(A wonderful new resource from the JISC Digitisation Programme)

Previously unpublished recordings of Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
talks from the 1980s online go online today at the JISC-funded Archival
Sound Recordings website of the British Library at <http://sounds.bl.uk>

Featuring talks and debates with top cultural, artistic and political
figures of the day, this latest addition the archive offers a chance to
explore in detail cultural directions in the UK from 1981 to 1994.

Alistair Dunning, JISC’s digitisation programme manager, said: “The rich
intellectual heritage embedded in the spoken word is an often neglected
source for research and learning. JISC is delighted to support the British
Library to release the vivid ideas, resonant discussions and crucial issues
that make the ICA Talks such a powerful library of ideas.”

The talks comprise over 880 recordings, over 1000 hours of audio, on
subjects including art, literature, performance, fashion, film, music,
philosophy, psychology, biology, feminism, AIDS and politics.

Kristian Jensen, Head of British Collections at the British Library, said:
“Anyone interested in cultural, artistic and political change in
contemporary Britain will want to listen to this collection of talks from
the ICA. The British Library’s Sound Archive is in many ways like a Tardis -
this new collection transports us back 20 years through cyberspace to the
meatiest debates of the 80s – at the mere click of a button.”

Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the ICA, said: “The ICA has always been a
centre of debate, whether literary, artistic or political, and we are proud
to have welcomed some of the leading figures of our time to present and
discuss their ideas here. We are delighted therefore that through this
collaboration with the British Library we can now preserve and make more
widely accessible this rich history of dialogue.”

The recordings feature a kaleidoscopic range of leading cultural figures
debating the social and artistic currents of the 1980s, such as:

- Salman Rushdie and Tariq Ali discuss Rushdie’s novel ‘Shame’ and swap
improbable anecdotes from Pakistan.

- Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London and head of the Greater London
Council (GLC), describes the GLC’s radical approach of involving women’s
groups, ethnic minorities and gay, lesbian and bisexual groups in the
governance of London in the 1980s.

- Socio-biologist Richard Dawkins defends the more controversial aspects of
sociobiology which attempts to explain human behaviour in terms of genetic
make-up (1984).

Visit the archive at <http://sounds.bl.uk>