The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
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Lives that matter
MIK SABIERS pays homage to a book of urban portraits drawn from 40 years of activism and engagement
The Battle of Lewisham: civil rights activist, Darcus Howe, says from the roof of the toilet block in Clifton Rise, Lewisham on August 13 1977: “The National Front are marching here for one reason and that is to intimidate this multi-cultural community”.
[Syd Shelton]
This right-wing conspiracy theory is used to justify the coercive measures against gender, race and labour rights that best serve capitalism, attests GAVIN O’TOOLE
KENNY MONROSE recommends a new exhibition that highlights the significance of Black British music
ANGUS REID is bowled over by an exuberant film about the making of Keith Jarrett’s legendary concert
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O’CONNOR and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Savage House, Enzo, Madfabulous, and Erupcja
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
Stills From Life
Syd Shelton, Unicorn Books, £40
SYD SHELTON’S Stills From Life is a 50-year focus on race and class struggle, taking the reader on a journey from the proud slums of Sydney to Brighton beach. A key activist in the original Rock Against Racism movement, his shots range from the streets to the stage and back again, and almost all with the focus on people.
Shelton’s photographic career starts on the opposite side of the world. Having studied in Wakefied he visited Australia in the early 1970s where he started to document society, taking shots of the inner-city suburb of Redfern, and most notably people of “The Block,” one of the first Aboriginal housing settlements.
This early work is dark, moody, somewhat oppressive, but impressive. A companion piece on Woolloomooloo and the fight against gentrification and the “green ban” that stopped residents being evicted is stark, with the subjects becoming detached, mirroring the gradual erosion of the working class from the docks and surrounding area.
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