Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
The dangers of throwing the baby out with the bathwater
We cannot allow culture be used to widen the divide, to transform Russians into non-European savages, while painting all Ukrainians blindly as heroic martyred defenders of Europe, writes BEN LUNN
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ALISTAR FINDLAY is mesmerised by this multiple ‘Visions of Scotland’ assault on the audience’s eyes and senses
The Star's critics ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA reviews I Am Love, The Penguin Lessons, Freaky Tales, The Thicket
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
THE escalation of violence in Ukraine, following the eight years of instability, has been harrowing to observe. The devastating loss of life, the desecration of historical sites and increasing horrors, which for two nations whose history is so deeply intertwined makes the conflict all the more difficult to stomach.
Though many dismiss art and culture as a frivolous endeavour, its importance becomes all the more vital during such dark days. It can be a vessel to challenge the warmongers, it can depict the inhumanity of war, it can share tales of heroism, and most importantly humanise those we are told are the “enemy.”
For these reasons, the current weaponisation of many facets of our life show the massive ideological and humanitarian battles that we need to fight throughout Europe and the West in general.
More from this author
BEN LUNN draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians in the UK are being censored by Israeli-sponsored lawfare
BEN LUNN reports from a new music festival in New York, and singles out a breathtaking composition that protests directly against femicide in Mexico
The centenary of his birth is a chance to assess the remarkable combination of Marxism, activism and modernism in the works of Luigi Nono
As the debate around voluntary euthanasia returns, we now have some seriously disturbing evidence from those places where it has become recently legalised to convince us that Britain is not ready, argues BEN LUNN
