A different lens
Since Indian friends coming to London ask me, “What’s the latest?”, I can point them in the direction of the new Marina Abramovic exhibition at the Royal Academy. She is credited with bringing performance art into the mainstream. In Imponderabilia, visitors are encouraged to push their way through the narrow gap between a naked man and woman standing upright and facing each other in order to get from one room to another. In another work, Nude with Skeleton, performance artists lie beneath skeletons, which rise and fall with their breath. The artwork, inspired by Tibetan Buddhists, advocates sleeping alongside the dead as a means of conquering the fear of dying.
At first, I found her work bonkers. However, after a press conference, I found that everything she said made complete sense. An Asian journalist asked her: “Do you think a musical might be on the cards — Marina Abramovic the musical?” To this “great, great question”, she responded mischievously: “Is this direct invitation to Bollywood?” “Are you Indian?” she wondered. “Pakistani — ok, this is almost close.”
She was applauded for using a quote often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi to explain how getting acceptance had been an uphill struggle: “I really love the sentence of Gandhi... what he said you can apply so much to every performance artist who started in the ’70s with so much resistance... Gandhi said, ‘First they ignore me. Second, they laugh at me. The third, they fight me. The fourth, I win.’ ”
Page turner
The just announced shortlist for the prestigious Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year for 2023 includes Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by the Indian-origin author, Siddharth Kara. Currently based in Nottingham University as a British Academy Global Professor, Kara was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Hindu and Parsi parents.
According to the FT, “Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves.” Cobalt Red has been on the bestseller list on the New York Times, which called it “harrowing...a righteous quest to expose injustice.” Kara’s book, Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009), has been adapted into the Hollywood film, Trafficked. A feature film inspired by Cobalt Red is currently in pre-production.
This year’s shortlist also includes a biography, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, which I have found already being sold — discounted — at my local supermarkets. Previous winners of the prize include, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo for Poor Economics (2011); Raghuram Rajan for Fault Lines (2010); and Liaquat Ahamed for The Lords of Finance (2009).
Change is in the air
The Daily Telegraph in London is for sale, along with its sister publication, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Spectator magazine, which make up the Telegraph Media Group. I find the news sad since so much of my life has been given to the Daily Telegraph. The reason for the sale was given by the Financial Times: “Lloyds [bank] took control of The Telegraph and The Spectator after previous owners, the Barclay family, failed to pay down debts of more than £1bn against the businesses.” The auction could raise £400m-£700m, the FT added.
I do wonder if the Daily Telegraph, which has become dominated by too many right-wing columnists, will remain a broadsheet under its new owners. Potential bidders include the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Endless loop
WFH (work from home), which many people are now doing in the United Kingdom, has its advantages, including a better work-life balance. However, it can be frustrating, too, when you are seeking information from press officers. This is typical of the replies I get when I email, say, Cat (short for Catherine): “I am now on my annual holiday. For anything urgent, contact Janet.” So I contact Janet who says: “I am out of the office until Monday next week. For anything urgent, contact Phoebe.”
Phoebe sends an automatic reply: “I am on maternity leave. Please contact Charlotte.” Charlotte’s response is: “I am working from home today and can only deal with your query when I am in the office next week. For anything urgent, contact Cat.” Perhaps I am exaggerating a little, but not very much.
