neoclassancients

A weekend in the bubble that is Stroud. Attended NeoAncients – lots of music and motivating talks that connected politically and galvanised my soul. In terms of sound shout out to Haress, Smote, Dawn Terry, The Last Sacrifice. The great talks - Staying Analogue in the Age of Distraction - Andrew Smith. Megalithic Portal x Megalithic Imperative - Andy Burnham + Neil Mortimer + Patricia Brien, check out the website – megalithic.co.uk Visions of the Occult - Victoria Jenkins. Common People - Stephen Ellcock + Leah Gordon with Maxine Peake. Don’t forget The Museum of Roadside Magic and The People’s Pyramid Mummification Van. Generally a time of making connections between the ideas in the books Common People, England on Fire and Trespass, the over 5000 government acts that make up the Enclosures Act, its relationship to the slave trade, working people, the landed gentry and Sizewell operations. Fave notes – meme magic, merky territory, ghosts in the liminal spaces. Onto screens – Hypnotic – great idea shame about the music, script, acting, camera work and editing.

itsallaboutrethinkingthesystemwelivewithin

A day at Primadonna festival in Stowmarket was illuminating as ever - I spent most of my time at the World As It Should Be stage. Jane Dyball chaired a great discussion with Selina Flavius of Black Girl Finance and Bank of England’s Jack Meaning, co-author of Can’t We Just Print More Money? Lots to think about and I learnt about Pigouvian tax. Jenni Nuttall, academic and author of Mother Tongue was fascinating – the book, all about words, their control and meaning is already on the bookshelf. Sawad Hussain and Dr Sofia Rehman created a conversation that talked about how language retracts and expands, allowing movement through time. The quiz about our digital relationships was excellent – some surprising new knowledge. Elaine Kasket’s Reboot: Reclaiming Your Life in a Tech-Obsessed World used a great platform to share her knowledge – another book that will be on the shelves when it’s out. Other highlights include Preeti Dhillon, The Shoulders We Stand On which details non-white collective movements that have attempted change. The conversation led to how government repeatedly used community liaison positions to slow the momentum of change through division. A highlight of any festival or talk is Winnie M Li. I have heard her speak before about sexual violence and her life as an activist. She is such an amazing woman, her knowledge and strength give content and argument to the voices and thoughts I have, especially around understanding our world built with a particular set of rules which in turn mean that we can only work within those parameters. What we measure is what we value, consider the concept of teaching to the test. Thinking outside this paradigm is a challenge, especially if those rules are created by men unlikely to give those powers away and who use the very systems, they have created to enforce them. All in all, a great day which leaves one energised to get back in the fight!