This is Not New

A lively and witty critique of 'newness' as an unquestioned good in art and culture

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This is not new. It is a story, newly told, of how art becomes culture.



From the march of fascism in Charlottesville to the ongoing nightmare of police brutality, 'This is not new!' has served, time and again, as a clarion call and a warning: a protest against the distracting shock of the new, and superficial problem-solving that fails to acknowledge historical struggles and actions. Our fixation with newness is profoundly political - and yet nowhere is it more pronounced than in culture.



Today, artists, their audiences and their economies remain fixated on 'discoveries,' 'freshness,' and 'breaking ground.' Those from marginalised communities become 'new voices' and yet another passing fad. This Is Not New unpicks the lingering perception that novelty equals good, and asks in whose interests it serves.