#goldsmiths university of london

[augustsappho]

BREAKING!!!

Students at Goldsmiths University of London have restarted their protests in the face of footage that surfaced from Rafah and in response to Frances Corner showing little sign of taking student demands seriously and even less intent to hold up to her divestment agreements, which were made at the beginning of May 2024.

Protests at the uni have been covered by Al Jazeera and The Socialist Worker. Updates can be found on their Instagram @goldsmithsforpalestine. A vote of no confidence has been kick-started by the Student Union and will commence on June 7th 2024.

In meetings leading up to this vote, there has been a stark lack of support of any kind or any intent to vote against the no-confidence proposal. Students unanimously stand against the Warden.

[mirkobloom77]

‼️🇵🇸🎓 Gaza protesters win concessions at Goldsmiths University of London

🔸 Source: Al Jazeera

[studentaccommodationinuk]

Goldsmiths House London

Experience the best of student living in London at Goldsmiths House. Located in the heart of the city, our modern student accommodation offers a comfortable and convenient home base, with proximity to renowned universities, cultural attractions, and a vibrant community of fellow students.

[alisonnenbrille]

At Goldsmith's University today

[magz]

Palestine related news summary from LetsTalkPalestine, May 1 to May 4, 2024.

[Ways to help, sources, and more: LetsTalkPalestine Linktree]

May 1.

(Instagram reel of UCLA protest. Includes footage of treating n washing a pro-palestine protestors' bloody head)

Day 208

🇨🇴 Colombia to cut diplomatic ties w/ Israel

•⁠ ⁠33 killed, 57 injured in the last 24 hours. Real number likely higher

⚖️ US lobbying ICC not to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, after Israel's threat to respond by retaliating against Palestinian Authority for sparking ICC investigation

🇫🇷 France denies selling weapons to Israel used in Gaza, claiming what's sold will be re-exported to 3rd countries via Israel, but did supply Israeli Iron Dome defense system

🇹🇷 Turkey set to follow Columbia & Nicaragua by joining South Africa's ICJ case against Israel

🎓 Zionist mob attacked Palestine protestors at UCLA w/ fireworks & pepper spray for 3 hours, police didn’t intervene (📹👆). Columbia & CUNY asked NYPD to raid & arrest 280+ student protestors. New encampments across UK, Tunisia & Canada

🚚 First aid trucks enter through Beit Hanoon crossing to north Gaza despite Israel's promise to open 1 month ago. Nearly half of aid convoys to north Gaza denied by Israel.

May 2.

(Instagram post, news update. The Israeli occupation has killed Palestinian Dr. Adnan Al-Barash.)

Day 209

• 28 Palestinians killed, 51 injured in last 24 hours. Note that the toll is underreported.

🏥 Dr. Adnan al Barash killed in captivity after IOF abducted him in Dec (📷👆)— 496 medical personnel killed in Gaza + 309 in captivity

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia arrests many for anti-Israel online posts, incl. an executive & media figure. Timing suspicious w/ reports of renewed normalization talks

• IOF attacks aid convoy, killing 1

🇹🇷 Turkey stops all trade w/ Israel after banning 54 exports to Israel

🇺🇸 US House pass “antisemitism awareness” bill using repressive IHRA definition of antisemitism despite antisemitism covered in anti-discrimination law. Why is IHRA definition problematic? See tinyurl.com/ynsfy8sx

• IOF airstrike in central Gaza killed 5, incl. a child

🪨 37m tons of rubble in Gaza, heavy contamination w/ unexploded ammunition & 800,000 tons of asbestos

🎓 Columbia & Emory University face federal investigation for anti-Muslim discrimination, reports of doxing & harassment

May 3.

Day 210

• World Press Freedom Day: Israel killed 100+ journalists since Oct 7 + holding 53 captive

• 26 killed, 51 injured in the last 24 hours. Note the toll is underreported.

• Israel attack on Rafah killed 7, incl. a mother & her children — the children’s bodies were shredded by the airstrikes

🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago recognizes the State of Palestine as West Bank & Gaza

🇬🇧 UK sanctions 2 Israeli groups + 4 settlers for violence in West Bank, warns of more sanctions if no Israeli action against settler attacks

• Israeli strike on Bureij camp killed 5, incl. a child

💰 UN estimates cost to rebuild Gaza at $40bn; more than post-WWII reconstruction

🎓 Goldsmiths University students in London win & obtain demands after occupying library — @ goldsmithsforpalestine on instagram for details

🎓 University encampments for Gaza go global spreading to 🇨🇦 🇮🇳 🇳🇿 🇪🇸 🇦🇷 🇯🇵 🇰🇼 🇱🇧 🇹🇳 🇯🇴. US crackdown w/ 2,200 students arrested

• Iran-backed Bahraini militia launches attack at southern Israeli port Eilat

May 4.

Day 211

✝️ Israel blocks entry of many Palestinian Christians to Jerusalem for Holy Saturday celebrations

•⁠ 32 Palestinians killed, 41 injured in Gaza in last 24 hours. Toll underreported

•⁠ ⁠IOF killed 5+ in 15-hour siege on Tulkarem (West Bank) & clashes with Hamas resistance fighters. IOF targeted fighters’ homes w/ women & kids inside, demolished homes trapping many under rubble

•⁠ ⁠Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 11 incl. 3 in bombings of tents in Rafah

•⁠ Head of UN WFP says north Gaza experiencing “full-blown famine” and it’s only a matter of time before south Gaza faces same level of starvation

🇫🇷 British-Palestinian @ dr.ghassan.as denied entry to France for Senate address as witness of Gaza Genocide as Germany put year-long ban on his entry to Europe (Schengen)

🇺🇸 88 US lawmakers warn Biden that Israeli aid blockade violates US ‘foreign assistance’ law

•⁠ IOF abducts 5 overnight in West Bank

🎓 Uni encampments spread to Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Cuba & Costa Rica

[garadinervi]

A Cartography of Genocide: A Spatial Analysis of the Israeli Military's Conduct in Gaza since October 2023, Report by Forensic Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, October 15, 2024 (pdf here)

[probablyasocialecologist]

As action and violence have flared across US campuses, a growing number of online commentators have criticised the UK student movement for a supposed lack of radicalism. “I think it’s an error to try and rank these movements in order of radicality. In part, because student actions across the US and UK are instances of one and the same struggle to end the genocide in Gaza, and Western government and university complicity,” says Kai Heron, lecturer in political ecology at Lancaster University. “That said, it’s certainly the case that the US and UK student movements are operating by different logics and using different strategies in response to different economic and political contexts.” In the UK, students have used a diverse range of tactics. There have been building occupations at universities such as Leeds, Manchester, UCL, Bristol, Goldsmiths, and others. But students have also organised teach-ins, teach-outs, local rallies, and national demonstrations in London. On Wednesday, students at five elite UK universities set up pro-Palestinian encampments. “These actions have been happening for years, and have won for years,” says an organiser with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a transnational, grassroots movement of Palestinians. “But they have been underreported, as per the strategic intention of media, government and university managements to ensure student activism is not spotlighted in British news outlets, something that mirrors the media’s ridiculously poor coverage of the national demonstrations for Palestine, in which the huge number of protestors are purposefully understated and underreported.” Alongside these actions, students in the UK have also organised more confrontational strategies like Palestine Action’s direct targeting of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, or the blockading of BAE systems sites. The Samlesbury Aerodrome outside Preston, for example, has been disrupted on multiple occasions (the site manufactures the rear fuselage for F-35 stealth planes, which are currently being used to kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip). “In the US the student movement has also taken a diversity of tactics, including the establishment of a US branch of Palestine Action, but it is fair to say that the occupation of Columbia University - or rather the university management’s disproportionate response to it - has escalated the struggle considerably,” says Heron. “Because of this draconian response, occupation has now become the preferred and most effective strategy in the US in ways that have, and perhaps cannot, be replicated in the UK.” Students in the US and UK are both hostile to police involvement in managing student protests. But it remains rare for the police to be called to student protests in the UK, though it does happen, says Heron. This is not to say that students in the UK have not seen an unacceptable amount of disproportionate and brutal responses to student organising from both the police and universities, such as widespread student suspensions, to name but one outrage.

[charlotte-of-wales]

Happy 36th birthday to Princess Beatrice of York!

Born on 8 August 1988, Beatrice Elizabeth Mary is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, a niece of King Charles Ill and a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth Il. Born fifth in line of succession to the British throne, she is now ninth.

Beatrice graduated with a BA in history and history of ideas at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2011.

Princess Beatrice became engaged to property developer Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi in Italy in September 2019, with their engagement formally announced by the Duke of York's Office on 26 September. The wedding was scheduled to take place on 29 May 2020 at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, followed by a private reception in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, but first the reception and then the wedding itself were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The wedding was eventually held in private on 17 July 2020, at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Royal Lodge, Windsor.

Princess Beatrice has a stepson, Christopher Woolf (born 2016), her husband's child from a previous relationship. She gave birth to a daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, on 18 September 2021 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Chelsea, London. The family moved to a manor home in the Cotswolds in late 2022.

[indigodawns]

Via theeuropeancorrespondent:

"Following pro-Palestine university encampments in the US, over 90 universities in Europe have also joined campus occupations. Protestors are demanding their institutions disclose and break ties with Israeli universities.

Meanwhile, no functioning universities are left in Gaza, as all 12 major universities have been destroyed. While some protests in Europe were met with violence like the encampment at the University of Amsterdam, others have stopped their demonstrations after demands were met. Our research shows that police violence resulting in physical injuries was reported in at least 5 universities across Europe.

On a different note, Trinity University in Dublin and Goldsmiths in London have agreed to the academic boycott, and the rising number of Spanish encampments has led to over 75 educational institutions in the country cutting and revising ties with Israeli universities.

Created by Hanna Huld"

[augustsappho]

Goldsmiths Centrists and Palestine: How To Ignore A Genocide - by August Sappho

On some unfortunate Tuesday in October 2023, I was sat shoving a piping hot cheese toastie down my throat in between morning lectures and sat idly with 2 other people in the refectory. Creative Arts students I'd met in the freshers chat who, whenever I had tried to share the contents of my lectures excitedly, had shut me down on the basis of politics being complicated and uncomfortable table talk. Desperate to make friends and coming from a family of people who typically get headaches at the dinner table caused by my ramblings and ravings, I understood and obliged; after all, I want to build bridges, not be the scary monster underneath them. That is until the curious question of Palestine came up, and I stayed quiet. Surely, these self-proclaimed apolitical progressives would be sensible. “I just think it’s all so complicated, really! People need to read up more before they come to broad conclusions!*” Yes, they absolutely should. What a rational take to have formed in the face of a sudden media flurry. In my own opinion, education, and more importantly, history, is the cornerstone of enriching one's ideas and understanding. The same way you use butter in a stew, and like butter, the professionals use a lot of it. And, like butter, it fattens me up, nourishes me and brings me a great deal of comfort. 

Mid-way through the summer term, I was struck by pure delight that I am living in a time where I can access any and every book I could ever dream of accessing either via the internet or a library or simply buying it. I sit, live and breathe in a country where the tuition fees are, yes, expensive but far from American and where people take great risks on their whole lives just to brush it with their fingertips, arm outstretched over a chasm of hope. Unfortunately, my table mates had decided not to utilise any of this incredibly accessible research and immediately followed their statements up by berating and shaming a lecturer in the media department for wearing a pro-Palestine jumper. They alluded very heavily that he should face some sort of consequence or simply not be allowed to wear it. After all, what does Palestine have to do with Creative Arts?  I continued chewing very slowly and very tense. I did think about saying something but decided against it. Months later, I blew up at them because these same apolitical progressives had one too many times scoffed, played devil's advocate and questioned people, including myself, into an uncomfortable corner over political meet-ups, rallies and open letters. Questioning tactics, phrasing, aims to no avail beyond being arseholes - have we tried just being really super duper nice to management guys? I almost laughed when I’d seen one of them had started learning Hebrew out of the blue on Duolingo.

Unfortunately, those self-proclaimed progressives aren't anything new at Goldsmiths University of London. It has a real troubling culture of letting people only engage in what they are comfortable with and not think much beyond that. Gay rights are legal in this country and, therefore, not controversial and, consequently, easy to support. Racism is illegal in this country and, therefore, not controversial to speak up against and easy to publicly oppose. Feminism has had many successful waves here, and so it is not out of the ordinary to call yourself a feminist (without being able to explain much theory behind any of what makes these ideas up or what distinguishes them). Unfortunately, these are also easy things you can add to your social media bios with no further thought, with the sole intent of virtue signalling and repelling conservatives online. While I am grateful for all these comforts and people's ability to declare themselves as such openly, they are often done on a very face-value level and do not always mean you're a particularly good anti-racist or a good ally or a good feminist. They often trick people who have done their homework into a false sense of security. No,they use these words in a way where the thinking has been done for them. You do not have to fight; you just have to pick the glaringly obvious option. They do not have to form moral opinions on the suffragettes bombing mailboxes, the Stonewall Riots or violent plantation liberation attempts from the likes of John Brown. They can simply sit and enjoy the luxury of not ever having to deal with the hard-hitting stuff and pretending they would have come to those conclusions anyway. 

Palestine, then, has acted as an axe, splitting whole student bodies around the world into two general camps. Between those who will occupy, sign letters, donate money, raise hell in the name of justice. In the name of what is good. Between those who will learn and listen and between those who will rattle on the same few talking points, claim to see both sides and claim things are just oh-so-complicated when they simply are not. Those who swear themselves by ideals of liberty and freedom and yet cannot muster a grain of sympathy to fight for those who have none. Those who will even go to the extent of the disenfranchisement of their peers and bullying if it means maintaining close contact with their comfort zones, and Palestine makes them very uncomfortable indeed—hearing chants and seeing flags and skirting around the videos of the bodies and the rubble, having to relocate your lecture or walk past a very obvious liberated zone. It makes it an unavoidable topic, puts politics in the face of those self-proclaimed progressives, and asks them, “Do you care enough to make a change?”. And the answer is a simple no. Instead of engaging with the reading they promised themselves publicly as a show of intellect, they choose to occupy their hours sending secret complaints to the warden, huff in frustration at marking boycotts, and get uncomfortable while swearing they're involved in all this and fully supporting it. Yet following lists, open letter signatures, and the things they mutter to each other paint a different picture. It is as if they know they are on the wrong side. They look left and right to see predominantly white middle-class faces like their own and prime ministers of conservative governments and think of it as some bizarre coincidence. They know they are wrong not to be reading, learning or keeping up to date which is why they maintain their opinions and feign progress until they are awkwardly called out or the simplest of questions peels off the scab.

“It’s [the occupation of the library] hindering students who have every right not to join the protest to do well in their end-of-year assignments!”—a message sent by one of the beloved October centrists. In a conversation that blew up into me confronting them for how they have treated several people, they hammered in that the student occupation of the library was unfair on themselves personally and other students like them. However, the occupation wasn't situated anywhere near the exam rooms nor on an exam day and was solely in the bottom floor front section of the library, where students are allowed to make as much racket as they want already, and people frequently do group projects there for this explicit reason. Anyone who has been to any library knows the bottom floor is always designated as the loud floor, and the higher up you go, the quieter it gets. Our library is quite impressive in size, so while unavoidable on the ways in and out, once you are inside, it was never going to be hard to find a spot to block them out. They did not know this, however, as it had never impacted them beyond hypotheticals in their head, and their argument wasn't dependent on having actually kept their eyes on what students were doing but rather finding anything to scream inconvenience at. All I could think was how funny that a student occupation of a library could be deemed as some unforgivable act because it impacts them directly, but a genocidal occupation in which their university has a hand in just isn't worth the time of day. The warden herself referred to the library occupation as something that ‘threatened’ students.

Let me conclude them with a different quote from the fictional Robin Swift from R.F. Kuang’s ‘Babel’ whose words perfectly encapsulate this ordeal.

“Across the town, students were fast asleep. Next to them, tomes by Plato and Locke and Montesquieu waited to be read, discussed, gesticulated about; theoretical rights like freedom and liberty would be debated between those who already enjoyed them, stale concepts that, upon their readers’ graduation ceremonies, would promptly be forgotten. That life, and all of its preoccupations, seemed insane to him now; he could not believe there was ever a time when his greatest concerns were what colour neckties to order from Randall’s, or what insults to shout at houseboats hogging the river during rowing practice. It was all such frippery, fluff, trivial distractions built over a foundation of ongoing, unimaginable cruelty.”

*the first conversation is paraphrased as best as I can remember it, as I do not record my conversations with people

[mybeingthere]

Emma Prempeh b. 1996 is a British artist with Ghanaian and Vincentian heritage based in London.

The tonal properties of her paintings enjoy warm, darkened earthly tones with a strong presence of blackness to invoke and project memories of events, people, and places that emphasise her appreciation of ancestral time and relationships, selfhood and transformation. Prempeh occasionally experiments with projected still and moving imagery to create painting installations that invite other experiential and performative encounters with her work. Embedded within her canvasses are hints of schlag metal, a brass alloy of copper and zinc imitative of gold leaf, representative of the exploration into the transitional journey between life and death. Over time, the material deteriorates, suggestive of the ineluctable passing of time.

Prempeh Studied at Goldsmiths University of London graduating in 2019 winning the Alumno/Space bursary award for 2020. She won 1st place for the Ingram Collection Purchase Prize and became a participating artist in Bloomberg New contemporaries 2019. Prempeh recently attended MA Painting at the Royal College of Art under the LeverHulme Trust Arts Scholarship winning the Valerie Beston Trust Arts award for 2022.

https://emmaprempeh.com/

[koenvandamme]

Some good news.. 18TH ANNUAL BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS HONORS PHOTOGRAPHER KOEN VAN DAMME FROM BELGIUM LOS ANGELES NOVEMBER 22, 2023 - Professional photographer Koen Van Damme of Belgium was presented with the 18th Annual Black and White Spider Awards 2nd Place - Merit of Excellence in the category of Architectural at a prestigious Nomination & Winners Photoshow streamed Saturday, November 18, 2023. The live online gala was attended by industry leaders and the photography community from around the globe who logged on to watch the climax of the world’s premier event for black and white photography. 18th Annual Jury members included captains of the industry from Phillips, London; Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam; David & Goliath, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Saatchi & Saatchi, London; Portuguese Center of Photography, Porto; Jason McCoy Gallery, New York; Hulsbosch, Sydney; Willas Contemporary, Stockholm; FCB Global, New York; ADK Creative One Inc., Tokyo; The ArtFactory Club, Vienna; Silvan Faessler Fine Art, Switzerland; Goldsmiths, University of London; Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation, Berlin; DDB Canada, Edmonton; Galleria Valeria Bella, Milan; David Clarke, London; Chiara Badinella, Art Advisory & Appraisals, Milan; Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; Grey Group, New York; and Galerie Bugada Cargnel in Paris who honored Spider Fellows with 612 coveted title awards and 561 nominees in 33 categories. “This year we saw another outstanding set of entries sparking some really fresh ideas, and making it very hard to select winners.” Commented Marcel Wijnen, Creative Director, Hulsbosch, Sydney. “Once again the Black & White Spider Awards has delivered a range of excellent winners in both the Professional and Amateur categories. There are a number of truly amazing images - not only the winners but also those with Honorable Mention. As a judge it was a challenge to select from so many strong submissions. Added Conrad Hechter, Correspondent, Goldsmiths, University of London. “It’s an incredible achievement to be selected among the best form the 6,193 entries from 69 countries we received this year” said Basil O’Brien, the awards Creative Director. “Koen Van Damme’s “Care center”, an exceptional image entered in the Architectural category, represents black and white photography at its finest, and we’re pleased to present him with the title of Merit of Excellence.” BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS is the leading international award honoring excellence in black and white photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in black and white photography. www.thespiderawards.com

[shit-talk-turner]

"Johanna - pub in London 2005 - I'm sure there's a source for this, but I can't find it at the moment./ from the book "Whatever people say they are... That's they're not" there is an information that they met in February 2006."

Okay I've now found the source from the other day, and it looks like I misremembered a few things, because there's no date on it, so early 2006 probably is right:

While she was studying psychology at Goldsmiths University in London, she was friends with many up-and-coming musicians and artists who populated the local social scene.

It was during this time she met the Arctic Monkeys front man Alex Turner outside a bar.

“We got into this really intense conversation and then Alex called me the next day, and we started seeing each other,” she said.

“I went through a lot of the ‘firsts’ with Alex and his band’s career. It was very exciting at the time, but it felt normal to me, and you just take each day as it comes.

https://web.archive.org/web/20121029115103/http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/features/thorney-girl-living-the-rock-star-life-with-kings-of-leon-boyfriend-1-633829

By the way, her comments in that article about how they wrote Fluorescent Adolescent together are really interesting.

thank you for this!

[jungleindierock]

Talk Show - Red/White

Talk Show are a fourpiece post punk rock band based in South East London. They got together in 2017 while students at Goldsmiths, University of London, they are comprised of vocalist Harrison Swann, bassist George Sullivan, drummer Chloe MacGregor, and guitarist Tom Holmes. Red/White out now and is the third single from their forthcoming debut album Effigy.

[plethoraworldatlas]

An Israeli tank or tanks likely fired the bullets that killed five-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab and six relatives as they sat in a car in northern Gaza in January, according to an analysis released Friday that adds to evidence of the Israeli military's role in an indiscriminate killing which galvanized anti-war protests around the world earlier this year.

A tank had to have been positioned between 13 and 23 meters from the family car when it fired the shots that killed Layan Hamada, Hind Rajab's 15-year-old cousin, and it's "not plausible that the shooter could not have seen that the car was occupied by civilians, including children," wrote the authors of the analysis, which was completed by U.K. research agency Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, with Earshot, an NGO, and Al Jazeera journalists.

The investigators found 335 bullet holes on the body of the Kia Picanto the family was using.

An Israeli tank also likely killed the two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics who came to the scene, the analysis found. The new analysis refutes Israel's contention that its forces were not responsible for the killings, which caused an international outcry.

[une-sanz-pluis]

One account of Mary’s household, from 1387-88, survives, and gives insight into her day-to-day life. It shows her busy making clothing for herself and her children, as well as a riding gown for her husband. On Maundy Thursday in 1388 Mary provided gowns for eighteen poor women and purchases of an apron and towel for her to wear for the same day indicate that Mary herself played a public role in the ceremonies. Multiple references to Mary wearing blue and white show her participating in the public display of family identity. She also made an effort to stay abreast of current events and her husband’s activities, making sure that she got updates from the parliament held at Cambridge in September 1388. Mary also communicated with John of Gaunt’s household, for instance corresponding with Gaunt’s chamberlain, Richard Abberbury. She travelled to London at some point that year, as her accounts show her shopping with her sister Eleanor on Bread Street (just behind St Paul’s Cathedral) and purchasing a pair of tongs and four collars of leopards. Like the other members of her family she participated in public displays of wealth and power: Herman Goldsmith (who also worked for John of Gaunt and Henry of Bolingbroke) was paid to make collars, rings and a coronet.

Rebecca Holdorph, ‘My Well-Beloved Companion’: Men, Women, Marriage and Power in the Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster, 1265-1399, University of Southampton, PhD Thesis