A huge map of the world hung on the screen of the Purcell Room during the inspiring and thought-provoking talk, New Maps for an Island Planet. Yet it was the maps of the mind that were also at the heart of the talk as a panel consisting of geographer Doreen Massey, architect Carolyn Steel, and campaigner and writer Andrew Simms (chaired by Quentin Cooper) drew on their contributions to the publication ATLAS: Architecture, geography and change in an interdependent world. Poet Lemn Sissay also gave a magnificent performance of his poetry, including an exclusive reading of a haunting new poem, “Night Rain”.
:Lemn Sissay performs
“What should we do with the astonishing opportunity of being alive?”, asked Andrew Simms, explaining, ”I feel like I’ve won the lottery of time and place: to be alive in the universe is so unlikely”. He described the very slim chance of getting the chance to be alive, rather than being inert. One of the paradoxes explored in “Atlas”, however, is that humanity is both closer together and further apart, given the vast disparity in economic wealth. Half of humanity lives on under 2 dollars a day and the gap between rich and poor has widened enormously. We could use new maps of the modern world to shed greater light on the exploitation that occurs such as child labour, and to re-map human relationships, he elaborated. ”Atlas” offers the opportunity to look afresh at the world. He quoted from Edward Abbey’s “Joy, Shipmates, Joy”:
One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast… a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards.
Carolyn Steel described how “one of the greatest benefits of consciousness is the ability to share consciousness with someone else” – and indeed, at the end of an insightful and captivating evening of discussion and poetry, new maps had been sketched out in the imagination about how to make the world a fairer and more equal place for all.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Andrew Simms, Anita Sethi, Atlas, Lemn Sissay, maps | Leave a Comment »
harmon Press ‘has dedicatedly and brilliantly made a success of that sharply endangered species, the independent press.’ In its 45-year history, Enitharmon Press has forged a singular mission as an independent publisher. Simon Armitage, Helen Dunmore, Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley read in celebration of a publisher that has printed their work.
