Lovely friends.
The first-ever film version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland - made in 1903. The wonderful (no pun intended) film archivists at BFI National Archive have managed to restore most of the damaged film.
Part 1 of a 1964 BBC Documentary showing Philip Larkin interviewed by John Betjeman. Includes poems by Larkin, excellent footage of 1960’s Hull and surrounding areas.
Tihe Mauri Ora - Robyn Kahukiwa (1990)
“As its title suggests, this painting is a ‘wake-up call’ for Maori people, with its graffiti-style slogan repeating a common first line of whai-korero (speeches) on marae when an audience is called to attention. Its painterly forms ambiguously suggest explosive disintegration as much as powerful florescence.
Kahukiwa’s painting calls upon Maori women to rise up against a patriarchy brought by a foreign culture that has in homes, schools and churches, both subtly and overtly, brought subjugation.
While this painting alludes to the civil rights actions in Mexico against Spanish invasion, one of numerous influences that Kahukiwa incorporates into her work, the dominant invocation of Tihe Mauri Ora necessarily recognises that gender relationships need not be oppressive. Maori language does not designate women as inferior to men.
Along the path of colonisation, power between men and women fell out of balance. Social statistics tell a tragic story of Maori women at the bottom of our economy’s ladder and most vulnerable to domestic violence, illnesses and early deaths. This painting clearly states that to regain balance and harmony, Maori women must take the first steps towards change. Kahukiwa’s ‘step’ with this painting was (and still is) justifiable. It is also well overdue, though unpopular among those who wish to retain their oppressive and chauvinistic stranglehold on women of all cultures. JD”
