Bulletin

We are all Californians. That’s the bold statement that the Design Museum’s new exhibition makes as it examines how Californian ideals have affected our everyday lives through technology.

The exhibition traces the progression of design in California from the 1960s to the present. It reveals how design was heavily influenced by counterculture movements.Freedom is the dominant theme. It’s explored from five different angles. Hippies, surfers, gay activists and black activists – all united in their quest for freedom – used design to promote their respective causes. The centrepiece is the juxtaposition of a replica Captain America chopper from ‘Easy Rider’, a symbol of escapism and individuality.

The ideologies of those countercultures were the unwitting precursors to the start-up ethos of Silicon Valley. Also to the technology that we either enjoy or endure today. Here there is some really impressive Syd Mead ‘Blade Runner’ concept art which fittingly explores the consequences of technology on society.

Other highlights include Black Panther posters by Emory Douglas circa 1969 and Gilbert Baker's beautiful, hand-stitched ‘rainbow flag’.

From skateboards to iPhones, it’s hard to deny that California has influenced and changed the world we live in. This exhibition makes you think about what will happen to individual freedom if design technology gets too advanced – but if we’re all Californian we’ll probably just sit back and ride that wave.

Design Museum, Kensington, until October.

You might be poet and not even know it!

Join this week’s two-day festival championing poetry, lyrics and the connection between the two.

Held at Kings Place in Kings Cross, highlights include a unique meeting between two iconic voices: PJ Harvey and Don Paterson; a showcase of talent hosted by punk poet Murray Lachlan Young; and a free event exploring how spoken word and rap are changing the debate about feminism.

Friday 9th and Saturday 10th June.

‘Rural London: Discover the City’s Country Side’ by Kate Hodges is out now, published by Michael O’Mara Books.

Don’t get us wrong, we’d be the first to sing the praises of London – this place really is the bee’s knees – but we all need space from 24-hour Tescos and angry property developers every now and then.

Kate Hodges has carefully hunted around the capital in search of some sanctuary.

A couple of her notable examples are:
Christchurch Greyfriars, a short hop from St Paul’s Cathedral, right in the heart of the City. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, but destroyed by fire in the Second World War, the grounds were transformed in 2011 into a floral elegy to a lost church.

St Pancras Old Church, a leafy sanctuary hidden just behind St Pancras station. A piece of ancient London that’s somehow managed to survive into the twenty-first century. It looks like a country chapel, with a square tower topped with a jaunty roof and is surrounded by a grassy, cleared graveyard dotted with a few mausoleums. Don’t miss the Hardy Tree, an ash that’s been encircled by layers of tombstones purported to have been arranged by the novelist Thomas Hardy.