The politics of culture as testimony
June 1, 2017
Some thirty researchers from around the world met at the University of Nottingham on Monday 22 May for a workshop on the politics of culture as testimony. The workshop marked the end of the first phase of the AHRC-funded research network, Culture and its Uses as Testimony, that has been exploring how: cultural testimony can …
Britain in Focus: A Photographic History
March 20, 2017
Considering the ubiquity of images, and for the most part, their photographic origins, television has infrequently reflected on the medium of photography in a sustained way. So, it is well worth the effort to watch and reflect on the ‘season of photography’ upcoming on the BBC. The first major presentation in the season is the …
Can we make Nottingham a slavery-free city?
November 1, 2016
Abolishing modern slavery is at the centre of Theresa May’s personal policy agenda. National Government has mainly focussed on the implications for foreign policy, trade and development, and police enforcement, as well as responding to reports from the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland. However slavery in the UK is principally encountered and addressed …
The James Plays – Scotland’s answer to Game of Thrones?
June 7, 2016
The James Plays has been billed as Scotland’s answer to Game of Thrones by the Daily Record. Rona Munro’s trilogy of plays, brings three 15th century kings to the stage. All three died by violence: the first murdered, the second blown up by a cannon, and the third in the aftermath of a battle against …
Julian Bond: a celebration
May 11, 2016
Join us at the British Academy to celebrate the life and activism of Julian Bond (1940-2015) on Tuesday 24 May at 6pm for a free event Post by Professor Sharon Monteith. Julian Bond was booked as keynote speaker in London but sadly passed away in August 2015. In the obituary I wrote then, I promised …
Civil rights on film: Eyes on the Prize
May 10, 2016
Cinema is central to our understanding of civil rights movement history. Join filmmakers and historians at the British Academy on 24, 25 and 26 May to discuss the relationship between history, activism and documentary filmmaking. The Civil Rights Movement exists in “grainy black-and-white” (Obama, 1995) When Barack Obama published Dreams From My Father in 1995, …
Blogging Shakespeare at Nottingham
April 4, 2016
By Peter Kirwan April 1st 2016 marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of The Bardathon, my personal review blog of Shakespeare. I set the blog up in 2006 to chronicle my (successful) attempt to attend all fifty-four productions in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2006-07 ‘Complete Works Festival’. During that year I developed …
A Nottingham Night’s Dream
February 23, 2016
Peter Kirwan previews an exciting collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Nottingham’s very own Lovelace Theatre. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2016 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an unusual and very special event. The production (which had its press night in Stratford this month) features a star case of professional actors as the …
Reading Hamlet in a Labour Camp
February 12, 2016
By Alessia Molteni Who doesn’t know Shakespeare in Europe? For many people he is only a vague memory from high school, for others a great artist and for a fanatic bunch of people, the brightest star in the firmament. Could someone with a non-european cultural background, from a different social and political environment, …
Emotive Objects at Nottingham Castle: Part 4
February 9, 2016
Richard Gaunt’s busy few months at Nottingham Castle working as ‘Curator of Rebellion’ has come to an end. He has continued to help shape the historical content informing the new galleries by researching some of the emotive objects which it is hoped will prove particularly appealing to visitors. This is the final instalment in a …
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