to create modern heirlooms. Cue chokers featuring coins from different eras and rings with Urdu engravings. Bhavya Ramesh This self-taught jewellery designer channels her inner bohemian and pours her love for culture and colour into her maximalist, gender-fluid designs. This more-is-more aesthetic seen on bejewelled eyewear, nail rings and hair jewels are a nod to India’s Banjara (nomadic) community.Praachi Raniwala is a Mumbai-based journalist whose work has appeared in the Financial Times, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveller and Vogue India Michelle Thompson Why We Need To Lose The Word ‘Empowerment’ – And Focus On Power Instead Arwa Mahdawi Ladies, are you feeling empowered? I certainly hope so, because over the past decade multinational companies have been working night and day to find new ways to empower women. Deodorant brands run campaigns empowering women to feel good in their own skin. Victoria’s Secret pledged to become “the world’s leading advocate for women”. The fancy new Hotel Zena launched in Washington DC, dedicated to female empowerment and featuring art made of tampons and a $16 cocktail called the Empowermint. In recent years Corporate Feminism and self-help culture have turned empowerment into a marketing tactic. Buy this shampoo, it’ll empower you! Buy this car, it’ll empower you! Buy this $75 scented candle, it’ll empower you! Empowerment has become an annoying buzzword, but, more importantly, empowerment culture has become an insidious way of reinforcing existing power structures. The modern Empowered Woman™ doesn’t question capitalism; she buys herself expensive things as a form of self-care. She isn’t concerned about structural inequality: as long as she can find a way into the C-Suite, she’s happy with the status quo. Empowerment culture seeks to change the individual rather than the system. Think about all the advice women have been given about leadership in recent years. If you want to get ahead, we’ve been told, you need to lean in. You need to speak up. You need to stop saying sorry. If you mould yourself to fit a system created by men, if you act like a man, then you might be given a seat at the table. That’s the thing about the word empowerment, you see, it means someone giving you power or enabling you; it suggests that you are somehow incapable of helping yourself. Instead of working to advance feminism, empowerment culture has held it back. It has focused on individual achievements rather than structural equality. It’s time to change that: to stop talking about empowerment and focus on power instead. I recently interviewed Amina Mohammed, the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations. “The condescending nature with which we are welcomed into that arena of leadership is a narrative we have to change,” she told me. “There’s still this sort of idea that [power is] something that is graciously bestowed upon us. But you know what? Power is never given, it’s taken.” So what makes me hopeful? Instead of leaning into toxic power structures, a new generation of female leaders are leaning out – they’re determined to lead on their own terms. “We never need to ask for permission or wait for an invitation to lead,” said Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, when she was asked what she would say to women of colour who are frustrated by comments that seek to minimise their impact. “There’s a constant struggle with people who have power about sharing that power,” she said. “We are not really in the business of asking for the share of that power; we’re in the business of trying to grab that power and return it to the people.” That desire to share power rather than to empower yourself? That’s what real feminism looks like. Arwa Mahdawi is a New York-based Guardian columnist and the author of Strong Female Lead: Lessons From Women In Power
February 19, 20223 yr Author Episode 2 of the At Your Service podcast is out now! Listen here besties: https://linktr.ee/service95 It was picked as the podcast of the week by The Guardian :cheer: @1494708663604465664
February 21, 20223 yr Author @1495483542964424709 :cheer: :clap: Edited February 21, 20223 yr by k👠th
February 23, 20223 yr Author The podcast has reached new peaks globally on Spotify's podcast charts! :clap: All Genres Top Spotify Podcasts Update (22/02): 32. Ireland (+13) *NP* 33. UK (+7) *NP* 35. Argentina (+48) *NP* 50. Mexico (+89) *NP* 67. Canada (+17) *NP* 79. Colombia (RE) *NP* 79. US (+18) *NP* 92. AU (+70) *NP* 126. Austria (+29) *NP* 137. Finland (+21) *NP*
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