by Nicolas Pillai Tim Wall and Paul Long note that The Sound of Jazz (1957) was one of a series of CBS-TV arts programmes themed around Gilbert Seldes’ notion of The Seven Lively Arts. The sophisticated visual design of the programme provided candid access to musicians in performance, framing jazz history and performance within the … Continue reading
By Anne-Christine Wegener Global athletics have been in crisis since 2015. The second edition of the report published by Richard McLaren on grand-scale doping in Russian athletics confirms what many had already suspected: corruption and doping in sports go hand-in-hand and the problem is not restricted to a few bad apples. The problem distorts the … Continue reading
An anti-communist hawk who hated nuclear weapons. A passionate advocate of freedom who supported brutal dictators and insurgents across Central America. An advocate of low taxes and a small state who saw public expenditure on arms balloon during his time in office. These are just a few of the contradictions that historians are presented with … Continue reading
Following an unprecedented response from all over the company, the I.B.Tauris team are pleased to present part two of our 2016 round-up. Enjoy… Alex Wright – Executive Editor I.B.Tauris Book of the Year Henrietta Leyser writes about early medieval history in a way that compels you, over and over again, to look completely afresh at … Continue reading
Whatever 2016 has been – and it has been remarkable for many, many reasons – it has been a great year for books. The team here at IBT have put our collective heads together and come up with our favourites, from both within and without our own publishing stable. We hope you enjoy this festive … Continue reading
This dark painting displaying a cubist aesthetic and oriental theme is a work by Alexander Volkov – an ethnically Russian artist working in what is now known as Uzbekistan, then part of the Soviet Union’s Central Asia – in the midst of the construction of the Soviet state. We see three Asian-looking men offering … Continue reading
In 1984, Paul Virilio published War and Cinema. Today, there is no reason to use the conjunction, since we live in a state of cinema war. All the advances made in audio-visual technologies are advances in intensities, at times beyond sound and vision. Think LIDAR and Kinect devices that do not record images but light … Continue reading
Yesterday, Abbas Kiarostami passed away at the age of 76. The filmmaker, best known for the Koker trilogy (1987–94), Close-Up (1990), Taste of Cherry (1997) – which won the Palme d’Or – was interviewed by Shiva Rahbaran for her book, Iranian Cinema Uncensored: Contemporary Film-Makers Since the Islamic Revolution (2015). Here is an extract of that interview… Continue reading
In the wake of International Women’s Day 2016, Kirsty Fairclough-Isaacs picks two stand-out moments for celebrity culture and activism over the past year… As a celebrity studies scholar and one who is interested the representations of famous women in mainstream culture, when International Women’s Day approaches, I find myself reflecting on the past year … Continue reading
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) Scenes from the Massacres at Chios (1824; Paris: Musée du Louvre) Continue reading
Outside the narrow mainstream, a vibrant contemporary feminist cinema is thriving – and being celebrated – around the world. So why are we not paying enough attention? The headlines didn’t say ‘Iranian Women Conquer America’, but the Sundance success of Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s documentary Sonita certainly makes the case. Ghaem Maghami took the Grand Jury … Continue reading
Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts (c.1610 – after 1675), Trompe l’oeil. The Reverse of a Framed Painting, 1670 Continue reading
In her new book, Jacki Willson explores the anarchic nature and re-appropriation of fashion and femininity. Here, she considers the idea of the feminist erotic in film… Continue reading
