In February 2020, 74 universities affiliated to the UCU (University and College Union) began 14 days of industrial action, launching ‘Four Fights’ over casualisation of labour, unsafe workloads, falling pay, and gender and ethnicity pay gaps. The strikes became national news, supported by staff and students alike, with vibrant picket lines at many “art schools” across the country speaking out against exorbitant tuition fees, massive pay gaps between vice chancellors and lecturers, the punitive and racist Prevent programme introduced to stop student ‘radicalisation’, the digitalisation of courses and much more.

Juliet Jacques – herself a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art, where 90% of staff are casualised – spoke to artist and researcher Dr Annie Goh, a lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins and an Associate Lecturer in Sound Arts at London College of Communication, and Kyran Joughin, lecturer in film and critical practice at Wimbledon College of Art (part of the University of the Arts London) about the recent strikes, how the coronavirus crisis might lead to further digitalisation and casualisation, and how staff and students might organise against it. They also discussed the legacy of Thatcher’s assault on the idea of cultural democracy, the marketisation of education and privatisation of knowledge under the New Labour government, and the student protests after the Liberal Democrats broke their promise to abolish tuition fees on joining the Conservative-led coalition in 2010.

As usual, a full list of references from this episode is available to subscribers – please visit https://www.patreon.com/suite212 to sign up for as little as $3 per month.

In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype (so apologies for the diminished audio quality), about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shaped their work.

In the second of these Sessions, Juliet talks to Athens-born, London-based artist and writer Erica Scourti about the recent UCU strikes in higher education, and especially art colleges, the politics of freelance life, the mediation of emotion through technology, experimental approaches to memoir and the representation of subjectivity, and her translations of works by Greek poet and actor Katerina Gogou (1940-1993).

A full list of references for the programme can be found via our Patreon at www.patreon.com/suite212, and are available to $3 subscribers.

In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and shutting down of much of the UK's cultural life, we have decided to bring you a series of interviews with contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and other cultural figures, conducted via Skype, about their practices, the political issues that inspire them and the socio-economic conditions that have shaped their work.

First, Juliet talks to London-based visual artist Ilona Sagar (https://www.ilonasagar.com/) about her film works Correspondence O (2017), dealing with the history of the Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham, London, and Deep Structure (2019), documenting the Park Hill estate in Sheffield. They also spoke about Ilona's research on workers affected by asbestos and the Ford Dagenham sewing machinists strike of 1968, her interest in other artists and writers addressing healthcare and disability, and the recent UCU strikes in higher education, and especially art colleges.

A full list of references for the programme can be found via our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/suite212, and are available to $3 subscribers.

CONTENT NOTE: 'The Woman in the Portrait' contains descriptions of sexual violence and transphobia.

Recorded on 23 August 2019, Suite (212) co-host Juliet Jacques appeared on Montez Press Radio to discuss her work in literature and film. She read her short story 'The Woman in the Portrait' (2014) about a trans woman in Weimar-era Berlin, talked about her forthcoming short story collection and her work in film, especially her short 'You Will Be Free' (2017).

This week on Suite (212), Tom Overton talks to author Shiromi Pinto about her second novel, Plastic Emotions (https://www.influxpress.com/plastic-emotions), recently published by Influx Press, inspired by the life of 20th century Sri Lankan architect and feminist icon Minnette de Silva (1918-1998).

SELECTED REFERENCES

Shiromi Pinto: http://www.christopherlittle.net/authors/shiromi-pinto/

Minnette de Silva: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/14/minnette-de-silva-the-brilliant-female-architect-forgotten-by-history

Geoffrey Bawa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Bawa

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Le Corbusier: https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Le+Corbusier:+Architect+and+Feminist-p-9780470847473

David Lean

Pablo Picasso

Andrea Lawlor's debut novel Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl has a protagonist who can change his body at will, creating a narrative that explores space between male and female without relying on established transsexual narratives. This week, Juliet talks to Lawlor about the novel - one of the first by a trans/non-binary author on a major publisher - and the state of trans/non-binary literature more generally.

SELECTED REFERENCES

ANDREA LAWLOR, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl (2017) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/05/andrea-lawlor-dont-want-to-be-representative-of-a-type

Travis Alabanza - https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/27/travis-alabanza-interview-future-theatre

Dodie Bellamy - http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-dodie-bellamy/

Jay Bernard - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/05/speaking-out-jay-bernard-surge-side-a-poet

IMOGEN BINNIE, Nevada (2013) - https://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/04/02/nevada-a-novel-by-imogen-binnie

KATE BORNSTEIN, Gender Outlaw (1994) - https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2016/02/103271/kate-bornstein-interview-transgender

JOE BRAINARD, 'I Remember' (1975) - https://frieze.com/article/i-remember

BRIGID BROPHY, In Transit (1969) - http://everybodysreviewing.blogspot.com/2014/10/review-of-brigid-brophys-in-transit-by.html

Judith Butler

KAI CHENG TOM, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars (2018) - https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.com/2018/07/13/i-believe-in-dangerous-stories-a-review-of-fierce-femmes-and-notorious-liars-by-kai-cheng-thom/

AKWAEKE EMEZI, Freshwater (2018) - https://www.akwaeke.com/freshwater

LESLIE FEINBERG, Stone Butch Blues: A Novel (1993) - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/opinion/sunday/the-best-book-for-2018-is-25-years-old.html

Gender Trash From Hell (zine) - http://archive.qzap.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/337

R. L. GOLDBERG, 'Towards Creating a Trans Literary Canon' (2018) - https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/10/23/toward-creating-a-trans-literary-canon

Caspar Heinemann - https://www.the87press.com/product-page/novelty-theory-caspar-heinemann

ROZ KAVENEY, Tiny Pieces of Skull (2015) - https://boingboing.net/2016/06/09/30-years-on-roz-kaveneys.html

C. L. LESTER, Trans Like Me (2017) - https://www.virago.co.uk/translikeme/

E. J. Levy - https://medium.com/@jackdoyle_76250/the-trans-take-towards-a-trans-public-history-deb1bc9d822b

Torrey Peters - http://www.torreypeters.com

CASEY PLETT, Little Fish (2018) - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/reviews/article-review-casey-pletts-little-fish-looks-forward-to-trans-futures

Nat Raha - https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2245-the-limits-of-trans-liberalism-by-nat-raha

John Rechy - https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/interview-john-rechy

JORDY ROSENBERG, Confessions of the Fox (2018) - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/books/review/jordy-rosenberg-confessions-of-the-fox.html

SEVERO SARDUY, Cobra (1972) - https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/09/archives/cobra.html

RIVERS SOLOMON, An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017) - https://www.npr.org/2017/10/06/548665897/unkindness-of-ghosts-transposes-the-plantations-cruelty-to-the-stars?t=1558972023965

SANDY STONE, 'The "Empire" Strikes Back: A Post-Transsexual Manifesto' (1987/91) - https://sandystone.com/empire-strikes-back.html

Transgender Studies Quarterly - https://www.dukeupress.edu/tsq-transgender-studies-quarterly

GORE VIDAL, Myra Breckenridge (1968) - https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-myra-breckinridge-20180223-story.html

VIRGINIA WOOLF, Orlando (1928) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/03/different-sex-same-person-how-woolfs-orlando-became-a-trans-triumph

Growing out of a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, manga has become one of the world's most popular and influential graphic art forms, moving from comics into anime films and beyond.

This week, Lara Alonso Corona talks to journalist and curator Paul Gravett (http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/manga), author of Manga: Sixty years of Japanese Comics and Mangasia about the history of manga and the cultural and political impact of the medium, as well as the upcoming British Museum exhibition on manga, the largest ever of its kind outside of Japan.

SELECTED REFERENCES

The British Museum exhibition - https://blog.britishmuseum.org/an-introduction-to-manga

Ainu history and culture - http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng01.html

Moto Hagio - http://classic.tcj.com/history/the-moto-hagio-interview-conducted-by-matt-thorn-part-one-of-four

Shigeri Mizuki - https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/shigeru-mizukis-war-haunted-creatures

NAGATA KABI, My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (2017) - https://www.sevenseasentertainment.com/books/my-lesbian-experience-with-loneliness

Osamu Tezuka - https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/08/06/books/book-reviews/life-japans-god-manga

The Year 24 Group - https://theaoi.com/2016/07/15/v33-girls-world

Chinese-British novelist, memoirist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo (b. 1973) talks to Tom Overton about her life in the UK and PR China, and her work in cinema and literature, which explores Chinese history, trans-national identities, class, memory, personal and physical journeys.

SELECTED REFERENCES

WORKS BY XIAOLU GUO (www.guoxiaolu.com)

Books

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (2007) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jan/27/featuresreviews.guardianreview33

Once Upon a Time in the East (2018)

Films

Far and Near (film)

We Went to Wonderland (2008) - https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-we-went-to-wonderland-2008-online

She, a Chinese (2009) - https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-she-a-chinese-2009-online

UFO in Her Eyes (2009)

Late at Night, Voices of Ordinary Madness (2013)

Five Men and a Caravaggio (2018)

STEVEN BARKER & XIAOLU GUO, 'Notes Towards a Metaphysical Cinema Manifesto' - http://www.guoxiaolu.com/WR_MANIFESTO_1.htm

'Further Notes ...' - http://www.guoxiaolu.com/WR_MANIFESTO_2.htm

WALTER BENJAMIN, 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' (1936)

John Berger

The Cranes are Flying (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957) - http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/soviet-cinema/the-cranes-are-flying-soviet-cinema/

Mark Fisher - https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n09/jenny-turner/not-no-longer-but-not-yet

I Am Cuba (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058604/

GEORGE ORWELL, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)

Nikesh Shukla - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/ey-exhibition-van-gogh-and-britain/talk-xiaolu-guo-nikesh-shukla

Vincent van Gogh - http://vangoghletters.org/vg

Andy Warhol

The 1970s were a fertile time for feminist film, producing not just a huge body of women's work - including Chantal Akerman's seminal 1975 film Jeanne Dielman - but also a corpus of journals and criticism. This week, Tom Overton talks to Daniella Shreir, editor of Another Gaze (http://www.anothergaze.com/) about the need for such publications and the history of feminist film criticism, as well as the work of Chantal Akerman, whose memoir Daniella has translated for Silver Press (https://www.silverpress.org/).

SELECTED REFERENCES

Marina Abramović

Chantal Akerman – https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2015/october/on-chantal-akerman

Dorothy Allen-Pickard - https://www.dorothyallenpickard.com

Melissa Anderson - http://www.bkmag.com/2016/09/19/brooklyn-100-melissa-anderson-film-critic/

Erika Balsom - http://www.erikabalsom.com

Grace Barber-Plentie - https://www.bfi.org.uk/people/grace-barber-plentie

Camera Obscura (journal) - https://www.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscura

Cléo (film journal) - http://cleojournal.com

Marguerite Duras - https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/the-films-of-marguerite-duras

Annie Ernaux - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/06/annie-ernaux-interview-the-years-memoir-man-booker-international

Sandy Flitterman-Lewis - https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/flitterman-lewis-sandy

Sheila Heti - https://soundcloud.com/suite-212/resonance-fm-suite-212-18th-june-2018

Molly Haskell - http://www.mollyhaskell.com

Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (dir. Chantal Akerman, 1975) - http://www.anothergaze.com/radical-banality-chantal-akerman-labour-in-cinema-and-legacy-may-68

Christian Lacroix (fashion designer)

Babette Mangolte - http://babettemangolte.org

Jonas Mekas - https://soundcloud.com/suite-212/scenes-from-the-life-of-jonas-mekas

Frances Morgan

Laura Mulvey - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/566978/

Eileen Myles - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/eileen-myles

No Home Movie (dir. Chantal Akerman, 2015) - https://theartsofslowcinema.com/2017/10/02/no-home-movie-chantal-akerman-2015

Ulrike Ottinger - https://www.ulrikeottinger.com/index.php/home.670.html

Griselda Pollock - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_Pollock

Sally Potter - https://sallypotter.com

Sarah Schulman - https://topsidepress.tumblr.com/post/130731976949/chantal-akermanon-suicide-by-sarah-schulman

Delphine Seyrig - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0786891

Agnès Varda - https://www.anothergaze.com/after-agnes-varda-obituary-memorial-discussion-sandy-flitterman-lewis-kiva-reardon-lauren-elkin-as-hamrah-grace-barber-plentie-samia-labidi-jenny-chamarette-sheila-heti

A Very Curious Girl (dir. Nelly Kaplan, 1969) - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/movies/a-very-curious-girl-restoration.html

Ever since September 2015, when the allegation emerged that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, had performed a sex act on a dead pig as a student, British politics has entered a strange new reality, in which satire has endlessly been pronounced dead. In this edition of Suite (212) Extra, Juliet talks to Huw Lemmey about how to make fun of the age of austerity and absurdism, polarisation and pigfucking, focusing on Huw's new book, Red Tory: My Corbyn Chemsex Hell.

SELECTED REFERENCES

WORKS BY HUW LEMMEY

Bad Gays (podcast) - https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/yw89yb/bad-gays-podcast-interview

Chubz: The Demonisation of My Working Arse (2014) - https://rhizome.org/editorial/2014/nov/20/chubz-demonization-my-working-arse-interview-huw-l

Confirmed Pigfucker (2016) - https://viletrollbooks.bigcartel.com/product/confirmed-pigfucker-political-poems-by-spitzenprodukte

Red Tory: My Corbyn Chemsex Hell (2019) -

http://montezpress.com/catalogue/books/red-tory-my-corbyn-chemsex-hell

Theodor W. Adorno

MICHAEL ASHCROFT, Call Me Dave (2015) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piggate

Marcus Brigstocke

Charlie Brooker

James Butler - https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4w7kxg/james-butler-huw-lemmy-chubz-322

Dawn Foster -

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/23/damage-cuts-and-sanctions-oxfam-wales-austerity

Bob Geldof - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/15/nigel-farage-bob-geldof-rival-eu-referendum-thames-flotillas

Have I Got News For You (TV series, 1990-present)

Simon Hedges - https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/53n9v8/the-new-wave-of-satire-for-our-morbid-political-landscape

OWEN JONES, Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class (2011) - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/08/chavs-demonization-owen-jones-review

JOE KENNEDY, Authentocrats (2018) -

https://everydayanalysis.org/2019/04/15/to-save-multicultural-liberalism-build-the-wall-on-joe-kennedys-authentocrats/

London (dir. Patrick Keiller, 1994) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v84byeueCBI

THOMAS MANN, Death in Venice (1912)

Al Murray, the Pub Landlord - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/its-not-just-nigel-farage-al-murray-the-pub-landlord-loses-south-thanet-bid-despite-patriotic-10235430.html

Herbert Muschamp - http://justinmcguirk.com/hearts-city-herbert-muschamp

The Now Show (radio series, 1998-present)

Streatham Rovers FC - https://twitter.com/streathamrovers?lang=en

The Thick of It (TV series, 2006-12) - https://www.blubrry.com/wdtatw/42236688/episode-84-politics-stayed-the-same-its-us-that-changed

Tim Peaks: Farron Walk with Me (radio play, 2018) -

https://soundcloud.com/reelpolitikpodcast/tim-peaks-farron-walk-with-me-a-reel-politik-original-radio-play

Trashfuture (podcast) - https://trashfuturepodcast.podbean.com/

The West Wing (TV series, 1999-2006)