Suite (212)

Since his untimely death in January 1950, aged 46, George Orwell has been turned into a secular saint, with his Cold War-era novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four making Orwell - a democratic socialist - a hero to anti-communists across the world, but especially in England. This week, Juliet talks to critic Fatema Ahmed and writer Owen Hatherley about how and why Orwell became so revered, whether this reverence is useful, and how his writing might be reclaimed or reassessed by the contemporary British left. SELECTED REFERENCES WORKS BY GEORGE ORWELL Animal Farm (1945) Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) Homage to Catalonia (1938) ‘The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius’ (1941) - https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/the-lion-and-the-unicorn-socialism-and-the-english-genius/ ‘My Country Right or Left’ (1940) - https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/my-country-right-or-left/ Nineteen Eigh

Jeff Nuttall's Bomb Culture (1968) was an unforgettably idiosyncratic document of Sixties counter-culture, looking at how the nuclear threat that followed World War II had shaped the mass consciousness. This week, Tom Overton talks to Douglas Field (author of All Those Strangers: The Art and Lives of James Baldwin) and Jamie Sutcliffe about Strange Attractor Press' recent reissue of Bomb Culture (http://strangeattractor.co.uk/shoppe/bomb-culture-50th-anniversary-edition/), and Nuttall's place within various Sixties art scenes. SELECTED REFERENCES a-or-ist - https://cargocollective.com/aorist Antonin Artaud Antony Balch - https://transmediale.de/content/antony-balch James Baldwin The Beatles Charles Bukowski William S. Burroughs - http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/burroughs-in-london/ John Cage Robert Carlyle Centre 42 (Arnold Wesker) - http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/about-us/history-of-the-roundhouse/1960-1970-an-arts-centre-emerges/ Bob Cobbing - http://ubu.com/film/cobbing.html Gregory Corso - https://ww

The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 inspired artists, writers and filmmakers at home and abroad to make work in support of the struggle against fascism and, in some cases, to fight for the Spanish Republic. This week, Juliet talks to writer/translator Lara Alonso Corona about the various reactions to the war, General Franco's victory and consolidation of fascist power in Spain, from before the conflict began in July 1936 to the present. SELECTED REFERENCES Rafael Alberti - https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/oct/29/guardianobituaries W. H. AUDEN, Spain 1937 - https://sites.google.com/a/upr.edu/modernpoetry/Student-Blogs/ivan-andres-rodriguez/spainbywhauden Azorin (José Martínez Ruiz) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Martínez_Ruiz José Bergamín - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Bergamín Blockade (dir. William Dieterle, 1938) - https://www.timeout.com/london/film/blockade Luisa Carnés - http://www.newspanishbooks.com/author/luisa-carnes Luis Cernuda - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Cernuda Cyril Conn

Since he became Prime Minister of Turkey in 2002, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rule has become increasingly authoritarian, with his treatment of journalists, writers and artists causing international concern. Juliet talks to art critic Fisun Güner (https://fisunguner.com) and Tuna Erdem of the Istanbul Queer Art Collective (https://www.istanbulqueerartcollective.co.uk) about how the situation has worsened since the Occupy Gezi protests in 2013 and the failed military coup of 2016, why Erdoğan's government has targeted the art world, and how artists might fight back. SELECTED REFERENCES Ahmet Altan: https://pen.org/advocacy-case/ahmet-mehmet-altan Halil Altindere: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/halil-altindere-wonderland-2013/ Yüksel Arslan: http://www.turkishculture.org/whoiswho/yuksel-arslan-1007.htm Nicolas Bourriaud: http://www.artnews.com/2018/05/09/nicolas-bourriaud-curate-2019-istanbul-biennial/ Nuri Bilge Ceylan: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149196 Diren Coşkun: https://lgbtinewsturkey.com/2018/02

Photographer Markéta Luskačová (http://www.marketaluskacova.com) began her career in Czechoslovakia around the time of the Prague Spring, and moved to the UK in the mid-1970s, when she began to capture London's markets. With her work currently on display at Tate Britain (https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain/display/spotlights/marketa-luskacova), Tom Overton asks her about her life and work. SELECTED REFERENCES Louis Armstrong John Berger on Markéta Luskačová - http://www.marketaluskacova.com/publications/11-to-remember-2016/11-to-remember-2016-john-berger Bertolt Brecht in Berlin (performance) Max Brod Henri Cartier-Bresson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson Martine Franck - https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/aug/19/martine-franck Franz Kafka Siirka-Liisa Konttinen - https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sirkka-liisa-konttinen-9246 Josef Koudelka - https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2015/09/29/tom-overton/nationality-doubtful/ Otomar Krejča - https://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/the

In our final show of 2018, co-hosts Juliet and Tom discuss literature, films, theatre and exhibitions that made an impact on them throughout the year, as well as what they anticipate in 2019. SELECTED REFERENCES 120 BPM (dir. Robin Campillo, 2017) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6135348/ John Ash - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ash_(writer) KEVIN BREATHNACH, Tunnel Vision (2019) - http://kbreathnach.tumblr.com/post/162864960815/tunnel-vision SAM BYERS, Perfidious Albion (2018) - https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/hysterical-realism-a-review-of-perfidious-albion-by-sam-byers/ Cold War (dir. Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6543652/ Jean-Baptiste Del Amo The Encounter (Complicité) - http://www.complicite.org/productions/theencounter ANNIE ERNAUX, The Years (2018) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/22/the-years-annie-ernaux-review Faces, Places (dir. Agnès Varda & J.R., 2018) - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/20/faces-places-review-agnes-varda-jr-road-movie-documentar

Nature writing has often been white and male, and at times explicitly fascist. What would it mean to diversify the genre, in terms of race and gender? This week, Tom Overton talks to Jessica J. Lee, editor of The Willowherb Review (https://www.thewillowherbreview.com) about the journal and her book 'Turning: A Swimming Memoir' (2017), as well as her collaboration with The People's Forest project (https://wfculture19.co.uk/peoplesforest) and how we might imagine different kinds of nature writing. SELECTED REFERENCES Alliance for Freshwater Life - https://allianceforfreshwaterlife.org/ MARGARET ATWOOD, Surfacing (1972) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/sep/20/fiction.margaretatwood Gary Budden - http://www.newlexicons.com/about CATHERINE BUNI, ‘Towards a Wider View of Nature Writing’ (LARB, 2016) - https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/toward-a-wider-view-of-nature-writing Carolyn Finney - http://carolynfinney.com/about.html THEODOR FONTANE, Rambles Through the March of Brandenburg - https://www.roughguid

Recorded live in Birmingham during Grand Union’s ‘Ways of Learning’ exhibition, this episode of Suite (212) Extra discusses queer consciousness-raising. Juliet talks to writer/artist Huw Lemmey about LGBTQI+ activism before and after the Stonewall riots of June 1969 in the US and western Europe; the use of direct action and think-ins by the Gay Liberation Front and others; how AIDS and Section 28 changed queer art and activism; the development of trans theory in the 1990s; and the state of queer politics and creativity today. SELECTED REFERENCES Travis Alabanza - http://travisalabanza.co.uk Kenneth Anger Penny Arcade (performance artist) - https://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/juliet-jacques/2012/06/penny-arcade-someone-always-queer Army of Lovers (dir. Rosa von Praunheim, 1979) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078794 HARRY BENJAMIN, The Transsexual Phenomenon (1967) Jay Bernard - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/05/speaking-out-jay-bernard-surge-side-a-poet Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore - https://www.ma

Much of the Western Front fighting in World War I took place in France, yet the cultural legacy of the war in France remains under-explored in the UK. This week, Juliet talks to Eric Robertson (Royal Holloway) and Peter Read (University of Kent) about how the experience of the war affected the Cubist and Surrealist movements and the development of French film, pushing some artists towards traditionalism, and others towards the avant-garde. SELECTED REFERENCES L’Affaire Dreyfus (dir. Georges Méliès, 1899) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_fbOIgvYsY NORMAN ANGELL, The Great Illusion (1909) GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, Calligrammes (1918) - https://ubutext.memoryoftheworld.org/Apollinaire_Calligrams.pdf GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, ‘Ocean of Earth’ - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/58343/ocean-of-earth Louis Aragon - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/louis-aragon Jean (Hans) Arp Antonin Artaud - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Artaud Hugo Ball HENRI BARBUSSE, Le Feu (1917) - https://www.t

Why make a political arts programme? In this episode of Suite (212) Extra, hosts Juliet Jacques and Tom Overton discuss today's arts broadcasting and left-wing podcast scenes, and the place of Suite (212) and Resonance 104.4fm within it; how British modernist writers worked with TV and radio; how mainstream media leftists fought to establish a tradition of radical but popular cultural criticism; and plans for future shows, including a call for Gunnersaurus to come on Suite (212). SELECTED REFERENCES Larry Achiampong - http://www.larryachiampong.co.uk Battleship Potemkin (dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) Walter Benjamin Anya Berger - https://frieze.com/article/life-margins John Berger Joseph Beuys Ernst Bloch Café Calcio - https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/playlists/cafe-calcio/ Hélène Cixous Jean Cocteau JONATHAN COE, Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson (2004) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jul/10/biography.jonathancoe CYRIL CONNOLLY, Enemies of Promise (1938) Adam Curtis - http://www.bb

The Weimar Republic was born out of Germany's defeat in World War I, and the failed Communist revolution that followed the armistice in November 1918, and collapsed with the election of the Nazi Party in 1933. This week, Juliet talks to Tom Wilkinson (author of 'Bricks and Mortals: Ten Great Buildings and the People Who Made Them') about how the war and its aftermath changed German Expressionism, gave rise to Dada and the Neue Sachlichkeit movements, and brought about the most intense reaction against modernist culture. SELECTED REFERENCES Die Aktion - http://www.dada-companion.com/journals/per_aktion.php Arbeitsrat für Kunst - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbeitsrat_für_Kunst Jean (Hans) Arp Bauhaus Der Blaue Reiter - https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/der-blaue-reiter Bertolt Brecht ARNOLT BRONNEN, Vatermord (1922) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolt_Bronnen Die Brücke - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Brücke The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene, 1920) Otto Dix - https://www.ottodix.org

A century since the Armistice, World War I looms larger than ever in the UK's cultural and historical imaginary. Known first as 'the Great War' and then 'the war to end all wars', it was fought in new ways with new technologies, with unprecedented psychological effects on its participants, and this led writers and artists - many of whom were combatants - to find new forms to describe it. This week, Juliet talks to Charlotte Jones (King's College London) about how the war has been represented from 1914 to the present, especially in poetry, memoir and literature, and why portrayals in film and TV cause so much anxiety for those who insist it be remembered as a heroic sacrifice rather than a senseless waste. SELECTED REFERENCES LAURENCE BINYON, 'For the Fallen' (1914) - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57322/for-the-fallen Blackadder Goes Forth (TV series, 1989) - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/06/blackadder-michael-gove-historians-first-world-war Blast (journal, 1914-15) - https://spikemagaz

This week, Tom Overton interviews Dr Clive James Nwonka (http://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/Clive-Nwonka) about White Screen/Black Images - Nwonka's new course about black cinema at the London School of Economics (http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calendar/courseGuides/SO/2018_SO4A9.htm). They also discuss issues of diversity (a peculiarly New Labour concept) against equality, the relationship between art, grime and cinema; highlights of the recent London Film Festival; and much more. SELECTED REFERENCES James Baldwin BlacKkKlansman (dir. Spike Lee, 2018) - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/18/blackkklansman-spike-lee-film-ku-klux-klan Blindspotting (dir. Carlos López Estrada, 2018) - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/04/blindspotting-review-carlos-lopez-estrada Boyz n the Hood (dir. John Singleton, 1991) - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/27/boyz-n-the-hood-review-blistering-humanitarian-classic-john-singleton Bullet Boy (dir. Saul Dibb, 2004) - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/i

This week, Tom Overton talks to Sarah Shin (co-founder of Ignota Books) and So Mayer (author of Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema and other books) about new currents in feminist poetry and politics that use magic and myth-making as tools to reconsider the world, and create new narratives that might improve it. The show also includes readings from Jen Calleja, Lucy Mercer and Jane Yeh, all of whom feature in Ignota's debut publication 'Spells: 21st Century Occult Poetry' - which will be on sale at the New Suns feminist festival at the Barbican on Saturday 3 November. SELECTED REFERENCES Ignota Books - https://ignota.org/ New Suns festival - https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/new-suns-a-feminist-literary-festival Feminist Library crowdfunder - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-the-feminist-library-build-its-new-home WALTER BENJAMIN, The Arcades Project John Berger Nicole Bettencourt Coelho Tarana Burke (#MeToo) OCTAVIA BUTLER - Parable of the Talents (1988) - https://io9.gizmodo.com/arc

Bill Morrison's most recent feature film, 'Dawson City: Frozen Time' (2016) is an astonishing look at the history of early cinema, and of North America in the early 20th century, told almost entirely with footage found buried in the former gold-mining town. But it is the product of a 25-year film career in which Morrison has built a distinctive way of telling stories using archive film, often in states of decay, and contemporary music. This week, Juliet talks to Morrison about his practice, from his time at film school to the present. SELECTED REFERENCES WORKS BY BILL MORRISON Full filmography: http://billmorrisonfilm.com/bio-filmography The Film of Her (1996) - http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/the-films-of-bill-morrison/morrison-film-of-her/ Decasia (2002) - https://bombmagazine.org/articles/bill-morrisons-decasia-the-state-of-decay/ Who by Water (2007) - https://vimeo.com/48669901 Spark of Being (2010) - https://variety.com/2011/film/reviews/spark-of-being-1117946734/ The Miners' Hymns (2011) - https://ww

Despite decades of censorship and neglect, Peter Watkins (http://pwatkins.mnsi.net/) has created a body of work that marks him out as one of the UK’s greatest filmmakers. Born in Surrey in 1935, Watkins began his career pioneering the ‘docu-drama’ in two works for the BBC: historical drama Culloden (1964) about the final battle in the Jacobite rebellion, and The War Game (1965), speculating about a nuclear attack on the UK. The BBC refused to broadcast the latter, and after his feature film Privilege (1968) had a poor commercial and critical reception, Watkins spent the rest of his career in exile. In his theoretical writing, teaching and filmmaking, Watkins has challenged the ‘monoform’ – a standardisation of Mass Audio-Visual Media that barrages its audience with a rapid flow of changing images and sounds, with the intention of preventing any real contemplation. Joining Juliet to discuss Watkins' work is Gareth Evans, former editor of Vertigo magazine and adjunct Moving Image Curator at Whitechapel Gallery

John Calder (1927-2018) was a giant of 20th century literary publishing, and a champion of free speech. Best known for publishing Samuel Beckett's novels and poetry, he brought much of the most innovative European literature of the 20th century to an English-speaking audience, ultimately won a landmark obscenity trial over Hubert Selby Jr's 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' and has inspired several generations of exciting writers and publishers. Joining Juliet to discuss Calder's life and legacy is Alex Kovacs, author of 'The Currency of Paper' (2013), who worked in Calder's bookshop in London in 2008-10. Alessandro Gallenzi's obituary for John Calder: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/21/john-calder-obituary Huw Nesbitt's interview with John Calder (2008) - https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/nndv5k/john-calder-443-v15n12 SELECTED REFERENCES HENRI ALLEG, La Question (1958) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Question Lord Altrincham - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grigg,_2nd_Baron_Altrincham Fernando A

Since becoming independent from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has attracted some attention in the West for its two revolutions (in 2005 and 2010) and the 'gay propaganda' bill introduced to its parliament in 2014, but never passed. Sometimes referred to by European liberals as 'the Switzerland of Central Asia' for its relatively democratic constitution, Kyrgzystan has a complicated relationship with its Soviet past, a fascinating artistic history and a vibrant queer and feminist culture fighting hard against virulent homophobia and misogyny. In this episode of Suite (212) Extra, Juliet Jacques - who has twice visited Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, and written extensively about the country's LGBTQI politics - talks to Communist and LGBTQI artist-activists Georgy Mamedov and Mohira Suyarkulova. They discuss the creation of Soviet Kirghizia, the Kyrgyz language and Stalin's 'Russification', the development of Kyrgyz painting, the refusal to 'de-Communise' after 1991, the School of Theory & Act

How does capitalism hijack the idea of creativity for profit? Why does it encourage us to be 'creative' in every move we make? Does this make the very concept of 'creativity' meaningless, or can it be reclaimed? This week, Tom Overton talks to Oli Mould about his new book 'Against Creativity' (Verso, 2018 - https://www.versobooks.com/books/2852-against-creativity). They discuss how neoliberalism and particularly the New Labour project have used the concept, how it has fed into gentrification, its relationship with Silicon Valley and its 'algocracy', and with the social and bio-medical models of disability. OLI MOULD, Urban Subversion and the Creative City - https://tacity.co.uk/books/urbansubversion/ THEODOR W. ADORNO & MAX HORKHEIMER - Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944) - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/08/frankfurt-school-dialectic-of-enlightenment LEWIS CARROLL, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) Class War and the Cereal Killers café - https://infinitelyfullofhope.wordpress.com/2

Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) was one of the last surviving members of the Surrealist movement, and one of the most singular figures in English modernism. A writer, painter and sculptor, who moved from an English country house to Mexico City, via Paris and New York, Carrington’s life spanned incredible political changes and numerous cultural movements, yet her interests and style remained consistent across the different fields in which she worked. This week, Juliet talks to Mexican novelist and critic Chloe Aridjis about her personal and creative relationship with Carrington, as well as Carrington’s life and work, and its influence on Josh Appignanesi’s new film Female Human Animal, in which Chloe and Juliet both appear. WORKS REFERENCED WORKS BY LEONORA CARRINGTON The Debutante and Other Stories (2017) - https://www.silverpress.org/the-debutante-and-other-stories/ Down Below (1943) - https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-strange-irreverent-worlds-of-down-below-and-the-complete-stories-of-leonora-carrin