The Reckoning: Artists Rise Up
What is the role of the artist when faced with social and political unrest?
This month as protests take place across the world, we’ve been thinking of the long history between art and protest. Every day this month Georgians, Turks, Americans and Serbians are on the streets speaking out against the country’s ruling governments.
At Dash Arts we make art that challenges the world we all live in and this month we open our new theatre production, The Reckoning; based on witness testimonies from the Russian war in Ukraine.
Join Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton, as she revisits our 2024 interview with critically acclaimed journalist Peter Pomerantsev and catch up with Georgian Artist and Activist Ana Riaboshenko on what it’s been like since the Georgian Dream party, widely seen as pro-Russian, maintained its majority in last year’s elections. Professor Alan Finlayson also shares his insights from his new book - Our Subversive Voice: The History and Politics of English Protest Songs, 1600–2020.
Book your tickets for The Reckoning on the Arcola Theatre’s website.
In the podcast, we hear from:
Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts
Peter Pomerantsev - Journalist and Author
Ana Riaboshenko - Artist & one of the Initiators of Culture for Democracy
Professor Alan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East Anglia
Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi
The images are from rehearsals which have started this week
How do you create an epic for the modern world?
This is the start of our Songs of Solidarity mini-series; Josephine Burton and Maria Aberg take us behind the scenes as they discuss the journey of the last 18 months—from researching ancient epic traditions with academics to interviewing those with lived experiences of migration. Join us for a conversation about the art of "future-making," resisting traditional singular narratives, and the exciting, messy process of creating something new.
Songs of Solidarity, is a PROJEKT UTOPIA and Dash Arts co-production. We’re currently in the research and development stage co-produced with the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, in partnership with the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, School of Advanced Studies, Roundhouse London, Asylum Welcome and Unbound Philanthropy. We are particularly grateful to Fiona Macintosh for her support and encouragement throughout.