AnOther Magazine

Epic. Elevated in style, heroic in deed. If these times feel, even as we live them, historic — for better or worse — we need epic heroes more than ever, to push our boundaries, test our limits, show us the wav. Epic poetry, epic novels, Hollywood epics — fashion, too, has its epic moments. What the idea of epic denotes, in these works, is a definition of social values, a shaping of identities and of the era in which they were created. Epic means something grand, that has an impact, that lasts. This issue of AnOther Magazine is dedicated to that notion, and to the cultural behemoths that need little explanation — they are larger than life, bigger than the sum of their parts though always truthful in their expression…

276-293 Nadine Ijewere photographs Cynthia Erivo Who are your heroes? My family and friends. They are the ones who show up, stay loyal and make life brighter with their presence. What makes a hero? Someone who stands out by doing the right thing, even when it's tough. For me a hero can be anyone if their heart is in the right place — not just the comic book kind. What did you find most extraordinary about Cynthia Erivo? The character she becomes in front of the camera is something else. She's petite but there's so much boldness and strength in the way she carries herself. The transformation is incredible — she's so in tune with her body, moving with this sharp awareness that gives every pose shape and grace. It's…

“In 2013 I was the artist in residence at the National Gallery in London and I spent the first year going around it nearly every day. It's an amazing collection, with lots of paintings of heroic deeds, historical and mythological depictions. I was struck by this small painting, A Wall in Naples [C1782] by the Welsh landscape painter Thomas Jones. It felt so ordinary, but in the context of the museum it became extraordinary. The painting is of a wall, with the plaster peeling off and a window with washing hanging outside. I feel the work relates to a lot of mine — it's about looking twice at something we think we know but we don't pay much attention to. Like with Jones's painting, I am interested in what society…

“Christmas in Guyana wasn't complete without a masquerade band. You would hear it coming in the distance — the high-pitched sound of a fife and a small snare drum. The band would move through the local area, going to places they knew they'd be welcome and could make some money. It's a very powerful childhood memory. There were several characters. Mother Sally was a white-faced stilt dancer in a big dress and tall people would have to move telephone cables out of the way so she could come down the driveway. The Bull Cow was really disturbing, a character in a very crude costume with sharp horns. It would charge at all the kids, which was scary but exciting as well. This was a basic, simple thing, but it was…

Wim Wenders's depiction of Cold War-era Berlin in Wings of Desire [1987], seen through the eyes of two angels roaming the skies above the city, is extraordinary. It's partly a shattered wasteland but also the same vibrant, stimulating city I've fallen in love with — a place full of surprising encounters and boundless energy. “The film's two angels, Damiel and Cassiel — melancholy figures dressed in long overcoats with giant wings — are able to silently observe and comfort the city's inhabitants without being seen. Riding the U-Bahn beside them, peering into their windows or roving among the lamps and bookshelves of the Berlin State Library, they listen to the inner monologues, thoughts and dreams of these people, witnessing the everyday struggles and messy beauty of human life. During his…

“I discovered A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies through my research into the Caribbean — specifically Dominica, the tiny, mountainous island my family comes from. Bartolome de las Casas, a bishop, wrote this account of the atrocities happening in the region in the mid-i6th century to send to Spain — he thought if the Spanish royal family knew, they would put an end to it. They didn't. When I read his book I couldn't stop thinking about the injustice. But I also had to come to terms with the fact that my own family, having African heritage, wasn't actually from Dominica. The first European settlers displaced or killed the native population and replaced them with an African workforce to work on plantations. My ancestral claim to this…