PROPAGANDA BY ART.

Hokitika Guardian, 31 March 1923, Page 4

PROPAGANDA BY ART.

Oi.AV-GOW, I'Vb. j Simh-uis if polities would do weii ! to note ih" in’ made o! art. the iLamii. !.1 >i l l iniisii I v the ;• a ■ 1 i i t'-m-yow j "'lie '-J ai i ret", .strike now in proi ,y,,.. s mill the I 'b.-ur m-liirn' m (he | West ol Seoihiml have received driving j | !■• • ,m ! i e predm ' ion of two aim ae, pkn ■ " I'car of tlm ! , ’acloi" tit at i- . I'!.us.’ agent) ami "WlnK T.nnmy fought for.” etteli ohi v writ ten bv i I,.in. :• ’a | ,:i -i Iby mill'!'- It ltd thoif The tutors use no "make-up’ and any -< luioh'oom serve- a- a theatre. the plays have been produced in various parts of the Lanarkshire <oal--11 . cast end pi' (-l.tsgtiw dnrjn.r the pa't three months. Together, with a third play now being completed, ?Key are to H- staged in the centre of cl- sen', a L the end of t his moill h. Af the Mel.ellan Galleries, Glasgow, the Seetti -h Kcciali: t Art Dire!,' held |;i.,l week its -ceoiid animal exhihition. The Art ( ircio, formed just over a year ago. has some 10 members-—riveter.,, milters, school teacher.', and htitoD; started v-itli it; eye on prupngnn!da and ilevek |a"l poster-work. I’o-.t--|CI S, howe\ r, Imve heel, followed h.v j water-colour- ami nil paintings, ami i these, together with pa-tels, pen and | petu il drawings, wood and linoleum | i-tii- and etchings were included in the j ■ xhihitioit. j Remarkably enough, sotno of the j host work: shown was that of two of the unemployed : John Lyons, a riveter, and James li. Dodge, a litter. Lyons showed a painting "Under (Me Coaling Cranes’’ that received pr: :• • for it-, tonal sensitiveness and vitality, while Ids boldly treated hnoloum-(*ut "Out.ward Bound" displayed rhythm and power. Ordinary linoleum wa-' used f-ii* this, tlie white portions being gouged away. "With Pick and Lamp," "Unemployed.” "Hoppers at Renfrew.” "The Night Watchman,” and "Idle Shipping ! on the Clyde” were among the best subjects treated. Music and literature are, of course, the arts most practised. The William Morris chair is deservedly well known, but ii nil! he news to most people tiiat a fnm days’ musical festival for Socialist choirs only will shortly he hold in which l,(il)() competitors are ex-, peeled to take part. James Wel-h's "Underworld,” a novel ot the pits by the Lanarkshire miners’ leader, swept like lire through the working homes hero. Nine thousand copies were sold at the Reformers .Bookstall in Ifuelinnan-street in n fortnight. The Bookstall sells i'(i,l!()0 or C7,OfH) worth ot books every year. It is hooks, not pamphlets, the workers want— Shaw. Galsworthy. Jerome, Jack Loudon, Carlyle, Tolstoi, Barrio. Patrick McGill, aml many other;. But there are 'Hansard clubs,” ton. in the shipyards, contributed to by small groups of workmen wim pay a copper or two each and share a copy of Hansard among them. No wonder ti e Scot i- a b.nnic heckler! Drama, art, and music are taking the place to some extent of set political speeches at Socialist evenings on the Clyde, and the leaders regard recent successes as proof of tlie scheme’s political soundness.