Yesterday I went up to the Crawley Mela at the Hawth. The event has been running for many years, and brings people in from all over Crawley and the surrounding area, from all parts of the community. Primarily based on the South Asian festivals, there was lots of lovely spicy food, music and dancing from many cultures. I took a few pictures which (If I can figure out how to get them out of my phone) might get posted later.
Wealden Unite Against Fascism shared a stall with the long-established Crawley Campaign Against Racism and the local Interfaith Network. We gain some new members, but the main aim was to get the name out and to get exposure. One way to do this was to give out stickers to as many Mela-goers as possible. Most people were happy to wear the purple badges.
A few were less so. While most councillors who were there were happy to be associated with the UAF, including the Tory Leader of the council, Bob Lanzer, the Deputy Leader, Duncan Crow pointedly refused to keep one on.
[error corrected]
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12 comments:
EX - Deputy Leader ??!!
What Richard said!
Was that a slip of the typing finger, or has something happened while I was away?
Twas a slip. Duncan is still the deputy leader of the Council.
A Freudian Slip or Wishful Thinking ?!
Who knows. In my defence I have a cold at the moment. Clouds the synapses.
On your title - what if the music you love includes that of Wagner, who was a fascist? I own a full collection of Wagner's Opera CD's. The thought that worries me about this addiction is "what if Wagner's artistic greatness would not have existed if he hadn't held fascist views also?".
But I am safe on Orwell and have responded to your comment.
I quite like Orff's 'Carmina Burana' myself.
I think you have to have an open mind when it comes to the beliefs of artists. Especially when they create works which transcend their views.
It depends whether there are separate compartments to our being and if the politics of an artist is something of an optional add on. I think we should enjoy Orff and Wagner, but worry about our enjoyment! It is better than a self imposed censorship.
Well I like Albert Speer's buildings. Even though they are/were an expression of Hitler's ambition and intentions I think were amazing.
Not so sure they are actually pleasant - just impressive. I like the scale of them.
Could Speer, Wagner, Orff et al have created such work, WITHOUT their political extremism ?
Don't know. They may have created different things, perhaps 'better', perhaps 'worse'.
There is no way to know either way, and sometimes we just have to take things at face value. But I agree with Harry that we can't ignore Wagner's ideals completely.
I think it is easier to appreciate some creations by people whose ideology you don't share than others.
Instrumental music, or music with lyrics in a language you don't understand is easy. Painting can be easy, depending on the subject (If Hitler painted a decent landscape you could enjoy it?).
Architecture is a bit harder and writing would be hardest to treat objectively. (eg Ayn Rand?)
I haven't seen Reifenstahl's films but imagine they could be difficult to appreciate objectively.
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