Arts & Culture
SHORT FICTION
The Shieling by David Constantine 
The invented a place. It was far away from here, indeed from anywhere, high up, at the limits, like a shieling. He particularly liked the word ‘shieling’. A bare place, as far up the valley as you could go and the house itself very simple. [subscribe]
MUSIC
On the Art of Funerary Violin by Rohan Kriwaczek
Although largely forgotten in the last 150 years, Funerary Violin was for two and a half centuries central to funerary ritual throughout England and much of Europe. Recent scholarly interest in the subject, particularly after the discovery of Hildesheim trunk in 1982, has revealed it to be a valuable indicator of both the role of musicians in contemporary society and of social attitudes towards morality, a subject currently engendering considerable interest from the public. [subscribe]
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION
BALLET
“What a marriage of beauty and brains,
The fair Lopokova and John Maynard Keynes”
In the second in her series on dance and ballet, Sarah Frater explores the shared passions on two legendary bohemians. [more]
FILM
There Are No Soliders in this Film by Yael Friedman
Despite its early beginnings as a form of militant Third Cinema, Palestinian film today is far from monolithic. It is individualist, innovative and diverse in form and content, representing an array of very different experiences of being Palestinian, and exploring a wide range of cultural, social, religious and economical issues within the community. [subscribe]
FOOD
I had exchanged cocaine for Cockaigne. I would travel the world, eating at others’ expense, rewarding the meritorious and chiding the meretricious. I would enjoy not merely the sense of righteous work well done but the envy of all right-thinking men and women. [more]
WINE
For those who love wine as well as freedom, the future offers cause for concern. The reason lies in the insidious and creeping demonisation of alcoholic drinks currently taking place in this country. [more]
