On Bags

Susannah Clapp | London Review Of Books | 15th May 2021 | BMP 1/m

Masterful review of an exhibition of bags. The artefacts under consideration are varied: designer clutches, a WW2 gas mask container, a 17C purse shaped like a jumping frog. The history of fashion is contained within — "women have bags because they no longer have pockets" — and the gendered implications are ably unpacked. "What is the male equivalent to ‘old bag’?" (1,746 words)

The World’s Greatest Soccer Team

Carey Baraka | Guernica | 17th May 2021 | U

Nostalgic recollection of the Supa Strikas comics, published in different editions across Africa in the 2000s. Based on the 1950s British strip "Roy of the Rovers", it built a sporting mythology for its young fans with tales of football heroism tailored to their country. "Did Tanzanians, like us poor Kenyans, also imagine that their country was now an African football powerhouse?" (2,377 words)