culture

Features

A group of people dancing together in a nightclub with pink walls

Joy as resistance: Inside the club night changing Bristol’s queer scene

With violence and political hostility towards trans and queer people on the rise, club night Soft Butch has become a vital space for community, connection, and liberation

Roshan De Stone
Roshan De Stone

Photography

A person with a mohawk and tattooed arms is sitting outdoors at what appears to be a festival gathering. The setting includes other casually dressed individuals in a relaxed, social atmosphere.

Tattoos in a Dock City: celebrating the tales behind Bristol’s body art

The meaning of a person’s tattoo can be nothing – or everything. A project by two local photographers aims to showcase the rich variety that makes the scene in Bristol so special.

Joshua Collins Kieran Woodham
Joshua Collins and Kieran Woodham

Features

A person in a robotic costume with raised fists, standing on a bridge with the London skyline including St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

Who’s the real joke – the bin-faced comedian or the clowns in charge?

Political satirist and prime minister-baiting candidate Count Binface talks nationalising Adele, the dangers of Keir Starmer’s ‘inch-deep’ majority, and how his pastry policies can improve Bristol.

Arvind Howarth
Arvind Howarth

People Just Do Something

Listen: People Just Do Something – Sound against the system – punk, rave and Dave from Faithless

The guitarist from Faithless joins Priyanka and Isaac to reflect on the political power of music from back in the 80s to today.

George Colwey Priyanka Raval
George Colwey, Priyanka Raval and Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins

Features

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

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.

Alex Turner
Alex Turner

Features

Olga and Maria at a recent Altered States event

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

Celebrating the subversive, we spent an evening with the legendary Russian dissidents to get behind the balaclavas to discuss all things protest.

Priyanka Raval
Priyanka Raval

Features

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

It’s a year since the Pop Group singer, a revered figure of the post-punk era, died aged 62. Beyond the uncompromising legacy of his own releases, his influence remains etched into his home city’s musical DNA.

Michal Grant
Michal Grant

Reports

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

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.

Alex Turner
Alex Turner

Edition 36

A black and white photograph of members from Massive Attack.

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

The legendary Bristol band have announced a huge hometown show for 2024. But will the eco-friendly event provide a model for a more climate-conscious live music industry?

Jim Ottewill
Jim Ottewill

Features

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

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

The prominent gallery has apologised for cancelling two events from the Palestine Film Festival in November – but an emerging artists-led campaign says it doesn’t go far enough.

Adam Quarshie
Adam Quarshie

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

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.

Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media George Colwey Priyanka Raval
Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media, George Colwey and Priyanka Raval

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

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.

Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media George Colwey Alex Turner
Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media, George Colwey and Alex Turner
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