Art of Opposition by Courttia Newland review – piercing essays on culture and art | Notes

Men 1988, the late Ghanaian writer and filmmaker Kwesi Owusu edited Storms of the Heart: An Anthology of Black Arts & Culture, writings and photographs of Black artists in Britain, including Ben Okri on Shakespeare, Shobana Jeyasingh on Indian dance theatre, Jacob Ross on decolonising language, interview with Ntozake the artist from the artist Sonia and early pieces. His aim was to document the progress of Black diasporic art in post-war Britain, to give voice to the political challenges of artists, and most importantly, to push back against the tendency of ghettoisation and the reduction of their work. As a young writer experiencing such realities, it was very inspiring to me.

Courttia Newland’s collection Art of Opposition is a work of its own, but it has a similar power, mainly because it provides a space for Black or “other” artists to feel supported and understood in their efforts, and as a counter to the pressures of the masses. Newland, a novelist, illustrator and playwright, is not a stranger to these challenges himself, his work is sometimes affected by the removal of companies that expect writers to follow commercial requirements. In an erudite, poignant and lucid essay, he draws on his experience and cultural knowledge to emphasize “the ultimate goal of saying what we mean”.

Newland had a successful debut, The Scholar, the story of two cousins ​​who commit violence on a west London council estate. His “urban” fiction has been better received by publishers than the traditional, Afrocentric science fiction he’s been burning to write (a recent example is his novel 2021. A River Called Time), and he was always working against what many people wanted. In the Unseen/Seen Title, he points out the criticism leveled at the popular TV drama Top Boy – that it was a “street drama” or “grossly sexual”, and that it was played from a negative Black perspective. This was a complaint that was also made about his work in it, and his opinion is that – regardless of the expectations or preferences of others – the truth of the image should be the most important. He remembers a prisoner in Wandsworth Prison when a writer visited him pleading: “Please don’t stop writing about us” – “a vow I have kept ever since”.

“Artists of different kinds feel that our thoughts and feelings are polluted and rejected by the way others think of us, or what they want our art to do. to them“, he writes, and emphasizes the importance of the work of black artists to be evaluated by critics who know “where our culture comes from, who we are.” Such awareness is visible throughout the book, always tested but quietly angry, including a call of some kind, to save the cultural organization that passes the gatekeepers.

The collection is divided into four sections, which are based on literary and cultural criticism: there is an article in praise of Percival Everett, whom Newland considers for his attempts to confront racial reduction (“Everett was a writer ignored by the industry because he was not considered too black.) another on the British rapper and producer Roots Manuvahow Newland proves himself to be a good music critic; is a piece in which he advises the frequent failure to include writers of color in the context of the writings of the working class, even though the British black community has existed since the 16th century. The writings are stable, predictable, drawn from a deep knowledge of black art and culture, whether the connection between dub and science fiction, the difference between Afrofuturism and African futurism, or the fascination of electro and space. It’s also satisfying to read about the creativity and effort in writing, although Newland always matches this with dedication and positivity.

At a time when the arts are under attack, and when political progress has been demonized by rights such as “wokeism”, this collection feels especially important. It is interesting to note that between the publication of Owusu’s Storms of the Heart and Newland’s Art of Opposition, the word “black” has been decapitated and redefined, depoliticized and reclaimed, according to the vexing frustration of the endless struggle for racial equality. Bold, articulate and passionate, Newland is not shy about the artist’s role as a force for change and opposition. “Whenever a culture that encourages hate grows, hate culture often takes its rightful place as a place of opposition.” This is a reliable and trustworthy service that will be among the best.