Few titles sum up an era and a movement like Spare Rib. When the first issue came out in July 1972, many women were starting to question their position and role in society. The magazine was an active part of the emerging women's liberation movement. It challenged the stereotyping and exploitation of women in what was the first national magazine of its kind. It supported collective, realistic solutions to the hurdles women faced and reached out to women from all backgrounds. Spare Rib became the debating chamber of feminism in the UK. It continued until January 1993 and the full archive of 239 magazines provides a valuable insight into women's lives and this period of feminist activity.
photo by Heaferl: Demo "Gleiche Rechte für alle" (Refugee-Solidaritätsdemo) am 16. Februar 2013 in Wien
'Every day, all over the world, ordinary people must flee their homes for fear of death or persecution. Many leave without notice, taking only what they can carry. Many will never return
They cross oceans and minefields, they risk their lives and their futures. When they cross international borders they are called refugees. The Refugee Project is an interactive map of refugee migrations around the world in each year since 1975. UN data is complemented by original histories of the major refugee crises of the last four decades, situated in their individual contexts'.
“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime” Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary, August 1914
National Library of Wales Cymru 1914 archive
Everyone in the UK is invited to take part in LIGHTS OUT by
turning off their lights from 10pm to 11pm on 4 August, leaving on a single
light or candle to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War .
Millions of
people are expected to participate and hundreds of local authorities, iconic
buildings, national organisations including the BBC and the Royal British
Legion, parish councils and places of worship have already pledged their
support. Iconic landmarks such Blackpool Illuminations, the Houses of
Parliament, Eden Project, Imperial War Museums and Tower Bridge will turn off
their lights; the Royal British Legion has launched a campaign for at least one
million candles to be lit across the UK and theatre productions including those
of the National Theatre’s War Horse, both nationally and internationally, will
invite their audiences to take part in LIGHTS OUT after their curtain calls.
Leading international artists have been commissioned
by 14-18 NOW to create special public artworks, for one night only in the form of a light source.
Bedwyr Williams’ work Traw will be a large-scale video and sound installation at the site of the
North Wales Memorial Arch, Bangor. The memorial takes centre stage in front of
images projected onto the enormous facing wall of Bangor University’s new
Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre.
Taking photographs found in the Cymru 1914 archive, Williams has created a sequence of images of local soldiers and civilians affected by WW1. Excluding all uniform and references to rank, the close up
faces reveal something of the individual’s personality and personal sacrifice
in a war where death was measured in millions.
Bedwyr Williams is one of Wales’ leading visual artists. In 2013 he represented Wales at the Venice Biennale.
Commenting on the
project Bedwyr Williams said: “As a young art student I walked past the
memorial arch in Bangor many times and I have to admit that I never gave it a
huge amount of thought. Working on this project I’ll never be able to walk past
this place again without thinking of the lives lost fighting in the First World
War.”
Bob Fitch, Martin L. King (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.),
Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America,
December 1965.
Reproduction from the Black Star Collection,
Ryerson University. Courtesy of the Ryerson Image Centre.
Using the
1948 Universal Declaration of human rights as a point of departure, Mark Sealy,
MBE, RPS Hood Medal, Director Autograph ABP and Founding CEO of Rivington Place
London, examines whether images of political struggle, suffering, and of
victims of violence work for or against humanitarian objectives, especially
when considering questions of race, representation, ethical responsibility and
the cultural position of the photographer.
The talk will reflect on the imagery that has informed
perceptions of civil rights, ranging from historic events such as the Selma to
Montgomery March and Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech, to the
independence movements in many African countries as well as more recent
examples of injustice within wider global conflicts. Here the historical and
contemporary roles of photography to validate and question the case for civil
and human rights will be examined from different perspectives.
The event is FREE but booking is essential as places are
limited.
This lecture forms part of a series accompanying a project by National Museum Wales to work on its rich and diverse historic photographic collections
A sensitive reading of The Night Watch by Guardian writer Jonathan Jones has Rembrandt depicting democracy in action , the assortment of different types of people as night falls assembled to protect their community. Rembrandt's painting is once more on show after 10 years of renovation of the Rijksmuseum hindered access to their marvellous collection.
The Rijksmuseum used imagination and digital technology and the Internet to keep their works as visible as possible whilst the museum was closed. I blogged about one of the ways they used back in November (6th). It comes as no surprise to me therefore to see that, to advertise the reopening, the Museum staged a rather wondrous re-enactment of the Night Watch in a shopping centre.
And here are Jonathan's lovely words about Rembrandt's Night Watch, words that help keep alive for us the idea that art is important ...
"In the 21st century, as democracy and community are beset by menaces from climate change to the violent economics of austerity, The Night Watch ought to be cherished as political art. It portrays not only what the Dutch, but all democracies ought to hold dear – the courage of flawed human beings to come together while acknowledging one another's individuality and difference. It is an icon of tolerance, diversity and the magic golden light that makes a society work. While these ordinary people stand guard, we feel a bit safer in our collective defiance of the dark".
This
publication offers an introduction to Russia’s contribution to the birth of
electronic music, sound synthesis and audio technology in the early 20th
Century. It is a story of politics and power, of the institution and the
avant-garde, of collaboration and personal achievement, of ambition,
opportunity and oppression. It is a story of remarkable personalities, curious
inventions, astonishing performances, radical ideas, complex mathematics,
pioneering electronics, engineering, design and experimentation. It is also a
story of patents and funding applications, of success and failure, support and
rejection, optimism and disillusionment, hunger and poverty.
The book produced in partnership between Sound & Music, London
and Verlag de Buchhandlung Walther Konig, Cologne is currently on order and when
received will be added to Howard Gardens Library . More of Smirnov's projects here including the Laptop Cyber Orchestra (2006), Sound out of Paper (2005) and Brain JAZZ (1985/2001)
Cafe OTO opened in April 2008 with the aim of
providing a home for creative new music that exists outside of the mainstream.
Cafe OTO is comprised of one large cafe/performance space open during the day
as a cafe and hosting an evening programme of adventurous live music almost
seven nights a week.
Martha Rosler Library 1 August – 9 November 2008 Stills Edinburgh, 23 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh
The book collection of the American artist Martha Rosler is perhaps the perfect embodiment of her radical vision - and an archive of the marginalised American left. It has travelled the world -here's its journey.
e-flux, New York, 2005-2006, Frankfurter Kunstverien, 2006,
Museum for Contermporary Art, Antwerp, 2006, unitednationsplaza, Berlin, 2007,
Institut national d'histoire d'art, Paris, 2007-2008, Stills, Edinburgh, 2008,
Gallery at the University of Massachussets, Amherst, 2009
Martha Rosler's Library holds books on economy, political theory, war, colonialism, poetry, feminism, science fiction, art history, of children’s books, dictionaries, maps and travel literature as well as photo albums, posters, postcards and newspaper clippings . On exhibition they could be studied at will.
Martha states in thsi video that
"the practice of an artist is based on ideas and criticism and thinking and philosophy and science"
three cheers for that
Now back at rest the library is in the process of being catalogued and can be searched here. There are over 7600 books in the Martha Rosler Library; they can be viewed by their title, author, or at their original location on Martha Rosler's shelves. A keyword search for Feminism finds 555 titles.
Rosler’s website here describes her work thus '(She) works in video, phototography, text,
installation, and performance. Her work deals with the separation of the public
and private sphere, exploring issues from everyday life and the media to
architecture and the built environment'.
She has published 17 books of photography, art, and writing, in several languages. Her essay book Decoys and Disruptions, was published by MIT Press in 2004. Publication of her three-part series, “Culture Class; Art, Creativity, Urbanism,” based on the Third biennial Hermes lecture that she gave in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, in 2010, was recently completed in the e-flux Journal, followed by “From Gentrification to Occupation: The Artistic Mode of Revolution.”
A link has been added to Databases A-Z (Electronic Library, Cardiff Met portal).
The new link is to the Carl Giles archive.
My dad used to get the Giles Annual every Christmas and laugh reading it. I used to like looking at the pictures especially those with Granny in , she was scarier than both my two nannas put together. The images now available to you in the archive will serve you well if you are after comments of a sardonic nature on social customs, political shennanigans and general atmospheric backround for life in Britain . They are illustrations for art historians and historians , arts and humanities students and just to puzzle over and/or laugh at. A Youtube video on the Giles archive is found here
The CARL GILES archive is one part of the British Cartoon Archive. Previously known as the Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature, the BCA was established in 1973, as a research centre and picture library, based upon a unique archive of over 140,000 pieces of cartoon artwork supported by a reference library of newspaper cuttings, books, catalogues and magazines. The Archive is widely used by researchers, authors, teachers, the media and students and is to be found at the University of Kent at Canterbury
Jeremy Deller opens at the Hayward today with a show entitled Jeremy Deller: Joy in People.The exhibition incorporates almost all of his major works to date including installations, photographs, videos, posters, banners, performance works and sound pieces and is curated by Ralph Rugoff, Director, Hayward Gallery. Jeremy Dellerwon the Turner prize in 2004 without having taken even O-level art at his London public school. He emerged after the Young British Artists, who began exhibiting together in 1988, many of them wrapped up in the rising art market and collected by figures such as Charles Saatchi. Sometimes his work – a re-enactment of the Battle of Orgreave in 1984, one of the fiercest clashes of the miners' strike, or organising the ladies of the Women's Institute to show flower arrangements at the Tate – did not look like art at all.
His mum said "I tried to explain his work to the Queen when Jeremy took me to a reception at Buckingham Palace. I don't think she quite understood, but she was too polite to say." Rugoff declares of Deller that he , "brought up questions of value" in his work. “ He has rarely made work that can be bought or sold straightforwardly. He has, said Rugoff, "heralded a new chapter when artists work as catalysts, producers, curators and collaborators … and with his interest in folk art and the creativity of everyday life he has brought attention to what other people have done". There are some great events planned to accompany the exhibition including a David Shrigley and Jeremy Deller DJ Night on Friday 4 May 2012. Jeremy Deller’s interest in the social character of pop music is far ranging. The enthusiasms, rituals and passionate loyalty of fans have all provided the artist with inspiration. Our Hobby is Depeche Mode reflects on how people intimately embrace pop culture and embed it in the fabric of their everyday lives.The exhibition runs until 13th May
TED is devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.
The TED Prize is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, "One Wish to Change the World."
After several months of preparation, the wish is unveiled at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. Over the life of the prize, wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.
This year the prize was awarded to JR
JR owns the biggest art gallery in the world. He exhibits freely in the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not the museum visitors. His work mixes Art and Act, talks about commitment, freedom, identity and limit.
JR creates "Pervasive Art" that spreads uninvited on the buildings of the slums around Paris, on the walls in the Middle-East, on the broken bridges in Africa or the favelas in Brazil. People who often live with the bare minimum discover something absolutely unnecessary. And they don't just see it, they make it. Some elderly women become models for a day; some kids turn artists for a week. In that Art scene, there is no stage to separate the actors from the spectators.
JR’s One wish for the World is here. A fabulous talk by the very charming JR and details too on how you can become part of his project Inside Out
Flickr is a database full of photographs made by both amateurs and professionals, containing both archival and completely contemporary images. There are currently over 5 billion images in a database that is growing at a rate of about 3,000 images every minute according to the Flickr blog.
From Friday till the end of Sunday night over 9,512 images with the word protest in the title had been posted to Flickr (Last weekend there were only 2,261.) Protests ocurred in Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Libya, Taiwan, Poland, Germany, the U.K., the U.S., and there are other sympathetic protests in other places in the world.
To see these images go to Advanced Search and enter the word 'protest' and the name of the place.
