MembersNEWNew in the Members’ Room: Zinovy Zinik reflects on vodka and life; John Ozimek takes up the new Vetting Database; Viv Regan presents a film on youth volunteering; JJ Charlesworth has a piece in Art Monthly on the trouble with art education; James Panton discusses ethical consumerism and child protection on BBC Radio. New on the Vetting Blog: Photography in pre-school; Serving police officer CRBed; Checking once, checking twice; Manifesto Club wins government u-turn; Model flying events cancelled. Read on… |
Past Events
The pursuit of Truth has driven intellectual and political work throughout human history – with artists, scientists and political activists using their different methods to attempt to arrive at something ‘true’. Today there appears to be a contradictory attitude towards truth. On the one hand there is a new relativism, with academic establishments holding that there are many ‘stories’ but no truth; but there is also a new epistemological absolutism, with experts relaying what ‘the science says’ in areas from energy policy to family policy. How can we explain this apparent contradiction? This salon discussed what it means to pursue truth today. Is it possible to uphold a critical attitude in the spirit of the Enlightenment, without indulging the worst excesses of relativism? Can we make the most of the achievements of science without enshrining it as a new unquestionable authority? Is the search for truth merely about resigning ourselves to cold realities, or might it mean understanding the world in order to change it? Manifesto Club members Frank Furedi and Tom Addiscott introduced the evening's discussion. Manifesto Club salons are for members only (see how to join the Manifesto Club).
The UK Government wants to reclassify cannabis - yet again! - this time upgrading it from a Category C to B drug, in order to 'send a message' that drugs are bad. The reclassification is not to warn us off becoming degenerate hippies and dropouts though - it's for the sake of our mental health. Is this a reasonable argument for greater restrictions, or should we be free to choose our own poison, whatever its ill effects? At our next Club Night, we will interrogate the rights and wrongs of the drugs debate. Are drugs a means to expand our horizons and experiences, or a harmless recreational choice? Should politicians use the law to send a moral message?
Some say the competitive ethic is in decline. Sports coaches lament the decline of the school sports day, and a growing number of people do sports for personal health reasons. Yet there also seems to be more competition, with league tables pitting schools and hospitals against one another, and bands and singers competing in front of judges. What is happening to competition – and how can we explain these shifts? What is the value of sporting competition, and do we need more of it? Is winning at any cost something to celebrate? More broadly, are there cases where cooperation should be emphasised over competition? The evening will be kicked off with a head-to-head by two Manifesto Club members: Dan Travis will put the case for more competition; Dolan Cummings will take him on. Manifesto Club salons are for members only (see how to join the Manifesto Club). Time: 7-10pm Supplementary readings: See this essay by Benjamin Barber calling for more social cooperation; and Dan Travis' Thinkpiece calling for more sporting competition. Tuesday 22 April 2008, CLUB NIGHT: Talkin' About a Revolution - the legacy of 1968
So was it all just hopeless naiveté and youthful extravagance? Or is the world we live in a better place for the dreamers of 1968? Could we learn from the sixties spirit of humanist optimism? Or should we just get real and explore the possibilities of our own time?  Saturday 15 March 2008: Asylum Thinkpiece Talk
In her Manifesto Club Thinkpiece, Stefanie Borkum argues that current government policy isolates refugees and encourages them to prove their vulnerability - and that instead we should offer more flats and jobs, and fewer counselling sessions. Her Thinkpiece was launched and discussed at an event on Saturday 15 March at the French Institute, hosted by Christian Michel (author of a Manifesto Club Thinkpiece on immigration). The event was a Café forum and part of the Saturday morning series of Café philo and open debates at the French Institute. Place: French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT, (a stone's throw away from South Kensington tube). Café philo and Café forum events are free and open to all without registration. For any questions about the event, email Christian Michel
At the end of last year BBC Radio 1 provoked widespread derision for its decision to bleep the words 'slut' and 'faggot' from the Pogues' Christmas hit, 'Fairytale of New York'. Within hours the song could again be heard uncensored, a decision justified by the BBC on the basis that there was no 'negative intent behind the use of the words'.  Wednesday 6 February 2008: Do we need a new morality?
Morality is about more than rules for good behaviour. It is also a theory about the valuable parts of human life – which characteristics and emotions we should encourage in ourselves, and what are the ends towards which we should aim. Is there a ‘crisis’ in morality now? There are new ethical ideas such as environmentalism; new figures of moral authority; and new arenas from chatshows to advice columns where moral dilemmas are discussed and resolved. How has our moral life been restructured, and what are the good and bad aspects of this change? Looking forward, do we need a new morality – and if so, what? Time: 7-10pm Supplementary readings: See this new essay by Stephen Pinker about man's moral makeup; and this critique of eco-ethics by Josie Appleton.
The Devonshire town of Modbury introduced a ban on plastic bags in April 2007, and 80 British towns have followed suit. Bag-bans are already in place in San Francisco, Uganda, Taiwan and Bangladesh, and one has just been announced in China. Ireland has a ‘plastax’, and London’s councils have proposed a similar scheme for the capital. Prime Minister Gordon Brown described single-use plastic bags as ‘the most visible symbol of environmental waste’, and has committed to eliminating them from the UK altogether. The first Manifesto Club ‘Club Night’ of 2008 asked how on Earth plastic shopping bags have caused such controversy....  21 November – 20 December 2007 - FUSION NOW! More light, more power, more people
GALLERY DISCUSSION AND DRINKS: Saturday 15 December 2007, 4-6pm at the Rokeby Gallery An exhibition curated by the art critic and Manifesto Club member, JJ Charlesworth. FUSION NOW! asks what art and society might look like if we thought positively about a world based on more energy, not less. It includes work by artists including Liam Gillick, Roger Hiorns and Sam Basu; and writing by fusion scientist Professor Mike Dunne, and technology writers Joe Kaplinsky & James Woudhuysen. (See Jonathan Jones' review of the exhibition on the Guardian arts blog) Read JJ Charlesworth's introduction to the exhibition. Read the full FUSION NOW! publication, including essays and artworks. Venue: Rokeby Gallery, 37 Store Street, London, WC1E 7QF For more information, see Rokeby Gallery; for press or private view inquiries, email JJ Charlesworth Does Autonomy Matter? 6-8pm, Wednesday 5 December 2007 (with wine reception)
Key Questions What have been the consequences for artists’ networks and organisations – along with individual artists – of the increasingly ‘instrumentalised’ view of art being promoted by the planners and funders of cultural policy and activity? As Munira Mirza notes 'artists are accused of not being socially useful. Arts organisations are told they must cater to more disadvantaged groups'. And as well as this 'the commercial market is also overwhelming, fixing the channels through which artists practice and speak to the public. Should we be concerned about the state of autonomy today or was it ever thus?' For many contemporary artists the notion of artistic autonomy might be seen as an anachronistic concept that mystifies art practice and distances it from the wider culture. However, has this seemingly laudable stance by artists allowed them to be duped into a subservient relationship to public policy goals and funding criteria? Panellists Artistic Freedom – Anxiety and Aspiration Printed Project Printed Project is available from selected bookstores worldwide and online at www.printedproject.ie Thursday 22 November 2007, CLUB NIGHT: Thanksgiving - thanks for what?
This Manifesto Club Club Night is a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving – that time of the year when Americans eat turkey and mash and give thanks to God, or maybe just give thanks. But in the spirit of the Manifesto Club, it’s also a time for some critical thinking: Thanksgiving – thanks for what? We invited a range of cultural commentators, journalists, politicos and Manifesto Club members to take part in a ‘balloon debate’. America, we say, is a great balloon that is slowly sinking to the earth. So which of its principles, its rights, its politics and culture, should we keep? And what should we throw overboard so that the great US of A can carry on its upward trajectory in the 21st century? Speakers championed such contested American ideals as: 'the right to bear arms', 'consumer choice and mass production', 'bringing democracy to the world', 'the first amendment', 'Microsoft', 'the democracy of popular culture' and 'the separation of church and state'. The audience then had the chance to interrogate their arguments before voting on what stays and what goes. Cost: free to members of the Manifesto Club; £5 non-members. Join the Manifesto Club. Foundation Members’ meeting – 13 November 2007 There was a Manifesto Club Foundation Members’ meeting on the evening of 13 November. Foundation Members’ meetings are informal get-togethers of core Manifesto Club supporters, to reflect on our past work and plan the period ahead. If you are interested in becoming a Foundation Member, see here for more details: http://www.manifestoclub.com/join Thursday 15 November 2007 – The Brighton Salon in association with the Manifesto Club
An evening discussion about low-carbon morality and politics, with an introduction by Josie Appleton, convenor of the Manifesto Club. Venue: The Terraces, Madiera Drive, Brighton Wednesday 21 November – 20 December 2007 - an exhibition by JJ Charlesworth, in association with the Manifesto Club FUSION NOW! More light, more power, more people An exhibition curated by the art critic and Manifesto Club member, JJ Charlesworth. Opening night Tuesday 20 November 6.30-8.30pm FUSION NOW! asks what art and society might look like if we thought positively about a world based on more energy, not less. It includes work by artists including Liam Gillick, Roger Hiorns and Sam Basu; and writing by fusion scientist Professor Mike Dunne, and technology writers Joe Kaplinsky & James Woudhuysen Venue: Rokeby Gallery, 37 Store Street, London, WC1E 7QF For more information, see Rokeby Gallery; for press or private view inquiries, email JJ Charlesworth Saturday 3 November 2007 – New York Salon in association with the Manifesto Club
A dinner talk and discussion, led by Josie Appleton, convenor of the Manifesto Club. For more details, email alan@nysalon, or see New York Salon
27 and 28 October 2007: BATTLE OF IDEAS The Manifesto Club was delighted to take part in the Battle of Ideas festival at the Royal College of Art in London on 27 and 28 October 2007.
For details on the Manifesto Club's participation in the Battle of Ideas, see here.
Panel discussion and PRINTED PROJECT launch event Belfast Exposed Photography Munira Mirza has edited a special issue of the Irish arts journal Printed Project, including articles by several other Manifesto Club members. She will be joined by Pauline Hadaway (Director, Belfast Exposed); Padraig E Moore (Writer and Curator); Chair: Dr. Daniel Jewesbury (Centre for Media Research, University of Ulster Coleraine). To mark the launch of Printed Project Issue 8, Belfast Exposed Photography hosted a discussion event interrogating the issue's focus on 'artistic freedom – anxiety and aspiration' in the context of cultural policy and activity in Northern Ireland and the UK. 'Artistic Freedom – Anxiety and Aspiration' curated / edited by Munira Mirza is the the third edition of Printed Project published this year by Visual Artists Ireland. Contributors: JJ Charlesworth, Pauline Hadaway, Paul O’Neill, Andrew Calcutt, Sonya Dyer, Padraic Moore, Cecilia Wee, Dolan Cummings, Emma Ridgway, Becky Shaw, Andrew Brighton, Josie Appleton. Printed Project is available from selected bookstores world wide and online at www.printedproject.ie 
Since November 2005, immigrants seeking British citizenship have had to sit an official test to prove their suitability. Gordon Brown proposes immigrants should undertake community work before being granted citizenship, and should understand citizenship as a ‘contract’ entailing ‘rights and responsibilities’. But is being a good citizen really about (in)voluntary work, or learning a list of rights and responsibilities? Can a multiple-choice test define what it means to belong in and contribute to a country? This club night gave members and guests a chance to sit the test, to show the kinds of questions potential citizens are expected to answer. The night was part of a larger debate we want to start on the meaning of citizenship – on how to forge bonds of common interest between people of all backgrounds. To make everyone feel at home we conducted the test in the form of that Great British institution: the Pub Quiz. The test centre was the Old Queen’s Head in Islington, London. The quiz was proposed and organised by Manifesto Club members Tom Mower, Simon Elvins and Julie Hill, who are all designers based in London. 
The guest speaker at the first Manifesto Club dinner, held at Baltic in London, was the Manifesto Club member, medical doctor, humanist writer, poet, philosopher, literary critic – in short, all-round Renaissance Man – Professor Raymond Tallis. Ray spoke on 'Freedom of the Will and the Illusions of Neuroscience'. An MP3 file of his introduction is available on the event page.
From Autumn 2008, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act will make it a crime for a non-CRB checked adult to work or volunteer with children. What effect does vetting have on the relationship between youth workers and young people? Are there alternative ways for adults to work together to ensure children’s welfare? Speakers at the Spitz in East London included Tony Jeffs (University of Durham, community youth work unit), Viv Regan (youth worker and volunteer, WORLDwrite), and Mervyn Barrett (communications manager, Nacro). 
The first Club Night was in the week before smoking was banned in clubs, bars, cafes and other public places across England. For the first part of the evening we had a bar-room debate, to ask what the smoking ban means for freedom; then we talked and drank freely into the night. The discussion was be kick-started by barrister Barbara Hewson, who is involved in the first legal challenge to the smoking ban, and Dolan Cummings, co-founder of the Manifesto Club and editorial director at the Institute of Ideas. Thought for the Day on smoking, by Giles Fraser, 2 September 2004 Also recommended: Alan Sillitoe's life as a smoker, an audio slideshow on BBC News Smoking allowed, but not compulsory. 
Boxed In, a new Manifesto Club provocation essay by artist Sonya Dyer, argues that diversity schemes and targets are pigeonholing black and Asian artists. She calls for an honest debate within the sector, and for artistic value and curatorial independence to be placed at the centre of arts funding. There was an event to launch the report, and to discuss the issues it raises, on Saturday 2 June 2007, 2-4pm, at the Camden Arts Centre, London. Panellists included: Sonya Dyer (report author, artist and art administrator), Zoe Whitley (curator, V&A Museum), Rajni Shah (artist), and Hassan Mahamdallie (Arts Council England). 2006 events Thursday 12 October 2006: There was a meeting in Sydney for those interested in developing the Manifesto Club in Australia. If you would like to get involved in Australia, please email Dom McCarthy for details. Tuesday 26 September 2006 Saturday 16 September 2006 9 August 2006: Enlightenment salon 6 May 2006: Manifesto Club conference 11 April 2006: Cartoon controversies: Why does free speech matter? |
The Manifesto Club supports:All those who oppose the new Mayor's ban on drinking on the London Tube... 'Enlightenment is humanity's emergence from self-imposed immaturity. Dare to know! Have courage to use your own understanding!' Immanuel Kant 'What characterises man is his extreme abundance of imagination; therefore, that man is a fantastic animal and that universal history is the gigantic, continuous and insistent effort to go, little by little, putting some order into the crazy fantasy.' José Ortega y Gasset |
Competition - too much or too little? - Thursday 8 May
Compared to the politics of today, the spring of 1968 seems like a period of unbridled optimism: young people took to the streets for a better world and 'utopian' and 'radical' were not yet dirty words. But while many of those young radicals are now establishment figures in politics, media and business, the world they sought has not come about. 
To mark the launch of Printed Project’s eighth edition, edited by cultural commentator Munira Mirza, Gasworks, in association with Manifesto Club is hosting a discussion event expanding upon the issue’s focus on ‘artistic freedom –anxiety and aspiration’. 
Whether it be questions about the president and his foreign policy, the dominance of Hollywood in our cinemas, the burgers and fries that make us all too fat, or the fact that Americans around the world just seem to talk so loud – it isn’t often these days that America is mentioned without a bit of a sneer. But America is also the 'Land of the Free' – the first great modern republic and the inspirer of revolution, a great economic power built on immigration, a dominant force in world culture and an artistic powerhouse.
‘Carbon morality, climate change and ethical emissions’
‘Humanity, nature and the meaning of environmentalism’
Tuesday 16 October 2007: Art and Autonomy - an Interrogation
