Bristol's Musical Mind
Politics and Culture
Looking into politics and culture in depth and expanding from it
As politics and culture is a reoccurring theme in this website, I believe it is key to have the viewers be on the same page in what exactly I mean by politics and culture. And to help with that I was lucky enough to get an interview, with the right person who can help answer this query...
Discussing politics and culture with Andrew Kelly
In this interview, I got a chance to talk to Andrew Kelly, the director of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership Director: Bristol Festival of Ideas. I got to ask questions to Andrew about his opinions about politics and culture in Bristol, as well as situations that are pivotal moments in Bristol's history.
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As a very brief summary before I go into detail about what I have learned is that politics and culture CANNOT be a term that can be defined in a sentence, let alone a paragraph! It can vary from the government decisions affecting the UK to your own local council and even personal politics, such as you're views and opinions
What are politics and culture about?
When having my interview with Andrew, one factor he mentioned was that politics and culture can't be defined within a paragraph. This is because culture and politics can have different meanings to different people. For example with culture, culture can mean the arts and science of a place all the way to local culture within the community or his/her daily routine, technically speaking there is no way someone is uncultured. To see more details about the types of culture and going in-depth with them, click on the culture blog button​
As for politics, a lot of people normally tiered politics as the government and whom they vote for, however, it goes further as politics can also mean activism such as LGBTQ+, Woman's Rights and Black Lives Matter. To see more about different types of politics discussed with Andrew, click on the politics in-depth blog button.
In other words, politics is what you can achieve to make change happen meanwhile culture is creating change.
There are so many different forms of how culture and politics have been used for one another and for the music scene and to see more in detail about that click on the blog buttons below.
The importance of technology and the internet
A big culture shift that created a change in the music scene, in not just Bristol but all around the world, was the development and use of technology and the internet used to produce, promote and release music, especially electronic music.
From the 70s, music producing technology became more accessible for those wanting to create music, such as synthesizers, keyboard controllers, and drum pads, as they were available at a reasonable price. This encouraged more independent artists to express themselves. As the world reached a more digital phase, where music could be created on computer ie. DAWs and releasing music to the public became a lot easier due to websites such as Youtube and Spotify, the number of independent artists grew significantly. Another key factor that has inspired artists is how the use of the internet connects people all around the world in seconds to listen to music. This was not possible in the 1980, especially connecting with other in seconds.
Parts of Bristol's politics and culture
John James was able to play a large role in distributing media in Bristol, if not the UK, due to making radio and television affordable to the everyday citizens.
This website presents all the new artists, who are shaping the music scene in Bristol today
Malcolm X is an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Even though he is not from Bristol, his action insprise place like the Malcolm X Centre in St. Paul to exsist for the community
This is one example of how politics and the art culture merges.This organsiation give people the freedom to write and read
Bristol had run to the country representative of the European capital of culture. Though it did not become the city capital of culture, it was a shortlist, which present how the city is now seen as a cultural centre in the UK compare to what it was in the past
The rock against racism (RAR) movement is a great example of how politics and culture and music merged. With the National Front (NF), which is a far-right party, becoming prominent in Bristol, the RAR movement was created from the growing distaste the community had on the NF agenda, so with the use of music, particularly rock and reggae, people spoke out against the party.
In 2020, with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. The people of Bristol did a massive action that turns the heads of people around the world. As they took down the statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader and threw it in the harbour to express their distaste. Not only did this move bring awareness about the controversial statues erected around the UK, but it also got communities to question other infrastructure named after such people.
Watershed is an example of how art and culture have been treated more seriously in the last two decades. Not only has the art cinema but it also shared has a row of cafes and bars that also incorporates live music and visual arts showing how an everyday culture of going to the café/bar is incorporated with art
Climate change is also another part of what Bristolians will speak out on, with one big example being the climate change rally in 2020
This curriculum is design to encourage school to address diversity
Paul Stephenson campaigning in Bristol in 1963. Photograph: Tom Pilston
Learn more about the culture and art in Bristol thorugh this link
This timeline gave an insight into the variety of people of different countries that have migrated to Bristol
Even though the start of the NHS was in 1948, the beginning of this healthcare organisation is still one of the greatest cultural changes from the 1950s. As anyone in the UK, no matter their background had access to free healthcare
The seven saints of saint pauls was created by Bristol artisit Michele Curtis. On the sides of houses she painted 7 black figures, who have created change for the society of Bristol and the UK
Hover over the box to see the pictures and click on the picture to see the links