A women sits at a desk. On the wall behind are various art works.

Features

After the crowdfunder: how can cultural spaces not just survive, but thrive?

In Bristol and elsewhere, campaigns to safeguard arts venues’ future are commonplace – and regularly smash fundraising targets. But the hard work doesn’t stop there.

Vladimir, vapes and defending democracy: when the Cable met Pussy Riot in BS3

‘He was our godfather’: Bristol musicians remember Mark Stewart

External shot of a boarded-up Wetherspoons in Bristol, which contains the remains of an art-deco cinema.

Reports

Owner of ex-pub and cinema should up his landlord game before developing more flats, say tenants

High-profile plans to turn a former Wetherspoons on Church Road into housing have been withdrawn this week. Some tenants of the developer, Landrose, say it needs to improve its service to people already living in its properties.

A black and white photograph of members from Massive Attack.

Edition 36

‘We can move the dial’: can Massive Attack set a new benchmark for low-carbon live music?

A woman with a face covering sits behind a placard marked 'Free Palestine'

Features

‘Speaking is a political act’: Bristol artists push Arnolfini for action over Palestine controversy

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Ruth Pitter on the role of the charity sector, pioneering Black theatre and her recent MBE

Neil chats to Ruth, a daughter of the Windrush generation, on her decades of work with Bristol's voluntary and community groups, how that's changed as public services have been cut – and whether she feels conflicted about receiving an honour associated with empire.

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Watershed CEO Clare Reddington on cinema, class and council cuts

As Bristol City Council slashes spending on venues including arthouse cinema Watershed, Neil asks its boss Clare why funding the arts matters, and whether the sector's reputation as catering mainly to the well-heeled is justified.

Darin J Sallam on what shaped her creative life, her film Farha and the controversy it sparked from the Middle East to Bristol

Sallam’s film has been praised for its bravery in choosing to tackle the events of the Nakba – one of very few films to do so – but was also heavily criticised by Israeli authorities and prompted a boycott campaign

‘Silence is complicity’: director of landmark Palestinian film slams Arnolfini for cancelling screening

In a move that sparked outrage and protest, the Bristol gallery claimed hosting the showing of Farha would risk breaking charity rules on political activity.

Comedian Jody Kamali on his homecoming show about identity, family dynamics and growing up in Southmead

Best known for his Bristolian caricature Terry the Odd Job Man, the comic from Southmead is bringing his new one-man show home after a hit run at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Meet the Bristol artist casting nipples to celebrate bodies 

Ellen Downes’ pioneering bodycasting project aims to help women, trans and non-binary people 'connect to' their bodies, while challenging hypersexualisation and sexual harassment.