Sad news that Graham Caine of Street Farm and the Bristol Gnomes died on 19th September. As well as being the Street Farmer who designed and lived in the first ecological house, Graham was responsible for distinctive Bristolian 'Gnomework' such as St Werburghs City Farm Café and the 'Gnome House’ in Boiling Wells. Graham was a great representative of the 1968 generation and spoke passionately of how the events in Paris 1968 inspired him in England. Meeting fellow Street Farmers Peter Crump and […]
Subject Index: Modern History (Post World War II)
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Film Screening – Greece: The Hidden War
Part One – The Battle for Athens
This documentary series on the Greek Civil War of 1946-49 was made for Channel Four in 1986. Wikipedia records that it “gave rise to the biggest uproar in the history of British television; the series was banned, all but one copy destroyed …”. Jeremy Isaacs, in his book ‘Storm over 4: A Personal Account’ (published 1989) writes in defence of the series that, “Greece: The Hidden War did not lie”. Presented by the Bristol Radical History Group, programme one will be introduced by Jane Gabriel, the […]
1968 events in 2018
As the second Bristol Radical History Festival rapidly approaches, it is also worth doing a shout out for several other 1968 events happening in the coming weeks. Remember-Discover-Research-Critique-Celebrate-Commemorate-Repeat and Exceed the <événements> of May 1968! Here’s a quick round-up, but there will be others. National and international events (Tuesday 1st May 2018 onwards) Film screenings: ‘1968 Festival. A festival inspired by ‘1968’ and organised by the Radical Film […]
Studio 2: Strikes, equal pay and workers’ control: the workplace in ’68
The events of 1968 are often represented by university occupations, protests against the war in Vietnam and the rise of the counter-culture. This however is a partial picture which excludes the aspirations of workers and their organisations in the period. Although action by Trade Unions was improving wages and conditions particularly in large industrial enterprises, the strength of these sections of the working class in Britain was being reflected in new, more radical demands. Equal pay and […]
Level 2: Exhibition: Political posters of 1968
We are very pleased to be hosting an exhibition of political posters from the 1968 movements created our friends at the Interference Archive in New York. From the Atelier Populaire (print collectives) of France’s insurgent 1968 to the radical posters of the Prague Spring and the university occupations in the United States and Mexico City. This exhibition is an an entry point into the cultural production of the global '68 moment and its continued influence on politics, art, and design today.
Level 2: Exhibition : Dennis Gould’s art and memorabilia
Stroud letterpress artist, poet and activist
Poet and letterpress artist Dennis Gould began the early 1960s in Stafford Prison. Serving with the Royal Engineers during the 1950s, he later took up the cause of the Committee of 100, the direct-action wing of the anti-nuclear movement, carrying out acts of non-violent civil disobedience for which he was detained at her Majesty’s pleasure. In 1965 Dennis helped to organise an anarchist fringe festival of poetry at the Octagon in Bath. He continued to campaign and work with Peace News and then […]
Studio 2: What I remember…memories of 1968
Di Parkin, Secretary of Bristol Radical History Group shares her memories of 1968 from the Vietnam anti-war demonstrations and the women’s equal pay strike at Ford's Dagenham to the 'Prague spring', the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia and Enoch Powell’s 'rivers of blood' speech. Watch this talk
Studio 1 & 2: Pressure Drop? What did the protests of ’68 achieve?
Professor Bush offers a critical reassessment of the events of 1968 and their aftermath. He will look at May '68 in Paris in a broader context of global protest and changing narratives of political analysis and authentic action. He will give a brief account of his own experiences of the summer of 1968 at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy and Malcolm X. Thirdly, Professor Bush will examine a late echo of the sixties in the […]
Studio 2: The Granary: Music in Bristol ‘68
The Granary opened its doors as a jazz club in Bristol in 1968, establishing itself as a rock venue in 1969 when the collective Plastic Dog moved in. This session explores the Bristolian music scene, in a pioneering venue from the 60s to the 80s. From the tail-end of 1968 and into the Eighties the Old Granary in Bristol’s historic city docks became home to rock music and outrageously liberal attitudes. It is still remembered fondly by its acolytes. Al Read and Ed Newsom were part of a foursome […]
Performance Space: May 1968: From a Mod to a Marxist
Born in 1951, Radical Stroud’s Stuart Butler recounts how the events of May '68 turned him from a mod into a Marxist. Stuart shares his personal journey during the year that rocked the world through prose-poetry. Prologue: Sixteen years’ old in the spring of 1968: bored with school; bored with A levels; why on earth did I stay on? Skint. Just got the sack from a Saturday job. No fags, no new records, no new clothes, no job, no money. Swindon have just had another rubbish season and now there’s […]