An intangible place called home
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
1y ago
Leili Walker’s first solo show is as much an exercise in solidifying identity as it is uncovering the elusive rewards of being neither here nor there. Born to an Iranian mother and Australian father, their experience of belonging is spread between the lascivious club-lined streets of Sydney’s red-light district and their ancestral homeland of Iran. The stark dichotomy—of neon arabesques—goes beyond geography; it is embodied, absorbed corporeally, psychologically, existentially. Each painting, then, is a bricolage of ephemera, people, stories, and talismans, recalled from a life lived between p ..read more
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An intangible place called home
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
1y ago
Leili Walker’s first solo show is as much an exercise in solidifying identity as it is uncovering the elusive rewards of being neither here nor there. Born to an Iranian mother and Australian father, their experience of belonging is spread between the lascivious club-lined streets of Sydney’s red-light district and their ancestral homeland of Iran. The stark dichotomy—of neon arabesques—goes beyond geography; it is embodied, absorbed corporeally, psychologically, existentially. Each painting, then, is a bricolage of ephemera, people, stories, and talismans, recalled from a life lived between p ..read more
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Born criminal: How crime reunited John Richard Birkby with his biological family
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
1y ago
The 19th century social scientist and founder of criminology Cesare Lombroso posited that criminality was biologically inherited. He believed latent criminals could be identified by specific physiognomical traits such as protruding ears, sloping foreheads, or excessively long arms—primatial characteristics. Theories of socialisation would come to challenge Lombroso’s view. Here, crime is understood as a response to one’s social environment—their upbringing and milieu. The distinction between these theories forms the basis for ‘nature versus nurture’. So, what happens when the baby of a career ..read more
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The untold story behind the "father of contemporary body modification" is one of racial exploitation
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
“I grew up tempting my primitive lust by reading good old National Geographic.” —Fakir Musafar (in Modern Primitives) Body modification is more visible and ubiquitous than ever before. Branding, cutting, scarification, subcutaneous implants, earlobe, nostril, lip and labret stretching, hook suspension, corseting, tongue splitting, navel removal, pixie ears, whiskers, genital and digital nullification—all these processes intrude on and manipulate the body, redefining cultural boundaries of beauty, identity, and what it is to be human. Many have traced the Western inception of this phenomenon ..read more
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“To a lot of people my very existence is a provocation”—meet Parma Ham: artist, agitator, and curator of London’s Wraith night
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
For London based artist, Parma Ham, pushing boundaries has become their raison d’être. While the old guards of Western culture buttress themselves with a heightened conservatism, the agender agitator has produced a unique artistic vision to challenge staid normative notions of gender, identity, and the body. In the spirit of Punk Rock DIY, they create their own culture for their own kind of human. Ham came to the attention of the world back in 2014 for their extreme hair style and has since been a mouthpiece for goth culture, gender non-conformity, and sexuality. As curator and creator of the ..read more
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Entangled and disembodied: a neuroqueer exploration of posthumanism and tattoo
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
(First published in Archer Magazine, 12/10/19) The clenched buzzing of machines, music, innumerable knickknacks and bric-a-bracs, embellished walls, the aroma of disinfectant and glare of LED mag lamps—entering a tattoo studio can assault the senses. It’s the kind of sensory barrage neuroqueer artist, activist, and academic, Alison Bennett, habitually guards against.  “A lot of neuroqueer people find it difficult to be in noisy spaces. I have to wear noise cancelling headphones and sunglasses just to get to and from my office, otherwise I unravel,” they tell me. Despite the sensory barrag ..read more
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A day in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
Entry to Dzaleka refugee camp, Malawi. Last year I had the indelible experience of visiting Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi. Dzaleka was established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1994. The camp is home to forcibly displaced people fleeing genocide, violence and wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The camp’s population has since risen exponentially to 37,000. Despite being a poor nation—more than half of Malawians live on less than one US Dollar per day—Malawi currently hosts close to 50,000 refugees. Dzaleka is loc ..read more
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Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks thoughtfully captures the endurance of tattoo and tradition
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
(Abridged version published in The Conversation 03/07/2019) Visitors looking at photographs in Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World. Credit: Ben Healley. The Immigration Museum’s new group of exhibits offer visitors a chance to engage with tattoo on a level deeper than skin. Here, stories of culture, tradition and migration speak through embedded ink. Without personally experiencing a tattoo, it may be hard to understand why somebody would undergo the painful procedure. For example, Joseph Banks, the 18th century naturalist on board Cook’s first voyages, was quite taken a ..read more
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Tools for torture: meet the dominatrix using tattoo and body modification experts as instruments for pain
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
(Abridged version published in VICE 12/06/2019) I have been covering the pioneers of hardcore tattoo, body modification, and BDSM for several years now. I’ve had my balls inflated, introduced the brutal black project to people outside of the blackwork community, and was warmly welcomed to observe one of the most extreme and intimate pain rituals. Although at times these spheres of pain may overlap, they have always maintained their distinctiveness. Until now. Feris Tergo, a project in three acts, exist to show the art of what is possible beyond the limits of pain. By bringing together some of ..read more
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On why I think the media should stop asking if tattoos have become too mainstream or uncool
The 4th wall
by Fareed Kaviani
3y ago
Last week I was interviewed live on ABC radio for a segment on tattoo. I am not a tattooist—I am a sociologist that has experienced over 150 hours of tattooing and has been writing on tattoo and body modification for over six years for publications such as Vice, Dazed, Inked, Skin Deep, and Things & Ink. Credentials aside, it was my first radio interview, and my blood was flowing with too much caffeine and the all-encompassing fear of saying something irrevocably stupid. The bit was a follow-up to Adam Gabbatt’s piece published days before in The Guardian entitled, At arm’s length: are tat ..read more
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