ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
Ruskin’s vision
NICK MATTHEWS welcomes the Communist Party of Britain’s commitment to culture and suggests that the Victorian critic points the way toward combining social function with beauty
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
RECENTLY I have been delighted to see the Communist Party take the issue of culture more seriously.
Raymond Williams argued that “the Labour Party and the unions had failed throughout even to see the cultural struggle as a major element in all political and economic struggles.”
There is much for Marxists to consider. The founders of Western Marxism, Gyorgy Lukacs and Antonio Gramsci, made huge contributions in this space as did our own Christopher Caudwell.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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Nick Matthews interviews JAMES CROSSLEY on the enduring legacy of Joseph Arch and the need for a progressive patriotism to counter far-right narratives, exploring how historical figures are rediscovered and redeployed
