Cultural Geography Blog

A few weeks ago, I went to London to see Yann Tiersen in concert at the Barbican Hall. His music has been described as minimalist, avant-garde post-rock. He started the concert with piano pieces from his latest album. This is an album of two halves: one solo piano and one electronics and beats. My son and I went to the Q&A he did before the concert where he talked about his music and his commitment to low carbon touring. He played one piece from the film that he is perhaps most associated with: the 2001 film 'Amelie'. My wife and I visited Montmatre where this was mostly filmed over the Easter break, I saw the film on release at an arts cinema in Sheffield and have loved it ever since. Follow your interests...

The maestro...  I've blogged about his music numerous times... here's a small taste...

In the paper today was an image from Zed Nelson's book: 'The Anthropocene Illusion'. It's a painted wall in a zoo, but who is the painting for? Not the occupant of the cage... On his Facebook page, Zed says: After six years of working on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’, the project (and I) have won the Sony World Photography Award 2025 .  It couldn’t be better timed with the book coming out on May 15 (on pre-sale now) .  Lovely to get some love and real support at a nerve-wracking moment in the project’s launch. . The short summary is: ‘While we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature - a reassuring spectacle, an illusion.’ In a tiny fraction of our Earth’s history, we humans have used our power to exploit the Earth and other animals. Scientists are calling it ‘The Anthropocene’ - the age of human. Since the industrial revolution we have broken our ancient bonds with nature and devastated the natural...

  You're looking at nearly a year's effort from the authoring team and production team. Proud of these as the Series Editor. Available to purchase from Collins or your usual textbook supplier. Feel free to buy in industrial quantities.

A trailer has been released for the new film Ocean. OCEAN WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean.  The celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker reveals how his lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing. Stunning, immersive cinematography showcases the wonder of life under the seas and exposes the realities and challenges facing our ocean as never-before-seen, from destructive fishing techniques to mass coral reef bleaching.  Yet the story is one of optimism, with Attenborough pointing to inspirational stories from around the world to deliver his greatest message: the ocean can recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen.  Screening in c...

Earth Percent  is an organisation that I heard about over the weekend at a Q and A with the Breton musician Yann Tiersen. EarthPercent invites artists and the music industry at large to donate a small percentage of their income, making change through organisations that meaningfully address the climate and nature crises. Over 250 artists and companies have already pledged their support. The idea is that nature is added as a collaborator / songwriter and therefore liable to receive royalties. These can then be spent on projects helping to protect nature.