Food, Family and Love

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, antisemitism, Conflict, Human rights, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, War3 Comments

Yesterday I was driven to look at my wonderful collection of cookbooks. I did so because I was furious. I had something to prove, and I knew the answer would be in my kitchen on the shelf above my bread board, kettle and toaster. (I’ll tell you what made me angry later in this blog post – perhaps you’ll guess […]

Kariba Dam, Climate Change, Hydro-Power, Agriculture and Water

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Climate change, Dust and Rain, The Shaping of Water, Zambia1 Comment

In fact, everything needed for life in Zambia, Zimbabwe and the SADC region There is a huge and important news story to be told about climate change that affects the whole of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore the world. I have discovered since posting this blog that the video I watched about the Zambezi River being so low on water that […]

The Mpapa Gallery: Lusaka Zambia 1978 – 1996

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Art by Ruth Hartley, Books by Ruth Hartley, Installations, m’Other Art, Mpapa Gallery A monograph The history of Mpapa Gallery Lusaka Zambia 1978-1996, The Tin Heart Gold Mine2 Comments

A Monograph by Ruth Hartley It is done. Published this year 2024 and delivered to Zambia where Lechwe Art Gallery has generously and efficiently distributed copies to those artists and creative people connected with the Mpapa Gallery or wishing to research a part of the history of Zambian art. We have been sending out PDF copies to people who are […]

Glory

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, When We Were WickedLeave a Comment

NoViolet Bulawayo’s remarkable satire Glory, about Zimbabwe was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022. I can’t recommend it highly enough. As well as being a very good read. it is a skilled, literate, well researched and detailed account of the last days of the murderous Robert Mugabe, the Founding Father of Zimbabwe and the start of the reign of […]

The Shoah and the Confusions of Warring

Ruth Hartleyantisemitism, Conflict, Displacement, Feminism, History, Politics, Power, War4 Comments

Full Metal Jacket and the dualities of being a human The 1987 Kubrik film Full Metal Jacket stars Matthew Modine as Private Joker, an American soldier fighting in the Vietnam War. Netflix removed BORN TO KILL from his helmet and destroyed the film’s theme of the duality of human nature. Next to BORN TO KILL was the symbol of peace […]