Olivia Laing: Art is Political (2020 Event)

Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency is more than just a collection
of Olivia Laing’s essays over decades. Ranging from interviews
and profiles to reflections and confessionals, Laing’s
characteristic generosity of spirit and optimism of purpose
inspires hope in the midst of the unsettling weather of the
present emergency.


But this book is also a manifesto for the power, the value and
the need for art: ‘Art is… political in the sense of being
available as a tool for protest and activism… but it’s also
political in that it continually offers new perspectives, new
ways of seeing, other consciousnesses with which to view
reality.’


With Fiona Bradley, Director of the Fruitmarket
Gallery in Edinburgh, Laing unpacks our political, emotional and
creative selves in this event recorded live at the 2020 Book
Festival, drawing us in to her career-spanning conversations with
art, with artists, and with herself.