On my radar: Winsome Pinnock’s cultural highlights
Winsome Pinnock is an award‑winning British playwright. Born in Islington in 1961 to Jamaican parents, she studied English and drama at Goldsmiths followed by an MA in modern literature at Birkbeck. Dubbed the “godmother of black British playwrights”, she was the first black woman to have a play staged at the National Theatre. Her new play, Rockets and Blue Lights, examines the legacy of Britain’s part in the transatlantic slave trade, and is playing at the Royal Exchange in Manchester until 4 April.
1. Dance
Ballet Black (Barbican Centre)
I have loved dance since I was very young. I belonged to a gang of kids who loved the arts. My sister took ballet lessons at a local community centre and, along with her friends, was into all forms of dance – jazz and contemporary. I was the geeky, nerdy one who tagged along. More extensive training was impossible for kids from the council estates because we were all so poor. I remember reading an article at the time where someone from the English National Ballet said that the black body was anatomically unsuited to ballet. It is very moving to see a black British ballet company dancing a diverse programme on the stage of the Barbican.
2. Exhibition
Steve McQueen, Tate Modern
I’ve been a fan of McQueen’s work since the 90s and look forward to seeing this show. I really admired his Turner prize-winning film, Deadpan, which reproduces an iconic scene from Buster Keaton’s film Steamboat Bill, Jr. When I was a child I loved his films, which they’d show on TV on Saturday mornings. In Steamboat Bill, Jr, the facade of a house falls down on Keaton, who escapes with his life simply because an open window is strategically positioned to pass over his body as the facade comes down. McQueen takes Keaton’s place and repeats the shot from different angles. In his short Five Easy Pieces, he films a group of black men hula hooping; as they move, their shadows seem to be acting independently of them, like ghosts. In both works, your emotions shift as the perspective changes, from fear to desire and joy.
3. Album
Road Runner by Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a singer-songwriter, accomplished musician and dancer. I’m lucky to have seen her perform live, which is the best way to experience her work. Her and her cello form a double act – they are both beautiful, cool and soulful. Her music fuses R&B, jazz and soul. The standout tracks on this album are Road Runner, a cover of [the Police song] Roxanne and Rise Up (featuring the poet Akala).
4. Poetry
Zong! by M NourbeSe Philip
In 1781, the captain and crew of a slave ship called the Zong tried to claim insurance damages after they threw 130 enslaved Africans overboard when an illness broke. This is an extraordinary poetry cycle that takes the transcripts from the Zong trial massacre and cuts up words and fragments from those documents to create poetry; the words seem to shift across the page like waves of the sea. The poem is a memorial to the anonymised dead, and reading it is as much a visual experience as an intellectual and spiritual one.
5. Food
Vertigo, Cross Street, Manchester
This is one of the best vegan cafes I have ever been to. I was a vegetarian for several years when I was younger but went back to eating meat a while ago. Because I have a dairy allergy I usually eat vegan when I dine out. Vertigo serves all the great comfort food that vegans used to miss out on – croissants, pancake stacks smothered in fruit compote and yoghurt (or decadent ice-cream), soups, toasties, stews and mac and cheese. A particular favourite is the bourguignon pie and mash.
6. Festival
Women of the World (Wow), London
This festival marks International Women’s Day. Wow is a cultural highlight and this year was its 10th anniversary. I can’t say I have attended every year over the past 10 years, but when I have it has been an opportunity to be intellectually stimulated as well as to network with women from around the world. This year I attended an incredible tribute to the late, great African-American novelist Toni Morrison. A stellar lineup of women writers described her legacy and influence on their work. The panel was chaired by Afua Hirsch and included Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Margaret Busby, Diana Evans and Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, with readings from The Bluest Eye by Jade Anouka and Kelechi Okafor. I was reminded of when I first discovered Morrison’s books and became obsessed with them, the excitement and fear of reading the honesty in her work and feeling that the world of literature had suddenly opened up and let you in.
