Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Arts & Culture
On Musical Cosmopolitanism
Advances in communication technologies over the last four decades - by which I mean increases in their power, capacity and reach, coupled with their miniaturization and distribution across the social field - have wrought fundamental changes in the way music circulates.
Martin Stokes, Institute for Global Citizenship, 6 November 2007
Advances in communication technologies over the last four decades - by which I mean increases in their power, capacity and reach, coupled with their miniaturization and distribution across the social field - have wrought fundamental changes in the way music circulates.
Martin Stokes, Institute for Global Citizenship, 6 November 2007
Extreme makeover: the changing face of documentary
As a lover of documentaries and films generally, I believe the answer to the question can films change the world is unequivocally ‘no’.
Alan Millar, Battles in Print, 27 October 2007
As a lover of documentaries and films generally, I believe the answer to the question can films change the world is unequivocally ‘no’.
Alan Millar, Battles in Print, 27 October 2007
Is Ballet too elitist?
In asking Dance to be easily accessible, not to mention believing it capable of solving a whole host of social problems, 'we seem to have lost our bearings as to what art is and why it matters'
Dr Shirley Dent, Ballet Magazine, November 2007
In asking Dance to be easily accessible, not to mention believing it capable of solving a whole host of social problems, 'we seem to have lost our bearings as to what art is and why it matters'
Dr Shirley Dent, Ballet Magazine, November 2007
Spare us the Hollywood luvvies with a conscience
As The Times BFI London Film Festival kicks off this weekend, here’s some advice to the gathered movie stars: nice to see you, but please shut up.
Nathalie Rothschild, The Times, 17 October 2007
As The Times BFI London Film Festival kicks off this weekend, here’s some advice to the gathered movie stars: nice to see you, but please shut up.
Nathalie Rothschild, The Times, 17 October 2007
Why are the arts so white?
Despite our city‘s impressive diversity, most of our cultural output and audiences are dispiritingly white. Sonya Dyer applies her experience both as a black artist and arts consultant to tackle the question.
Time Out London, 15 October 2007
Despite our city‘s impressive diversity, most of our cultural output and audiences are dispiritingly white. Sonya Dyer applies her experience both as a black artist and arts consultant to tackle the question.
Time Out London, 15 October 2007
The 80s are vital for our art
A lack of substance in today's pop culture means it's time for our art to explore what happened in the decade of Thatcher, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.
Stuart Semple, Guardian Art & Design Blog, 11 October 2007
A lack of substance in today's pop culture means it's time for our art to explore what happened in the decade of Thatcher, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.
Stuart Semple, Guardian Art & Design Blog, 11 October 2007
Choral singing and psychological wellbeing
Over 600 choral singers drawn from English choirs completed the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire to measure physical, psychological, social, and environmental wellbeing, and a 12-item “effects of choral singing scale.”
Stephen Clift, Grenville Hancox, Ian Morrison, Bärbel Hess, Gunter Kreutz, and Don Stewart, International Symposium on Performance Science , 2007
Over 600 choral singers drawn from English choirs completed the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire to measure physical, psychological, social, and environmental wellbeing, and a 12-item “effects of choral singing scale.”
Stephen Clift, Grenville Hancox, Ian Morrison, Bärbel Hess, Gunter Kreutz, and Don Stewart, International Symposium on Performance Science , 2007
Klara and Edda: banned at the Baltic
Censoring photos of children, whether smoking or belly dancing naked, is damaging to artistic licence and our own freedom of thought.
Nathalie Rothschild, spiked, 4 October 2007
Censoring photos of children, whether smoking or belly dancing naked, is damaging to artistic licence and our own freedom of thought.
Nathalie Rothschild, spiked, 4 October 2007
A Letter from Berlin
I'm walking along Linienstrasse, a quiet residential street in the former East Berlin, on my way to work. It's a short walk, but it's taking a while, as I slow to check out the new graffiti. A Banksy! And sixteen new tags by Calyba, or Kalyba, a local graffiti artist so inept he can't spell his own name.
Julian Gough, Prospect, 2007
I'm walking along Linienstrasse, a quiet residential street in the former East Berlin, on my way to work. It's a short walk, but it's taking a while, as I slow to check out the new graffiti. A Banksy! And sixteen new tags by Calyba, or Kalyba, a local graffiti artist so inept he can't spell his own name.
Julian Gough, Prospect, 2007
A triumph of banality
In an age where everyone can be a critic, we risk losing a vital aspect of our cultural life
Rónán McDonald, Guardian, 2 October 2007
In an age where everyone can be a critic, we risk losing a vital aspect of our cultural life
Rónán McDonald, Guardian, 2 October 2007
Can GM crops feed the world - Thomas Deichmann
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