The Monocle Minute

While I was speaking to a Kiwi colleague the other day, it struck me how differently people outside of New Zealand still see Jacinda Ardern compared to how her compatriots think of her. When she first came to power in 2017, Ardern possessed key attributes beloved by liberal internationalists: she was eloquent, had worked abroad and was keen to sell her country as a haven for progressive politics. At home, she was popular enough to win two elections, the second of which was a landslide, but her failure to address issues such as New Zealand’s acute housing crisis, gang violence and the socio-economic costs of restrictive coronavirus lockdowns eventually led to her plummeting popularity and resignation.

In hindsight, Ardern was among the last of a dying breed: a liberal leader whose global adulation compensated for her domestic divisiveness or even unpopularity. I would put people such as Barack Obama, Sanna Marin, Justin Trudeau and, to an extent, Angela Merkel in the same category. All were beloved by large sections of the world’s media and were household names to foreign electorates but remained polarising figures at home; and they appeared more interested in bestriding the world stage than solving the nitty-gritty problems that mattered most to domestic voters. It is a common adage that all political careers necessarily end in failure but perhaps the clearest sign of the demise of the liberal internationalist is the fact that none of these formerly exalted leaders has remained in public service post-retirement.

In the past they might have been handed the leadership of an august multilateral organisation (as with António Guterres and the UN) or they might have very publicly championed a cause that was close to their hearts (think Jimmy Carter and world peace). But the liberal internationalist’s decline has mirrored the fading importance of such bodies and the current tenor of political debate makes politicians hesitant to remain in the fray. While Trudeau is still in the early stages of his retirement, it is notable that Obama, Marin, Ardern and Merkel have all but deserted the public realm. The heirs to this cohort, such as Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, have had to turn their naturally internationalist politics inward, focusing on issues such as immigration, while framing debates around, for example, European defence in ways that play on nativist concerns rather than multilateral pretensions. The age of the Obamas and Jacindas is over: today people ask not what their country can do for others but only what it can do for itself.

Alexis Self is Monocle’s foreign editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Genre paintings don’t get much more kitsch than landscapes – and you can thank the merch at the Musée Marmottan Monet for that (writes Francesca Gavin). Though the idea of someone painting en plein air feels irrelevant to me, I’m of the view that the romantic sublime is contemporary art’s hot new trend. In London, Alvaro Barrington has installed three rooms at Sadie Coles HQ gallery with Caribbean sunset paintings. The works are rhythmic, slow and warm, reflecting his relationship to Grenada, and there’s something joyous and immediate about his take on modernism. In the East End, Joan Nelson opens at Herald St gallery this week. Nelson creates magical, neo-symbolist landscapes with oil, acrylic and experimental luminescent materials, such as cinnamon powder and glass beads. Hers is a landscape without humans, one that aims to “render a lifeless future world”.

Meanwhile, the blockbuster show at The Met in New York is of the work of German Romantic landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich – ground zero when it comes to humanity’s connection to the great expanse. At this moment of global socio-political chaos, his contemplative canvases come as a welcome relief. Galleries are certainly looking outward again, perhaps in pursuit of the inward. The climate crisis and the return of the psychedelic are factors here – and perhaps a profound need for transcendence too. It doesn’t get more sublime than that.

In Bangkok, where even a brief stroll in the sun can soon force you to seek refuge in the nearest air-conditioned room, denim remains an unexpected staple of streetwear – and a testament to fashion’s ability to defy logic (writes Florian Siebeck). Despite the city’s relentless humidity, residents are intent on rocking their jeans, while expats favour breezier fabrics such as linen or lightweight cotton. But the days of stifling blue jeans might be numbered: Swiss textile firm HeiQ has partnered with Thai menswear brand GQ Apparel to create a “bio-based cooling denim”. Its Cool Tech jeans are designed to wick away heat and moisture, and have quickly become a sensation across Thailand.

HeiQ’s technology involves a bio-based “thermo-functional polymer” that absorbs heat energy, reducing temperatures by up to 3C in the inner thighs. Wearers experience an instant cooling effect when they slip the trousers on and enjoy temperature regulation throughout the day. The use of twisted fibre also allows the fabric to dry quickly. It won’t be long before we see HeiQ’s technology adopted elsewhere. Perhaps a wide-cut selvage for people in the Med and boot-cut jeans for those in the American South?
gqsize.com

Fast-expanding UK bakery chain Gail’s now has its own print title. The first issue is dedicated to bread, with stories ranging from what to do with leftovers to a tour of hidden baking relics in London’s East End. Roy Levy, creative director at Gail’s, and Katy Severson, editor in chief of Companion, speak to The Monocle Minute.

Tell us why Gail’s needed a print title.
Roy Levy: I love magazines. They are such a beautiful communication tool – just look at their recent renaissance. I felt that Gail’s doesn’t need to say what we’re busy doing; instead, we should tell people more about where we’re coming from and what moves us. I wanted our clients to be inspired.

What types of stories will ‘Companion’ cover?
Katy Severson: We have the opportunity to be creative and explore things on a level that maybe we don’t do online. For our first issue about bread, we wanted to take the topic as far as we could and really stretch the metaphor of bread and its significance. We have stories on the terroir for wheat and baking as medicine – even poetry and short fiction.

What’s next for ‘Companion’?
RL: We set ourselves the target of releasing two issues per year. I hope that the second will be out this autumn. We are also looking into publishing more books, making our world slightly bigger and engaging with our customers in a richer way.

Listen to the full interview with Levy and Severson on Monocle Radio’s dedicated show about print,‘The Stack’.

We talk about High Tide, a film that looks at the life of a Brazilian immigrant in the queer mecca of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The film is the directorial debut of Italian writer Marco Calvani and features Marco Pigossi in the lead role. Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco speaks to both about the film, which is part of London’s BFI Flare festival.