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Stop 30 from the show |
West End | diary | Peter Kennard | artist | radical painter | Gimpel fils | Victorians
AN exhibition of works by one of Britain’s most radical painters, Peter Kennard , has gone on display to mark 40 years since the turbulent student uprisings of the summer of 1968.
As a member of a growing disaffected youth culture, angry at the world and its injustices, Kennard spoke for a cohort of society who were just finding their voice.
His 1968: Stop paintings, now hanging in the Gimpel Fils gallery in Mayfair, mark the beginning of a remarkable career.
Armed with a camera and an eye for the human face of oppression, Kennard’s photomontages invoked the bile and fury of his peers – a reaction to the rampant militarisation of the world.
Peter, who grew up in Paddington, told us he wanted to go further than just painting victims.
He said: “More than just capturing victims I wanted to portray the energy of the student movements on canvas. Forty years later and I still don’t think the art world does enough to mobilise and cajole people. And when it does it just becomes propaganda. It’s good that people come up to me thinking I painted these yesterday. It says a lot about the times we live in but we need to do more.”
Accompanying the exhibition is a debate to explore the legacies of the uprisings. Speakers, including Tariq Ali, Esther Leslie and Hilary Wainwright, will discuss the role of art in politics. They will attempt to expound the age-old question: Can artists ever instigate political change or are they just an inert reflection of the times?
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Victorians’ Soyer diet
A tombstone of one of London’s first celebrity chefs is to be given a historic makevoer.
Alexis Benoi Soyer, who is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, fled to London during the July revolution of 1830 and was appointed to the Reform Club in Pall Mall, where his kitchens became so renowned they were opened up to the public.
Cooking for many high- society figures, Soyer’s reign is comparable to that of Gordon Ramsay or Marco Pierre White today.
During the Irish potato famine he was comissioned by the government to develop a soup kitchen, and later worked with Florence Nightingale to improve the abominable diets of soldiers in the trenches.
Soyer has been credited with a number of culinary innovations such as cooking with gas and using ovens with adjustable temperatures.
He even marketed his own line in bottled foods and invented kitchen appliances.
When Queen Victoria was crowned, Soyer was given the daunting task of cooking breakfast for 2,000 dignitaries.
And Soyer puts a sword to the idea that cookbook endorsements are modern phenomena, penning a number of best-sellers including Soyer’s Charitable Cook Book and A Shilling Cookery for the People.
Soyer died in 1858 and an elaborate monument (pictured) was erected in his memory in Kensal Green. English Heritage has granted £12,800 towards the cost of repairing the monument.
Detective work aids quake appeal
THE owner of a Chinese restaurant was scratching her head after receiving a crumpled £20 note in the post marked with no address and the words “Please forward Chinatown Appeal, Soho”.
The postmark was too faint to read and there was no trace of the sender.
Christine Yau, owner of Yming restaurant in Greek Street praised her local postman for his “detective” work in handing over the money.
And now the money has been sent to help the relief effort in the wake of the May 12 earthquake which hit south-west China and claimed the lives of more than 60,000 people.
She said: “We are grateful to Nick, a man of great integrity, who we hope will remain our local postman for the next 50 years.
“To the person who sent the £20, on behalf of the Chinese, thank you, how very kind of you. We are touched.”
Ms Yau has written a cheque and sent it to the Chinese Embassy on behalf of the anonymous donor.
l To donate to the appeal, send cheques made payable to British Red Cross China Earthquake Appeal to: British Red Cross, PO Box 1217, Sunderland SR9 9WD or to donate by phone, call 0845 054 7201 (24 hours).
Haw’s seven-year pitch
PEACE protester Brian Haw marked seven years in Parliament Square on Monday.
Mr Haw, who has protested outside Parliament against the government’s foreign policy in Iraq day and night since June 2 2001, fasted and prayed overnight from Sunday to Monday to mark the long stretch he has spent demonstrating against the war.
Supporters from far and wide descended on Westminster to pay tribute to the anti-war hero.
He said: “For humanity’s sake we have to continue protesting. I have had a lot of people from all over the world come up to me and share the same worries as me.”
Mr Haw, who was nominated for the Muslim News Awards for Excellence in March, said he intends to continue his opposition to economic sanctions on Iraq, the suffering this causes Iraqi people and to the invasion and occupation of the country. |
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