I spent a little time - a very little time, I'm afraid - at the This Is Not A Gateway festival on Saturday, accompanied by my six year-old. We went into Cafe Oto where she had a hot chocolate and I had a coffee while eavesdropping on a discussion among the group of people pictured here. I took one other photo but it was even dingier than this one. Moreover, its foreground was not enlivened by one of my new brogues, which means it stands no chance of being considered art.

 

The discussion was intense, earnest and difficult to get to grips with, partly due to the slurping of the coffee machine, partly because some of it went over my head. Maybe it will help if I quote from a leaflet I picked up:

"We formally established This Is Not A Gateway in late 2007 with the aim of addressing the urgent and identified needs confronting current and future cities - namely the need to generate and elevate knowledge about cities 'from the ground up', from emerging practitioners and those often outside 'urban circuits'. It was clear that an inter-disciplinary approach was needed - one that encouraged and supported complexity."

I hope that's clear. Yes, I'm being facetious. But, look, I donated a tenner to help them to publish their book, so I'm allowed. What else? Well, there was some discussion of the Iain Sinclair affair and the extent to which it should be seen as an act of censorship by neurotic control freaks in the Town Hall. Was it emblematic of the cultural dimension of the 2012 Games being defined by corporate interests imposing their agenda from above? 

My six year-old and I left before the end, so I cannot reveal what conclusions were reached, However, I can report that news of the Sinclair cancellation has continued to do good business on the blogosphere, including here and here and here. Nobody is terribly impressed.

Comments

[Bruce Cranna]

I was there also, and I have to say this festival was the best festival I have ever been to - just what this city (and other cities need)! If you went on Sunday they had the sound sorted and the DIY Urbanism discussions were quite inspiring. Clever people that put this together - don't know who they are - but they the whole festival was interesting - lots to munch on - can not wait for the next one, when I will hold an event myself I think!