17 09, 2024

Politics, Lives, Page Turners:  The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing  

By |September 17th, 2024|Categories: Ai Weiwei, China, Art & History, Cultural Appropriation, Events, Lost History, Novels and short stories|0 Comments

Politics, Lives, Page Turners:  The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing   I love my publishers new book mark. It sums up what Claret Press is about. Her latest author is Pen Farthing  and his book

8 05, 2024

My epic story based on the Beijing Spring(1979). Evidence that Brushstrokes in Time is still selling

By |May 8th, 2024|Categories: Ai Weiwei, China, Art & History, Lost History, Novels and short stories, Oxford Castaways|0 Comments

https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/proginfo/2024/17/the-invention-of I agree with Misha Glenny. It’s important. We need to know about the history of China. That was why I spent 6 years researching the Beijing Spring of 1979, the Stars Art Movement, the birth of the Democracy Movement

19 03, 2024

Chris Patten – last night’s moving farewell Chancellor’s event and why I appreciate his generosity of spirit .

By |March 19th, 2024|Categories: Ai Weiwei, China, Art & History, Events, Oxford, Oxford Castaways|0 Comments

In February, Chris Patten announced that he will retire as Chancellor of Oxford University. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-02-05-lord-patten-barnes-announces-his-retirement-chancellor-university-oxford So the Chancellor’s event last night was an interview with him. https://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2024/march-18/chancellors-lecture-from-china-to-the-middle-east-and-ukraine-a-world-in-turmoil I was moved for many reasons by last night's interview. He was

26 01, 2023

An exhibition for our time. Qu Leilei and Caroline Deane’ Calligraphy Forest of Misinformation.

By |January 26th, 2023|Categories: Ai Weiwei, Art, Biography, Events, History, Oxford Castaways, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

I went to London to see Qu Leilei and his partner Caroline Deane’s exhibition Calligraphy Forest of Misinformation. It was a moving experience.  It was originally shown in Milan and is inspired by a phenomenon of our time https://www.facebook.com/sylvia.vetta/videos/1986347964828795 The