INDIGO 2
Thursday, 17 November 2016
F O O D & DR I N K 3 The psychology of nostalgia in comfort food 4 Comfort food around the world 5 Waffles: the ultimate comfort food? T R AV E L 6 Does ‘doing’ a country count as travel? F EATUR E S 7 Living with epilepsy: an experience piece V I S UAL AR TS 8&9 The Bowes Museum’s newest acquisition makes it a must-see destination F I L M & TV 10 Durham’s Potter connection 11 The Crown: Netflix’s most expensive TV series ever STAG E 11 A look at films on stage 12 Globe-trotting with Shakespeare Our editors’ picks for upcoming student productions to watch F ASHI ON 13 Upcoming fashion scenes in non-Western societies BOOK S 14 Interviewing the illustrator of Virginia Woolf’s newest editions Overcoming writer’s block M U SI C 15 All about Radiohead C R E A TI VE W R I TING 16 Exploring gender
Cover photograph: Grace Tseng Chef: YC Chin
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hen I was about seven or eight, I stepped into the kitchen while dinner was being cooked, and when no one was looking, I picked up the knife that was sitting on the chopping board and tried to cut the vegetables sitting on there. When my dad saw me fiddling with the knife, he went up to me and said to me that I was doing it wrongly, then taught me how to properly slice onions and garlic. He didn’t panic, he didn’t try to take the knife away, and he didn’t shout at me. That was how I first learnt to cook. I then spent many an evening in the kitchen of my childhood home standing next to my father, cooking with him. From him, I learnt how to make fried rice (see cover), fried egg, chinese omelette, claypot rice, stewed pork, steam fish, and stir-fried vegetables among other dishes. Every time I make one of these homecooked dishes in my student house, it evokes a strong sense of nostalgia. So I understand where Food is coming from in their feature on comfort food. For me, it’s fried rice. But for others, it might be pasta or bread, or even cheese or chocolate. But food goes beyond directly evoking memories, and is also one manifestation of our differing global cultures, cementing the fact that we are all different. For instance, both the Italians and the Chinese might have noodles, but what they do with them is incredibly different. Food thus looks at some examples of comfort food around the world in their feature, before offering up their take on waffles as one of the great comfort foods. Waffles is one of those foods which can be enjoyed with a sweet taste as well as a saltier taste. You can put ice cream and chocolate sauce on it and eat it as a dessert, ot put fried chicken and bacon on it as a proper meal. Its flexibility is impressive, but to say that it is the best would be to disregard the great culinary traditions of the rest of the non-Western world. And indeed, keeping our eyes peeled for the next big hit, no matter where it is from, is what Indigo does best.
IND IGO E D ITO R S YC Chin Olivia Howcroft (deputy) FE A TUR E S E D ITO R Sophie Paterson C R E A TIVE W R ITING E D ITO R Anna Gibbs S TA GE E D ITO R S Sofya Grebenkina Alison Gamble (deputy) V IS UA L A R TS E D ITO R S Jane Simpkiss Lolita Gendler (deputy) BO O KS E D ITO R S Ellie Scorah Aaron Bell FA S H IO N E D ITO R S Victor Schagerlund Emma Dennison (deputy) FO O D & D R INK E D ITO R S Divya Shastri TR A V E L E D ITO R S Naoise Murphy Charis Cheesman FIL M & TV E D ITO R S Simon Fearn Eugene Smith (deputy) M US IC E D ITO R S Rory McInnes-Gibbons Bethany Madden (deputy)
YC
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FOOD & DRINK Thursday, 17 November 2016
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Food and nostalgia Looking at the psychological tie between food and memory.
The madeleine, or petite madeleine, is a traditional small cake from France, with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. By Divya Shastri Food and Drink Editor food@palatinate.org.uk
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e reach for food to help us celebrate in times of joy and to comfort us in moments of sadness or stress. We need food to survive and every time we reach for some it provides a subconscious connection to our first caregivers. As a result, our lives revolve around food so greatly that it is intertwined with the very fabric of our beings. Food reminds us of where we are from, who we are, and who we were. The link between food and memory is so great that it impacts our likes and dislikes, our very notion of ourselves. When nostalgia
Nostalgia is defined as a “bittersweet emotional reaction that may be experienced by an individual when external of internal stimuli takes him back to an ideal part moment or event.” is added to this mix we are transported back to the past. Eating familiar dishes evokes buried memories - those of our parents, family dinners, celebrations of all varieties, our travels and so, so much more. The prime literary example of a food that has evoked nostalgia and provoked memories of all
kinds is Proust’s little madeleine. How is it that one tiny bite of a light and spongey cake transported Proust back to his childhood? Food has a transportitive function because it can induce nostalgia. Who doesn’t have a particular food that can immediately send us back to our childhood haunts, to the playground on a hot summer’s day or the school cafeteria? Nostalgia is defined as “a bittersweet emotional reaction that may be experienced by an individual when external or internal stimuli take him back to an ideal past moment or event.” For one to feel nostalgic there must be a revival of certain emotions that are caused by a particular object. It turns out that food is particularly potent in this respect. There are six themes that link food and nostalgia: childhood, yearning, substitution, homesickness, special occasions and rediscovery. When Proust bit into that famous madeleine he was able to revive memories of his mother and his childhood along with past emotions, allowing him to feel a bittersweet comfort. Nostalgic associations with food are of three main types: positive food nostalgia, which is when a particular food evokes emotions such as joy, happiness, and contentment. Negative food nostalgia, when we have negative associations with a certain food because it reminds us of negative situations, perhaps a time when we were angry or upset or had that terrible food poisoning or throbbing hangover. And, finally, ambivalent food nostalgia (bittersweet): this is when a particular food makes us feel contradictory emotions of joy and sadness. The emotions we associate with a particular kind of food impacts whether we like it or not, ir-
respective of taste. Not surprisingly, nostalgic food consumption is generally related to positive emotions. We are sentimental beings and the influence our memory has on us is strong. So, our favourite recipes and foods are generally those that correlate greatly with positive childhood memories, particularly important events such as birthdays, anniversa-
There are six themes that link food and nostalgia: childhood, yearning, substitution, homesickness, special occasions, and rediscovery. ries and family gatherings. The connection between food and nostalgia is particularly important when we are making bad food choices that are comforting. So we should look out for that. But it plays an equally important role in linking people to their culture and their friends. It is important for us all to realise that if we break bread with our friends it creates memories and these memories help us build our communities – it solidifies our connections with the people around us as well as the world around us. So go forth and build some college memories that you can evoke in later years with the food you share. Illustration: Faye Chua
FOOD & DRINK 4
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Comfort food around the globe By Divya Shastri Food and Drink Editor food@palatinate.org.uk Italy: Spaghetti Carbonara You can never go wrong with pasta when looking for comfort food. Spaghetti Carbonara is deliciously creamy and has the perfect mix with eggs, cheese, bacon and black pepper. For an authentic take, add no cream. Whether you are looking for a delicious dinner or a bowl of comfort, Spaghetti Carbonara is sure to please your taste buds and tummy.
India: Butter Chicken With its roots in Punjabi cuisine, butter chicken is a delicious tomato based dish filled with aromatic spices and ladened with cream. Accompanied by Naan, it is the ideal comfort food since it is heavily decadent and delicious.
Mexico: Chilaquiles Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a combination of tortillas, eggs and salsa that is served with refried beans, shredded queso fresco and guacamole. Perfect for breakfast, this hearty dish can also be a great comfort food for bad days.
Eastern Europe: Pierogis Pierogis are Eastern European dumplings which are filled with items like potato, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese and fruits.
Photographs: Jeffrey W, Stu Spivack, Joy Huang, Grzegorz Biermnaski via Flickr
FOOD & DRINK Thursday, 17 November 2016
Waffles: the ultimate comfort? By Jia Wei food@palatinate.org.uk
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recently visited Waffley Good Company here in Durham, and that’s where I realised why waffles are the best comfort food. Here is a list of why I think waffles are your best comfort food option.
1. Taste The main reason we are so in love with comfort food is because of the significant story or meaning that comes behind it. According to the Virginia Commonwealth University researcher, Chelsea Reid, “There is an olfactory bulb involved with the sense of smell which linked to areas in the brain associated with memory and emotional experiences”. Therefore, it could be those spicy chicken wings you had for your 16th birthday, the ooze of succulence and the tingling aftertaste you relished with your best friends. It could also just be that strawberry cake you always ended up devouring messily with your sister during your childhood days. Regardless of whether it is savoury or sweet, a good waffle combines topping flavours with fluffy and crisp batter which leaves you wanting more. If you are ever at Waffley Good Company, try the ‘Clucking Fantastic’ which is topped with amazingly baked jalapeños, shredded chicken, salsa, avocado and a zest of lime juice. Though it is a savoury waffle, the creamy texture is the key to feelings of nostalgia! 2. For the love of chocolate! Have you ever wondered why there are so many chocolate lovers? It’s because chocolate is a fantastic superfood that triggers the release of brain chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins that regulate our reward centre and acts as a stress reliever. A key example of chocolate working well with waffles is that of the ‘Choco Indulgence’, a meal which increases your bliss with the goodness of banana, strawberries, chocolate sauce, as well as the melting moment of classic Nutella, some sprinkles of powdered sugar and vanilla ice-cream. 3. Evoking Emotion and Memory As humans, we like the feeling of familiarity and having a sense of belonging with each other; one of the ways to achieve this sense is by creating attachments between people through cuisine. We live to socialise and enjoy life, and while having good food is amazing, having good food to share with friends is extra comforting. So gather around and share your sweet and savoury waffles together! While at Waffley Good Company in Durham, eating the breakfast waffle reminds me of my teenage years in the Netherlands, where thin caramel waffles were intrinsic to our breakfasts, and it would be particularly special when Mom served breakfast with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and sausages. Yes, this meal is high in cholesterol and high in saturated fats, and although you might get restricted to just one piece of bacon or sausage, they respond to your ghrelin well, make you sumptuously full and that’s what comfort food is all about. 4. It’s still healthy! Healthy eating is a trend, and too many times we feel certain guilt if we frequently consume desserts and the calories just accumulate. However, waffles can make a difference because they are very flexible according to your nutritional choice. With gorgeous greens, ‘You Know Houmous Olive You’, is packed with baked olives, houmous, cucumber and arugula. Despite not being a big fan of olives, I was pleasantly surprised as the waffle was fluffy and moist, the olives were cooked to perfection, and along with a homemade houmous spread and crunchy cucumbers it made for a mouth-watering meal! This goes to show that comfort food can easily be both healthy and delicious!
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Quinoa Waffles Here’s an interesting and unique take on a timeless classic Ingredients: 1 cup plain flour ½ cup wholemeal flour 1 cup cooked quinoa 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons fresh oregano 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ cup chopped spring onions 1 slice of smoked salmon 2 eggs 1 ½ cups milk 3 chestnut mushrooms Basil leaves Shredded parmesan cheese Method: To cook quinoa: Measure the proportion in cups of water:quinoa by 2:1. Cook the water on high heat, uncovered and bring it to a boil. Pour the quinoa in. Then, reduce to low heat, cover and let it simmer. The process should take 15 minutes until all the water evaporates. Lastly, scoop out the quinoa and let it cool aside for 5 minutes. 1. Place flours, quinoa, baking powder, salt and oregano in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add rosemary, garlic, olive oil and spring onions. Mix. 2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with a bit of the milk. Add the remaining milk and stir well. Combine the wet ingredients with the flour mixture until just incorporated. Rest for 5-10 minutes. 3. Heat a waffle iron. Grease the plates with cooking oil spray. Place a cup full of mix on the iron and cook according to your waffle iron’s instructions. For the topping: (i) Prepare chestnut mushrooms, season them with black pepper and sauté them in olive oil. (ii) Cook a sunny side up and garnish the egg with Parmesan cheese. (iii) Place a slice of smoked salmon and sprinkle with basil leaves. Inspired by: www.cookrepublic.com
Photograph: Jia Wei
TRAVEL 6
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Go ‘do’ one Stop talking about travel like it’s only worth your next Instagram post. By Rupert Swallow travel@palatinate.org.uk
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omething is rotten in the state of travelling. At this very moment people all across the country, reunited after the long summer, are discussing their holidays and suddenly, without any prior warning, the conversation turns from a general discussion to a list of where they went, from “I learnt about Renaissance art at the British Institute in Florence” to “Oh yeah, and I did Florence.” One particularly egregious example of this phenomenon I heard recently came from a close friend, talking about their inter-railing trip, “Yes it was great,” he spewed “We did SO much culture!” I nearly spewed too. The idea of ‘doing’ somewhere is so repugnant, so crass in its reductive laziness, that I am constantly surprised people’s heads don’t explode like the politicians in Kingsman when they utter such inane bilge. ‘Visiting,’ ‘seeing’ or even the rather corporate ‘experiencing’ are all infinitely preferable effective synonyms, not simply for their subtly different semantics but also for the underlying attitudes they imply. Bear Grylls ‘does’ marathons, not countries; you’d never hear him say he’d now ‘done Alaska’ because he’d spent a month filming there. He would recognise that there is so much more to wherever he was that to make such a reductive statement is, put simply, completely ridiculous. This strain of language use, seemingly flowing so naturally from the question “What did you do this summer?” is simultaneously undercutting the very basis of travel and threatening to denigrate travelling to the mere status of a Facebook life event or a line on a CV, a depressingly limited tickbox affair. This is a far more important issue than simple
linguistic pedantry. This lazy language use is in fact slowly but inexorably corrupting our modern method of holidaying. In linguistic theory there is something called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This is the idea, so menacingly taken up by Orwell in 1984, that the way a language is used affects the thought patterns of those who use it; a German, by the simple fact of speaking German, will have a different way of perceiving the world to an Argentinian speaking Spanish. (This can also be extended further to dialects and registers within a language; a Yorkshireman is linguistically conditioned to respond differently to someone from Cornwall, according to this
theory.) Thus how you describe something effectively creates the thing you describe. With reference to travelling it is not hard to see that the whole semantic load inherent in using the verb ‘to do’ to describe visiting somewhere is wrongly placed. It implies an underlying attitude to travel both startling in its thoughtlessness and totally at odds with the enriching experience that visiting somewhere can be. ‘Doing a place’ arrogantly implies that there is nothing left for you there, that you have taken in everything that was valuable about it, sucked it dry of all its merit. It puts the place remotely into your past, creating a self-enclosed, airless episode which allows no leeway for the individuality of personal experience or the unique nature of the place itself to come through. You are finished with it, in every way possible. This simply isn’t true. In fact the opposite is often the case; tourist attractions become popular precisely because they are noteworthy; they are culturally important or aesthetically stunning, or both. Many places have been ruined by their popularity – a case in point being the floating villages of the Islas De Los Uros in Lake Titicaca, Peru, which I visited last year having heard tales of raucous weddings from my grandparents who went thirty years ago. In the event I have never had such an epically disappointing, frankly slightly traumatic hour-long boat ride in my life. Commercial tourism had totally obliterated any traces of local vivacity. The sad irony is that the inhabitants of the islands originally built their floating villages in order to escape the oppressive cultures of the mainland. While one of the Seven Wonders may, quite justifiably, be the motivation for and central feature of
a trip, one should never feel that one has finished with a place simply because one has seen its major attraction. I understand that this ‘doing’ style of travelling makes sense in the UK’s highly organised modern
Don’t come back from three weeks in India and tell me that you ‘did Rajasthan and the Punjab.’ culture and fits in with our time-poor lifestyles. However, speaking of places you have been so dismissively and reductively goes completely against the grain of the original purpose of travel: to experience local cultures and perhaps even to participate in, or add to them, in some way. What is so objectionable in this linguistic trope is the purely acquisitive way in which ‘going somewhere’ is so often expressed. Like millions of people each taking a grain of sand off a beach, the foundations of the modern travelling experience are slowly being eroded. Ticking off World Heritage sights and insta-worthy views like items on a shopping list is not only shallow and unoriginal but it leads to a vapid appreciation of what makes a country unique. It neglects local life in favour of a canon of perceived worthwhile experiences. So go out there, travel and have a great time. Just don’t come back from three weeks in India and tell me that you “did Rajasthan and the Punjab.” Photographs: Rupert Swallow
FEATURES Thursday, 17 November 2016
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Living with Epilepsy By Charlotte West features@palatinate.org.uk
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was eight years old when I had my first seizure. I was doing maths homework when I started seeing water droplets appear on my page. I tried to look up to the ceiling to see where the water was coming from, thinking it was a leak. I realised I couldn’t move my head or neck. The numbness in my face, which I previously had thought to be a result of me resting my head on my hand, wasn’t going away. I then realised the droplets of water on my homework were in fact my own saliva. My tongue felt heavy and my mouth felt dry. By this point my facial muscles felt like they were throbbing and my shoulder kept making jerky movements that I couldn’t control. I ran to my Dad and started wildly gesticulating and gargling at him, desperately trying to ask for help, but not being able to articulate anything. The hysterics only made the seizure seem worse, but almost as soon as the episode had started, I began to get feeling back in my face and shoulders, and the fit subsided. The next time I had a seizure in front of somebody I was watching Tony Blair be reelected for a third term with my Mum (something I’m now sort of proud of, like it was a premonition) and needless to say, I was at my first hospital appointment within a week. After meetings with various consultants, an electroencephalogram (basically involves having a lot of jelly and electrodes stuck to your head), and an MRI, I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. You don’t need to be hospitalised for a seizure unless it lasts longer than 3 minutes (which is good because they normally stick a suppository up your arse) so there wasn’t much of an intervention in that respect. My scans had shown there was no tumour or visible scarring. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, 6/10 seizures are idiopathic, and my seizures were classed as such. I was given a prescription for Carbamazepine which I had to take daily, and the contact details for my epilepsy nurse and then was sent on my way. Epilepsy just gives you a name for what is wrong with you but not much else. For the rest of your time with epilepsy, it will be a constant battle with telling the right people just enough to be acting legally and safely, but also as little as possible so that people don’t know what you suffer with it. To put it mildly, epilepsy has an image problem. Epilepsy has a rich and diverse history as it is a condition which isn’t restricted by geography or social strata. From prehistoric trepanning, to lobotomy, to purging and Eugenics programmes, to exorcism – epileptics have certainly been given a rough deal of it. Even today the restrictions put on epileptics is profound. Until as late as 1970 in Britain, if the bride or groom was a known epileptic, this could have been used to stop a wedding ceremony, because epilepsy could supposedly be related to insanity or being “mentally defective.” “EasyJet throws woman off flight after epileptic seizure despite paramedics declaring her fit to fly” is one recent example of prejudice in action. Despite this, there is generally a greater accept-
ance of the condition in many countries. Unfortunately this acceptance wasn’t accompanied with support. After the introduction of Anti-Epileptic Drugs and the changing attitudes of doctors towards the treatability of epilepsy, patients were now encouraged to engage in public roles according to “normative standards of citizenship”, and dealing with this condition was something which was now entirely the patients’ responsibility. Often when you tell someone that you have epilepsy they say something along the lines of “WOW that’s so interesting does that mean you’ve read the entire works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky because he had epilepsy and wrote about it etc.!” Many people now try and compensate for the treatment of epileptics by putting them on a pedestal along with Lenin and Harriet Tubman. Being in awe of someone’s condition can be just as damaging as vilifying it, particu-
Epilepsy just gives you a name for what is wrong with you but not much else larly when people are as misinformed about a condition as they are about epilepsy. It makes the whole experience much more isolating. The fact that this perception of epilepsy leads to isolation is particularly damaging for those with the condition. Personally, having seizures became something which was quite routine, but the judgement and the isolation I felt was something which haunted me. Knowing at any point I could lose control of my body, left me in a constant state of anxiety, paranoia and fear of how others might react. Many epileptics experience an “Aura” directly before their seizures, although technically an Aura is in fact a seizure in itself, which can be anything from a general feeling of being very scared to a specific smell or hallucination. Although I was able to pinpoint my auras as being a certain numbness in my facial muscles, this wouldn’t happen any more than 15 seconds before a seizure, which isn’t really a helpful indicator. The only thing that seemed to trigger my seizures was excitability, so I set myself strict parameters not to do anything that could cause me to have a seizure and could expose my condition. I’d enjoyed singing and theatre but was terrified to pursue these interests. I dived into schoolwork as a safe pursuit and steered clear of anything I’d labelled as ‘unsafe’. This meant dropping extracurricular activities, becoming far more reserved and withdrawn, and cutting myself off from friends and family. The psychosocial effects of living with epilepsy have certainly shaped me, and although I haven’t had a seizure in some years now, it is only since starting university that I have allowed myself to let go of some of the constrictions I arbitrarily gave myself. Socialising, drinking (figuring out alcohol wasn’t a trigger for me was a GREAT moment), having my first relationship, stressing, working, singing. Being able to do seemingly trivial things has been a liberating experience for me. One third of epileptics experience remission after a period of sometimes prolonged freedom
from seizures. I still experience what I believe are Auras where I get a numbness and tingling in my face. Even something like an intense headache has caused me to have a panic attack because I think there’s a possibility that it is my epilepsy returning. Despite this, I know that I am very fortunate in that my epilepsy is mild compared to some people who live with the condition, and the fact that I do not have to rely on AEDs to control my seizures is definitely a positive thing. In order to be able to support those with epilepsy, public understanding needs to improve. Epilepsy is nothing more than an umbrella term for a common neurological condition, which presents itself as recurring seizures. These can be anything from a moment of absence to full body convulsions. The fact is that most people don’t know what to do if someone is having a fit (for God’s sake don’t all crowd around and point). Even most epileptics don’t know that Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy can happen, and it is what Lenin died of after a 45 minute seizure. With so many charities trying to increase public understanding of what epilepsy is, and with it being such a common condition, it is imperative that the shroud of secrecy surrounding epilepsy is raised. It is then that we can learn about the plight of those with epilepsy, instead of using historical figures as some sort of poster person for all epileptics that have ever and will ever exist. Because the fact remains, yes, Joan of Arc had epilepsy, but so does Katie Hopkins. If that doesn’t convince you that you shouldn’t generalise about people with epilepsy, I don’t know what will.
Epilepsy effects as many as 1 in 26 people, but is still misunderstood.
Illustration: Faye Chua
VISUAL ARTS 8
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Bowes’ Bouts acquisition brings
Despite London competition, the Bowes museum has taken the first steps in
By Jane Simpkiss Visual Arts Editor Visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk
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he Bowes Museum’s most recent acquisition, St Luke drawing the Virgin and Child by the workshop of Dieric Bouts, is the centrepiece of their latest display, Image and Substance, that opened last week. The picture that it celebrates is highly significant art historically but it is also important because of the opportunity that it has brought to the North East and what its acquisition tells us about the future of regional museums. After an export ban was placed on St Luke drawing the Virgin and Child by the government last year, the Bowes museum successfully raised the £2.3 million necessary to acquire the painting with the assistance of the Art Fund and Heritage Lottery fund as well as with the generosity of private donors. The painting is beautiful. Dieric Bouts may not yet be a household name, but with the help of the research soon to be conducted at the Bowes, his renown will hopefully spread, and deservedly so. When looking at the painting it is easy to forget that it is over 500 years old - Bouts lived from 1415-1475. The colours are so vibrant, the faces so detailed and real. Every second you spend looking at this painting leads to a new discovery; the golden border on the Virgin Mary’s gown, St Luke’s workshop in the background, the tiny mussel shells holding the artist’s paints depicted on a sideboard. Whilst the painting can only be attributed to the workshop of Bouts, rather than the artist himself, it is still a highly significant piece historically, and one which we have been fortunate enough to retain in
the UK. Bouts was a master of his time and one of the most important followers of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. The painting displays all of the features and qualities of the early Netherlandish painting, and from the technical analysis of the painting, which makes up an important part of the Bowes’ new display, we can see the master’s hand guiding those in his workshop. The subject matter of St Luke drawing the Virgin and Child is rare, and this picture is the only one to depict such a scene from this period currently in the UK. The Bowes’ new acquisition highlights the importance of retaining certain works of art within the country. Bernadette Petti, assistant curator at the Bowes, has commented that export bans of cultural artefacts are not enforced for egoistic or nationalistic reasons: they are a positive measure taken by the government to “allow paintings that are historically linked to the UK to stay here and be appreciated by the community.” The Dieric Bouts painting is stunning and enlightening and for this reason alone its recent acquisition by the Bowes would be worth comment. However, they say a picture speaks a thousand words, and indeed this painting provides us with an important insight into the future of museums and heritage in this country. It is not everyday that a regional museum in the North East acquires a culturally significant and fought over piece of art; and this year the Bowes Museum has acquired two; the Dieric Bouts painting and ‘Portrait of Olivia Boteler Porter’ by Van Dyck, the subject of their last fantastic exhibition English Rose. Whilst funding has been cut across the arts sector in general, something which looks to increase in the years to come, it is heartening to see the growth
St Luke drawing the Virgin and Child from the workshop
VISUAL ARTS Thursday, 17 November 2016
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s hope to North East arts scene
n raising the North East’s art profile with its latest acquisition by Dieric Bouts
X-ray of St Luke drawing the Virgin and Child from the workshop Dieric Bouts showing the under-painting done by the artist
Dieric Bouts, recently acquired by the Bowes Museum
and development of a regional museum outside of London. If we are to prove to the nation the value and importance of the arts we must strengthen our art collections across the country, rather than concentrating them in London, allowing works to be accessible to more people and thus inspire everyone. As Bernadette Petti has said “acquiring a piece of art is a good opportunity for a regional museum to demonstrate that they have the strength and that they can have good works in their collection”. It is also a valuable way of enriching a museum: “an excuse to think about the interpretation and style and how you can interact with the public in the gallery. “It is good that it is not just the cultural centre that takes the largest and most important art works that are available for acquisition.” With the news last year that Bishop Auckland will soon become an important centre for Spanish art in the country with a new gallery dedicated to works by Zuburan and other important Spanish artists, these latest acquisitions by the Bowes can only highlight the positive development occurring within the arts in the North East. The Bowes hopes that with these acquisitions it can begin to build a name for itself as the museum of the North. The Bowes’ new painting will tour to both York Art Gallery and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery in the coming years due to the development of a partnership between the Bowes and these two institutions. At York it will be the subject of a digital project and an important part of their planned exhibition on Flemish painting in 2019, and in Bristol it will inspire a new education programme. The Bowes museum’s focus is on the research behind the painting and they will be holding lecture series
and an international symposium on Bouts at the museum in the future. The purpose of this pioneering partnership is to “bring the painting to a larger audience and to create new experiences for learning and enjoyment.” Bernadette Petti thinks that such partnerships could mark the way forward for regional museums : “It is definitely the trend at the moment and a clever way to solve many problems that local museums are having in this problematic time. It is something that we are testing and it is probably what will happen in the future and more institutions are likely to do the same.” The Bowes’ latest acquisition is a remarkable one. It is a magnificent painting and will certainly become a jewel in the museum’s collection but it also provides hope for regional museums in a time when budgets are tight. It is vital that museums up and down the country and not just in London are presented with the same exceptional opportunities as the Bowes and hopefully this new acquisition will help to carve a path for greater regional cultural development in the future. Image reproduced with permission of the Bowes Museum. Other Images by Jane Simpkiss and by AD Teesdale via Flickr Creative Commons
FILM & TV 10
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Durham School of Witchcraft and Wizardry With Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them just around the corner, Film & TV grab their Time-Turner and remember the role Durham has played in the franchise By Hannah Woods film@palatinate.org.uk
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hether you find the Harry Potter franchise ‘riddikulus’ or spell-binding, there’s no escaping its wizardry around Durham. The University boasts a wide array of magic, from making wands in the Durham University Harry Potter Society to playing Quidditch and even studying the module Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion through the Department of Education. Perhaps most exciting is the use of Durham Cathedral as an actual set for the films, rooting the city as a must-see location for all avid fans. Durham Cathedral was used in both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for exterior and interior shots of Hogwarts. The cathedral’s Chapter House first features as Professor McGonagall’s classroom for her transfiguration lessons, in which Harry and Ron turn up late to the lesson, thinking they’ve made it in time, only for McGonagall to transform from the cat sat on the desk. Director Chris Columbus recruited children from local schools such as Durham Johnston to feature as extras in this scene, making it a firm favourite among local families. Sadly, many of the other classroom scenes were cut from the final version of the film, meaning the only other shot of McGonagall’s classroom in this film is when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy all gather there for detention. Perhaps the most wellknown image of the cathedral is the ancient cloisters that became the snow-covered quadrangle where Harry releases Hedwig in The Philosopher’s Stone. Numerous volunteers who work at the cathedral today were present for the filming and one volunteer told me how she saw a stuffed Hedwig being carried towards the filming site.
Director Chris Columbus recruited children from local schools such as Durham Johnston to feature as extras in the first film The cathedral remained open during filming and, as long as visitors didn’t get in the way, they were allowed to watch the magic happen. These cloisters also featured in the second film in
an iconic, if slightly gruesome scene, where Ron performs the “eat slugs” spell, only for it to backfire on itself and cause him to cough up slugs. Interestingly, to be able to create an authentic landscape, the film crew had to create a fake wall in the cloisters to hide the modern lighting and plugs from their equipment. They also used the triforium (the upper-storey of the Cathedral) to set up their cameras and store props. The triforium can no longer be accessed as it is not structurally safe to do so, and there are rumours that the cast and crew left props there that were no longer required that are still up there today. In fitting with the nature of the cathedral, the staff do not avidly promote the fact that Harry Potter was filmed there, instead choosing to focus on its heritage and religious duties. I spoke to a volunteer who said she was also reluctant to
tell people as she didn’t want to spoil the magic of the films, especially for her younger grandson. Additionally, members of the Durham University Harry Potter Society told me how the film crew were planning to use Castle College’s Dining Hall for the Great Hall scenes and contacted the college to ask them for three weeks to film the scenes for the first film. Unfortunately, Castle had to turn them down because they were, and still are, a very popular place to host functions and events and there was a wedding taking place there during those three weeks. Although many people think that Christ Church College, Oxford was the inspiration for the Great Hall set, it was actually Durham’s own University College! If you travel only an hour away from Durham, you reach Alnwick Castle, another major filming location for the Harry Potter franchise. Not only were
many exterior shots of the castle used to create Hogwarts, it was here that Harry’s first broomstick expe-
Although many people think that Christ Church College, Oxford was the inspiration for the Great Hall set, it was actually Durham’s own University College rience took place in the first film (and consequently the castle now offers broomstick training sessions!). The castle can also be seen when Ron crashes his flying car in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. During the filming of this scene, there were a series of Ford Anglias parked at the castle to be used for different parts of the car’s crash landing at Hogwarts. I spoke to Daniel Watkins, head tour guide at the castle, who told me that “it was one of the first locations they visited in the whole series, so a few of the cast have talked about how it was a good kind of bonding all being out on location together, and how it was quite easy to imagine being a wizard going to school once they were in costume and in a real castle!” David Bradley (Filch) returned to the castle a couple of months ago, and remembered that it took all night to film the scene where he took the children down to detention in the Forbidden Forest as they couldn’t keep a straight face during takes. Once again, the castle remained open for filming, although Harry Potter wasn’t the massive worldwide success it is today so it remained fairly quiet. Thus, Durham and the surrounding area are an integral part of the Harry Potter phenomenon and the cathedral is an essential stop for fans doing the tours of filming locations around the UK. Although many of us didn’t make Oxbridge, we can now tell our friends and family that we matriculated and graduated in Hogwarts itself – far more impressive than any muggle institution! ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ hits cinemas on 18 November Illustration: Charlotte Way
STAGE
FILM & TV
‘The Crown’: Netflix’s new £100 million royal drama By Simon Fearn Film & TV Editor film@palatinate.org.uk
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hings you could do with £100 million: buy several private islands, make a respectable aid contribution to a developing country, or make two series of an Elizabeth II biopic. That’s the staggering sum Netflix shelled out for royal historical drama The Crown. Whilst not the most expensive TV show ever made as some publications claim (the first two seasons of House of Cards reportedly cost about the same), you do have to question the wisdom of Netflix’s investment. Were the 7,000 costumes and the £200,000 vintage train really necessary we wonder… With more substance than Downton and less sensationalist than shag-athon Versailles, The Crown nevertheless looks to be an interesting beast. Writer Peter Morgan bagged a Golden Globe for best screenplay for his earlier Elizabeth II film The Queen, so you’d think the series was in safe hands. In many ways The Crown is rather compelling, leaning more towards revisionist history than fluffy costume drama tropes. Churchill – currently scowling at us from the new five pound notes – is played by John Lithgow as a cantankerous exhibitionist, desperately holding on to power and obsessed with foreign policy and former glories. Far from Colin Firth’s hagiographic take on George VI in The King’s Speech, Jared Harris stars as a fascinatingly complex monarch, fundamentally decent but with a short temper and a certain coldness. The series is by no means perfect; much like Downton there’s an odd over-reliance on meaningful looks and too many shots of the royal household running down long corridors to add gravity. The central theme of the conflict between love and duty is also more or less rammed down the viewer’s throat, with several brooding speeches about how “the crown must always win.” The Crown is in many ways a brazen attempt to out-BBC the BBC on a supercharged budget; an effort to lure more traditional viewers away from the terrestrial channels while cashing in on the curiously royalist US market. It aims for a catch-all appeal and more or less succeeds. The stately cinematography is counterbalanced by Morgan’s determination not to be stuffy – King George reels off filthy limericks while Elizabeth (Claire Foy) at one point goes off on a tangent about farting dogs. As period dramas go it’s certainly high calibre, and the bloated budget can’t help but add an enjoyable sumptuousness to proceedings. With the Top Gear team due for their Amazon Prime makeover later this month, the TV revolution looks to be in full swing. The Crown’s humungous budget is just one of the ways terrestrial channels are struggling to compete with their online counterparts. The first series of ‘The Crown’ can be streamed on Netflix.
Thursday, 17 November 2016
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A silver lining for theatre on screen? The boundary between Film, TV, and Stage has been broken, but is this a good thing for the theatrical world? By Martin Shore stage@palatinate.org.uk
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he silver screen. Home to all the explosions - and musclebound meat-stick men walking away from said explosions - that you could dream of. It’s not exactly the first place you’d think of when you’re searching for a good version of Hamlet, is it? (Unless you fancy watching The Lion King.) Welcome to the era of theatre on the screen! The past few years have seen a significant rise in the availability of theatre for everyone, what with smash-hit cinematic adaptations or televisual experiments such as February’s Grease Live, and the recent Rocky Horror retelling. It could be argued that the boundary between TV, film and the everelitist theatrical realm has been broken, but is this a good thing? Is theatre on screen really all that? One of the major problems is the veritable lack of experienced theatre talent in these highly publicised shows. You might have been tempted by the 2012 cinematic adaptation of Les Miserables, with its cast that ranged from well-known Hollywood actors to young upstarts such as Eddie Redmayne. Put simply, such actors can’t have had the same training or experience – especially when compared to an actor who has started their career on the stage, and worked their way into such an industry. Even overlooking Hugh Jackman, it’s clear that these huge on-screen adaptations are greatly lacking actors with the same kind of talent, who look and feel natural on stage. Adaptations often draw more attention from those outside of the natural theatre-going audience, suggesting that productions are becoming more accessible. But this argument seems fallible, since investing into a big budget adaptation is not the same experience as witnessing a wonderful performance on stage. Rather, you risk being drawn into the razzamatazz of Hollywood glamour, a culture driven by celebrities and profits, not just by talent – as proven by Russell Crowe’s singing, seriously. Investing in such an industry can be seen to be fuelling the demise of the theatrical world, which is unquestionably smaller and more limited than the worlds of TV and film. Admittedly, theatre in a cinema or on your own gogglebox isn’t the worst idea ever. One of the worst things about theatre is not getting a good seat - try admiring the War Horse puppet from Row Z, then you’ll understand. The National Theatre’s live recordings occasionally pop up for a night or two in the Gala, providing the chance to sneak a peek at the on-stage action. If you missed out on the front row, there is merit in popping along to these screenings. Realistically, I’d concede that theatre on screen isn’t evil at all. Theatre is still considered to be much more of a niche form of entertainment than a night at the movies. It’s mainly larger cities (ignoring our
own humble roots) that play host to a theatre, but almost everyone lives within travelling distance of a cinema. Most cinemas are also taking advantage of the theatre on screen trend. They tend to be billed as one- or two-night special events to come along to; if you live out in the middle of nowhere, you get to enjoy a pseudo-live performance, and they make a killing off anyone who doesn’t have the time or inclination to toddle off to the West End because they really, really like Shrek.
Equally, there’s been a significant rise in the availability of direct stage recordings online through sites like digitaltheatre.com. Even the good old Royal Shakespeare Company is putting some effort in, and is trying to keep up with the growing interest in online streaming. In a few years, you could be parking yourself in front of your smart TV with a cuppa in one hand, loading up a neo-Tempest re-run. Finally, I’d like to dispute my own claims despite saying that it’s not the best way to ensure the theatrical industry stays afloat in a movie-goer’s world, most of the recordings that take place are officially sanctioned. Streaming is often done in a rental-style, providing consumers with infinitely more choice in shows to watch at home. And frankly, can you blame companies making the move online when Netflix is the biggest deal since the invention of sliced bread? If you could work around not being able to make money from ticket prices by recording and re-distributing the viewing rights to your productions online, I’m sure everyone would do it! So, it’s not all bad when it comes to on-screen theatre. Sure, you might risk some seriously hammy singing or overacting, but at least it gives everyone the chance to experience an art form that’s been considered snobby, elitist and inaccessible for far too long. Photograph: summonedbyfells; Flickr
STAGE Thursday, 17 November 2016
Editors’ picks
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n the wake of the madness of the US election, and Donald Trump’s presidency, where can we find solace except for theatre? In Pitch Productions’ light-hearted and humorous play Party we will find ourselves facing four idealists who want to ‘save the world from itself’. And if at times it seems like the world is beyond saving then we can at least laugh at our inability to find the cure. Party will be showing from the 18th of November at 19:30 at Wallis Room in St. John’s College.
Globe-trotting with Shakespeare By Beatrice Scudeler stage@palatinate.org.uk
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s an English student, there’s no escaping Shakespeare – he is the only prescribed author in British schools, and is revered by literary experts across the world. Nonetheless, too many of us find it a struggle to enjoy his plays, whether we see them performed on stage, or solemnly read them on a quiet evening between cups of tea. So what is the problem? Are we just not cultured enough for the Bard of Avon? Is Shakespeare’s style outdated, or are we simply not experiencing his stories in the optimal way to appreciate their beauty?
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achines, Ahir Shah’s stand-up show, explores themes of conflicting modern reality that would most certainly have us running to hide under the covers, if it wasn’t for his comedic approach. He feels ‘alienated from his fellow lefties’ and openly discusses the Paris attacks, and thereby shows that it is always better to air out our concerns rather than hiding behind their unspeakable natures. Following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the critically-acclaimed show will grace our fair city of Durham for one day only and promises to be unbearably hilarious.
It’s enough to look at a picture of the Globe in London to gain an idea of what an Elizabethan theatre would have felt like, with its open-air arena and circular galleries encouraging interaction between audience and actors. This has much to do with the way drama was approached in the 16th century. Theatre was not the passive experience that it can be
Theatre was not the passive experience that it can be nowadays Machines will be at the Gala Theatre on the 20th of November at 20:00.
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Photgraphs: Pitch Productions, Gala Theatre Durham
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nowadays, but was viewed as having a cathartic effect on the spectators, provoking them into reflecting on their own lives. The faux-roof covering the stage was known as ‘the heavens’, and was in many playhouses beautifully painted to mimic the sky, adding to the feeling that one was not in a world of performance, but in a magical microcosm of reality. So what does this all have to do with understanding Shakespeare’s plays, and the gibberish they seem to contain? Well, I believe that the world of drama has its very foundations in common human experience, in the universal feelings we share. In an environment where an actor can glimpse at the audience and notice their puzzled face at a particularly ambiguous line, he can use non-verbal communication to clarify its meaning. A gesture, a change
in intonation, or a single glance can be enough to replace one or two difficult words. This makes the performance more engaging, and prevents the audience from feeling unsophisticated for not knowing what a ‘candle-waster’ or ‘marchpane’ is. I have seen several plays at the Globe, from Macbeth to Much Ado About Nothing, and every time my understanding was vastly improved by the overall atmosphere of the theatre. With next to no props, all the focus was on the acting. The casts paid particular attention to the audience’s reaction, speeding up the pace where a particular passage might become tedious, and allowing time for the audience to gasp, laugh or boo any time they desired. No matter how talented the performance or elaborate the stage, modern theatre cannot quite compare. An example that comes to mind is a recent production of Measure for Measure at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Excellent in all aspects, it nevertheless lacked in pathos and intensity, which would have been especially needed with a problem play. The public were entertained, but not moved, and there was no suspension of disbelief – we were all passively watching a story unfold, but were not part of its world. On the topic of experiencing a Shakespeare play as a 16th century audience would have, one must also mention the changes that our language has undergone, and how different 21st century English sounds. Starting in 2004 with Romeo and Juliet, linguist David Crystal has been collaborating with The
Look out for open-air performances or go on a trip to London’s Globe Globe in productions of Shakespearean plays spoken in original pronunciation (OP), the accent that would have been used at the time. The movement has proved so successful that similar initiatives have even taken place abroad. Not only did the OP not confuse audiences, but it even made it easier to understand some of the jokes. Certain words, pronounced in OP, make for great puns, but their meaning is lost in modern English. For instance, ‘nothing’ would have been pronounced as ‘noting’, a term for eavesdropping at the time – making the title Much Ado About Nothing suddenly appear much cleverer, since that is what the play is about! So, if you’ve always found Shakespeare overrated, incomprehensible or just very boring, do not assume there is something wrong with you as a spectator, or him as a dramatist. Look out for openair performances or go on a trip to London’s Globe, and you will experience drama in a surprisingly interactive way. But most importantly, go see Shakespeare’s plays. Reading is wonderful, but nothing beats the magic of the theatre. Photograph: Kieran Lynam; Flickr
FASHION 13
Thursday 17, November 2016
New horizons
Eleonor Pomeroy explores the development of new fashion scenes around the globe.
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he world of 2016 is bearing witness to a steady process of international integration, with borders being crossed in all aspects of society, not least when it comes to fashion. In the wake of this progress, dichotomies such as traditional versus contemporary or fashionable, and non-western versus western can no longer be considered legitimate. This is the sentiment held by the members of the Fashion Research Network who attend the annual International Non-Western Fashion Conferences, and who represent the new generation of fashion scholars who are acknowledging the existence of different (non Euro-American) fashion systems. One of those who contributed to the 2013 conference was Dr.Yuniya Kawamura, a Czechoslovakian research professor of Fashion Sociology in New York. She wrote that in her opinion at the time, fashion could be theoretically analysed from many different angles and perspectives. However, regardless of how fashion was examined, it was often taken for granted that we were talking about Western fashion and not non-Western fashion or ethnic dress. As this year’s conference approaches (in Antwerp, Belgium, on 24th-26th November), and 2016 draws to a close having played host to hundreds of excellent shows from emerging designers worldwide, we might take a moment to reflect upon the progress made by two foreign fashion scenes. Two scenes that are taking large steps in integration into the global consciousness. After over 90 years, Bunka Gakuen remains one of Japan’s most prestigious institutions for the study of fashion; proudly counting internationally famous Japanese designers like Kenzo Takada, Junya Watanabe and Yohji Yamamoto amongst its alumni. The global fashion community has agreed that Japanese designers have long since eschewed the traditionalist labels that once threatened to dominate their fashion scene, allowing Japan to currently be considered one of the most sartorially progressive countries in the world. Japanese menswear brands are reaching heights
of cult-status popularity in both the West and the East and are celebrated as much for their fabrics as they are for the high level of detail applied to their garment construction. Names that regularly appear in this context include Visvim, Mountaineering, Vanquish, and Engineered Garments. Tokyo Fashion Week, held earlier this year, went a long way towards validating Japanese designers on an international stage and, as Vogue put it in their critique of the shows, held quiet innovation and craftsmanship at the heart of the collections; simple but with artistry at the core. But the arguably didactic practices at Bunka Gakuen contribute to the struggle that many young designers encounter when building a career outside of Japan. These new designers must not only simultaneously navigate Western status quos and internationalisation, but their own sense of cultural distinction as well. For example, the concept of success as a measure of status within Western markets noticeably jars with the emphasis that Japanese design schools put upon cultural identity. Not only that, but when foreign designers reach a certain level of popularity in ‘the West’, it can lead to a kind of migratory brain drain, with designers leaving their home countries to pursue careers abroad. This traditional migration path was typified by the absence of LVMH Prize semi-finalists Mikio Sakabe and Facetasm in Tokyo this Spring, following the move to Paris recently made by both brands. As unfortunate as it is, it is hardly unsurprising with Japan offering some breath-taking design concepts and designers such as Motohiro Tanji, Plastic Tokyo, and WrittenAfterwards; all of which stand at the forefront of the effort to propel Japanese fashion onto an international stage. Japan certainly doesn’t stand alone in this undertaking; many non-Western fashion scenes are finding themselves developing global followings in the wake of socio-economic, political and religious changes that have brought them to the attention of the rest of the world. Lagos recently hosted the third Africa Fashion Week Nigeria, backed by an
organisation that provides a platform to promote and empower Nigerian designers through international publicity. Nigeria is home to some exceptional design talent such as Asake Oge, Elawe Couture, House of Borah, House of Salem, Rikaoto (Mariam Elisha) and Yomi Casual, all of whom showcased their work in Lagos this July. The success and international interest sparked by Fashion Week Nigeria has subsequently inspired The African Development Bank to launch Fashionomics. The hope of Fashionomics is to allow for focus on developing the African fashion industry resulting in a boost in domestic investment for the burgeoning sector. The unprecedented amount of coverage that Nigeria’s nascent fashion scene is currently receiving is translating into a unique opportunity for its designers; some of whom have received endorsement from celebrities like Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. But in contrast to Japan, designers within Nigeria can struggle to keep up with the international fashion industry, in large part due to a lack of formal training and the difficulties faced by Nigeria’s textiles market. Once the third largest in Africa, it is now practically obsolete and thoroughly dependent on cheap imports from China. Despite this, and with the right support from the government to correct the industry’s structural weaknesses, there is no reason to expect the trajectory of Nigeria’s fashion industry anywhere but up. As trends continue to emerge in cities like Deli, Milan, Shanghai, Sao Paolo, and Casablanca, from designers of Indian, Chinese, Hispanic, Moroccan and Sub-Sahara African descent, it becomes increasingly obvious with every passing fashion week that the sartorial hegemony of the West is bowing to foreign influences at last. It seems that finally that emerging non-Western designers are beginning to take agency and show the rest of the world what they have to offer. Photograph: Kelechizuvaa via Wikimedia Commons
BOOKS 14
Thursday, 17 November 2016
To the publishing house Aino-Maija Metsola on illustrating new covers for Virginia Woolf’s works By Ellie Scorah books@palatinate.org.uk
pret the books in pictures.
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irginia Woolf’s work has resonated with readers for decades. Her flowing, emotionally charged prose is treasured by readers everywhere and the original twotone cover of To the Lighthouse has become a cultural icon in itself, gracing the walls of many an English student’s bedroom, or printed upon tote bags laden with books. But Vintage Classics have recently renewed Woolf’s works with new covers of their own, more colourful, and just as beautiful. We talked to Aino-Maija Metsola, designer behind the new covers, about the design process. What particularly drew you to this project? I was contacted by Vintage Classics and asked if I was interested in designing a series of covers for Virginia Woolf’s books. I immediately thought it would be an interesting challenge to work with Woolf’s texts. I felt humbled but also very inspired as I started to come up with ideas on how to inter-
Having worked in textile design before, how does designing book covers differ? I think the biggest difference is that when I design a book cover I start with someone else’s text and build on it, but when I design textiles I usually start with my own experiences and feelings. But as the projects proceed, both the book cover design and the textile become personal for me so in that way they are in the end quite similar. The form of a book cover is also more restricted than an interior textile which is something that has to be considered during the design process. I have actually designed some book covers before. My background and education is in graphic design and I used to work in a Finnish publishing house for a short while almost ten years ago. Textile design is something that came to
me almost by accident after taking part in a design competition. How do you think the abstract style of your work reflects the impressionist style of Virginia Woolf’s writing? Woolf’s writing is very intense which I felt is very inspiring. I decided to work with watercolours as it’s a technique that I especially like and I felt that painting with this medium enables creating pictures that suit Woolf’s text well. I wanted to use strong colours and combine them with fluid painting to create pictures that leave a lot of room for interpretation. I think my painting style is more impressionist than abstract. I usually think for example about a moment or landscape that I want to capture, and I focus on the colours and atmosphere. There was something in how Woolf focuses on a single moment and vividly describes nature that I felt is captivating. I felt this was a natural starting point for me when I began painting the illustrations. Images: Vintage Classics
Write here, write now Bulldozing the writer’s block
By Emily Smith books@palatinate.org.uk “When she got back from taking Cassie to school Fancy knew that she ought to be working on her wilderness romance. She had promised thirty thousand words to her editor by tomorrow, and she had only written eleven. Specifically: His rhinoceros smelled like a poppadom: sweaty, salty, strange and strong. Her editor would cut that line.” ― Jaclyn Moriarty, The Spell Book of Listen Taylor
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ronically, in my attempts to sit and write this article, I have succeeded only in compiling Etsy and Amazon Wish Lists, taking a walk in the pleasant Durham drizzle, and demolishing several bars of chocolate too many. Isn’t it interesting how writer’s block consumes us? Despite our best intentions and our noblest efforts, our minds prefer to roam elsewhere. This is what Wait But Why author Tim Urban aptly dubs the ‘Dark Playground’; the place which may be the most appealing now, but universally results in later suffering. As authors, we want to write, yet we cannot seem to bring ourselves to do so. We might even find ourselves able to write, yet we find our work only worthy of the trash. It comes with some comfort, then, that published authors (such as David Nicholls, who used software
appropriately called ‘Write or Die’) face the same conundrum as amateurs. It stands to reason that their different approaches to the situation prove enlightening – or at least reassuring – and with any luck, may provide a path to escape the swings and roundabouts of the ‘Dark Playground’. Hilary Mantel, winner of two Booker Prizes and novelist of the absurdly lengthy historical fiction Wolf Hall, is surely considered a conqueror of writer’s block. Her recommendation to those of us who have not yet written 700 pages is this: “Get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling … But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.” Wholesome advice. But she does not address how we go back to writing – just simply assumes that we will. Here the slightly more aggressive advice of Lili St. Crow may prove inspiring: “To be a writer is to be the very best of assassins. You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her… and squeezing every last drop out.” She seems to imply that as writers we have a calling to write every day; not for inspiration, but to ‘catch’
the muse when it arrives. This discipline is admirable and petrifying, but more so is her belief that we all will have times when we are inspired to write – times when the words are easier to find than potatoes in college meals. However, we cannot torture ourselves with either social segregation, as Mantel insinuates, nor by chaining ourselves to our desks. Perhaps the best course of action is a combination of the two techniques, with a sprinkling of common sense. It may well be sensible to commit to writing for a certain time per day, week, or month. Equally, inspiration does not arise from staring at walls: it is found by going out; by exploring our reality, and immersing ourselves in social interactions and observations. And if all else fails, Buckowski’s witticism proves as relevant as it is ironic: “Writing about writer’s block is better than writing about nothing at all.”
Three Word Book Reviews “Rebels fighting time” – The Catcher in the Rye, Fernando Martínez-Periset “Four is five” – 1984, Eugene Smith “Victorian acid trip” – Alice in Wonderland, Karn Chatikavanij Send your own three word book reviews to books@palatinate.org.uk
MUSIC Thursday, 17 November 2016
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Pyramid song for a pyramid stage One year on from the EU Referendum, what better way to drown the Brexit blues than with Radiohead’s Friday night headline set at Glastonbury 2017 By Rory McInnes-Gibbons Music Editor music@palatinate.org.uk
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alking about Glastonbury in November is a little like starting your Christmas festivities in May. Fortunately, we live where we do. As the lights go up on Silver Street, it is time to talk about the musical incarnation of Noël, namely the small matter of Worthy Farm’s dairy festival come music leviathan, Glastonbury. The figure of Father Christmas comes in many guises. In the music world, he is the gently bald and bearded Michael Eavis who has brought most of the twentieth century’s biggest acts to his Somerset barns. From legends like Bowie and the Stones to smaller pop acts like Beyoncé and U2, the cows have witnessed a barrage of some of the most diverse and celebrated music. As the autumnal leaves drop all around us, coating our shoes in gunk and grime, what could have led us to start thinking about the long distant shores of June’s mud-spattered spiritual cleansing? Well, if you must know, it was the October announcement of Radiohead as the first confirmed headliner for 2017’s festival. We endorse speculation here in the Music section, but the range of rumours for the other headline slots are magnificently diverse. If 2016 saw the festival fall for the safely flat populist trilogy of Muse, Adele and Coldplay, perhaps 2017 will see a plunge for the more experimental or something completely different. Worryingly, Guns N’ Roses are touted as a bookie’s favourite, while the more enticing florally monikered headliner would be Manchester’s pioneers of all things baggy, The Stone Roses. The apocalyptic likelihood of an Ed Sheeran set sends shivers down the spine of anyone even remotely musically inclined, only abated by the thought of Lady Gaga or Rihanna turning Glastonbury into a lucrative V Festival spin-off. The popocalypse, per-
haps. This would make Bieber’s new London residency a sure fire predictor of his headliner potential for 2019, and the end of Glasto as a safe space for anyone with musical taste. Here’s hoping for a Stone Roses Sunday slot, perhaps Foo Fighters on the Saturday (they had to cancel in 2015 owing to Grohl actually breaking a leg) and the glory of a Radiohead Friday nighter. Could we see the return of Gorillaz or even the extremely optimistic rumour, Daft Punk? Anyway, let’s deal in definites. We know our first headliner. For those of you have already taken the £243 plunge into the student overdraft to buy yourself a weekend of musical hedonism, you are in the highest quality of hands. The boys from Abingdon know how to do Glastonbury. Radiohead can call on a long history with Worthy Farm that parallels their rise as a band. Their first time at the festival was in 1994, when “Creep” was getting little air time and their debut album had just dropped. The only dud in their appearances was the 2011 Park Stage not-so-secret set that saw the band preview much of the new King of Limbs material, failing to ignite a damp and sober crowd in the murky rain. They were horribly overshadowed by the return of Pulp who played a stunning set of hits and took the crown in a festival dominated by these underground headliners. However, their previous headline shows, in 1997 and 2003, are often rated among the best in Glastonbury’s vaunted vault of an archive. A student of
have ever seen,” purring about the evening at length: “After we got done playing we were able to stay onstage and watch Radiohead play,” Coyne told NME. “I love Radiohead, and just seeing them embrace this huge mass of overflowing love and energy that was cascading down on them…it was amazing.” “Overflowing love” might not be a given from all directions as Glastonbury now features a far broader church than back then. Radiohead remain pioneers who bow to no crowd however big, their latest sets saw the band play mostly new material from A Moon Shaped Pool. As such, it seems that our ideal Glastonbury setlist, courtesy of Mason Boycott-Owen, seems a fair reflection of what may come to pass on 23rd June, 2017. After all, what better way to celebrate the anniversary of the EU Referendum than a night of Radiohead reverie. Some things never change; fourteen years later, Radiohead will bring their firebrand of innovative rock to the Pyramid Stage. Now we’ve just got the long wait for musical Christmas.
Mason’s ideal Radiohead setlist
I love Radiohead and just seeing them embrace this huge mass of overwhelming love the arts will tell you context is everything, and 1997’s set came precisely at Radiohead’s apogee. Just weeks after the release of their stellar mainstream breakthrough album, Ok Computer, this was the time when every Radiohead fan simply wishes they were there. I was three, but at least the ticket would have been free. Sadly, I couldn’t make it. The thing with Radiohead is they do not rest in the pursuit of something more. Call it perfection, pomposity or ambition, they have never feared stretching themselves above and beyond the normal comfort zone of most bands. In 2003, with the legacy of their previous performance looming large, they went one better and produced an extraordinary set of sublime proportion. Just Radiohead. Nothing less, everything more. No fancy stage sets, fireworks or distractions, the simple energy of the music in its purest form: entertainment unashamedly stripped back to the songs and the sound of a band at their best. And what a set it was, just check YouTube for the evidence. Leaning heavily on their latest album of the time, Hail to the Thief, they intertwined older material seamlessly into the core of the set. The Flaming Lips’ lead man, Wayne Coyne, has described the set as “one of the greatest shows I
Illustration: Akansha Naraindas
For a Spotify playlist of Mason’s ideal set follow us @PalatiMUSIC
CREATIVE WRITING 16
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Explorations of gender A Word From The Editor By Anna Gibbs Creative Writing Editor creativewriting@palatinate.org.uk
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hat exactly is going to happen if we casually step out of gender boundaries without a backwards glance? Nothing. As someone who views gender as irrelevant, it bothers me that at times I can still be cautious about doing this. I know it will be the inevitable result of growing up in a society which naturally separates females and males before they’re even born, but I still feel guilty. I can’t wait for the arts world to blur into gender neutrality. Will the novels of the future be gender neutral? Will we look back in a hundred years and shake our heads in amazement that we ever divided our species so strictly, that gender meant so much to us ?The fashion industry seems to be doing exactly this at the moment, and I pray for an eventual gender neutral Vogue simply for humans. This sentiment is echoed in this issue’s illustration of selfdescribed ‘gender capitalist’ model, Rain Dove. Our fashion editor, Victor, writes a wonderful, thoughtprovoking childhood anecdote for us in this edition. I felt the same towards collecting little French dolls based on the Madeline books- and shockingly, our respective genders had no relevance at all to our loyal attachment to our dolls. Imagine! By Victor Schagerlund
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hat do you want for your birthday’, my mother asked after having read me my bedtime story.
It was Sleeping Beauty, the story she just had read to me for about the thousandth time. This was about a decade before my feminist awakening, and I had not yet realised the rather disturbing hidden discourse in traditional fairy tales. In fact I cared as little for princesses in trousers as I did for genderneutral toys in general. Looking back, three year old me had an awfully embarrassing weakness for anything ruffled or sparkly. As with most children, I had absolutely no taste or moral conscience whatsoever. Therefore, on the top of my wish list for my fourth birthday was a limited edition Snow White Barbie doll. My mother knew this, because I had showed it to her in the store a few days earlier. So I rolled my eyes and reminded her that the only thing I wished for, and would ever wish for, was this particular Barbie. Spoiled as I was my Barbie collection was already extensive. To only mention a few I had a blonde girl, a redhead, a black girl with braids and everything they could possibly need: makeup, hair accessories, swimwear, gowns, a Cadillac and even a Ken. But what I didn’t have was Snow White. Oh how gorgeous she was! Firstly, she had long thick ebony hair as in the story and not a butch bob as in the vulgar Disney version. Secondly, her dress was absolutely dazzling: a cream coloured satin corset, laced with red ribbons: a full-length skirt in deep purple velvet: best of all, a long fur cape lined with gold brocade. How I adored and desired her. She was my first muse. Today, I can barely remember anything from my fourth birthday. To be honest I don’t think I can remember very many of my birthdays at all: I’m not nostalgic. Something that will never leave me however, is the feeling of excitement before opening my last remaining present. The one from my parents that should have contained princess Snow White.
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Imagine my disappointment as they bring a heavy, large and poorly wrapped package It was very obvious that it didn’t contain anything nearly as elegant or graceful as I had hoped for. As I ripped it open and begun to realise what was in it I felt as if my stomach tied itself into a horrible knot. Dizzy and in distress I began to feel a bit sick. Even writing this makes me feel uneasy. It was a bike. It was a red bike. Signal red, what a ghastly colour. With a forced smile I succeeded to say thank you and my grandparents urged me to try it. A rage started to erupt from deep within, but I managed to maintain a joyful expression and pose with the hideous monstrosity for the flashing cameras. After the photo session I left the bicycle in the drawing room, and I never touched it again. It would take me six more years to learn how to ride a bike. ‘Did you have a good birthday’, my parents asked me when the guests had left, and right before my light was to be put out. My sensitive soul was too overwhelmed to hold it in anymore, so I burst into tears. ‘Why did I get a bike, I never wished for a bike’, I sobbed. In hindsight a very intelligent emotional response on my behalf, as my parents then and there gave up all efforts to correct my non-normative preferences. Still to this day I hate bicycles and I certainly never ride them. I have however remained tirelessly camp and queer. Now gender as drag may be a concept for plebs, but I was unquestionably born a queen.