Nabila mahdi an opiate to the nation writing prize submission

Nabila Mahdi Diploma 8

Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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An Opiate to the Nation The 1951 Festival of Britain, through contemporary eyes

1 Cover Illustration, Graphic collage drawn by the author for this essay, Mahdi, Nabila, London, 2016.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-­‐‑dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

-­‐‑

Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834)2

Whilst composing ‘Kubla Khan’, Samuel Taylor Coleridge is recorded as suffering what was politely termed a slight ‘disposition’, requiring the prescription of an ‘anodyne’3 – a euphemism for opium, a drug the poet was addicted to. He fell asleep, his hallucinogenic dream prompting a fantastical vision of a paradisiacal land dominated by a stately pleasure dome…

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-­‐‑and-­‐‑poets/poems/detail/43991, Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Accessed on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

2

3 Holmes, Richard. Coleridge: Darker Reflections, London: HarperCollins, 1998, (quoting Coleridge “Notebooks” 2805)

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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A colourful aerial illustration portraying the derelict south bank complex decorated with the festivities of the 1951 Festival, London, 1951.

In the years following the end of World War II, Britain was paralysed by severe material and labour shortages, and was at the time the biggest debtor nation in the world. Yet, high with euphoria from their historic 1947 election victory5, the Labour party unreadily decreed a Festival of celebration; The 1951 Festival of Britain. A whimsical, utopian escape, from the realities of austerity.

A particular, popular view of the Festival of Britain has survived to this day, one which regards it through somewhat rose-­‐‑tinted spectacles, through a comfortable haze of nostalgia. In this view, the British in 1951 are often characterised as a bored, tired population6 in need for a state-­‐‑of-­‐‑the-­‐‑art, pleasures-­‐‑of-­‐‑life reminders. In their desperate need for an antidote to cure the amalgamated patients of depression, the Festival of Britain was decreed to heal its nation. It was an important event that celebrated the quintessential British nationalism. A lingering memory in British history, the ghosts of its time remains relevant to many, both architecturally and historically.

4 http://wgsn-­‐‑hbl.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/hbl-­‐‑events-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑at.html, HBL Events: The Festival of Britain

at the Southbank, uploaded on 26-­‐‑May-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 21-­‐‑March-­‐‑2016.

5

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393277.stm, 1951: Churchill back in Power at last,

accessed on 10-­‐‑January-­‐‑2016.

6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJMe9IUMp8, Festival of Britain 2011: Dorritt Dekk and the Land Traveller,

interview by William Mager, uploaded on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 19-­‐‑December-­‐‑2015.

Nabila Mahdi Diploma 8

Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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Top Image: Aerial view showing the Dome of Discovery next to the Skylon, Bottom Image: Spectators gather around the legs of the Skylon to enjoy the view at the South Bank.

A cigar shaped -­‐‑ aluminium clad, almost vermin like structure, was erected and proclaimed as the Skylon. Slender and elegant, the Skylon was often likened to the British economy of 1951; as “it had no visible means of support”9. Its sibling was to be the Dome of Discovery, dominating the soggy and derelict site that was to become the South Bank. “…it was the largest dome that had ever been built, it was rather like a ship, it was a live thing that moved and strained with the changes of weather and temperature…”10 A Pleasure Gardens was placed in Battersea park, paralleling the exuberance of the South Bank complex by hosting onlookers with foaming fountains, miniature pavilions and open air performances – along with the murderous ‘big dipper’ ride which was closed due to it killing 5 children and injuring 13 others11.

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http://www.frankharris.co.uk/latest-­‐‑news/2011/04/15/londons-­‐‑south-­‐‑bank-­‐‑60-­‐‑years-­‐‑on-­‐‑from-­‐‑the-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑

britain/festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑pic-­‐‑02/, Festival of Britain, uploaded by Frank Harris, Accessed on 11-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

8 http://www.basilspence.org.uk/work/buildings/festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain, 1951 Festival of Britain, Glasgow, Scotland &

London, England, Basilspence.org, Accessed on 12-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

9

https://www.architecture.com/Explore/Buildings/SkylonTower.aspx, Skylon, Architecture.com, Accessed on 17-­‐‑

April-­‐‑2016.

10 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1945to1951/filmpage_bc.htm, The Observer: Brief City, The story of

London’s Festival Buildings, Directed by Harvey, Maurice and Brunius, Jacques, London 1951-­‐‑52.

11

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-­‐‑news/battersea-­‐‑park-­‐‑big-­‐‑dipper-­‐‑disaster-­‐‑in-­‐‑1972-­‐‑the-­‐‑funfair-­‐‑

tragedy-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation-­‐‑forgot-­‐‑10302238.html, Battersea Park Big Dipper disaster in 1972, the funfair tragedy the nation forgot, by Jamie Merill, uploaded on 6-­‐‑June-­‐‑2015, Accessed on 9-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

These were the antidotes to the sickly patient that was the nation, expressed by means of architectural distractions. The monstrously extravagant summer party concoction of the Labour Party was dubbed by its director Gerald Barry as A Tonic to the Nation12, a necessary pick-­‐‑me-­‐‑up to uplift Britain back on her feet from the aftermath of WWII.

Twenty years after the Festival, an important book was published using the same expression; ‘A Tonic to the Nation: Festival of Britain, 1951’. Edited by Mary Banham and Bevis Hillier, the book compiled a series of essays written by some of Britain’s significant observers at the time13.

Photograph of Mrs. Mary Banham and the author after the Interview in Mrs. Banham’s London flat.

“Writing the book let me get both sides of the question in, for people who were doing it and people who disprove of it.”14 Said Mary Banham in our recent interview. But let’s observe one pressing question;

Just what is a Tonic?

12 Turner, Barry, Beacon for Change: How the 1951 Festival of Britain Shaped the Modern Age, London: Aurum Press,

2011. (pg. 44) 13 Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson, 1976 14

Banham, Mary, Interview with Nabila Mahdi, Still A Tonic to the Nation? Published by the AA Conversations on 17-­‐‑

February-­‐‑2016. Discussing the importance of The Festival of Britain 1951 in our contemporary context. Link as follows: http://conversations.aaschool.ac.uk/65-­‐‑years-­‐‑after-­‐‑the-­‐‑1951-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑still-­‐‑a-­‐‑tonic-­‐‑to-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation/

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

15

An Advertisement for ‘Byno’ hypophosphates, Blotter, Allen & Hansburys Ltd., 1909. These leaflets were sent out to the medical profession to advertise their ideal Tonic for the nervous prostration and overstrain, London 1909.

“…Although as servants of the state We may have been coerced, As we’ve been told to celebrate We’ll celebrate or burst”

-­‐‑

Noel Coward, lyrics from “Don’t make fun of the fair”, 195116

As noted above in a short excerpt from Noel Coward’s 1951 song, Don’t make fun of the fair, the Festival forcefully reminds its onlookers of the empire’s traditional ability to make a grand gesture whenever the chance presents itself. Like a misdiagnosed patient injected with a rush of Tonic. The word Tonic is defined as ‘a medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigour or well-­‐‑being17 by the Oxford English dictionary. The origin of the word lies in the Greek word Tonikos which describes the act of stretching and is characterised by muscle tension. A word that changes its meaning every century; Tonic in the mid 17th century refers to something that maintains the health of firmness and tissues of the body. It changed again in mid 18th century into any substance which possesses the property of restoration to one’s health.

15 http://wellcomecollection.org/tonics-­‐‑and-­‐‑curatives/?image=20, Tonics and Curatives, Blotter, Allen & Hansburys

Ltd., 1909. Advertisement for ‘Byno’ Hypophosphates, the ‘Byno’ hypophosphates were advertised as a ‘valuable tonic for the aged and infirm when the digestive organs are weak’ an ideal tonic in nervous prostration and overstrain.

16 Coward, Noel, The Lyrics of Noel Coward (World Classics),” Don’t Make fun of the Fair” London: Methuen Drama,

2002.

17 Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2010.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

Finally, in mid 19th century, the word is used as short for tonic water; water mixed with quinine18. The active ingredient in tonic water in its 1870s use is the first chemical compound ever isolated and used successfully to fight against infectious disease19.

In present-­‐‑day understanding, tonic refers to the quinine substance which comes with an invigorating effect; effects in which are not detached from temporality. The present synonyms of Tonic, includes words such as; Stimulant, restorative, refresher, pick-­‐‑me-­‐‑up and livener. Barry’s choice of word may not have been misplaced; the Festival is often written as a fleeting euphoric relief from the worst, as tonics are commonly prescribed for patients who are past the worst.

Question is; Was Britain past its worst?

“It was apparently raining a lot – I don’t remember that, I only remember the sunny days and the thrill to go there”20

-­‐‑

Margarete Hinrichsen

18 Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2010.

19 IBID 20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-­‐‑NiqSY6vqyM, Festival of Britain 2011: Margarete Hinrichsen and the Doves,

Interview by William Mager, uploaded on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 19-­‐‑December-­‐‑2015.

Nabila Mahdi Diploma 8

Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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Colourful Lithograph of the Festival of Britain by Herbert Williams

Such as many wonderfully colourful things, the Festival had an illicit truth, the less discussed sibling within the then symbol of British jubilation; its politics.

This essay is not interested in romanticised amnesia; it will not apologise for questioning the supposed joy the Festival brought to Britain. 1951 was not a prosperous year for the nation, there was a shortage of wood and steel following the devaluation of the pound sterling in 1949.

Austerity was still the norm, “Bread was rationed” said Mary Banham in our recent interview, “Bread was never rationed during the war because we had the Americans, but after the war they said to us ‘well, we can’t go on doing this forever…”22. Negative repercussions of the war were still very much present for Great Britain in 1951. Not to sound like someone from the Conservative party (who consistently attacked the Festival as the brain child of the Labour party) but does that sound like the wise economical climate to have “Britain to go gay for (a) Year”?23

21 http://www.kikiwerth.com/festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑print-­‐‑by-­‐‑herbert-­‐‑williams/, Lithograph by Notting Hill artist

Herbert Williams, 1951 for the Festival of Britain, London 1951.

22 Banham, Mary, Interview with Nabila Mahdi, Still A Tonic to the Nation? Published by the AA Conversations on 17-­‐‑

February-­‐‑2016. Discussing the importance of The Festival of Britain 1951 in our contemporary context. Link as follows: http://conversations.aaschool.ac.uk/65-­‐‑years-­‐‑after-­‐‑the-­‐‑1951-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑still-­‐‑a-­‐‑tonic-­‐‑to-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation/ 23 http://www.britishpathe.com/video/london-­‐‑goes-­‐‑all-­‐‑festive, London Goes All Festive, archived by the British Pathé,

distributed by the British Pathé, released on: 17-­‐‑may-­‐‑1951, Accessed on 13-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

It is a truism that “History is written by the victors,”. We must take into account that ever since the war ended, the power struggle between the Conservative and the Labour parties have continually alternated from pillar to post24. In our present time, traces of war and the Festival have been distilled into a pile of text and images (apart from the monolith that is the Royal Festival Hall). So who is to say what was best for Britain at the time? Should our contemporary eyes blindly trust the published books? The transcripts of witty banter preserved within oral history?

The photographs of smiling faces? The souvenir trinkets of red, white and blue?

This essay aims to prompt the multi-­‐‑faceted nature of historical documentation concerning this crucial festivity which divided the nation into two. An event which was once regarded as an architectural revolution by its makers and writers:

“…but it’s true, a lot of teenage boys at that time decided they would be architects because they liked the look of it. It was a great opportunity for everyone, even the people who designed the Skylon were still students!” said Mary Banham.

An important event it truly was, but was it justified? As an impartial reader to the claimed festivities of the fair, or to the war this country was once entangled by, the author of this essay has the advantage of being unburdened by such a nostalgia-­‐‑ridden event.

Which is why this short essay aims to deliver a cynical record of the ‘paradigm-­‐‑shifting’ event that happened sixty-­‐‑five years ago, whilst fashioning a sceptical pair of surgical binoculars.

“…Festering Britain here!”

-­‐‑

Rumoured Festival Switchboard girl, answering the telephone, 195125

24 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393277.stm, 1951: Churchill back in Power at last,

Accessed on 10-­‐‑January-­‐‑2016.

25

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1945to1951/filmpage_bc.htm, The Observer: Brief City, the story of

London’s Festival Buildings, Directed by Harvey, Maurice and Brunius, Jacques, London 1951-­‐‑52.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

The Festival of Britain was not the first of its kind to have been devised as a ‘Tonic’ to its nation. There were many Great Expositions blue-­‐‑printed as a restorative distraction from disastrous pasts. One wouldn’t go so far as say that most World Expositions are the by-­‐‑product of war and disasters. But one could argue that there is a clear historical thread in which destruction and war inspired the curriculum of world exposition. We needn’t look far for a repeated pattern of (war + destruction) = Austerity, leading on to (Austerity + optimism for recovery) = world exposition.

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Britain Can Make It', colour lithograph poster advertising the exhibition organized by the Council of Industrial Design, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 24 September – 31 October 1946, designed by Ashley Havinden, Great Britain, 1946, CIRC.459-­‐‑1971. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley (the immediate predecessor to of the Festival of 1951) was staged 6 years after the great world war27. To name a few other blood-­‐‑ relatives of expositions built with restorative intentions; The Panama-­‐‑Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in 1915 was an opportunity for San Francisco to showcase its recovery from an earthquake in 190628. The international Exhibition held in Paris, 1855 was motivated by a desire to re-­‐‑establish a new pride and image of the country after the devastations of war. The 1939 New York World Fair was established by a group of New York City businessmen in order to lift the city and country out of depression29, and plenty others.

26 http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/britain-­‐‑can-­‐‑make-­‐‑it/, designed by Havinden, Ashley, Great Britain,

1946.

27 Knight, R. Donald and Sabey, D. Alan, The Lion Roars at Wembley, privately published by D.R. Knight, New Barnet,

1984. Pg. 11.

28 Laura A. Ackley, San Francisco's Jewel City: The Panama-­‐‑Pacific International Exposition of 1915, Berkeley, CA:

Heyday, 2014.

29 Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, Random House, New

York, NY, 2012.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

But as one of the primary ingredient of many world expositions, one feels that destruction and devastation is the black sheep in the business of world expositions. With naïve expectations of recovery, these grand fairs acted like an immediate reaction to a parasite. Not unlike anti-­‐‑ depressant pills that are taken to trick our brain chemistry into submission and euphoria. Timing is key to giving a patient their medications. A doctor needs to be sharply observant before he can conduct an injection of morphine to his patient. Do they need it? Will they be addicted by it? We can adopt this to the spirit of a destruction ridden country, when do you tell them to stop re-­‐‑ building and start partying?

“…London was really drab, and people’s clothes were drab, people wore the same things everyday…everything was pretty worn out, and nobody had refreshed it at all. And here everything was new, fresh, bright and advanced…”

“…We were seeing a glimpse to the future; it was lovely…” 30

-­‐‑

Gordon and Ursula Bowyer, Architects of the Sports Pavilion, 2011

30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdoUktaNapM, Festival of Britain 2011: Gordon and Ursula Bowyer, Architects

of the Sports Pavilion, Interview by William Mager, uploaded on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 13-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

Nabila Mahdi Diploma 8

Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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Workmen building the ‘Big Dipper’ in Battersea Park, which would later kill 5 children and injure 13 others.

“So we can build a new home for ourselves: a new Britain.

No difficulties, except of our own making, stand in the way.

Knowledge, enthusiasm and unbounded skill Wait for the opportunity. We alone The people of this nation are its deciders, its creators, its builders.

A new world we must make: with what success we make it Rests in ourselves.

The choice is our own.

The future begins to-­‐‑day”

-­‐‑

Quote from the Movie, Building Britain, 194132

31 http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com/, The Nifty Fifties, uploaded by the Nifty Fifties blog, accessed on 13-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

32 Building Britain: 1941, a film script by Thomas Sharp, in The Town Planning Review, London, October 1952, p204.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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An advertising page from the original Festival Catalogue. A really optimistic poster showing that The British Take Their Pleasures Seriously, oh the irony

33 Dr. Bronowski, J, 1951 Exhibition of Science, a Guide to the Story it tells (Festival of Britain guide Catalogue), London:

H.M. Stationery Office, 1951.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

The 1951 Festival of Britain may have acted as a temporary tonic to some of its festivalgoers, but its final product was a diluted version of its original plans. The idea for a national Festival was first suggested by the Royal Society of Arts in 194334, it was then further developed by Gerald Barry for an international exhibition. Barry expressed his proposals in an open letter to Sir Stafford Cripps, who was president of the Board Trade. The proposal was examined by a departmental committee to look into the prospects of regular trade fairs that could result from this international exhibition. Britain’s relationship with the rest of Europe had cooled off at the time, so an invitation to a wondrous spectre to Britain’s national recovery could have been a wise initiative to welcome the old allies back to the lives of the British. But the magnitude of Barry’s proposal for an International Festival seemed to have intimidated the offices of the board trade35, when it was returned to Barry, many revisions had to be made, and all of these revisions had one culprit behind it; economy. The international exhibition that Barry envisioned cannot come into fruition because of the the offices of the board trade did not conclude that an international event would have conclusive effects to Britain’s crippling economy. Britain settled with a national festival, which cost about one-­‐‑sixth of the sum for the original proposal.

It is crystal clear that the final product of the 1951 Festival of Britain was decided on economic grounds, it is crucial to ask to why the government didn’t feel an International Exposition would have been a worthwhile investment? Surely an international trade would be more beneficial than a national one? Another question about timing also comes into mind; the festival could have been postponed? Or would it not serve significance if it was not also posing as part of the 100 years’ anniversary of the Great Festival of 1851?

“Nevertheless the Government feel that it would not be right on this account to abandon the celebration of the centenary, and we therefore propose to mark it by a national display illustrating the British contribution to civilization, past, present and future, in arts, in science and technology, and in industrial design”36 -­‐‑

Herbert Morrison, Lord President of the Council, 1951

So who were the winners of the Festival? For whom was it for?

34 Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson,

1976 (pg. 26) 35 IBID (pg. 27) 36 IBID (pg. 29)

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

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An advertising page from the original Festival Catalogue showing the revolutionary and forward looking use of electricity.

To answer that question, we must address an essay titled Festival, where it’s author, Michael Frayn brilliantly divides the onlookers of the Festival into two; The Carnivores and the Herbivores38. The Carnivores are those in the section of upper-­‐‑ and middle-­‐‑classes, the threatened observers of a monstrous new state. A state in which their past privileges would be forfeited, status made irrelevant, and influences dissolved. In the years that lead up to the 1951 Festival, the Carnivores frequently said; “There are pathetically little for Britain to celebrate in 1951”39 Frayn described this disdain as the Carnivore’s own worry of the mark the Festival had; the end of their own private Britain. For their old Britain was seemingly entering a new stable and conservative government.

Frayn claimed that the 1951 Festival of Britain was the Festival of the Herbivores. The Herbivores are the radical middle-­‐‑classes, the do-­‐‑gooders; the readers of the News Chronicle, the Guardian, and the Observer; the signers of petitions; and the backbone of the B.B.C40. The worries of the carnivores were justified for a decade; sanctioned by the exigencies of WWII, the

37 Dr. Bronowski, J, 1951 Exhibition of Science, a Guide to the Story it tells (Festival of Britain guide Catalogue), London:

H.M. Stationery Office, 1951.

38 Sissons, Michael and French, Phillip. Age of Austerity 1945-­‐‑1951, London: Oxford University Press, 23 October 1986.

P.307 39 IBID, P.307 40 IBID, P.308

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

Herbivores dominated the scene to rebuild Britain. Until at last by the end of 1951 the herbivore-­‐‑ supporting-­‐‑labour government had been exhausted, and the Carnivores were ready to take over and instil the old ways of the British class system.

41

Aerial view of London in 1951 showing the Festival of Britain by the South Bank.

So to answer the question; the Festival was in fact for the Herbivores, for the hard working middle-­‐‑class to have their shining moment. They were the winners of the Festival as it was the last and albeit posthumous work of Herbivore Britain. But lost in their struggle for continuous power to the Conservatives42; like the Festival the Herbivore’s short-­‐‑lived power and influence was temporal yet invigorating, and in the end, paralyses like a narcotic.

“when it soon became plain that the balance of power and privilege had hardly changed after all, they (the Carnivores) might have enjoyed it (The Festival) more (had they known)”43

-­‐‑

Michael Frayn

41 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/fascinating-­‐‑old-­‐‑aerial-­‐‑photos-­‐‑reveal-­‐‑changing-­‐‑face-­‐‑britain-­‐‑1437243, Fascinating old

Photos reveal changing faces of Britain, by Sim, David, Uploaded on 20-­‐‑February-­‐‑2014, Accessed on 19-­‐‑February-­‐‑ 2016.

42 Sissons, Michael and French, Phillip. Age of Austerity 1945-­‐‑1951, London: Oxford University Press, 23 October 1986.

P.307 43 IBID

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Graphic collage addressing Forty’s use of the word ‘Narcotic’ when discussing the Festival of 1951. The Skylon and its Narcotics – drawn by the Author for this essay (2016).

Instead of the frequently repeated and widely accepted word; Tonic, Adrian Forty described the Festival as a Narcotic. In his essay titled; Festival Politics, Forty takes account the inaccuracy of the word Tonic to describe the Festival44. As aforementioned earlier, a tonic is a substance that is taken by patients who are past the worst of their conditions, Forty stressed that it was not the case for Britain.

The Festival was planned in 1947, when the government expectantly believed the affairs of the world would heal by 1951. But by the time the Festival was ready, the economy didn’t follow through, it witnessed no improvement, it was no better than it was three years prior. And when the inherent tottering was beginning to be acknowledged by the general public45. The abbreviated International Festival had to be presented as such; a national tonic to provide the mirage of a recovering Britain. Forty claimed that by 1951 the Festival acted as an anachronism to the nation.

44 Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson,

1976 by Adrian Forty, pg. 26-­‐‑27 45 IBID, pg. 26-­‐‑27

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Various images from the Festival From left to right, Aerial view of the South Bank and River Thames during the Festival46, Illustration showing the Pleasure Gardens at Battersea Park, Spectators being shown a new movie using three-­‐‑dimensional glasses, Families gathering in their street to celebrate the Festival, the 2011 Exhibition showing merchandises from the fair, The official emblem of the Festival as designed by Abram Games, Colour render of the South Bank Complex, Spectators walking towards the entrance of the festival.

46 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8448698/The-­‐‑1951-­‐‑Festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑Britain-­‐‑on-­‐‑the-­‐‑

South-­‐‑Bank-­‐‑in-­‐‑London-­‐‑in-­‐‑pictures.html?image=9, The Festival of Britain on the South Bank in Pictures, uploaded by the Telegraph, accessed on the 11-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

47

Photographs from the 2011 exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall, Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Festival of 1951.

The images above portray the 2011 exhibition, held in 2011 at the Southbank centre it celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Festival. It is plain to see that the colourful and jubilant tone of the furniture and lifestyle shown above illustrate no sign of austerity. It is suspiciously curated to paint only the pleasantries of the time, and turn a blind eye to the realities of decline in the nation.

One may argue that there are two key books written about the Festival; A Tonic to the Nation in 1976 and Festival of Britain in 2001 by Elaine Hardwood and Alain Powers48. Each publication mark new opportunities to have an ‘updated’ discussion about the Festival. So what would the tone of a 2016 interpretation sound like? Cynical? Happy? Welcoming? Without trying to equate oneself to those listed above how can an alternative angle be introduced to how we interpret this supposed tonic to the nation.

“It might almost be said to mark the beginning of our ‘English disease’ – the moment at which we stopped trying to lead the world as an industrial power, and started being the world’s entertainers, coaxing tourists to laugh at our eccentricities, marvel at our traditions and wallow in our nostalgia”49 -­‐‑

Charles Plouviez, Festival office member, 1951

47 http://www.vintagefestival.co.uk/whats-­‐‑on/museum-­‐‑of-­‐‑51, Museum of 51, at Royal Festival Hall, Accessed on 19-­‐‑

February-­‐‑2016.

48 Hardwood, Elain, and Powers, Alan, Festival of Britain (Twentieth Century Architecture), London: Twentieth Century

Society, London, January 2001.

49 Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson,

1976 (Pg. 207)

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Edward Bottoms HTS – Brave New World

This essay was not written with any intention to insult the 1951 Festival of Britain or to belittle its cause and effect. But instead, to question how it is actually perceived in our contemporary context, sixty-­‐‑five years after the event.

The Festival of 1951 may have been an Architectural revolution for Britain’s uninspired and bored architects, desperate to design something out of this world. But as glamorous as that picture is painted, the Festival was inherently a government propaganda to induce a superficial feeling of restorative health to the economy.

As further historical distance is placed between our present-­‐‑time and the Festival of 1951, its consequential footprints can both be lost or newly discovered. Academics who are detached from this past can only understand said event through the limitations of recorded photographs, textbook, secondary literature and oral history. How are these events being recorded? How are they being written today?

It is difficult to quantify one’s emotions of a nostalgic past, how do we preserve that fleeting happiness that was once felt and expressed by the spectators of the Festival of 1951?

Testimonials and opinions of onlookers can often too easily have been dismissed for its subjectivity. Whereas quantifiable statistics such as Britain’s imports and the valuation of the Pound sterling can inevitably be valued as a more reliable statistic to understand the success or failure of the fair. The author struggles to determine the right answer to whether or not the Festival was a Tonic or Opium?

With optimism in the coming years, a new review of the Festival could be written, with hope that history will reveal more about its curriculum and repercussions. But until then, we need to stay critical of a reminiscence written in too jubilant of a tone, for it is suspicious of an over compensation for a darker veracity.

But for today, the author will settle with a claim that the 1951 Festival was more opium

than tonic, more toxic than invigorating.

Its effects were so fleetingly temporal, and given to a misdiagnosed patient; just like the

addictive hallucinogen.

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“let it die. It did well at the time, most people approved of it except certain political parties and we’ve celebrated it twice now, that’s enough. We should look forward; we are the generation that’s always so interested in what was happening next! We have studied the past, but celebrate it? That’s enough”50

-­‐‑Mary Banham

50 Banham, Mary, Interview with Nabila Mahdi, Still A Tonic to the Nation? Published by the AA Conversations on 17-­‐‑

February-­‐‑2016. Discussing the importance of The Festival of Britain 1951 in our contemporary context. Link as follows: http://conversations.aaschool.ac.uk/65-­‐‑years-­‐‑after-­‐‑the-­‐‑1951-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑still-­‐‑a-­‐‑tonic-­‐‑to-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation/

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“…Take a nip from your brandy flask, Scream and caper and shout, Don’t give anyone time to ask What the hell it’s about…”51

-­‐‑

Noel Coward, lyrics from “Don’t make fun of the fair”, 1951

51 Coward, Noel, The Lyrics of Noel Coward (World Classics),” Don’t Make fun of the Fair” London: Methuen Drama,

2002.

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Bibliography: In no particular order

-­‐‑

Holmes, Richard. Coleridge: Darker Reflections, London: HarperCollins, 1998, (quoting Coleridge “Notebooks” 2805)

-­‐‑

Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson, 1976.

-­‐‑

Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2010.

-­‐‑

Rennie, Paul, Festival of Britain Design, 1951, Woodbridge, England: Antique Collector’s Club, 2007.

-­‐‑

Frayn, Michael, Festival of Britain, Sissons, article within Sissons, Michael, and French, Philip, Age of Austerity, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

-­‐‑

Atkinson, Harriett, The Festival of Britain: A Land and its people, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2012.

-­‐‑

Turner, Barry, Beacon for Change: How the 1951 Festival of Britain Shaped the Modern Age, London: Aurum Press, 2011.

-­‐‑

Dr. Bronowski, J, 1951 Exhibition of Science, a Guide to the Story it tells (Festival of Britain guide Catalogue), London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1951.

-­‐‑

Burstow, Robert, Symbols for ’51: Royal Festival Hall, Skylon and Sculptures for the Festival of Britain, London: South Bank Centre, 1996.

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Coward, Noel, The Lyrics of Noel Coward (World Classics), London: Methuen Drama, 2002.

-­‐‑

Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, Random House, New York, NY, 2012.

-­‐‑

Hardwood, Elain, and Powers, Alan, Festival of Britain (Twentieth Century Architecture), London: Twentieth Century Society, London, January 2001.

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Webography: In no particular order

-­‐‑

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393277.stm, 1951: Churchill back in Power at last, Accessed on 10-­‐‑January-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=3805, Skylon, Accessed on 17-­‐‑April-­‐‑ 2016.

-­‐‑

https://www.architecture.com/Explore/Buildings/SkylonTower.aspx, Skylon, Accessed on 17-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-­‐‑news/battersea-­‐‑park-­‐‑big-­‐‑dipper-­‐‑ disaster-­‐‑in-­‐‑1972-­‐‑the-­‐‑funfair-­‐‑tragedy-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation-­‐‑forgot-­‐‑10302238.html, Battersea Park Big Dipper disaster in 1972, the funfair tragedy the nation forgot, by Jamie Merill, uploaded on 6-­‐‑June-­‐‑2015, Accessed on 9-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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http://www.vads.ac.uk/learning/designingbritain/html/festival.html, Festival of Britain,

by Gilian Whiteley, Accessed on 9-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016

-­‐‑

http://www.barnstar.co.uk/product/1951-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑match-­‐‑books, 1951, “Festival of Britain” Match Books, Accessed on 10-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/52120/festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑souvenir-­‐‑1951/, Festival of Britain Souvenir, uploaded by Amoret Tanner on 21-­‐‑October-­‐‑2005, Accessed on 10 February-­‐‑2016.

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http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/online_science/explore_our_collections/objects/in dex/smxg-­‐‑527279, Festival of Britain, 19519, empty tin, lid decorated with Festival Logo, Accessed on 17-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/interiors/8716420/Festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑Britain-­‐‑Back-­‐‑to-­‐‑ the-­‐‑Fifties.html, Festival of Britain: Back to the Fifties, by Paul Clements, uploaded on 25-­‐‑ August-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 12-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

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http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/21/gallery-­‐‑aerofilms-­‐‑a-­‐‑history-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑from-­‐‑above-­‐‑ 4312860/eaw034981a0_2-­‐‑jpg/, Gallery Aerofilms – A history of Britain from Above, uploaded on 21-­‐‑February-­‐‑2014, Accessed on 18-­‐‑March-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-­‐‑and-­‐‑poets/poems/detail/43991, Kubla Khan

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Accessed on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://wgsn-­‐‑hbl.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/hbl-­‐‑events-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑at.html,

HBL

Events: The Festival of Britain at the Southbank, uploaded on 26-­‐‑May-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 21-­‐‑March-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/fascinating-­‐‑old-­‐‑aerial-­‐‑photos-­‐‑reveal-­‐‑changing-­‐‑face-­‐‑britain-­‐‑ 1437243, Fascinating old Photos reveal changing faces of Britain, by Sim, David, uploaded on 20-­‐‑February-­‐‑2014, Accessed on 19-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/britain-­‐‑can-­‐‑make-­‐‑it/, designed by Havinden, Ashley, Great Britain, 1946. Accessed on 20-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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Filmography: In no particular order

-­‐‑

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/london-­‐‑goes-­‐‑all-­‐‑festive, London Goes All Festive, archived by the British Pathé, distributed by the British Pathé, released on: 17-­‐‑may-­‐‑1951, Accessed on 13-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJMe9IUMp8, Festival of Britain 2011: Dorritt Dekk and the Land Traveller, interview by William Mager, uploaded on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 19-­‐‑December-­‐‑2015.

-­‐‑

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-­‐‑NiqSY6vqyM, Festival of Britain 2011: Margarete Hinrichsen and the Doves, Interview by William Mager, uploaded on 20-­‐‑April-­‐‑2011, Accessed on 19-­‐‑December-­‐‑2015.

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http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1945to1951/filmpage_bc.htm, The Observer: Brief City, The story of London’s Festival Buildings, Directed by Harvey, Maurice and Brunius, Jacques, London 1951-­‐‑52.

-­‐‑

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/a-­‐‑century-­‐‑of-­‐‑achievement,

A

Century

of

Achievement, 1951, archived by the British Pathé, distributed by the British Pathé, released on: 17-­‐‑may-­‐‑1951, Accessed on 13-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

-­‐‑

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑amusement-­‐‑park-­‐‑at-­‐‑battersea-­‐‑ ak, Festival of Britain Amusement Park at Battersea. 1951, archived by the British Pathé, distributed by the British Pathé, released in 1951, Accessed on 13-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016.

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Audiography: In no particular order

-­‐‑

Banham, Mary, Interview with Nabila Mahdi, Still A Tonic to the Nation? Published by the AA Conversations on 17-­‐‑February-­‐‑2016. Discussing the importance of The Festival of Britain

1951

in

our

contemporary

context.

Link

as

follows:

http://conversations.aaschool.ac.uk/65-­‐‑years-­‐‑after-­‐‑the-­‐‑1951-­‐‑festival-­‐‑of-­‐‑britain-­‐‑still-­‐‑a-­‐‑ tonic-­‐‑to-­‐‑the-­‐‑nation/

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END

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