ARTS

Our theme is a wall. A wall that is neither some ordinary physical structure at a specific site, nor a symbolic wall. It takes a material form in sites around the globe while transcending locations and leapfrogging whole continents as if in a strange quest to globalise itself, to infect our supposedly unifying world with a sinister, impenetrable division – a wall that is so familiar and yet so inconvenient that most gaze away from it.

A new feature from Iran gives a totally different perspective of the war raging in Syria than Western audiences are used to, explains Rick Sterling. By Rick Sterling  Special to Consortium News West against East on the Syrian battle-field, in…Read more →

Ladies and Gentlemen, my heartfelt thanks for your presence here tonight. Thanks also to the good people at South Bank who honoured me with the humbling idea and invitation to combine my own musings on globalisation with the remarkable images of Andreas Gursky – images which have, over the years, done so much to enlighten us regarding the topsy-turvy world that we have been helping bring about. Yes, a picture is a thousand words but, at the same time, words liberate  our mind’s eye so that it can make sense of otherwise incomprehensible images.

Join economist and Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) co-founder Yanis Varoufakis for a keynote talk on the economic force that has shaped our world: globalisation.

Full script of my lecture at the Rose Theatre on Shakespeare: Since brevity is, indeed, the soul of wit, let me begin by stating the obvious: I am as qualified to deliver an annual Shakespeare lecture in this splendid theatre as an ant that walks in wonder on an iPhone is able to explain the mystery that goes on under its feet. When Professor Richard Wilson approached me out of the blue, during some political event in London, with the bewildering proposal that I appear before you tonight to talk about Shakespeare I was simultaneously flattered and incredulous.

I am often asked for a basic approach to my philosophy and worldview: Given our immersion in an image-dominated culture which is rapidly moving away from the necessary skills of reading and comprehension, the irony of the loss of literacy will likely lead to something akin to older iconographic importance for mass audiences.  We already see this trend with the popularity of Instagram and memes – another version of pale attempts at icons.

From intertwined ‘love bird’ swans to a herd of hungry seahorses, the winning shots from this year’s Underwater Photographer of the Year awards capture the breadth and beauty of our aquatic ecosystems
The post In photographs: fascinating underwater worlds appeared first on Positive News.

From the #FolkloreThursday Twitter hashtag that became a global event, to a new effort to map the UK’s folktales, stories of legends and traditions are being rebooted for the 21st century
The post The folktale resurgence appeared first on Positive News.

Music is more widely available than ever, but artists struggle to be paid. How can musicians be fairly rewarded in the digital age?
The post 5 possible solutions to music piracy appeared first on Positive News.

French-born artist Camille Walala brightens up the streets of London with her signature colourful style
The post Must our cities be grey? Meet the queen of colour appeared first on Positive News.