Hiroko Sakai’s work is a clear evidence that words and colors can save us from the abyss.

Illustration: Hiroko Sakai

The universe of arts is a wide space where everything is possible and where, at the same time, there are certain rules that allow the definition of emotions and their expression in a way that can be useful for anyone. There are multifaceted artists who, rejecting to express themselves in only one way, choose multiple and simultaneous forms, and sometimes obtain interesting and pleasant results. » Read more

Pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) are considered a subspecies of even-toed angulated mammals part of the biological family Suidae. Pot-bellied pigs are the best-known breed among all the existing miniature pigs, which are the result of interbreeding different pig breeds from Southeast Asia, in particular four Vietnamese breeds: North Vietnam Oio, CaioOMong, Central Vietnam Pig, and South Vietnam Heo Moi.

Foto: El Hogar ProVegan

Pot-bellied pigs became popular at the beginning of the 1980s. They were put into zoos as an attraction, but they soon became fashionable within the pet business. Their popularity, which has increased over the last decades, is being strongly harmful for them. Some of the consequences of this fashion trend have been their massive breeding, selling, abuse and abandonment. » Read more

Functional training is basically any training that is focused towards improving the functions that our body needs to perform physically throughout the day.

This means that it is not training focused on developing a lot of muscle mass and creating an aesthetic body, rigid and heavy, or on the contrary on burning fat and being thinner, but rather, the objective is to create a functional body, a body capable of facing any situation in life with minimum effort and risk.

 A FUNCTIONAL BODY

An example that I normally use to define the concept of a functional body is that of one of the most day to day movements, that being lifting an object from the ground. Each time that we lift an object from the ground, be it heavy or not, the correct mechanism that we should use to bend down and pick it up is the same that we use when doing a dead weight or a squat (the dead weight is an exercise that is almost never practiced in gyms today). Therefore, practicing the dead weight or the squat will make lifting an object from the ground something simple and risk-free for our back and joints. » Read more

Since Thomas Alva Edison patented, around the end of the 19th century, the kinetoscope, and the Lumière brothers developed the cinematographer, the seventh art has come a long way, during which it has gone through many different phases, acquiring color and sound, adapting itself or reflecting on social, cultural and economic contexts, while all the time remaining what it has been since the start: a catalyst for minds and emotions.

The first public projection of the Lumières in Paris was a success, but not even these two brothers with their vision for business, were able to grasp the potential hidden in their invention. It was Georges Méliés, a parisian illusionist and toymaker, who discovered the real power of cinematography, that of manipulating and transforming reality. Using edition tricks and retouching the filmstrips in order to create special effects, not only did he become the pioneer in horror films, but he also opened the eyes of novel photographers and producers to the infinite possibilities they had in front of them. » Read more

In a lost part of Orense, in the magical Ribeira Sacra, Carmen and Manuel open the doors to a house of “rural and health tourism” where you can find everything that you may hope for to heal your body and mind, breathing, drinking, eating and experimenting the respect for life in all its extension.

A Castiñeira is a very singular house, surrounded only by green land and forest, with no constructions in sight. “Intimacy, calmness, peace, ethics and respect are the essence of our vegan home”, Carmen explains.

Its five individual apartments share an inside patio but privacy is guaranteed. Guests can choose to cook in their own space or eat at the restaurant, where they can also request food to go or picnics.

All the gastronomy in A Castiñeira is vegan or raw vegan, artisan and biological and all the toilettries and cleaning products are also vegan and, “where possible, fairtrade”. » Read more

Ethical footwear is about shoes that have been elaborated without using any animal components, respecting the rights of the workers and with care for the environment.

The footwear industry does not only use leather, but also products that are derived from or tested on animals, such as glues, waxes or dyes, in addition to toxic substances, such as chrome or lead amongst others, which are used in the finishing process and which pose a risk to our health and to the environment.

In the first eleven months of 2012, 297 million pairs were imported into Spain, of which 73% came from China* and, even though in many of these countries the laws are becoming stricter with regards to health and hygiene at work, today there are only so many factories in the continent that actually respect human rights. (Source: Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries Economic Report January-November 2012). » Read more

We are surrounded by information. In a planet inhabited by more than six thousand million people, everyone has a story to tell.

Do we know, as users, how to discriminate the information that reaches us from everyone else? Do we know, as information givers, how to discriminate the information that we send to others? As users, learning how to separate the superfluous is important, but as information givers, as people responsible for that collective effort, it is essential to learn how to do it right.

We are “infoxicated”. The exposure that we have to information has depended on us for a very long time. It is practically inevitable that we will look at publicity while walking down the street, that we will connect to the internet and read email or that we will turn on the TV and hear the news. The Internet and the new technologies have left us open to a whole new world of possibilities and this has been declining in many cases into far too much content and very little professionalism. » Read more

Our society has been a patriarchy for about six thousand years; this is a type of discrimination that is inherent to the structure of sexism, which encompasses and affects almost every aspect of day to day life, making decisions and the nature of these decisions.

It is for this reason that I am conscious of the fact that talking about feminine behaviours while pertaining to the male gender is, at the very least, suspicious. This is why I would like to point out the fact that I am writing as an equalitarian, that I am using the feminine gender in my language because we are PEOPLE before we pertain to any gender, we are mainly primates, mammals and aerobes, as far as we know. » Read more

“I hope one day, every single house is a sanctuary (for animals)”

Fabio Chaves (Brazil) is the founder of Vista-se, the most important news portal about Veganism in South America, with more than 100.000 new users per month. The slogan says it all: “Vista-se! Sem informação você fica pelado”, which means, “Get dressed! Without information you are naked”.

CL: First of all, for readers outside Brazil who haven’t heard of Vista-se, tell us when and how this project began, and where it is at this moment. » Read more

“Capitalism treats us as simple consuming units, and the only way to change that is to change what we consume”.

“With every cent we invest in buying something, we are supporting certain behaviours, habits and attitudes not always visible at first sight, and also, having an effect on other beings’ dreams and nightmares”.

We’re interviewing Iván Sáinz-Pardo, filmmaker and photographer, author of “The Circular Glance” (La Mirada circular); an invitation to change our consuming habits as a personal rebellion against the dominant capitalism; which educates us to “consume without checking labels or asking questions”. However, we can face it with information, sensitiveness and an ethical consciousness.

CL: “La Mirada circular” is a piece of work where you have clearly expressed your ethics. How did you come up with the idea for this short film? How did it influence you and your surroundings? » Read more