Blog – Page 104 – Culture Matters

John Heartfield: satirist, anti-fascist and fearless communist

14 April 2018 / 372

Jenny Farrell salutes John Heartfield, the creator of political photomontage, who died fifty years ago. John Heartfield is one of the most important European artists. He works... Continue reading

Jenny Farrell

Cultural Commentary

Their walls are our stones

5 April 2018 / 337

What would a radical, socialist culture policy look like? Last September I reported on The World Transformed festival, organised by Momentum alongside the Labour Party conference in... Continue reading

Mike Quille

Visual Arts

Art, politics, anti-semitism and anti-Corbynism

4 April 2018 / 392

Nick Wright discusses, art, anti-semitism, and anti-Corbynism. Labour is weathering a co-ordinated campaign which combines criticism of Corbyn’s policies and persona with an intensified drive to brand... Continue reading

Nick Wright

Visual Arts

Yes we can! The role of artists and art galleries in changing the world

3 April 2018 / 427

Helen Pheby discusses the role of artists and cultural institutions in helping to change the world. On 20 February 2018, the UN World Day of Social Justice,... Continue reading

Helen Pheby

Cultural Commentary

Reading Marx

31 March 2018 / 476

David Betteridge gives a personal account of reading Marx, with drawings by Bob Starrett. Fifty years ago, when I was training to be a teacher at Neville’s... Continue reading

David Betteridge

Fiction

Dreaming of communism: News from Nowhere by William Morris

31 March 2018 / 396

John Ellison offers an appreciation of ‘News from Nowhere’, by William Morris. Opening salvo There can be no denying that the content of News from Nowhere, the... Continue reading

John Ellison

Visual Arts

Karl Marx, tickled and honoured

31 March 2018 / 370

John Green introduces some Karl Marx bicentenary cartoons and caricatures. 5 May 2018 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx. To commemorate this the Ken... Continue reading

John Green

Theatre

Marx, Shakespeare, King Lear and the modern precariat

31 March 2018 / 368

Jenny Farrell outlines a Marxist reading of Shakespeare, and illustrates it with an analysis of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Among Marxism’s core insights is that all history since the... Continue reading

Jenny Farrell

Music

Paul Robeson: activist, communist and spokesperson for the oppressed of the earth

31 March 2018 / 450

On the 120th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s birth, Jenny Farrell tells the story of his life. “The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for... Continue reading

Jenny Farrell

Poetry

The rich versus the people & Turn the other cheek

30 March 2018 / 348

The rich versus the people by Ira Lightman Some rich think they cleverly simmer us sleepy – cos we’d jump if it got too hot.The leaders their... Continue reading

Ira Lightman

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