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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Uncontrollable Women
LYNNE WALSH says a powerful book by Nan Sloane is a keeper that will reward reading and rereading
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
Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers & Revolutionaries.
by Nan Sloane
IB Tauris £17.46
THE publishing world seems to have suddenly discovered “invisible women” and resolved to champion trailblazers to whom our society owes a long overdue debt.
The concept of “herstory” has been around for a while, coined by some feminist researchers and authors criticising male domination in “his story.” It’s a wry joke, of course; writers do understand the neologism. But the challenge is well founded. Where have these wonderful women been, all our lives?
Nan Sloane has done a grand job here. Producing non-fiction, which also moves along with a graceful narrative arc, is tricky enough. Unearthing these neglected lives demands meticulous research. Writing a page-turner calls for a storyteller’s skill.
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