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How to make a pile of walking compost sexy and the joys of drawing penguins

25 September 2009

ICA Talks posterThe British Library launches the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Talks from the 1980s online at http://sounds.bl.uk. Featuring unpublished recordings of talks and debates with top cultural, artistic and political figures of the day, this latest addition to the JISC-funded Archival Sound Recordings website offers a chance to explore in detail cultural directions in the UK of the late 20th century.

  • Unpublished talks and debates with leading cultural figures published online for the first time
  • Over 880 recordings - that's 1000 hours
  • Recordings date from 1981 to 1994
  • Subjects discussed include art, literature, performance, fashion, film, music, philosophy, psychology, biology, feminism, AIDS and politics

The recordings feature a kaleidoscopic range of leading cultural figures debating the social and artistic currents of the 1980s, for example:

  • Salman Rushdie and Tariq Ali discuss Rushdie's novel Shame and swap improbable anecdotes from Pakistan, such as the village that walked into the sea (1983).
  • Writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp talks to Adam Mars-Jones about his 'divine guide to good behaviour', Manners from Heaven and describes the vast differences in etiquette between London and New York (1984).
  • Composer Steve Reich talks about his early influences: Bach, Stravinsky, Charlie Parker and - for his exceptional sense of time - jazz drummer Kenny Clarke (1986).
  • Ken Livingstone, former head of the Greater London Council (GLC) and future Mayor of London, describes the GLC's radical approach of involving women's groups, ethnic minorities and gay, lesbian and bisexual groups in the governance of London in the 1980s. (1987)
  • British horror writer James Herbert discusses quitting his job in advertising to become a best-selling horror writer almost overnight, with science fiction and fantasy writer Neil Gaiman (1988).
  • Socio-biologist Richard Dawkins defends the more controversial aspects of sociobiology which attempts to explain human behaviour in terms of genetic make-up (1984).
  • Graphic novelist Alan Moore discusses wilfully destroying the superhero myth with Watchmen and how he made the 'pile of walking compost' - known as Swamp Thing - sexy (1987).
  • Cartoonist Steve Bell describes the influence of Popeye, the Beano and Robert Crumb in his early life, the importance of the Falklands War and why he likes drawing penguins (1987).
  • Neurologist Oliver Sacks and composer Michael Nyman discuss the process of turning Sacks' medical anecdote The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat into an opera (1986).

Subjects discussed include: AIDS/ HIV; Architectur ; Fashion; Film; Gender Studies; History; Literature; Music; Performing Arts; Philosophy; Psychology and Psychoanalysis; Science; Social Sciences; Television and Radio and the Visual Arts.

Kristian Jensen, Head of British Collections at the British Library, said:

"Anyone interested in cultural, artistic and political change in contemporary Britain will want to listen to this collection of talks from the ICA, online at http://sounds.bl.uk. The British Library's Sound Archive is in many ways like a Tardis - this new collection transports us back 20 years through cyberspace to the meatiest debates of the 80s - at the mere click of a button."

Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the ICA, said:

"The ICA has always been a centre of debate, whether literary, artistic or political, and we are proud to have welcomed some of the leading figures of our time to present and discuss their ideas here. We are delighted therefore that through this collaboration with the British Library we can now preserve and make more widely accessible this rich history of dialogue."

Alistair Dunning, JISC's digitisation programme manager, said:

"The rich intellectual heritage embedded in the spoken word is an often neglected source for research and learning. JISC is delighted to support the British Library to release the vivid ideas, resonant discussions and crucial issues that make the ICA Talks such a powerful library of ideas."

Writers and poets featured include: Harold Pinter; John Berger; Andrew Motion; D.M. Thomas; Margaret Atwood; Kurt Vonnegut; Kazuo Ishiguro; Clive Barker; Brian Aldiss; Louis de Bernières; Terry Pratchett; J.G. Ballard; Art Spiegelman and many others.

Artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers featured include: performance artists Sophie Calle and Elisabeth Frink; musicians Yehudi Menuhin and John Densmore (The Doors); filmmaker Derek Jarman; cartoonists Gerald Scarfe and Ralf Steadman; fashion designers BodyMap and many others.

Actors, TV presenters and producers featured include: Barry Humphries (a.k.a. Dame Edna Everage); Jon Snow; Jonathan Ross; Vanessa Redgrave; Paul Gambaccini; Alan Yentob and Michael Grade.

Politicians, philosophers, historians and scientists featured include: politicians Jonathan Aitken, Tony Benn and Enoch Powell; philosopher Jacques Derrida; historians Lisa Appignanesi and Primo Levi and scientists Anthony Storr and Joseph Schwartz.

For more information please contact:

Julie Yau, Arts Press Officer, British Library
+44 (0)20 7412 7237 / julie.yau@bl.uk

Notes to editors

ICA Talks is headed by writers and journalists, James Harkin and Jennifer Thatcher and is well-known for its radical, provocative forward thinking agenda, which aims to look at how current issues inform the future. Always challenging, often troubling, increasingly unorthodox, both one-off talks and themed series consistently push the boundaries of public debate and are resolutely non-conformist, aiming to bring together speakers from radically different disciplines and nations to give as wide a perspective as possible. ICA talks have been instrumental in introducing voices from outside of UK and Europe as well as taking its programme beyond the institution taking up residency in such diverse venues as Pentonville prison, Kings College Chapel and the London Planetarium.

The Archival Sound Recordings project makes a variety of music, spoken word, and environmental sounds from the British Library Sound Archive available online and is part of the British Library's ongoing commitment to improving access and ensuring the preservation of invaluable primary source materials for research, teaching and learning. All recordings on Archival Sound Recordings can be accessed from British Library reading rooms and are available for free to licensed UK higher and further education institutions. In addition, where copyright permits, over 23,700 recordings are available to the public online, including most of the ICA Talks. http://sounds.bl.uk

The digitisation of the sounds was funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) which supports education and research in the use of information and communications technology: www.jisc.ac.uk. The British Library's Archival Sound Recording project is part of the JISC Digitisation Programme, which has received over £22 million in funding from the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales to make available a wide range of heritage and scholarly resources of national importance. This includes sound recordings, moving pictures, newspapers, maps, images, cartoons, census data, journals and parliamentary papers for use by the UK further and higher education communities.

The British Library Sound Archive holds over a million discs and thousands of tapes. Its collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature, to oral history and wildlife sounds. Formats range from cylinders made in the late 19th century to the latest digital media. In addition to copies of commercial recordings issued within the United Kingdom, the Sound Archive keeps selected commercial recordings from overseas, radio broadcasts and many privately-made recordings. The catalogue includes entries for millions of recordings held in the Sound Archive and is updated daily. It is one of the largest catalogues of its kind anywhere in the world, covering both published and unpublished recordings.

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, photography, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages www.bl.uk.

The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is a not-for-profit, multi-disciplinary arts centre established in 1947 by a collective of artists, poets and writers to showcase and champion contemporary culture across the broadest range of art forms. Housing two galleries, two cinemas, a theatre, reading room, bookshop and café/bar, the ICA has been at the forefront of cultural revolution since its formation and has presented some of the most radical exhibit ions, artists, films, music and thought to have shaped our world. It exists today as a committed proponent of now, presenting an international and contextualized programme of work in new and experimental frameworks across a variety of platforms. Entrance to galleries, bookshop, café and bar events is free of charge before 11pm. www. ica .org.uk.