Reflections on the Festival of Britain | Letters
Celebrating the legacy of the Festival of Britain 75 years on by considering “how art can bring people together in the darkest times” is a fine sentiment (Editorial, 1 May).But far too many in this country have no opportunity to share in that legacy.We need to recognise that this country is a very different place to that of 75 years ago – it is divided and more diverse.We are now a multicultural nation – but a fractured one.A possible solution to the many racist and prejudiced attitudes we see around us is to have another festival of Britain, but with a very different focus.
One where groups of people of different races, creeds and religions show the country how they differ from each other in customs and practices, but also how similar we all are, with groups showcasing their food, music, history, interests, specialisms etc.Hopefully this might help dispel the fear and mistrust people feel when new and established immigrants settle among us.Ariella ListerMill Hill, London I can’t say I share Michael Billington’s respect for the Festival of Britain (As a schoolboy, I was dazzled by the Festival of Britain – but it revealed a divided nation, 1 May).In 1951, as a 13-year-old boy from Sheffield, I knew nobody who could afford the trip to London or even thought about going.There was no television in the north until Holme Moss began transmission in October 1951, so our glimpses of the festival would have been through Gaumont British News at the cinema.
I doubt that the Festival of Britain brought people together from across the country in 1951, nor did it provide a model for reducing today’s gloom.Perhaps football and pop concerts are more effective at reducing class divisions.John BaileySt Albans, Hertfordshire Like Michael Billington, I was awed by the sights of the Festival of Britain.Although I was too young to attend, my aunt and uncle boarded the Flying Scotsman from Edinburgh Waverley to St Pancras in London to participate in the event.They brought me back a souvenir in the form of a stereoscopic viewer with black and white transparencies that captivated me.
It led me to take up photography as a career,Dr Allan Dodds Nottingham There is at least one other survivor of the Festival of Britain, alongside the South Bank complex,Certain works were offered to the nascent new towns of the day, and Harlow snapped up Barbara Hepworth’s Contrapuntal Forms, sited next to the Skylon, and placed it on the council estate now known as Mark Hall North, where it remains to this day,Despite the dry, academic title, it’s a profoundly moving work, showing two figures, who might be attracted to each other, or repelled,I was born during the festival, but I like to think an early pram jaunt from our East Ham home would have given me a first chance to appreciate the work’s merits.
It now bears accession number 1 of more than 100-plus works, a collection that has earned Harlow “sculpture town” status; and it forms the climax of the walking tours I occasionally lead around its jewels.Peter Aylmer Sheering, Essex Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
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