Prioritize/Awkward jeans

By Neslihan

You'd think that now that I actually have the time, I'd blog my brains out but I actually did not. It's not that I didn't feel inspired the past month but let's say I couldn't prioritize. It felt as if every topic was as important as the other and I didn't know where to start. Let's say I felt a bit overwhelmed because of the freedom. I couldn't decide whether I should continue watching my series, catch up with friends, be melancholic or blog. But I've done quite a lot of other things lately. I visited 3 museums and vacation has just started.
First I went to see the '50 Years of Migration' exhibition in Antwerp's City Museum. It tells the story of the first Turkish/Moroccan/Italian/Jewish guest workers and how they changed the streetscape with their little cosy restaurants and picturesque shops. And since I'm Turkish myself, I loved it. I felt as if it was a lost part of my personal history. I must say though that the exhibition in Ghent at the MIAT was bigger and much more thorough. So, the amount of objects was kind of a let down but we (my boyfriend and I) visited the permanent exhibition on religion, power display and the death, which was amazing too.
The second museum I payed a visit to was Ghent's City Museum. I visited the permanent exhibition, which was unexpectedly cool. There were like a bunch of objects that they had found in Ghent and its surroundings. Amongst the things that were found, there were those really old books with the city's privileges and they were so old that if you'd pick them up, they'll fall into pieces. Isn't that impressive? You're literally standing before something that has been there for atleast 5 centuries. I like me some history, what can I say?
 The last exhibition I saw was one on Feminism X Art at BOZAR (Woman. The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970's.) I thought this exhibition was going to be about a bunch of women opposing the artscene of 1970 that was mostly dominated by men, something like the Guerilla Girls did in the 80's but it was a lot more artsy and in your face but in a different way. It was about artists claiming their place and making feminine nudity more than sexy and biological. I'm still bummed that I didn't take a notebook and pen with me to write the names of the works that thrilled me since there was a bunch but there is one artist I vividly remember: Eleanor Antin (what a beautiful name). She had this video in which she made up her face and it literally  takes half an hour before she concludes that what she's doing is what society is asking her to do. She symbolically liberates herself by taking off her bra -which is a HUGE feminist cliché- but to me it was very significant. It really impressed me to see how dedicated she put on all the make up and looked at her face in a satisfied way, yet wasn't satisfied because this maybe wasn't what she wanted.

Watch another video on the same topic by 'Girls' star Jemima Kirke:

A W K W A R D   J E A N S

Meet my newest obsession: the mom jeans! I call them awkward since they really feel awkward looking at it. They're tight around the ass, awkwardly high-waisted (that crotch yo), loose around the lower legs and comfier than your regular jogging pants. I like mine in a slightly lighter denim colour like the first lady on the left but don't combine them in an 80's way. Vintage is good but you have to temper if you don't wanna look like a 80's housewive/soccer mom. You wanna have that casual Lady Di vibe but you don't wanna actually be her. See? Big difference. I combine mine with white shirts, quirky tees, crop tops, bodycon sleeved tees etc. I wear 'em with sneakers, clogs and sandals. It's just such a varsatile piece, so it's a really great investment. I bought mine at Bershka but they have 'em in American Apparel and Topshop as well. Make sure you check out their webshop. Forever 21 might surprize you too.

Here, a couple outfits that might inspire you to buy your very own pair of awkward jeans:

Lady Di spokesperson of the mom jeans

Miley, the grunge kid

Anna Hathaway channeling her inner biker chick on a lazy Sunday

Matching basics at Topshop

Grand art versus kitsch bitch

By Neslihan

"So two days ago I went to the opera" might be an unusual beginning to a blog post but it is the truth though. It wasn't on my own initiative, it was an -and I quote- "educational, obligatory and relevant activity" according to my Latin teacher. So, here's where we pause. The opera. Maybe we should take one thing into account: you're talking to pop culture teenagers, who watch superficial American teenage drama series in order to escape reality. And not some 18th century opera composed by a random, dusty-wigged German composer. Yes, I'm talking about Händel and his 'Agrippina'. And yes, I'm ignorant, a total layman when it comes to opera or classical music. The idea of sitting in this huge opera hall for FOUR hours just didn't sound that appealing (at first). Hey, take it down a notch, this is our first opera.
 Older generations (grandma/granddad/mother/father/teacher/neighbour) like to make us believe we are the result of the volatile consumer society in which durability and norms have been replaced by tendentious pleasure. Isn't that a little too negative and black and white? And isn't it normal that older generations nag about the generation following them. How will my generation be over twenty years? 
So I decided to give this opera thingy a chance because what is there to lose, right? And it seemed like opera is all about repetitive great gestures. And as I looked at Agrippina (Ann Hallenberg) and heard her impressive voice, I started to wonder: are we used to great gestures like these? Can we handle this much emotion, ambition and passion? Are we able to sit on a chair and focus on only one thing? And although it's dangerous to talk for a mass, I'm going to do it anyway. No, I don't think we are able to do so. In a world in which everything changes too fast, it is important to know a little of everything. So you know everything but only fragments of it. Specialization takes effort and effort takes time. And time still is money, often money we don't have.
So Agrippina, your ambition scared us all after a heavy day of school. We were tired and sceptical, you gave your all and were fierce in your tacky Dynasty costume because that's also something the world of Grand Arts is suffering from: modernizing classics. I never understood why they do such horrible things. Well no, of course I do understand; they want to make it more 21st century, more temporary, more 'us'. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but either way it awakens a hell of reactions and that's when you know it's good, whether it works or not. So those tacky kitschy 80's costumes and huge hats were the right choice. And even those artificial tacky holiday backgrounds were well-found, eventhough I hated them, I must say, well done. What a wonderful clash between a classic and major tackiness.
Another succesful temporary interpretation of classics are Kehinde Wiley's modern paintings. The Afro-American artist paints African, African-American, Afro-Brazilian, Indian and Ethiopian-Jewish (Beta Israel) men in heroic poses. He mixes baroque prints with divine florals and all his paintings seem to have this intense vibe. See for yourself and maybe take a moment and ask yourself: "What if Napoleon was African?"

'Prince Tommaso

Francesco of Savoy-Carignano', 2006