By Izzie James.

Bee Movie, released in 2007, was easily one of my favourite childhood movies. The silly puns always made me giggle, and for some reason, I accepted the romantic relationship between the main character Barry B. Benson (yes, the bee), and his human girlfriend Vanessa. When my housemates decided to re-watch Bee Movie the other day, I thought it would have the same effect on me as it did when I was younger. However, despite how humorous I still find it, I couldn’t help but think about its deeper themes and message, namely, its exploration of consumerism, exploitation, and society.

Just to clarify, I’m not trying to make Bee Movie boring. Along with being well-written, it’s colourful, cheerful, and has a great plot arc. However, I find it interesting that children’s films are often used to explore such deep and controversial themes. Bee Movie explores Barry’s journey of suing the human race, once he finds out that they are exploiting bees for their honey. There is much detail on the bees being ‘worked to death’ when making honey, as they are told they must stay in their job for the rest of their lives. Barry is disturbed by this idea, and therefore he leaves the hive to see what lies beyond it. When he meets Vanessa, he sees that honey is a commodity consumed daily by humans, with no credit nor profits going to the bees. He also sees bees being exploited outside the hive, as they are subject to being smoked in bee farms. Barry hears the beekeepers boast, “They make the honey, and we make the money.”

Barry then successfully sues the human race, meaning the big companies stop honey production, and the bees no longer have to work. They become lazy and bored, and eventually, the world’s flowers die as they are no longer being pollinated. Luckily, there’s a happy ending, where the last remaining flowers are brought back to New York City on a plane, which the bees help to land, and they save the day by pollinating the flowers again (the cinematography and choice of music here is phenomenal).

We see the bees battle a consumerist society here, as well as fight against their exploitation. We see a revolution against work conditions and a fight against capitalism. If you read into it, Bee Movie has an array of political messages. Even the supposedly happy ending is debunked by some, such as Daily Arts Writer Darby Williams, who wrote of the bees: ‘They remain enslaved to the humans, producing honey with the efficiency of a disgruntled union worker, only this time with marginal improvements to their working conditions… In his attempt to spearhead a proletariat revolution, my childhood idol finds himself trapped in the very system he sought to overturn.’¹ Williams’ dismal summary emphasises a critical and depressing way in which the Bee Movie can be viewed. 

Surprisingly, this pattern of deeper commentary is one that many children’s films follow; for example, Shrek is seen to comment on society’s superficiality and obsession with beauty, Shark Take is about the struggle of debt, lying and the desperation to be rich and Happy Feet is about environmental decline, human greed, and exploitation. Re-watching these movies as an adult can be enlightening, as you realise the real issues that are brought up behind the colourful façade of humour and animations. I will say though, if you want to re-watch these movies without thinking about their commentary on society and, instead, to just enjoy the jokes, soundtracks, and characters- that is just as worthwhile.

¹Darby Williams, ‘Capitalism’s cautionary tale: The fall of Barry B.Benson.’ The Michigan Daily, https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/capitalisms-cautionary-tale-the-fall-of-barry-b-benson/ (2021)

By Cosmo Adair.

It’s 3PM Eastern European Standard Time and the team at SHRINK SCOOTERS are meeting a potential investor on Zoom. Having miscalculated the time difference, they close their laptops and log out. But once the meeting actually starts, Ed realises he’s seeing double. This isn’t a medical condition; rather, he has accidentally opened the meeting in two separate tabs. Panicking, he muted his screen and texted the team group chat. Is it just me, or are there two of me on the screen? When the others replied, Yes, he started laughing out of awkwardness. But he was only muted on one of the tabs. ‘What’s the joke, Ed?’ the potential investor asked. ‘I just went white, panicked, shut my laptop.’ Young and learning on the job, such are the challenges. But such challenges are surmountable. ‘Ultimately,’ Jack pipes up, ‘the meeting was a success.’ He laughs. ‘Maybe we should just get rid of Ed!’ Zac adds. It must be hard work founding a start-up, especially as a university student: but, crucially, Jack, Ed and Zac manage to make it look like a hell of a lot of fun. 

SHRINK SCOOTERS is the UK’s first student-run e-scooter start-up—an achievement they take lightly, self-deprecatingly comparing themselves to some of Durham’s student-led events companies. They’re aiming to have a fleet of thirty Okai ES400As navigating the streets of this historic metropolis by the start of the next academic year (September 2023). In response to the myriad challenges of student mobility in Durham—especially given the recent housing crisis, and the University’s continual expansion up the hill—they came up with a solution: e-scooters. They’re everywhere else in the world, so, why not Durham? As a first year student in Hild-Bede—notoriously detached from the rest of the University by an accident of geography—the idea first presented itself to Jack. Now, one year on, it’s fair to say Shrink has come a long way. 

Once they’re rolled out, SHRINK SCOOTERS will initially only be available to those with an ‘@durham.ac.uk’ email address; it is, after all, a University-based scheme, with five of its six proposed sites situated on University property. Although, if—and arguably, now, it’s more a question of ‘when’—SHRINK’s first year is a success, they hope to expand into the wider public. 

Jack, Ed and Zac (respectively, the CEO, CMO, and CFO) met each other in a 1st year Geography lecture. Arguably, it’s this shared passion which has defined SHRINK’s trajectory. Whether it be Jack’s nerdy obsession with Geofencing (the technology which will prevent rogues from driving their scooters off to Newcastle); Ed’s insistence that I write about their ‘bespoke data set … which looks at the topographies of Durham, the paving surfaces, bike routes, and the socio-economic data of all of County Durham’; or Zac’s visible excitement when discussing SHRINK’s collaborative work with 6 Degrees, a consultancy firm focussed on sustainability, it’s quite clear that Geography is their guiding star. In fact, it’s their commitment to sustainability which has got Durham Council and the University excited: because, as Jack says, ‘when people talk of a bottom-up approach to solving climate change, it’s the smaller projects like this which actually create that kind of change.’ 

One initiative which they’re particularly excited about is ‘SHRINK SAFE’, a response to several reports on Overheard at Durham and Durfess about people’s discomfort at walking back from the library late in the evening. According to ‘SHRINK SAFE’, travel to any of the proposed ‘home stations’ (Hild-Bede, Hill Colleges, Viaduct, and Gilesgate) between nine and ten PM will be free. To ensure the success of this initiative, they’re currently looking at ‘partnering up with a Durham street-safe charity.’

Prior to the interview, one of my big questions was how they’d handle drink-driving: obviously a considerable challenge, given that these e-scooters are targeted at Durham students and Durham students love fun. But as Ed reminded me, all e-scooter drivers are liable to standard Road Traffic Laws. What’s more, they’re exploring the possibilities of using a CAPTCHA-esque system to test drivers on their phones (spelling challenges, identify the boxes containing traffic lights etc.) and have also committed to a 10PM to 7AM curfew, a safety measure offered by few other e-scooter companies. It seems that—as much as is feasibly possible—they’ve got this sorted. 

It seems clear that there’s a gap in the market, one that SHRINK SCOOTERS could very feasibly fill. As Jack himself put it, ‘this isn’t about what people desire, but what they require,’ before succumbing to a fit of embarrassment at having spurted out such a corporate catchphrase. But there’s a truth in it: obviously, for those in Gilesgate and Langley Moor, there are bus routes—but for the mid-length, 25-30 minute commute from the Viaduct to the Billy-B, or from the Hill down to the Half Moon, an e-scooter seems quite a pleasant idea. 

Now, I must shut my laptop. I must walk thirty minutes in the cold, late November rain. As I’m sprayed by passing cars, and my airpods run out of battery, and I remember that I still need to make a trip to Tesco’s, one thought strikes me: wouldn’t it be nice to shrink this journey and arrive home more quickly. Get it? 

@shrinkscooters

By Sophie Hogan.

The Guardian announced last week that Roxana Silbert had resigned from her position as Artistic director of Hampstead theatre after they suffered a 100% funding cut. Arts Council England withdrew the annual grant of £766,455 that the North London-based theatre had been receiving in an attempt to relocate funding away from the capital. Other institutions that were affected by these drastic changes include the Barbican Centre and the English National Opera. As a result, Silbert decided to step down from her role, and the theatre has highlighted the need for a ‘’change of direction’’, as it will no longer be able to ‘’exist solely as a new writing theatre’’ without the grant. 

The loss of government support for these theatres has been part of a larger scheme of ‘levelling up’ the artistic and cultural aspects of Britain, shifting these creative hubs to more Northern parts of the country. The allocation of funding has and will always continue to be a challenging process for all involved, and there is no doubt that redistributing funding away from the capital city will facilitate the growth of more diverse and accessible theatre. However, it does appear that some venues such as Hampstead theatre have been ‘’devastated’’ by the news. 

Perhaps, then, these funding cuts might push theatres to look towards new, innovative ways of producing plays. Director Simon Goodwin’s 2021 version of Romeo and Juliet embraced the pandemic conditions, creating a play geared specifically towards a television audience. Productions such as these saw huge success during lockdown, with National Theatre streams reaching staggering viewing figures of 15 million, both in and outside of Britain. These methods could continue to be instrumental for theatres in a post-pandemic world, providing greater accessibility at a lower cost for the keen theatregoer. 

It has typically been the responsibility of the productions themselves to shoulder the hefty filming expenses, meaning the theatre for home consumption has mainly been put out by larger-scale shows. However, according to Rupert Goold, artistic director of London’s Almeida theatre, this past summer has seen an increased number of screen versions produced in partnership with companies such as the BBC. He imagines a future which sees digital platforms collaborating with theatres that may be in a similar position to the Hampstead venue, envisioning the industry shifting away from the scarce government funds. He has hope that this could be done but emphasises that it would require ‘’very joined up thinking’’. Could an alliance between local theatres and streaming services solve the problems faced by Hampstead theatre and many others?

Many remain sceptical of theatre-from-home, pointing out the loss of an all-consuming experience that some feel theatre alone provides. There continues to be fiercely polarised debates between theatre purists and those excited by the prospect of streaming, but maybe this is up to you, reader, to decide for yourself. 
I will finish by urging you to watch some of the National Theatre streamed productions, of which a large portion are made available to students through your Durham login. Some personal highlights include: A Streetcar Named Desire, featuring Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby, (2014), Barber Shop Chronicles (2017), and Chewing Gum Dreams, the play that inspired Michaela Coel’s hit TV series, Chewing Gum (also 2014)

By Thea Opperman.

Reaching the end of term is a great excuse to sit back and reflect on what this year has brought us so far within the creative scene of Durham. There’s been DH1 signing more and more bands, collaborating with the likes of SNAFU for their infamous gigs at the Angel; there was Fight Night, where some insanely brave students took each other on in the ring; and now we have been lucky to have the latest incredible student plays popping up once again from the drama scene. 

It’s been a great term, but one aspect of the social calendar has been there every week, through thick and thin – and I, of course, am meaning Rotate Wednesdays, run by the incomparable team of Brett, Agnes, Alex, Harry, Georgia, and Bea. These 6 are the ones responsible for many a hangover from a night in Loft; and, since working for the brand, they have elevated Rotate to new heights, as they create a community of not just followers, but of mates.

Where did Rotate come from? Well, it’s no secret that Durham is known as ‘Dullham’ for a reason. With a sparse number of clubs, a few decent college bars, and some nice pubs, the city is hardly pushing boundaries in terms of entertainment for students. As a remedy for this Durham boredom five years ago, four guys started to throw ‘underground’ house parties above a flower shop on North Road. Unsurprisingly, they were hugely successful, and some months later they were able to upsize to Allington House, before taking the more established residence at Fab’s – the birthplace of ‘Rotate Wednesdays’.

Building ‘Rotate Wednesdays’ to be what they are today took a lot of work, as Brett, Rotate’s captain told Wayzgoose; “it took a long time for people to show up at Fab’s”. Word of mouth was key, but they had confidence that what they were offering – an alternative night out to the would-be Abba-filled night at Jimmie Allen’s, or even sports night at Babylon – would eventually sell itself.

One year on, they find themselves residing at Loft, a relatively new club on North Road, that seems to fit their alternative aesthetic far more naturally than Fab’s. As the team were explaining, Loft is great for a number of reasons: “more space”, Agnes told us, “we have gone from a 200 capacity to 600” which, she admitted “does come with its own set of difficulties”. Handling the super-long funnel queue, for example, is not as easy as you might think. But more importantly, however, the bigger space has allowed them to “grow a community”. Creating this vibe was one of their key aims setting out, as Georgia explained – “We want it to feel like a family, with more and more students returning each week, we want them to feel at home.”

But the predominant goal of Rotate is to provide a platform for new, up-and-coming DJs, giving them an opportunity to perform to a crowd with legitimacy and support. Alex, one of their resident DJs, told us that offering emerging artists this break is a “really important one”, as it “materialises a passion, externalising it into something real.” Georgia and Harry, the other two resident DJs, agreed; Rotate had been their first proper gig too and as such, they told me “we want others to have that same opportunity.”

One key way in which they have adapted to the new space in order to create this feeling of authenticity is their decision to move the actual DJ decks forward, into the dance floor, allowing the crowd to dance behind whoever is performing. When asked, all 6 of the Rotate team told us unanimously that it had been “one of the most successful changes” they have made all year. “It creates intimacy, like you are at someone’s house” – again, adding to that family feel they are so wanting to create. 

When drawing the interview to a close, I asked them how they feel about Durham’s growing creative scene, and whether they think it might be becoming an oversaturated market. But they all answered, “for sure it’s growing”, without a doubt, “but that’s what we want.” Brett explained “we are all working together – no one is stealing punters and we do our events on different nights” whilst Harry added “it’s nice the market is filled, it’s like we are shouting into a void that others are shouting into too.” The camaraderie and growth of the creative hub in Durham is palpable, but, when student life may be feeling a little dull, at least we know there’s a guaranteed, alternative, new and exciting Wednesday night at Loft, supplied by none other than the Rotate team.

By Leo Dagianti.

When I listen to The Doors, I feel like I am transported to a desert with a half-drunk bottle of whisky. Everything is hazy. There is a feeling of frenetic nothingness backed by cynicism. It evokes the thinking man’s detachedness – I am here and I am alone and there are answers to be found at the bottom of this bottle. Their work contains a distinctly masculine air, rooted far deeper than the simple fact that Morrison is a man. Considering the central role that activism played in the creation of The Doors’ music, as well as their personas as proto-punk contrarians, there seems to be a disconnect between the essence of the masculinity and how that is portrayed throughout their lyrics. 

The American Man of the time was a bread winner; white collar starched and stiff, duty was seated as his central concern. This duty extended to a variety of realms, from duty to family through to duty to country. It is important to note that at the time of The Doors recording their self-titled album, the Vietnam War had been raging for 11 years. There was anger brewing amongst the American youth, and it was no longer targeted solely at the military. The anger began to strike against the generation before, who were seen as having stood idly, watching the war rage. The sentiments of the Beat Generation were still alive and well: rampant drug use, freed sexuality, uprooting of gender roles. The subversion of masculine duty was total masculine liberation. On the Road by Jack Kerouac distils this ideology into its purest form – the story of a man who leaves his familial responsibilities behind to venture, uninhibited, into western America. The story involves a cocktail of mind-expanding drugs, poetry, close male relationships, and promiscuity. Every page of it feels like it is sticking its tongue out at the generation before. 

That isn’t to say that the new man forgot those who came before him. The spaghetti western narrative of the great frontier, of exploring something new and creating a vision of life from scratch, was central to the allure of the Beat generation. They still echoed the themes of dominance that their predecessors held dear, preferring dominance over the constraints of the human mind rather than over nature. This was intoxicating to the counter-culture youth of 60’s America, who came to idolise these artists and in turn a masculinity that lauded the ideal of freedom from the lethargy of suburbia. The freed man was one who took charge not of the family but of himself, who manifested his own destiny. 

In William S. Burroughs’ book, Queer, we are given a glimpse of Beat life in New Mexico City in the 50s – one that carried many of the typical tropes of hedonism and detachedness. Burroughs himself was a vision of a Beat man: he was on and off of heroin for a number of year and wandered between cities with his wife, who he accidentally shot and killed in 1951 while drunk. The protagonist of the book, Lee, seeks peyote after receiving word that it holds the potential for mind control. Much like Burroughs, Lee is rarely sober and regularly detached from reality. The book, initially set in a small quarter of Mexico City, rarely makes reference to any part of Mexico. Lee eats at an American diner, watches French films and talks about Rome. There is an isolation even from the place where he has chosen to isolate himself. That isn’t even to mention the cynicism with which he regards everyone in his life, and how this only serves to tear him apart from reality further. To a modern audience, the book reads as an indictment of the freedom seeking Beat generation more than a praise of it. 

To label the Beat authors as purely hedonistic is to ignore the anti-establishment roots to their ideology, but their methodology often held a selfishness highlighted by the way ideas of masculinity that emerged in their writing. Masculinity to the Beat generation became reactionary: a boy’s club of men dedicated to rebelling against what their dads tell them is right. 

Here, we can distinguish between Morrison’s work within The Doors and the somewhat misguided sentiment of the Beat Generation. Whilst a disciple of the Beat authors, Morrison’s masculinity holds political action at the centre of its ethos. The son of a Navy admiral, Morrison’s own paternal rebellion was always characterised by anti-military sentiment. After telling his father of his plans to go into music, his dad told him that he should do something worthwhile to society. This dismissal grossly underestimated the political impact that The Doors’ work would have. Their music incited vicious anger at the paternalistic forces of the Johnson administration, who held power during the peak of The Doors’ popularity. 

Their music, whilst speaking of an isolation and depression so deeply reminiscent of that espoused by the Beat generation, became a call to arms in a way that the Beats failed to bring to fruition. It is this, to me, that makes the Doors such an incredible band. The perfect balance of detachedness and despondency matched with real political change. The lyrics are far from defeatist, far from fatalistic. Morrison comes off as an inebriated messiah of sorts, leading people towards a world that is truly different, truly better.

By Elizabeth Marney.

Leonora Carrington, most famous for her ground breaking additions to surrealist painting and literature, steadfastly maintained that she was never born, she was made. On an otherwise ordinary day in 1917, in the Lancashire mill town of Chorley, Carrington’s mother, left bloated and uncomfortable by overindulging in decadent foods, lay herself upon a machine. This particular machine had been designed to extract hundreds of gallons of semen from all the animals you could possibly imagine and, from this joining of human, animal, and machine, Leonora was created. This playful, disturbing anecdote encapsulates Carrington’s work and personality. Through her life’s work we see consistent subversion and parody of gender, posthumanism, and madness – all presented in the most brilliantly jarring way. 

Whilst a patriarchal society may have brought us a breadth of insight from Carrington, it has left her often dismissed as a muse to the mainly male surrealist posse of the 20^th century. Her time spent as Max Ernst’s companion or as ex-debutante is never far from conversation when an art aficionado is around. Carrington’s work was undeniably influenced by these things. Her most famous short story, The Debutante, contains an obvious nudge towards her past and her hunger to escape high society. A child debutante befriends a hyena and asks it to take her place at the ball. The hyena tears the face of the child’s maid, donning it as costume whilst the narrator remains willingly encaged in her room. After a snide remark is made at the ball towards their smell, the hyena rips off its fleshy mask and escapes through the window. Humanity is no more than a pageant of manners and materials. One need only decorate oneself and behave “like a human” in order to be accepted as a human. Whilst the turbulent emotions that she experienced in early adulthood greatly informed her work, it seems slightly absurd that a woman who escaped from involuntary incarceration in a sanatorium on a submarine is best known anecdotally for being on the footnotes of an ex-lover’s life. 

What is the use of surrealism if not to point out the madness in normality? Carrington dissolves the distinction between human, animal, and machine with diligence and decadence. There is a great merging of everything: mysticism, class consciousness, plants and animals, humans, chimeras, rotting meat. There is no hierarchy among living things; in fact, humans are frequently the butt of the joke. Carrington’s posthumanism undermines anthropocentrism by various means. By relentlessly highlighting that violence is inherent in all life, Carrington undercuts humanism’s false benevolence. In exposing the self-deception and charlatanry inherent to science and religion, Carrington articulates logic and reason as little more than misplaced coping mechanisms.

There seems to be little qualm throughout Carrington’s work that humanity is a harbinger of death and violence. Sometimes, such as in The Debutante, they see the brutal murder of the lower classes as an acceptable remedy to mild inconveniences. In other works, such as The Hearing Trumpet, this death and destruction is on a global level, materialising in the form of the atomic bomb. One may expect a sense of sadness or catastrophe to be attached to the notion of global destruction. Instead, Carrington leans into optimistic nihilism and posthumanism. There is an unknowingness to death that need not be so painful. She envisions a world populated by cats, werewolves, bees and goats – ‘We all fervently hope that this will be an improvement on reality’.

Carrington’s painting, Cabbage, is a personal favourite. Relative to the rest of her oeuvre, this painting is straightforward. It does not emerge from any bizarre context, nor does it rest in a richly detailed background. It is stark and spare, growing from a dark background and rendered in vivid shades of red and purple that echo a blooming rose. In her short story, Uncle Sam Carrington, the narrator stumbles upon two cabbages in a terrible fight, tearing leaves from each other one by one until nothing remains. It is almost as if there is no limit to the introversion of the cabbage – by peeling a leaf away one simply reveals a smaller cabbage. It appears to lose none of its essence by this extraction.  The anthropomorphising of a non-human object is a tempting analogy. Carrington asks us to resist this temptation. Metaphor itself is a metaphor for the inadequacy of language to capture essence. There is something unknowable of a cabbage and yet upon seeing her painting we attempt to know it. We may see a gloomy, rose-like, cabbage and project an emotional state onto it, we may cover it with lashings of butter and pepper and eat it for dinner, but we know nothing of being a cabbage. Likewise, as tempting as a reliance on predictability may feel, we cannot demand conformity and essence from human’s and non-human creatures. It is impossible to reconcile a reality experienced within power structures as a vindication of projections; it results in an unavoidable feeling of dissonance or misplacement, almost as if everybody in the world is saying quietly to themselves ‘nobody understands me, nobody ever will.’ One cannot truly conform to hegemonic norms; one can only appear to conform.

Part of the allure of Carrington’s work is that it does not demand to be understood. These creations are at their core playful, dreamlike, representations of life. Carrington loathed the notion of absolute truth. There is a spiritual element in the works, a darkness matched with hope, a recognisability that leans more on feeling than it does on logic. Whilst we may never understand Carrington, nor should we attempt to, she provides us with a springboard for introspection, playfulness, and an alternative understanding of the world around us. She embodies surrealism at its core.

By Maddy Harlow.

For most people reading this, the 1^st of December is just another day, perhaps an exciting one as advent calendars are opened and Christmas songs are considered socially acceptable to play. But for many across the world, the 1^st of December is a day of reflection, of raising awareness and of hope for the future. World Aids Day is an opportunity not only for the 38.4 million people living with HIV worldwide, but for everyone to spend at least a few minutes thinking about, talking about, or learning about HIV. 

HIV is a virus that damages the cells in a person’s immune system, weakening their ability to fight infections and disease. It is sometimes conflated with AIDS, the name used to describe a number of potentially life-threatening infections and illnesses that occur when an immune system has been severely damaged by the HIV virus. With an early diagnosis and effective treatment, most carriers of the HIV virus will not go on to develop AIDS and are able to live a healthy life.

According to the World Aids Day website over 105,000 people in the UK are living with HIV, yet 63% of the public do not remember seeing or hearing about HIV in the past six months. HIV can affect any one of any race, ethnicity or sexuality, and the assumption that it only affects a ‘certain group’ is a deeply damaging narrative, facilitating needless transmission. 

In the UK, antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication is accessible. Access to ART reduces a person with HIV’s viral load to the point that it is both undetectable and untransmissible. Globally, thousands of people still do not have access to this life changing medication. Despite the monumental advances in HIV treatment since the beginning of its pandemic in 1984, stigma, shame and ignorance still dominate discourse surrounding HIV. Gareth Thomas, former Rugby Union star opened up about his positive status and was spat at on the street due to the inaccurate perceptions which people hold about HIV. 

It is crucial that those of us who are not HIV positive participate in conversations surrounding HIV. Whilst looking for resources, I stumbled across ‘Through Positive Eyes’, a collaborative photo-storytelling project by over 140 people living with HIV across the world. ‘The project chronicles a very particular moment in the epidemic, when effective treatment is available to some, not all, and when the enduring stigma associated with HIV and AIDS has become entrenched: a major roadblock to both prevention and treatment’. The collection of photos taken by those living with HIV around the world illustrates the diversity of the population of people who are HIV positive, reminding us that we still have a long way to go if we are to end AIDS globally. The virtual gallery is strikingly powerful and each photograph is a bold and courageous act of artistry, reflecting the emotions and lived experiences of those who are HIV positive globally. Through Positive Eyes is one of many projects aiming to end the stigma of HIV once and for all it feels like a privilege to be able to see intimate snapshots of the highs and lows of living with HIV. 

Having a look at the Through Positive Eyes website is just one way to start to think about HIV this world AIDS day. Films and TV shows such as ‘It’s a Sin’ and ‘How to survive a plague’ are two examples of poignant representations of the history of the AIDS pandemic – but a vast amount of footage and documentaries can also be found online. The HIV unmuted podcast contains valuable knowledge and insight on the subject, or you can take a look at the World AIDS day 2022 website to learn a bit more about HIV and what you can do to help make a change. 

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do this world AIDS day is get tested. Take a festive trip to the STI clinic or do it from the comfort of your own home. One blood test could make all the difference in reducing the transmission of HIV. 

Talk to your friends and family about HIV, raise awareness and end the stigma around the topic. David, who lives with HIV, told the national HIV trust:
‘What I’m learning, and have learned, is that it is fightable, it is worth getting out of bed and it is worth the pain to fight to be able to see a day when possibly millions can be free from this epidemic. We just have to keep fighting’. 

HIV is far from being a thing of the past. Whilst the UN has stated that it wants to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030, we still have a very long way to go. To end the shame and the stigma we need to talk, we need to educate ourselves and we need to test ourselves. Across the world people are still dying from AIDS. This world AIDS day be the person who starts the conversation. Nobody should have to die due to ignorance. 

Some resources to access: 

https://www.worldaidsday.org

https://throughpositiveeyes.org

https://survivors.unaids.org

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/visiting-an-sti-clinic/

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/visiting-an-sti-clinic/

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hiv-unmuted/id1565625594

By Thea Opperman.

On the 14^th November, The Art Newspaper confirmed that the British street artist Banksy has created seven new murals in various locations across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, the suburb of Irpin and the town of Borodyanka. Speculation arose earlier this week as the graffiti artist debuted his latest mural on Instagram, whilst three more were spotted by civilians in and around Kyiv. 

The first artwork Banksy claimed ownership over was a mural in Borodyanka, portraying a painted gymnast doing a handstand on a pile of rubble. Borodyanka, 35 miles northwest of Kyiv, sustained significant damage from Russian infantry, and some 13,000 who lived in the town prior to the invasion, have had to flee. Oleksiy Savochka, a 32-year-old Ukrainian, spoke to the Agence France-Presse and stated that it is ‘a symbol that we are unbreakable…and our country is unbreakable.’

One mural depicts a man said to resemble the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, being thrown to the floor during a judo match with a young boy. Another shows a young gymnast doing a handstand, whilst the others include a bearded man taking a bath, a woman in her dressing gown, hair in curlers, wearing a gas mask and wielding a fire extinguisher, and, by incorporating an existing graffiti of a penis, Banksy has depicted a nuclear warhead loaded onto the back of an armoured truck.

The simplicity of Banksy’s subject matter is well known, but there is something distinctly beautiful about portraying such ordinary men and women doing such ordinary things – having a bath or curling your hair – in a country whose people and buildings are so torn and destroyed. 

Although these new works of Banksy’s are his first murals in over a year, the artist’s involvement in the war effort in Ukraine has been incredibly strong from the start. Back in March, a print of one of his most famous anti-war pieces, CNC Soldiers was sold at auction, raising $106,505 for a children’s hospital in Kyiv. The original mural first appeared outside the Houses of Parliament in London in 2003, during protests against the war in Iraq.

Given the recent developments in Poland following the two deaths on NATO soil, it would be easy to overlook what a momentous moment this work from Banksy is for Ukraine. In fact, speaking to Reuters’ Gleb Garanich and Max Hunder, 31-year-old Alina Mazur said, ‘this is such a historic moment for our country, that people like Banksy and other famous figures are coming here and showing the world what Russia has done to us.’

The importance of fame and world-wide notability has been a key player in the Ukrainian war-efforts – indeed, Sean Penn has just lent Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy his Oscar as a ‘symbol of faith.’ However, Banksy’s work feels like the first sign of solidarity from the art world, insofar as there is new art being created on the ground for the Ukrainian people. Completing these works in Ukraine, they are a sign of peace and unity of course, but more poignantly, Banksy has given the people of Ukraine pieces of art to come back to, to rebuild their country upon in a time where creativity has been forced to take a back seat.