One room at the Tate Modern in central London is temporarily devoted to artists condemned by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis as degenerate. On one wall blares the garish colours and brash angles of a portrait by expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
The Mama Africa season celebrates the work of African female film makers and actors past and present, challenging and exploring the stereotypes of African women in film.
Once feared by the authorities and celebrated by rebels from Notting Hill to Zimbabwe, roots reggae has been sanitised. Bob Marley is presented as simply uplifting summer music. But a series 1970s reggae reissues is making it possible to see how innovative, influential and politically aware it was.
What makes 500 Years Later different to other films about slavery?
The Kliptown Snappers: photography from SowetoThe Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, south London www.horniman.ac.ukUntil 31 OctoberFree entry
August sees the launch of the Festival of Politics at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. As part of this broad event, billed as being an occasion where "politics meets the people", I will be taking part in a performance titled Them And Us — a workshop exploring Scotland’s radical song tradition and its continuing relevance.
Switch Triptych The Riot GroupAssembly Rooms, Edinburghuntil 29 August Phone 0131 226 2428
Pick up the brochure for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and it’s hard to know where to begin. But there are a few companies and venues whose track records make them a fairly safe bet for theatregoers who are in search of powerful drama.
The Last MitterrandDirected by Robert Guédiguian
