I have always looked at works of art, be it in any media, and wondered about the thought, research and planning that went into it. “What did the creator’s eye see? What did she/he want me to see?”...And I have always wondered if our readers ever had a similar curiosity. This issue is dedicated to that. An overview of the immense artistic venture this year of Persephone has been, a glimpse into the visible value provided and the invisible heart and soul behind each month’s creation. Each edition hides a lot more behind the obvious and my goal with this piece of writing is to lay it all bare.

Ever since I joined Pouls of Art, Persephone has been a huge part of my professional life. I have witnessed its journey and the various transformations that have resulted in the form that it has taken today. Persephone is not just a newsletter to us. It very much stands for the vision it was born from : A space where the team shares their unique and personal views on art divorced from the influence of what the established norm teaches us to think.

Persephone is a work of art. It's not just about what looks good but what works functionally too which requires a lot of hard pre planning, editing and technological considerations. At the start of each year we sit together as a team and have multiple meetings to discuss the journey we want our newsletter to take in that particular year. The theme of each month is decided, keeping room for change and creative impulse. The ideation phase is the most fun part because it helps you get a glimpse of what's on each member's mind, the lens with which they witness the world and also the changing art scene in contemporary times. It's a challenge to select topics that are relevant, engaging and fulfilling for our readers today. Choosing topics that excite our contributors and also tie up the theme and art seamlessly is a delicate balance that is achieved after much trial and error. We also include occasional Art Interpretation pieces, Art Quizzes and Gallery pages which include other updates to maintain an interactive component to the newsletter.

After the ideation phase we meet at the beginning of every month to chalk out a specific direction for each contributor to be able to move forward in a more streamlined path and avoid overlap. Once the writing is done then it's our turn to edit and design the newsletter to make it look and feel as engaging as it does. Our wonderful designers deliver every time!

This year we also experimented with the format of the newsletter in an attempt to make it more interactive, visually interesting for our readers and also easily accessible. Our tech team works tirelessly to code and have done wonders for the current look of the newsletter. We tried various techniques, some of which landed, some didn't and gradually it took its current shape which we are all very proud of.

The January 2025 edition was dedicated to the Literary Heroines that adorned our calendar this year. We thoroughly researched each character and made sure that each fit the larger picture of what we stand for as a team and the ones that were selected spoke to each of us. We are a team of literature enthusiasts much like many of our readers and have gained strength and inspiration from these figures who have acted as our spirit guides through various challenges in our lives. Each character was reimagined and adorned in the unique personal art style of artist and our founder Poulomi Bose.

February had been reserved for love again. Something that's an indelible part of our lives. It is that time of the year when we celebrate the deluge of fond emotions that we all carry within us and that which makes life livable. For our edition we envisioned an issue where we go beyond the confines of the ideal representation of love. We wanted to talk about unconventional ways in which love manifests in our lives and the myriad of complex emotions that it stirs up like revenge, grief, tragedy, incest, unbridled passion and also about the commodification of love as a genre that has been sold to us through various media. And I am so satisfied with how it turned out.

Fairytales have been a staple for whimsical April and it's a favourite of all of us. It indulges our inner children to delve into the world of fantasy again where the possibilities are endless. In the edition we talk about our favourite fairytales, mainly the visual aspect of them, their impact on us and their enduring power. We also discuss the various fantastical beasts that they introduced us to which infiltrate various other narratives and the cautionary tales that continue to educate us of the grim realities of life. We created this issue to invite our readers to enter a headspace where they willfully “suspend disbelief” and dance to the rhythm of the magic that infiltrates all our lives.

May was the summer edition and my personal favourite of this year. When you read each entry, it draws up a whole new picture of summer in your mind's eye and you see the mundane season through the lens of each separate soul. There are so many expressions of summer in art, in the poses and activities depicted in famous paintings, in the visual cues of the season that signify the arrival of summer, in the lyrics of your favourite musical artist and in the magical world created by Studio Ghibli. It truly was a great read for me both as a contributor and a reader.

For the June newsletter, our editor suggested The Bloomsbury Group since it was constituted in June in the 1920s and we were all on board. The issue discussed queerness, community, the sister bond that formed the crux of the group, the deep connection to nature in their art, the visual language that emerged from each member of the group and how they brought about a revolution and changed the way we viewed things thereafter. This edition was particularly invigorating for us and we hoped that the readers would feel the same.

July was the 6 month mark where for the first time we actually dove deep into Persephone. It talks about the ideas, reflections and aspirations that led to its beginning. We wanted to celebrate the anniversary of Persephone and highlight the experiences of each member of the editorial team to form a fuller picture of the labour of love that each edition of Persephone truly is.

Sustainability is a topic that is very relevant to all of us today. We have reached a point in time where it's not just an afterthought but a major concern which needs to be fueled by more conversations and contributions. And that's what we chose to tackle in August. We didn't just want to passively write about art like hedonistic consumers but also about the unimaginable power of art. The huge impact that it has to change our lives for the better or worse, to mold us, inform us, expose us to various points of views and present to us a comment on society. And last but not the least the immense responsibility of art that both artists and lovers of art bear and how it is a role that requires us to be intentional and proactive.

Women and their representation in art was a discussion that was on our mind and our September edition was the perfect opportunity to do so. I clearly remember the meeting we had with our founder regarding this. Her vision for this edition was to talk broadly about the various representations of women in art. The gaze on which they are depicted and how it has transformed through time. How we have gone from poses that mainly highlight a woman's beauty and aesthetic even in intimate spaces to an emerging and ever growing practice of artists depicting women in a more authentic light, offering us glimpses into their daily routine and into the minds and hearts of the Female Subject.