Val Zelaschi

Journalism graduate looking for entry-level opportunities in London

My digital portfolio

DIVA Magazine

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Cat Burns releases new remix of Free in collaboration with soultec duo Shermanology

The 22-year-old queer singer-songwriter is ready to shake dancefloors with an energetic new track

Pride does not end today – repeat it with me. And check out Cat Burns’ and Shermanology’s remix of Cat’s very own queer anthem, Free. A song close to her heart, Free is about finding the courage to come out, the pain of having to live a lie and the relief of embracing one’s true self.

The remix is the work of Curaçao-born and Netherlands-based duo Shermanology, featuring siblings Andy and Dorothy
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Everything you need to know about Pride In London

This year’s theme is #AllOurPride, an invitation to come together and celebrate our “collective past, present and future”

BY BY VAL ZELASCHI, IMAGE BY RODNAE PRODUCTIONS VIA PEXELS

The UK’s biggest Pride event, Pride In London, is back this weekend after being cancelled for two years in a row. It will mark the 50th anniversary of the first UK pride rally.

In addition to the iconic parade on Saturday (2 July) this weekend will be packed with fringe queer events across the city and parties for
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SCREEN: Don’t Say Gay explores the history and legacy of Section 28

The Kickstarter Crowdfunding campaign will run until 26 July

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched by Hopscotch Films and KOH Pro to fund the production of groundbreaking documentary Don’t Say Gay.

The documentary, directed by Sarah Drummond, will be the first one in its genre to talk about Section 28 and its impact on a generation of LGBTQI people. Introduced in 1988 under the Thatcher’s government, the clause banned “the promotion of homosexuality by teaching or publishing material”.

“T
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Harley Quinn season 3 will be “fun, raunchy and a little scary”

We are very excited for Harlivy’s Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour

Harlivy are back this July for the third season of animated series Harley Quinn. After two years since the release of the season two finale, which saw Harley and Ivy driving off into the sunset and confessing their love for each other, fans are excited for a new chapter of this supervillain romance.

Harley Quinn is based on the DC comics character of the same name. It follows the story of Harley after her breakup with the Joker attempting
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Jacquie Lawrence has been awarded the Iris Prize Fellowship

Guests including Linda Riley, Mark Harriott and Ross Kemp congratulated Jacquie on her work in increasing onscreen lesbian visibility

Established in 2007, the Iris Prize wants to honour those in the film industry who contribute to better the representation of LGBTQI people and shining a light on their stories. The brilliant Jacquie Lawrence has been awarded the Iris Prize Fellowship. During the awards ceremony at The Ministry Venues in London, the writer, producer, director and editor was prais
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Barberette marks 10 year anniversary by celebrating their clients

To commemorate this milestone, the gender-neutral barbershop developed a photo series that explores journeys of self-discovery through hair

BY VAL ZELASCHI, PHOTOGRAPHS BY RACHEL HARDWICK (@RACHELHARDWICKPHOTOGRAPHY), HAIR BY LAUREN THWAITES (@WIZARDOFHAIR), MAKEUP & BODY PAINT BY PIXIE LAWRIE (@PIXIELAWRIE)

One of the UK’s longest running gender-neutral barbershops is turning 10 this year. To mark the anniversary, Barberette decided to celebrate their non-binary and gender-nonconforming clien
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Adele Roberts has been given all-clear after treatment for bowel cancer

The BBC Radio 1 DJ shared the good news and reflected on her journey

Adele Roberts has revealed on Instagram that she is cancer free. The 43-year-old BBC Radio 1 DJ was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October last year. Adele Roberts received DIVA’s Choice Award earlier this year for her role in furthering LGBTQI visibility in broadcasting and her openness about her cancer journey.

After undergoing surgery and months of chemotherapy, Roberts said this is “The day I’ve been waiting for.”

In her
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Six exhibitions to visit this Pride month

Art lovers, are you ready to celebrate some amazing LGBTQI creatives?

BY VAL ZELASCHI, IMAGE BY ZACH ROWLANDSON VIA UNSPLASH

Honouring our queercestors and celebrating LGBTQI culture are a huge part of Pride. After two years of closures and digital shows, this Pride month, we can finally return to visit exhibitions celebrating our community in person. We can also take the opportunity to support emerging LGBTQI artists.

Here are six queer exhibitions to visit in London right now

We Get To Cho
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American soccer star and queer icon Megan Rapinoe says she is “100% supportive of trans inclusion” in sports

The athlete has also spoken out condemning the US government’s “monstrous” attack on trans youth

Throughout her career, Rapinoe has been an outspoken advocate of LGBTQI rights. In an interview with TIME she said that “we need to start from inclusion”. “For a long time, I was the only player that was out,” she says, as she explains how she feels it is important to “set the right example” and “stay educated”.

The 36-year-old US National team captain, who was recently added to TIME’s most influen

The Guardian

the Guardian •

Experience: I collect other people’s old shopping lists

I started collecting lists around 1997. It was just by chance. I was shopping for my then girlfriend, now wife’s birthday party in St Louis, Missouri, where we live, and I remember leaving the store and coming across a yellow sticky note in the parking lot. I picked it up and it was somebody’s shopping list. I thought, “That’s interesting … Whenever I see them at the store, I am just gonna keep them.”

People collect all sorts of things you would never expect. It’s as if all these separate, unim

Warm Belly Magazine

Warm Belly •

EKO brewery: Meet the couple brewing with traditional African ingredients

Craft beer is about culture and traditions, stories and connection. In a world of mass-produced lagers and multinational corporations, craft brewers build brands around their personality and experiment with flavours that speak to their identity. They create communities to share their story with.

For Anthony and Helena Adedipe, the founders of EKO, a microbrewery in South East London, the story is one of migration and diaspora. Brewing is a way to reconnect with their African heritage. By bringi
Warm Belly •

Beer has always been female

Torie Fisher had just arrived at the Atlantic City Beer festival when a man yelled: “There’s no way she’s the brewer!” Not only is Fisher the brewer, she and her wife have been running Blackward Flag Brewing for almost a decade. Fisher is not the first woman to experience this – when two customers at the Traffic Jam & Snug brewpub in Detroit asked to talk to the brewer and Chelsea Piner appeared, they chuckled: “Oh no, sweetheart, we wanted to talk to the brewer!”.

The beer world has not always

Missing in London

‘I was on auto-pilot, searching for peace’: the young runaway’s story – Missing in London

Ben Westwood was about nine when he first went missing from his family home in Rugeley, Staffordshire. It was a spur-in-the-moment decision to run off with the £10 note his mum had given him to go to the chip shop. Looking back, Westwood does not remember exactly what he was running from, whether it was a bad letter from school, the bully his mum was dating, their continuous fights, the shouting, or the feeling of being a burden, but he does not blame his family for it nor their decision to put

Missing twice: How police bias makes vulnerable people who go missing invisible – Missing in London

Mihrican Mustafa, also known as Jan, was 38 when she went missing from Canning Town, London. A drug addict, alcoholic and sex worker, Jan’s life had fallen apart after losing her job at T.K. Max and becoming homeless. Her sister Mel reported her missing in April 2018, but when she first rang the police, they asked her if Jan was a drug user. “I said, ‘yes’, and I told them where she had last been seen… They didn’t take any interest in it. She was a medium priority, she was never a high priority

Eastlondonlines

Meet the trader: Barberette, the gender-neutral barbershop – Eastlondonlines

Klara Vanova, 42, set up Barberette out of her own frustration.

As a queer woman with a passion for short hair and the art of barbering, she felt she did not belong to either men’s barbershops or women’s salons.

“I didn’t have a place where I could feel who I was,” says Vanova. “I would go into a hairdressers and they would be like, ‘you already have short hair, what do you want me to cut?’ And when I went to the barbers, I would always feel uncomfortable.”

Originally from Prague, Vanova open

Comedy, amateur boxing, vintage clothes sales and much more: what to do in our areas this week – Eastlondonlines

Congratulations, you made it to the end of January! Well, almost.

Whether it is your last week of alcohol-free sparkling wine or you failed Dry January on day 2, you can still pat yourself on the back for getting through this year’s January Blues.

2022 began with Covid cases still worryingly high and many of us in self-isolation. Yet, only two weeks after experts said the UK had overcome yet another “peak of infections”, the Prime Minister announced that Covid restrictions would soon come to a

Council accused of ‘blind hostility’ as canalside art competition postponed – Eastlondonlines

A cutting edge architectural competition staged on the banks of the Regent’s Canal in Hackney has been put on hold as organisers battle with the council over an enforcement order.

Antepavilion, an arts and culture charity based in Haggerston, has accused Hackney Council of ‘blind hostility.’

“The fate of the competition is in the council’s hands,” said on Instagram last week. “So far, their stance has been blind hostility and chest-pounding.”

Established in 2017, Antepavilion aims to promote

London Fields Brewery closed and put on market by Carlsberg – Eastlondonlines

Loss-making London Fields Brewery was shut down last week by owners Carlsberg Marstons after they decided to try and sell the brand.

The Hackney-based brewery announced on December 8 that they were closing their taproom and e-commerce platform and pausing onsite brewing with immediate effect while they seek a new owner.

Located under the railway archways near London Fields, the brewery was founded during the London Riots in 2011 by ex-cocaine smuggler Julian de Vere Whiteway-Wilkinson.

In 201

New online space for LGBTQ+ young people opens in Hackney – Eastlondonlines

A fortnightly LGBTQ+ online meeting for young people has been launched by Hackney-based charity Rainbow Mind.

The Rainbow Room wants to be a safe online place for LGBTQ+ people aged 17-24 to share experiences, connect with their peers and discuss mental health issues.

Talking to ELL, Rainbow Mind’s in-house therapist and project coordinator Carlo Ricciardi said: “One thing LGBTQ+ people might need more than others is contact with a social network. That often happens in a context – a venue or a

New interactive map pinpoints places in Hackney where women feel unsafe – Eastlondonlines

A new online portal has been launched in Hackney to ask women where they feel the most unsafe in the borough.

The portal, together with a new accreditation scheme for late night venues who commit to train their staff on how to respond to sexual harassment and assault, is part of the work the council is doing to tackle gender-based violence.

In the year leading up to March 2020, 4.9 million women in the UK were sexually assaulted. 70% of women around the country report having experienced sexual

Goldsmiths staff embark on three-week strike in protest over redundancies – Eastlondonlines

Lecturers and administrative staff at Goldsmiths in Lewisham are going on a three-week strike tomorrow in protest at redundancies planned by the university.

The staff, members of the University and College Union will go on strike for 15 working days, starting tomorrow until December 13.

The strike decision was taken after 87% of Goldsmiths UCU members voted in favour of industrial action early this month.

Goldsmiths is planning to make 52 members of staff redundant by next Spring. If the plan

Night Overground to return in time for Christmas – Eastlondonlines

All-night Overground services between Highbury & Islington and New Cross will return on December 17, after being suspended since March last year.

This follows the return of night services on the Central and Victoria lines, which is expected to reopen on November 27.

The news comes as a petition to bring back the night tube in order to address women’s safety concerns reaches over 150,000 signatures.


Night Overground services also tackle Hackney residents’ concerns over cuts to bus services a

Charity seeks funding to support free meals for Hackney vulnerable – Eastlondonlines

A community cookery school and charity based in Hackney has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund their meal support service for 2022.

Made in Hackney is the UK’s first plant-based community kitchen, with a focus on health inequalities, food access and sustainability. Due to the pandemic, they suspended their cookery classes from March 2020.

As food inequality increased across the borough during the pandemic, the charity launched a community meal service providing vulnerable households with

Londra, Italia

Londra, Italia •

"La pandemia ha modificato il modo di vedere la realtà. Anche per noi giornalisti"

Questa la premessa dell’incontro che si è tenuto sulle piattaforme digitali dell’Ambasciata d’Italia a Londra (la cui registrazione si può trovare sul canale youtube dell’Ambasciata a questo indirizzo). A raccontare e raccontarsi sono giornalisti e diplomatici dall’Italia o dal Regno Unito (nella foto in alto un momento del talk). Sono coloro che la pandemia hanno provato a descriverla e che ne hanno osservati, in prima linea, gli effetti catastrofici per informare e lasciarne una testimonianza.
Londra, Italia •

Donne di Mafia: il mini-festival di CinemaItaliaUK in occasione dell'8 marzo

Domenica 7, rispettivamente alle 15 e alle 18.30 sono invece in programma Per Amor Vostro (2015, nella foto in alto) di Giuseppe Gaudino e La Terra dei Santi (2015) di Fernando Muraca. Il primo racconta la storia di Anna, una donna costretta in una vita che non le appartiene, tra le relazioni tese con i tre figli ed i soprusi del marito. Il suo riscatto inizierà con il nuovo lavoro, fuori dalle mura di casa e lontano dalle attività losche dei famigliari; qui inizierà il riscatto etico e civile d
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Shopping dall'Europa a UK: costi extra e nuove tasse

Negli ultimi anni, e soprattutto in tempi di pandemia, lo shopping online è diventato una modalità di consumo estremamente diffusa per milioni di persone, nel Regno Unito come altrove. Ma la Brexit potrebbe cambiare le regole del gioco. A denunciarlo i molti shoppers che dal 1 gennaio si sono visti addebitare onerose spese aggiuntive su acquisti effettuati presso siti europei.

I prodotti dovranno comunque essere conformi alle cosiddette “norme di origine” in grado di stabilire se, per composizi
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Brexit e pandemia, in 700mila lasciano temporaneamente Londra

Ma le cause dell’esodo – come viene chiamato nel rapporto – non sono da ricercarsi soltanto nell’attuale emergenza sanitaria, che ha generato la perdita di milioni di posti di lavoro e costretto altrettanti impiegati ad accettare riduzioni salariali, ma anche nella Brexit che ha aggiunto alle preoccupazioni di tipo economico altre incertezze di tipo burocratico, legale e previdenziale.

Londra avrebbe visto partire 700.000 residenti, tra lavoratori e studenti, e ad oggi non si sa quanti destinat
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Rembrandt, Canaletto e Tiziano: la mostra a Londra attesa da 45 anni

“Questi quadri avrebbero potuto finire in un deposito o, in alternativa, essere messi in mostra. Ed ecco l’occasione. Li abbiamo portati qui, alla Queen’s Gallery, una galleria moderna, dove la luce è perfetta. E ne abbiamo fatto un’esposizione dei capolavori della collezione regia che capita una volta sola nell’arco di una generazione,” dichiara lo storico dell’arte e curatore della mostra Desmond Shawe-Taylor.
Londra, Italia •

L'Inghilterra alle prese col 'pasto sostanzioso', che nessuno conosce. Neppure chi serve gli Scotch Eggs

I monaci trappisti in Belgio la chiamavano “pane liquido” in quanto unica fonte di sostentamento durante i periodi di digiuno, ma secondo il governo Johnson: no, la birra non costituisce un pasto sostanzioso.

Iniziamo dalle premesse. Il nuovo regolamento per il settore dell’hospitality nelle zone in tier 2 prevede che “solo i bar e pub che possono operare come ristorante potranno aprire e che questi potranno servire alcolici soltanto se accompagnati da un pasto sostanzioso. Al termine del pasto
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Sistema a punti: dal primo gennaio l'UK chiude le frontiere a chi non parla inglese

Semplice (o non esattamente)! Si tratta di una serie di requisiti in materia di lavoro, salario, formazione e competenze linguistiche che, se soddisfatti, danno diritto a 10 o 20 punti ciascuno. Ma ottenere tutti i 70 punti non è certo banale, soprattutto per i cosiddetti “lavoratori poco qualificati” o per chi la lingua non la mastica perfettamente, e la domanda che sorge spontanea è: che cosa ne sarà delle migliaia di italiani che ogni anno partono per il Regno Unito con in tasca solo qualche
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Post Brexit, a rischio i lavori "au pair". Il governo UK li vuole assoggettare al nuovo sistema a punti

Sono moltissimi i giovani italiani che ogni anno scelgono il Regno Unito come meta per lavorare come ragazzi e ragazze alla pari. Ma la Brexit potrebbe segnare la fine di una tradizione di scambi culturali che dura da generazioni.

A lanciare l’allarme è l’Associazione Britannica per le Agenzie di collocamento AuPair (BAPAA), secondo cui nonostante il governo conservatore avesse promesso, ad inizio mandato, di supportare i programmi Au Pair europei, in quanto importante risorsa sia per l’economi
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Coronavirus, quando a decidere il lockdown locale è un governo lontano centinaia di miglia

Mentre non appena Londra varca la soglia del livello 2, ecco che il cancelliere Sunak si arma per presentare delle variazioni al nuovo Jobs Support Scheme tra cui aiuti economici a business ed industrie che si trovano nelle aree più colpite. Perché queste misure non sono state applicate prima, quando il Nord si trovava nella stessa identica situazione in cui Londra si trova oggi?

Per chi a Manchester ci vive e ci lavora, le cose non sono però così semplici. Tralasciando i commenti sarcastici a
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Gestione della pandemia nelle università UK: gli studenti si dicono insoddisfatti e chiedono il rimborso delle tasse

‘£9,000 per cosa?,’ ‘Lasciateci uscire!,’ ‘La salute mentale prima di tutto. Liberateci!,’ Sono alcuni dei messaggi che si leggono sulle finestre degli studenti attualmente in lockdown forzato in due delle residenze universitarie della Manchester Metropolitan University.

La notizia arriva dopo la pubblicazione delle stime ufficiali del Ministero della Salute secondo cui una significativa percentuale dei nuovi contagi da Covid-19 arriverebbe proprio dal settore educativo ed, in particolar modo,
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Londra omaggia Artemisia Gentileschi, simbolo del barocco europeo e del femminismo odierno

Si inizia da Roma, dove Gentileschi nasce nel 1593. Primogenita del pittore Orazio Gentileschi e rimasta orfana di madre all’età di 12 anni, Artemisia cresce in una casa di soli uomini. Impara dal padre a dipingere e a disegnare ma, a differenza dei fratelli, non verrà mai istruita né avrà la possibilità di visitare le botteghe di altri artisti o di entrare in contatto con la vibrante cultura del tempo al di fuori delle mura domestiche.

La carriera dell’artista prende però una svolta intorno al
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Universal Credit: un sistema pieno di falle che non aiuta gli europei

Per un europeo che vive nel Regno Unito, la strada per ottenere l’Universal Credit è piena di ostacoli. Non basta essere registrati allo European Settlement Scheme e avere ottenuto il Settled o il pre-Settled Status. È necessario dimostrare anche di avere un differente “diritto di risiedere” che segue logiche diverse e penalizza alcune categorie di lavoratori. Una complicazione che in questi mesi sta rendendo difficile per molti italiani ottenere il sussidio dal Governo britannico. Proviamo a fa

Gariwo Magazine

Un’App per combattere il negazionismo

L’applicazione per smartphone Khmer Rouge History si propone di informare i giovani sul passato della Cambogia e mantenere vive le testimonianze dei sopravvissuti al processo di epurazione iniziato dai Khmer Rossi il 17 aprile 1975 che causò oltre 1.500.000 morti. La dolorosa storia della Cambogia ai tempi della Kampuchea Democratica e del regime dei Khmer Rossi è diventata un’app d'informazione grazie al progetto lanciato nel 2017 dal Centro Bophana di Phnom Penn e ai fondi dell’Unione Europea...

Storia di Irvin Mujčić, ideatore del progetto Srebrenica - City of Hope

Nasce nel 2017 il progetto Srebrenica - City of Hope, dalla collaborazione tra l’associazione bosniaca Prijatelji Prirode Oaza Mira ed il Gruppo Italiano Amici della Natura. L’obiettivo è quello di promuovere il turismo sostenibile in un’area geografica un tempo nota per le sue bellezze naturali, oggi ricordata per il genocidio di più di 8,000 musulmani bosniaci avvenuto nel luglio 1995. “Si dice ‘Mai più Srebrenica’, ma credo si dovrebbe dire ‘Srebrenica: lezione imparata’, così che la memoria...

Storia di Hasan Hasanović, sopravvissuto a Srebrenica

L’11 luglio ricorre il 25esimo anniversario del genocidio di Srebrenica - ancora oggetto di pericolose campagne negazioniste -, in cui le truppe del generale Mladic entrarono nella cittadina e uccisero 8372 uomini e ragazzi musulmani, gettandoli poi in fosse comuni.
Per l’occasione, il Centro della memoria di Srebrenica-Potočari, in collaborazione con il Museo dell’infanzia di guerra di Sarajevo, ha girato un video documentario che raccoglie le storie di 100 uomini e donne sopravvissuti, duran...