Quote of the day: Nomadland director Chloé Zhao
Receiving her Bafta award for best director on Zoom, earlier this month, Chloé Zhao thanked the community who had welcomed her into their lives to film Nomadland: ‘ Thank you for showing...
Books, films, exhibitions
Don’t miss Worn Stories: a show about clothes and the people who wear them
Emily Spivack’s Worn Stories sits on the bookshelves in my office. As someone who spends a considerable amount of time reading, writing and pondering over clothes, identity and why we wear what ...
That’s Not My Age podcast: Portrait Artist of the Year Curtis Holder
Imagine my surprise when I switched over to Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Year (2020) and there was friend-of-a-friend, Curtis Holder. With only one male guest so far on the That’...
Art will release us
For the first time during this interminable lockdown, the desire to simply board a train or plane, just go somewhere, anywhere different, felt overwhelming. I daydreamed of walking through unfa...
Why everyday should be World Book Day
I confess, I’m a hopeless bibliophile. From precious childhood books including my well-worn Roald Dahls, to an extensive collection of kitchen based cookery books, referred to on a daily basi...
Craftivisim: Using creative energy to make a difference
Stereotypically seen by the ignorant as a pastime for meek old ladies, crafting has a radical side: everything from sweary sewing to campaigning crafting (aka craftivism: ‘craft’ + ‘activism’)...
This summer I’ll be dressing like Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) in The Dig
If you like The Detectorists, you’ll love The Dig. A dreamy film based on the true story of the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial ship at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk; on the brink of the Secon...
5 Books to Inspire Your Inner Activist
You could almost hear the sighs of relief from the climate-concerned as President Biden announced he would be re-joining the Paris Accord as one of his earliest actions in office. I’m sur...
15 best books for Christmas 2020
One of the positive aspects of this annus horriblis is the fact that we’ve all been reading more. Books helped us to get through the year.
Artist Chila Kumari Burman is lighting up London
Talk about coincidence. I was a guest on Woman’s Hour last week (promise not to mention it many more times), and while I waited for my section I listened to Chila Kumari Burman talking about her...
When Poetry Meets Fast Fashion
If anyone took the time to closely examine fast fashion, how it’s made and what it involves, it could really take the fun out of shopping. Contrary to popular opinion, cheap thrills come at a price ...
Connecting with culture again: Artemisia at The National Gallery, London
Before suffragettes, before girl power and way before #MeToo, there was Artemisia, a woman who triumphed over tyranny and achieved global fame in the male-dominated world of Baroque art. The Na...
