In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
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Solidarity with former mining communities
JOHN GREEN applauds a compassionate study of former mining communities that is filled with empathy, and anger
Hugh & Jason, Croeserw
[Tina Carr and Annemarie Schone] 
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes the reissue of a seminal work of revolutionary theory that have genuine relevance in the current context
RON JACOBS rides shotgun with a member of Black Bloc on the wave of anti-capitalist protests of the 1990s and early 2000s
Coalfaces – Life After Coal in the Afan Valley
Tina Carr and Annemarie Schone, Parthian, £25
COALFACES portrays the life and landscape of five small communities in the Afan Valley of south Wales, following the closure of the last pit. Since then, the area has had to deal with high levels of unemployment and has faced severe adjustment problems.
Over more than 10 years, Tina Carr and Annemarie Schone worked with the residents of the valley to document the place they call “home.”
As the late painter and broadcaster Osi Rhys Osmond writes in his introduction: “This photographic reportage, together with a DVD of interviews, comes to us with a strange duality.” It presents a challenge but is also a paean to the resilience of the valley people.
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