Tam Joseph: Notes
(1) These four artists - Ronald Moody, Aubrey Williams, Frank Bowling and Uzo Egonu were included in the important 1989 exhibition ‘The Other Story’ curated by Rasheed Araeen for the Hayward Gallery. (back)
(2) ‘Plastic Bullets’ from Macka B, ‘Sign of the Times’, Ariwa Sound studio, 1986. (back)
(3) It would require an in-depth study to properly catalogue and examine
this aspect of press and media reporting of Carnival. However, a couple
of examples, from the supposedly liberal and self-regarding Guardian, over
the course of the past decade, might serve to illustrate the point.
" The total of offences committed at the annual Notting Hill carnival
was said by Scotland Yard to stand at 55. These included eight robberies,
15 snatches, 15 pick-pocketing offences, one of grievous bodily harm and
four of actual bodily harm." The report continues for another paragraph,
in much the same vein. [August 30, 1995].
And “Despite the worst fears of the police, the Notting Hill Carnival
passed off without the robberies and murders that blighted last year’s
event. Police had launched pre-emptive raids against armed gangs in a bid
to stop them disrupting the event, but one senior officer in the Metropolitan
police still told Radio 4 Today programme he would not take his children
to Carnival.” [p.13, The Editor, September 1 2001]
And “Concern over the rising cost of [policing] the carnival led the
police to estimate last year’s event would cost £4m. The final
bill was higher because of the Met’s determination to prevent the
violence and murders that marred the 2000 event.” (June 1 2002, p.9)
(back)
(4) Abidjan has been described in the following terms: “The gleaming high-rise commercial capital of Cote d'Ivoire is undoubtedly the New York of West Africa…” Lonely Planet, Africa on a Shoestring, 1992 (back)