Writing Space

Writing Space

7.05.2013
'I mean, it's not as if we don't have it,' she said hurriedly. 'Our savings account is very healthy.' I nodded, forgetting for a moment...
Week 24 Debate and Debacle

Week 24 Debate and Debacle

7.05.2013
As I walk the week past washes over me. In a weird way I am not only leaving London I am also saying goodbye to the last week. It was an...
Women's Right to Create: Feminism and the Arts

Women's Right to Create: Feminism and the Arts

4.05.2013
One only needs to look around the world at the terrible situation for many girls and women to realise that feminism is still necessary...

Battersea Decorative Fair - Week 23

29.04.2013
If you sell Antiques here you face an uphill struggle. If you sell a 'look' you start at an advantage. There are dealers who strive to...
Open Letter to Maria Miller: I Agree With Your Fellow Tories, Let's Commodify Culture

Open Letter to Maria Miller: I Agree With Your Fellow Tories, Let's Commodify Culture

27.04.2013
The fact is, as you know, tourists don't flock to this great country to watch the footie, or eat in the restaurants. They come to visit...
Can You Make Art Without Oil?

Can You Make Art Without Oil?

26.04.2013
Oil companies aren't known for their ethics. Last month an ExxonMobil pipeline spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, wreaked havoc in the small...
For Me, My Art's Just Another Way to Express Myself

For Me, My Art's Just Another Way to Express Myself

25.04.2013
I think people are 'just creative' and this can be expressed in a number of ways. Bob Dylan and David Bowie create both music and art....
Testing Times: Fighting Culture's Corner in an Age of Austerity

Testing Times: Fighting Culture's Corner in an Age of Austerity

24.04.2013
It almost goes without saying that the arts have an intrinsic value - the 'arts for arts sake' argument has been made countlessly and convincingly....
Does The Arts Have 'Economic Value'?

Does The Arts Have 'Economic Value'?

24.04.2013
The arts world has to stress its "economic impact" if it is to come through the next round of government cuts successfully, Culture Secretary...

Life in the Arts Lane - Week 22

22.04.2013
Naples is always a shock and a surprise. The mess and the chaos on the streets disguise a systematic way of life that is probably unchanged...
Spring Books Into Action

Spring Books Into Action

20.04.2013
As the Thatcher funeral hoopla fades away and the focus shifts to the likely rout of the Con-Dems in the 2 May local elections the political...
Saloua Raouda Choucair Exhibition Opens at the Tate Modern, London

Saloua Raouda Choucair Exhibition Opens at the Tate Modern, London

18.04.2013
Choucair, who still lives in Beirut, developed passionate interests in architecture, Islamic art, and then Western abstract art. These...

Critic on Stage: Showtime

18.04.2013
Several months ago I decided to spend £70 on nine contemporary dance classes. I gave it pretty much no thought beyond: 'this could improve...

Life in the Arts Lane - Week 21 Spring Has Finally Sprung

15.04.2013
Spring has finally sprung. Admittedly there is the worrying, nagging doubt that another cold wet snap lurks like some mugger round the...