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caveartfair · 6 years ago

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How Martin Parr Has Captured Britishness in the Brexit Era

Martin Parr, Stone Cross Parade on St. George’s Day, West Bromwich, England, 2017. Courtesy of Magnum Photos.

Despite admitting to a love-hate relationship with the country of his affectionately insightful images, Martin Parr is known and loved for his wry observations of Britishness. The photographer’s signature saturated-color work provides a vivid record of everyday British existence in all its infinitely varied guises.

Parr’s work is frequently shot with a sense of humor that hovers uncomfortably between comedy and tragedy. Though the photographer embraces both high and low culture—his work can be found on everything from tea towels to swimsuits—he considers himself first and foremost a social documentary photographer, focusing on class, identity, and consumerism throughout his four-decade career. But the photographs themselves never tell the whole story; the viewer is always invited to bring their own ideas to the equation in a bid to understand what it means to be British in an era of globalization and mass migration.

Bowling Bristol from Think of England, 1999. Martin Parr Rago

Parr continued to document British identity with a keen eye following the Brexit Referendum in 2016, which saw long-festering prejudices and frustrations rise to the surface as British citizens voted to leave the European Union. In a survey of Parr’s work at the National Portrait Gallery in London, photographs from this period form a stand-alone section.

Whether you are pro-Leave or pro-Remain is certainly likely to affect your reading of Parr’s images: Where some will see uncomfortable examples of a rising nationalism, others will see an expression of cultural pride. While Parr, a committed Remainer and admirer of multiculturalism, couldn’t resist including a few pertinent metaphors in his images; he largely photographed what he saw with an impartial eye. As curator Phillip Prodger aptly puts it in the show’s catalogue, Parr acted like “a psychologist with a difficult patient, a camera for a clipboard, listening to our problems and how we feel.”

The exhibition opened a few weeks before Britain was due to leave the European Union on March 29th. With that moment postponed, and two sides clashing over the call for a second referendum, Parr’s images seem to encourage us to question how on earth we arrived at this point.

In his photographs from the Black Country—an area of the West Midlands which voted heavily to leave the EU—Parr captured the Saint George’s Day celebrations in 2017 in honor of England’s patron saint. Proud, unsmiling figures—their cheeks daubed in the red and white colors of the English flag—stand in front of nondescript houses also adorned in patriotic fashion. The setting is a marked contrast to Parr’s vibrant images of Muslims from Bristol breaking the Ramadan fast at Iftar, or the joyous Notting Hill Carnival in London, where a group of black women in feathered headdresses sit casually on the pavement eating take-aways.

Martin Parr, Harbhajan Singh, Willenhall Market, Walsall, the Black Country, England, 2011. © Martin Parr. Courtesy of Magnum Photos and Rocket Gallery.

Martin Parr, Stone Cross Parade, St. George’s Day, West Bromwich, the Black Country, England, 2017. © Martin Parr. Courtesy of Magnum Photos and Rocket Gallery.

The elderly—who, according to polls, voted overwhelmingly for Brexit—are a recurring feature in Parr’s body of work. One woman is seen walking past a gigantic supermarket advertisement for croissants, her eyes downcast as if she cannot bear to look at this culinary symbol of European cosmopolitanism. Another stands precariously with the aid of a walking frame, one hand grasping an English flag as she glances warily at the camera. Behind her, a caretaker of Asian descent smiles broadly.

While viewers don’t know the particular beliefs of the people in Parr’s photos, the photographer draws visual comparisons at a time when the debate over immigration has raised questions about the country’s identity. Parr himself was delighted to find and photograph a fish-and-chip shop—a bastion of Britishness—run by two young Muslim women, finding it, he has said, “a real indication of how the cultural communities have integrated into British society.” But he is aware that many do not share his view.

Martin Parr, Porthcurno, Cornwall, England, 2017. © Martin Parr. Courtesy of Magnum Photos and Rocket Gallery.

Parr shows that fear of immigration through a subtle metaphor in his photograph of Porthcurno beach in Cornwall. A group of people look to the sea, as if to distant lands, while a woman holding a child puts her hand to her mouth as she glances towards a red danger flag. “There’s just one little child looking back at the camera, and he’s sort of the future of Britain,” said Prodger.

Parr’s work may portend an uncertain future, but looking through his older work, it’s hard to miss the warning signs of what was to come.

His series of Britons abroad—particularly in post-colonial societies where their privilege is uncomfortably evident—reveal a desire to hold onto a past that never really existed: a fantasy past of afternoon teas and Sunday cricket, where Britain reigned supreme.

Martin Parr, The Queen visiting the Livery Hall of the Drapers’ Livery Company for their 650th Anniversary, the City of London, England, 2014. © Martin Parr. Courtesy of Magnum Photos and Rocket Gallery.

Parr’s photographs of the Establishment dressed in their antiquated finery also seem to emphasize an unhealthy love of nostalgia, which allows the elites who have often driven the Brexit agenda for personal gain to flourish. “I think those photos are among the most political Martin has ever made,” said Prodger. “He is very frustrated that certain levers of power continue to fall to people who’ve been to the right school or have come from the right family.”

However, Parr’s work tempers the frustrations with moments of warmth. His photographs showing groups of enthusiasts engaging in their favorite past-times, derived from a series of indents Parr filmed to be shown between programs on BBC One, are a particular joy. From Welsh bog-snorkellers in costume-party attire to Bhangra Dancers from Edinburgh, they reveal Britain at its quirky, eccentric, and inclusive best.

Martin Parr, Bhangra dancers, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2017. Commissioned by BBC One. © Martin Parr. Courtesy of Magnum Photos and Rocket Gallery.

One image in the Brexit section of the survey shows a masochistic group from Bristol, who stand shivering as they wait to take their annual winter dip in Henleaze Lake. Prodger points out that the image is of “a group of Britons lining up to jump into an icy unknown”—a fitting visual metaphor, as Britain itself figures how to take the plunge.

from Artsy News

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ericfruits · 6 years ago

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Entryist dads: the Lib Dems plot internal revolution

ONE is 46 years old, the other is a pensioner. One can dance Bhangra, the other is a ballroom guy. One is prime minister of Canada, the other is leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats, who have just 12 MPs. Justin Trudeau and Sir Vince Cable are quite different, but the Lib Dem leader hopes to learn a trick or two from his Canadian counterpart.

Mr Trudeau’s Liberal Party jumped from third place to government in four years, after poaching votes from its rivals on left and right. What can it teach the Lib Dems? Without a long career stretching before him, Sir Vince, 75, has the freedom to shake up his party. One plan under discussion in Lib Dem circles would give non-members a vote on the party’s next leader, a system the Liberals used during Mr Trudeau’s selection. Another idea is to copy the Liberals in doing away with the requirement that the party leader must be an MP. (One non-MP mooted as a possible standard-bearer is Gina Miller, an anti-Brexit campaigner, although both she and the party deny this.) Sir Vince’s team has been in touch with one of Mr Trudeau’s advisers who helped to devise some of the party’s reforms.

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The diminished Lib Dems are hardly a “natural governing party”, as Canada’s Liberals are known. But for all their faults, they may still represent the best hope for Britain’s beleaguered moderates. The far-left and the unions have a tight grip on Labour, while the Conservatives’ fate is determined by MPs with a penchant for psychodrama and a small collection of Rotary Club members and tombola-spinners in the home counties. By contrast, the Lib Dems have low barriers to entry, making the party an appealing home for disaffected members of other parties.

Talk of a new political movement has been constant since the Brexit vote. But why bother launching your own party, asks one senior Lib Dem, when you could simply take over one that already exists? After all, the Liberal Democrats have 100,000 members, 98 seats in the House of Lords and, crucially, a toehold in Britain’s ruthless first-past-the-post electoral system, which new parties find all but impossible to crack.

Entryism presents dangers. But for the Lib Dems, scooping up disaffected Blairites from Labour and liberal Cameroons from the Tories is much less risky than it has been for Labour and the Conservatives to ally with hard-leftists and former UKIPpers. A Liberal Democrat party overrun by centrist entryists would look like, well, the Liberal Democrats. “They aren’t Militant, are they?” says one insider, referring to the Trotskyist group that infiltrated Labour in the 1970s and 80s.

Potential defectors may be wary of the Lib Dems. They have baggage. There is a reason why the party’s vote fell from 6.8m in 2010 to 2.4m in 2015. After five years in coalition with the Tories, people no longer liked them. Polls suggest they still don’t: the party limps along at about 10%.

Change could come from the top if MPs from other parties jumped ship. Labour’s anti-Semitism saga flared again this week after it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s leader, hosted an event in 2010 at which the actions of the Israeli government were likened to those of the Nazis. But despite disgust among his MPs about his handling of the row, there has been no wave of resignations. Nor has any Tory Remainer MP been persuaded to defect, even as the government’s handling of Brexit has gone from bad to worse.

Instead, Lib Dems are left hoping that an era of political polyamory will replace the 19th-century system of monogamous party politics. New movements and parties should team up with the Lib Dems, believes Tim Farron, a former leader. “They have a lot of generals and naff-all army,” he says. “We are your army.” Such post-party movements are starting to pop up. Cross-party support is growing for a referendum on the Brexit deal, a Lib Dem demand ever since the first referendum. But it would take Labour’s backing to go ahead. Unlike Canada’s Liberals, the Lib Dems are very far from wielding power by themselves. But if some of their ideas end up being enacted anyway, that may be good enough for them.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Entryist dads"

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visionmpbpl-blog · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://www.visionmp.com/in-his-first-speech-as-congress-president-rahul-launched-an-all-out-attack-against-modi-and-the-bjp/

Rahul Gandhi takes over as Congress chief, attacks Modi for indulging in 'medieval' politics

New Delhi: Marking a generational shift, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took over as the new Congress President, assuming the mantle of the country’s oldest political party from his mother Sonia Gandhi, and launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of “taking us back to the medieval times”.

The process of his election as the new Congress chief was completed after the Central Election Authority President Mullapally Ramachandran handed over the Certificate of Election to Rahul Gandhi in a ceremony at 24, Akbar Road, housing the party headquarters.

Sonia Gandhi, 70, who steered the party through turbulent times for 19 years, her daughter Priyanka Vadra, and son-in-law Robert Vadra and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined the top Congress leadership at the ceremony marked by loud celebrations as scores of Rahul Gandhi supporters danced to the beat of drums, raised slogans, burst firecrackers and distributed sweets outside the party office here.

The 47-year-old Gandhi scion’s formal takeover comes two days before the counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections, the outcome of which could be a trendsetter for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. His main challenge remains the revamping of party organisation, apart from electoral battles in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In his first speech as the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi launched an all-out attack against Modi and the BJP.

“Politics belongs to the people, but today politics is not being used for people. It is not being used to uplift people, but to crush them,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said many of the countrymen were “disillusioned by politics of our time” as “today, politics is devoid of kindness and truth”.

“The Congress took India to the 21st Century, but the PM, today, is taking us back to the medieval times… We are now being compelled to imagine that businesses can be built without harmony that only one man himself is the voice of reason, and that expertise, experience and knowledge can be cast aside for personal glory,” Rahul Gandhi said.

“You have an example in front of you. Once fire breaks out it is difficult to douse it. That is what we are telling the people of BJP, that if you set the nation on fire it will be difficult to control. Today, the BJP has spread the fire of violence across the country.”

Sonia Gandhi in her speech said the Congress activists and leaders were not a terrified lot.

“We won’t bow down. Our struggle is for the country and we will continue fighting for it. We won’t give it up,” said Sonia Gandhi.

“Rahul is my son. So I do not think to praise him is appropriate for me. But I would say that since childhood he had to bear the brunt of violence. After joining politics he had to face blatant personal attacks that have made him a stronger person.”

Manmohan Singh said Rahul Gandhi was assuming the new responsibility amid “disturbing trends” as “there are dangers that the politics of fear will take over the politics of hope” in the country.

“Rahulji, we depend upon you to transform and sustain the politics of hope,” Manmohan Singh said, pointing out that the new Congress President had been trained for a long period and had already looked after many activities of the Congress for many years now.

“Rahulji brings in a new sense of dedication and commitment, a new sense of leadership with courage and humility.”

Manmohan Singh said it was “a unique day in the history of the Congress” with Sonia Gandhi handing over the reins of the party to her son.

He said during the last 19 years as the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi “provided a powerful leadership”.

“Now that Soniaji is handing over the reins of the party to Rahulji, we salute Soniaji for uniting the leadership, something that she has been doing for the last 19 years.”

Outside the 24, Akbar Road, Congress Headquarters, a group of colourfully dressed artistes played drums and danced to Punjabi bhangra tunes with party supporters, including men and women, shaking a leg or two and waving Rahul Gandhi’s pictures and Congress flags.

There were other groups of artists from Hyderabad and Rajasthan performing folk dances of their regions.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Congress was making a new resolve for the country. “Today we are taking a pledge for a new movement in India.

“Free from fear, for freedom of expression, for eliminating discriminations, for promoting brotherhood and saving democracy.”

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