To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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A different perspective on Korea
CARLOS MARTINEZ recommends a revealing new book on the recent history of the south-east Asian country
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Patriots, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea’s Struggle for Freedom
by Stephen Gowans
(Baraka Books, £18.80)
THE LATEST book by Canadian anti-imperialist writer Stephen Gowans provides a readable and insightful overview of modern Korean history, helpfully exploding all the most pervasive myths that cloud popular understanding of the subject.
Gowans highlights the fact that the division of Korea after WWII was engineered by the US as a means of impeding the spread of socialism in Asia. Communism was an extremely popular ideology in postwar Korea as a result of the Soviet Union’s decisive role in the victory over fascism, consistent Soviet support for Korean independence, the rising Chinese communist movement and the general intersection of aims between communism and anti-imperialist nationalism.
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KEVAN NELSON reports back from a delegation to the epic celebrations for the anniversary of Vietnam’s 1945 revolution, where British communists found a thriving, prosperous socialist country, brimming with ambition and well-earned national pride
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
