A Conversation with Dr Wayne Dooling

Rosemary and Garlic Roast Potatoes

Amelia Casey - Rerhaye BA, Arabic

I think it is safe to say that autumn has hit us. is is the best time of the year in my opinion, with the most heart-warming and cosy foods. And what doesn’t scream golden leaves and crisp cold nights like some roasted veg?

With this whole cost of living crisis and skyrocketing energy bills, the oven has turned into the demon of the household along with the hot water tank. So, when you turn it on for this recipe, make sure you have some other things to go in as well. Maybe some broccoli or cauli ower, a couple of sausages? A few beetroots, which are very cheap in Lidl I must say.

is recipe is one of the epics. Everyone who’s anyone should know how to make a banging roast potato. For those of you who have yet to learn: I’m here to help.

is particular way to roast tatties was shown to me by my Italian uncle, a genius in the kitchen. I was told not once, but twice, that these were the best potatoes some of my friends had ever tasted. No more needs to be said. Ingredients:

5 Potatoes (Maris Piper are the best for roasting)

2.5-3 tbsp of Olive oil (for the potatoes)

5- 6 cloves of garlic

6-7 sprigs of rosemary

3-4 tbsp of olive oil (for the drizzle)

A pinch of sea salt akes.

Method:

First things rst, mince the garlic and rosemary, and then mix it in with the 3-4 tbsp of olive oil and set aside to marinade.

Scrub your potatoes and chop them through the middle so that you have the two pointy ends as your halves (NOT lengthways so that the halves are atter).

Par boil (meaning boil them a little in some salty water), until a knife goes into them like butter. is should take around 10-15 minutes, maybe more depending on the size of the potatoes.

While the potatoes are boiling put the olive oil onto your baking sheet and place in the oven to warm up at fan 180 degrees. Place them cut side down on the baking tray and put them in the oven.

A er 20 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven. With the bottom of a glass, crush each potato down so that it is squished almost at.

Brush or drizzle on the garlic and rosemary mixture, making sure to coat each potato thoroughly (in between the gaps of the hassle backs).

Sprinkle with the aky salt, and place back into the oven for another 20 minutes – or until crispy and golden.

Et voila! e simplest yet the heartiest side dish. Dig in and prepare to be attacked by the most blissful combination of warm and musky avours, combined with a crackling crunchy texture.

“Everyone who’s anyone should know how to make a banging roast potato”

Credits: Amelia Casey-Rerhaye

Black History (Month) Year: A Conversation with Dr. Wayne Dooling

Naaz Hussein, BA Politics and International Relations

Black History Month was initiated in 1969 in the United States, permeating into a yearly tradition to celebrate black achievement and recognise the systemic oppression faced by Black individuals in day-to-day life. Coming from a culture where things are o en swept under the carpet, the conversation of oppression being one, moving to England has allowed me to understand the celebration of such months to a fuller degree. e protests on the streets, petitions to sign, books to read, people to speak to, learn, learn, and learn. In order to further my knowledge of Black History Month and its multifaceted nature. is week I interviewed Dr Wayne Dooling, the chair of the African Studies department.

What does Black History Month mean to you?

Dr Dooling had a very simple response and one that I could not contest, “I am ambivalent towards Black History

Month because every month is Black History Month.” Dooling continues to discuss that the recognition of Black History Month is now nationally present, signifying the interest in African history and a shi towards a structural change. However, he explains to me that his ambivalence towards the celebration of the month stems from his view on the very nature of Black History Month, “ e concept itself comes with some problems. ere is a chance people will forget about Black History Month. It is not a project, it’s cyclical, a constant struggle, but it’s not mentioned every day, and that needs to change”. When asked about what other problems are faced due to Black History Month, he states “ ey are ghettoizing it” he explains that mass corporations and companies have begun to treat the historic month as if it was Christmas, latching their corporate greed onto the stories of Black individuals that deserve to be heard. Creating this distinction and capitalizing o a month of pride only causes Black History to be perceived as the ‘other’ when in reality it is the ‘us’.

Dr Dooling sees many ways in which the nation can further recognise the upheaval faced by Black individuals in the country. His primary notion is to integrate the study of African history into school curriculums; “In this case, you could say Black History Month has almost failed us due to this not being changed, the education system must make African history integral to the general history curriculum as at the moment it is entirely peripheral.” Moreover, he explains that the average young person leaves high school with little to no knowledge of Africa as well as South Asia and East Asia, leaving a gap of information in young minds when understanding the history of minorities in this country.

Nevertheless, Dooling notes that SOAS’s approach is different, “I think virtually all that we do here at SOAS is Black

History Month, as far as Black history goes, we engage with it every day during the academic year”. Dooling,

alongside Professor Ida Hadjivayanis, was integral to the re-establishment of the BA Africa and Black Diaspora studies. “ is is a step in the right direction,” he says, the relaunch of this course encompasses the appreciation of African culture and history, placing Africa at the centre rather than a case study to discuss; “We wanted to give people taking the course an appreciation of the diversity of African language and cultural diversity.”

We are lucky to be attending one of the most diverse universities in the world. e resources we have at our ngertips are abundant. Use them. Take this time to educate yourself on African History and the Black experience in the UK. What does Black History Month mean to you? What does it mean to SOAS? What does it mean to this country?

If you or anyone you know feels as if they are being treated di erently due to the colour of their skin, please contact antiracism@soas.ac.uk. And remember, words of hate are not tolerated here at SOAS.

“A discussion with Dr.Dooling: Education and action does not end in October.”

Culture

The Tate Modern’s Hyundai Commission: Cecilia Vicuña’s

Amelia Casey-Rerhaye, BA Arabic

e thing I love most about the annual Turbine Hall installation is the curious wonder you feel as you rst walk into the enormous space. e knowledge that something grandiose and immense lies just beyond those glass doors thrills me every time. Chilian artist and poet Cecilia Vicuña responded ingeniously to the task she was given. e Brain Forest Quipu will be hanging in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern from the 11th October 2022 till 16th April 2023. It consists of two 27-metre mobile-like structures strung from the ceiling at either end of the hall. Each one is adorned with natural and found materials, interwoven and knotted, that reach down to the ground.

Two, pale, ghost-like sculptures are brought alive by the accompanying sounds and song playing from speakers within the structures themselves and under the main bridge. Using the ancient Andean tradition of the Quipu and her other signature styles, Vicuña has created a sacred space of mourning for the loss of the rainforests and indigenous lands of South America. e white materials provide a shock factor as they match the colour of draught bleached trees and animal bones. Yet, their skeletal presence does not make the space uninviting; contrastingly, its gentle movement and the so sounds intermitted with long silences allow for a space of contemplation and re ection. river ames, collected by local Latinx groups in London. In the press conference, Vicuña described her perception of

objects as constantly in a precarious state of change. Her collection of found items entangled with an ancient tradition of storytelling forms deep connections between past and future, space, and time. Vicuña writes “ e Earth is a brain forest, and the quipu embraces all its interconnections.”

e installation is multi-layered, with a soundscape labelled the ‘Sound Quipu’: eight hours of sound and silence directed by Colombian composer Ricardo Gallo. e noises range from indigenous music and natural sounds to compositional silences. Together, with the imposing structures of the Brain Forest, the sounds seem to embody the life and breath of the maltreated Earth we live on.

e third and nal layer of the installation is the ‘Digital Quipu’. With screens set up around the space, videos are shown of indigenous people ghting for the land around them. e activists and land protectors of these videos give context to the exhibit. One short lm from e Village República shows a young woman describing the destruction wrought by outsiders on their home – “we will take care of the land ourselves” she declared simply. ese videos are also accessible online, creating a virtual audience, and using the Quipu for its purpose of drawing people, and space, together.

Cecilia Vicuña has lived a life brimming with passion and art, as a founding member of Artists for Democracy during the military coup in Chile she lived in exile in London in the 70s. When I asked her what she thought the younger generation could or should take away from the exhibit, she went back to the origins of the design. In her approach to the vast and seemingly cold space, she explained, she tried to imagine what could provide a warmer atmosphere to the space. To make it an area of ease and comfort she placed two sculptures in it, one as the mother and the other as the child. Focusing on intergenerational love, she opens the space up for warmth, she told me. We live in a society that has stripped us of our communal nature, love for ourselves, our bodies, and our health. As she spoke, the passion built behind her eyes whilst she stated that it is this intergenerational love that will change the world. It cannot be done by just the young, nor only the elders, but together we can reconstruct and save the world.

As I wandered out to the sunny banks of the river, I dri ed between the long owing wool and netting of the Brain Forest Quipu and gazed up at the suspended feathers and shells above me. e Quipu is an old tradition for storytelling and communicating that was once almost destroyed by colonial invaders, “Quipus were burnt, but the quipu did not die,” Vicuña wrote. inking of this, I couldn’t help but be hopeful for our Earth.

“Chilian artist poet Cecilia Vicuña responded ingeniously to the task she was given”

Hyundai Commission: Cecilia Vicuña: Brain Forest Quipu Installation