I got the talk today. You know the one. The birds and the bees. Or, in this case, the singular bird who did not interact with any bees in any other than a friendly manner until the said bird and a very well educated, hard-working, thoroughly cultured, preferably Sri Lankan, highly ambitious, respectful-to-their-elders bee were united in eternal matrimony. I admit, the metaphor got away from me a little.
Coconut oil being massaged into my hair, coriander boiling on the hob, the announcement caught me a bit off guard. Imagine a slight Sri Lankan accent and a stern motherly voice. “Better not to be doing the adult things.” But maybe this would be better with a little context.
Two cultures, both alike in dignity
In times of (un)fair Corona, where we lay our scene
From ancient tradition one plans to be set free
where alcohol makes the liver unclean
From forth the fatal minds of these two foes
Parents worry they’ll lose the apple of their eye;
with misadventures and revealing clothes
Do with Fresher’s Week, her dignity will die.
All caught up? Okay, so in terms of clarity and good exposition, it wasn’t the best way to go, but come on, 10 points for style right? Thank you Mr Shakespeare.
Anyway, in brief:
Parents live in Sri Lanka.
Move to England in 2002, armed, already with 2 kids.
Parents have a third child – me. The only one to be born in Britain so they aptly call me Brittany, thrusting that western birth on me like a tattoo.
They’re living the dream: 3 girls, all hard-working, kind and all that jazz (I’ll stop tooting my horn now don’t worry). They send all 3 to an all-girls Grammar School.
Oldest daughter makes it through school, no major drama and woohoo the family has a pharmacist!
Middle daughter races through, acing it, no major drama again and whoop whoop Oxford Medic, hello!
Final daughter.
Aces GCSEs, and somewhere between the summer of year 11 and 12, hello hormones, teen angst and the sudden desire to live a little. I don’t want to bore you so I’ll whiz you through the details, crash-course-style. And don’t think I’m proud of any of this – it was all 100% sneaky, 100% immature and 10000% stupid. So brace yourself.
Goes on a residential, meet some boys (gasp!), makes friends, realises she likes one of them as a little more than a friend and ‘Trick or Treat!’ it’s Halloween. Halloween party with the boys? Yes Please! Parents would never allow it, so of course, I lie, say I’m at a friend’s sleepover miles away to where I actually am, get myself some alcohol (Smirnoff big up), but not before discussing the transaction loudly in a cafe, and go to the middle of nowhere for the night of a lifetime.
After being overheard by my parents’ friend – a policeman, no less – discussing Vodka – my parents are on the prowl, finding me at a boy’s house, drunk, and dressed like a spooky Halloween skeleton. Fast-forward past the secret boyfriend and a ‘suggested’ break-up by the parents, 2 years of being as good as gold, honest and true and here we are.
Anti-lockdown protests took place in Oxford’s Bonn Square at 12pm today, organised by Piers Corbyn’s group Stop New Normal.
The event, called the Oxford Peaceful Political Rally, aimed to protest the extension of the Coronavirus Act and the presence of police at their events.
Signs protesters held included lines such as “This is now tyranny”, urging the government to “copy Sweden”, and “Covid-19 equals control”, leading to “Covid1984”. One sign compared current restrictions to the Nazi government.
At the event, one speaker referred to the country’s current coronavirus restrictions as “arbitrary” and “disproportionate”, continuing: “My forefathers died in the First and Second World War, so I can enjoy the very freedoms I have today. I will not give away my freedoms.”
Organised speakers included Piers Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn’s brother who has previously described coronavirus as a “hoax” and referred to climate change as “nonsense”, and Geza Tarjanyi, an anti-fracking protestor.
The event was advertised by Stop New Normal on their website. It said: “Join Piers Corbyn in a peaceful political rally protesting about the extension of the Coronavirus act and ‘Special Powers’ police attacks on peaceful protests.”
Stop New Normal describes itself on its website as: “A political movement campaigning to stop parliament renewing the Covid-19 oppressive legislation. We are fighting against the government’s Covid policies which cause illness and death – and fighting for action to cut claimed virus illness and save lives”.
Their aims include stopping social distancing, test and trace, and the obligatory wearing of masks. Additionally, the group wish to end investigations into a potential coronavirus vaccination and to “take down 5G”. There were anti-vaccination placards at the protest.
Their website also includes a plea to donate to Piers Corbyn as he appeals a £10,000 fine – given as a result of the anti-lockdown protest held at Trafalgar Square on 29th August 2020.
The Oxford Martin School has appointed the Professor of Modern History Selina Todd to lead the new programme ‘Women’s Equality and Inequality’. Along with co-lead Professor Senia Paseta, she will “identify drivers of individual upward mobility and of generational uplift that can help to eradicate educational and economic inequality for women around the world”, according to a statement from St Hilda’s College.
Professor Todd, whose writing includes research on working-class history, feminism, and inequality, has previously been accused of transphobia due to her self-described ‘gender-critical’ beliefs and is a “strong supporter” of Women’s Place UK, an organisation criticised by trans-rights groups.
Professor Todd and Professor Paseta both co-signed a 2018 letter to the Labour Party regarding the Party’s inclusion of transgender women within their all-women shortlists. The letter claimed that this stance was “asserting gender identity over sex-based exemptions” and did not uphold women’s rights to “sex-segregated spaces”. The letter continued that “we will not tolerate women being slurred with the misogynist insult TERF [Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist] or being called ‘cis’ against their will”.
An open letter to the University, signed by 400 students in its first 48 hours, speaks out against “two professors with a history of transphobia” leading the Oxford Martin School programme. It asks Todd and Paseta to “publicly commit to including trans women in their research.”
The open letter states: “We also fear the beliefs of these professors will negatively affect the scope and quality of research with which they are associated, resulting in the minimisation or neglecting of trans related issues.”
It further states that the appointment of Todd and Paseta “reinforce the feeling amongst trans students that the University does not care about their wellbeing”.
A spokesperson for the Oxford SU LGBTQ Campaign told Cherwell: “Oxford SU LGBTQ+ Campaign of course welcomes the foundation of this programme, but finds the involvement of Selina Todd, whose anti-trans beliefs and activism is well-known, to a project that aims to help ‘eradicate educational and economic inequality for women around the world’ very troubling.
“When trans women of colour and those in the global south experience vastly higher levels of unemployment and poverty, this raises serious questions about the project’s commitment to uplifting all women rather than a select few.”
Selina Todd was disinvited from the Oxford International Women’s Festival in March on the basis of her views of gender identity. The Oxford University History Faculty criticised the decision, saying they could not “accepted the exclusion” of Selina Todd and that “it is not always straightforward to balance the rights of women with the rights of trans people”. Prior to Todd’s invitation being withdrawn, feminist writer Lola Olufemi dropped out of the event, mentioning Todd’s views on transgender women as a reason.
Todd has also supported Woman’s Place UK, an organisation which campaigns for sex-segregated spaces and promotes discussion about the impact of the Gender Recognition Act on cis women. The group has been criticised by the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights, who called the group a “trans-exclusionary hate group”. The campaign’s pledges labelling WPUK as such were signed by politicians including Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Dawn Butler, and Emily Thornberry.
The Oxford LGBTQ Student Union Campaign have previously described Woman’s Place UK as “transphobic”, arguing that they are “threatening trans people’s rights and safety”.
In a statement published by St Hilda’s College, Professor Todd said about the Oxford Martin School research: “We’re very proud that Oxford will be home to this new research programme on women’s equality and inequality. The idea for this initiative grew in part from a St Hilda’s research initiative called ‘Mind the Gap’, which brought together academics at all levels, including students, to discuss shared concerns in the research of inequality. That cross-disciplinary focus will also characterise this new research programme in Oxford’s Martin School.”
Professor Paseta said: “We are delighted to launch the Oxford Martin Programme on Women’s Equality and Inequality. We agree with Hilary Rodham Clinton that ‘women’s rights is the unfinished business of the 21st century’. Our research on women’s social mobility aims to contribute to the eradication of educational and economic inequality for women around the world.”
Neither Professor Todd or Professor Paseta responded to requests for comment.
According to the Crash Map, an online tool for tracking road accidents, there were 111 ‘serious’ pedal-cycle accidents in Oxford between 2015-2019, two of which resulted in fatalities.
The Plain roundabout, situated at the junction of Magdalen Bridge, Cowley Road and Iffley Road, saw the highest concentration of bicycle accidents, with 55 collisions over the last five years.
This suggests that roundabout’s safety has worsened since 2017, when the Plain roundabout was ranked the second most dangerous junction for cyclists in the UK. The 2017 ranking was based on data from 2009-2015, a period which saw 45 collisions at the roundabout – ten fewer than the period between 2015-2019.
Following closely behind, Iffley Road and Cowley Road emerged as the riskiest cycle routes, with 52 and 47 bicycle accidents, respectively. The route spanning Magdalen bridge and the High Street came in fourth, with 44 total accidents, four of which were ‘serious’. Headington Road and Abingdon Road were the site of over 30 accidents each.
Richard Owen, Director of Road Safety Analysis Limited, first developed Crash Map in 2010 with the intention of making road safety data from the DfT more accessible to the public.
When asked about how Oxford’s roads could be made safer for cyclists, Owen told Cherwell: “The biggest one is 20mph [speed limits] in urban areas… But then also there is compliance – you need to make sure that roads are designed so that cars can’t exceed those speed limits. Beyond that, if you’re looking at longer distance, fast roads, then there needs to be a segregated cycleway. Restrict mixed-use traffic on these types of roads.”
Junior Deans at St. Catherine’s College have announced that they will not be wearing body cameras, upon discussion with the Dean. This follows an incident on Sunday night when students broke social distancing regulations, refused to disperse, and coughed in the direction of Junior Deans. The Dean had then announced that Junior Deans and Porters would be equipped with body cameras to record criminal behaviour.
On Sunday night, three St. Catherine’s Junior Deans reported a large number of JCR members disregarding social distancing rules in the JCR and marquee. When approached, “some of the students refused to give their names, and agreed to disperse only when presented with the prospect of police involvement,” according to an email first seen by the Oxford Blue which was sent out to all JCR members. The email also said that some students coughed “in the Junior Deans’ direction.”
In the email, the College Dean announced that “with immediate effect” Junior Deans and Porters would be equipped with body cameras to “enable them to record events and interactions and to identify individuals acting in breach of College regulations.” The email continued: “They will be supported by University security personnel and will call the police immediately for assistance if at any point they feel personally threatened or witness potentially criminal conduct of the type witnessed this weekend.”
The following day (Tuesday 6th October), the Dean sent a second email to all JCR members, apologising for the wording of the previous email: “In my efforts to hammer home how seriously I take the welfare of our junior deans, I left all of you under the impression that you will be spied upon and your privacy invaded. This is not the case and I have been in contact with the JCR about this issues [sic] this morning.”
A few hours later, the Dean clarified that the body cameras would indeed be implemented, but they would be used “in exceptional situations only, if and as necessary to deal with dangerous or otherwise unacceptable behaviour, including particularly where students refuse to provide their names or co-operate with reasonable requests from the College’s welfare and support staff.” The Dean also pledged to ensure that all images are “appropriately and securely stored and destroyed in agreement with current legislation.”
On Tuesday evening, all four Junior Deans co-signed an email to the JCR, stating: “Upon discussion with the Dean, none of the Junior Deans will be wearing body cameras. We are fundamentally against the idea. It jeopardises the trust that you place in us and risks the relationships we have worked hard over the years to build with the JCR.” The Junior Deans also extended an invitation to daily virtual welfare hours to all students.
Students who breach St. Catherine’s College’s Covid-19 regulations may face a range of consequences including: “exclusion from face to face teaching; reporting to the University proctors or public authorities; formal censure on their academic record (for later reference to professional bodies and prospective employers); loss of College scholarships, JCR committee positions and other privileges; suspension; and in the most serious of cases, termination of College membership.”
The University, St Catherine’s College and St. Catherine’s College JCR have been approached for comment.
Image credit: Tim Waters/ Flickr. License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Oxford City Council and charity Aspire have made a successful bid for government funding to tackle homelessness and move people who had been sleeping rough into permanent, safe housing.
The newly-awarded portion of Government money will be split three ways. £897,233 will go to providing 124 rooms of interim housing for people in vulnerable housing or rough sleeping before the pandemic and £25,000 will go to moving people into more settled private rented housing, by paying deposits and helping with rent in advance.
The remaining £142,312 will go to Aspire to refurbish empty properties and make them available as move-on accommodation for people who have experienced homelessness.
Aspire CEO, Paul Roberts, told Cherwell that: “The timing of this funding support could not be better. It will enable us to complete the conversion of the remaining three of the five vacant properties in central Oxford made available by one of the Oxford Colleges.
“This will provide move-on accommodation and dedicated support for another 17 homeless persons currently temporarily housed in hotels.”
In March, the Government announced the ‘Everyone In’ scheme to try and urge local authorities to provide as much accommodation as possible to those sleeping on the streets during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout the country, around 15,000 individuals were moved into temporary or permanent housing. To stop those helped from returning to unstable housing situations, the Government launched the Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP).
This has various streams of funding which aim to ensure people do not return to homelessness. £105 million was provided for emergency housing support, including securing hostel and hotel rooms for rough sleepers particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Support for individuals wishing to reconnect with family and friends was also promised. £433 million is planned to be spent between now and May 2024 to move people into permanent residence. A £23 million fund is also available to support drug and alcohol treatments.
In Oxford, 241 people have already been housed under ‘Everyone In’ arrangement, including 93 people who have been helped into more permanent housing. This includes Saïd Business School providing 12 rooms, University College providing six rooms, and Pembroke College assisting with catering. Numerous commercial hotels and hostels also made rooms available.
More people sleep rough in Oxford than in most UK cities, excluding central London. The number of rough sleepers in Oxford has increased by 400% since 2012. O’Hanlon House, one of several homeless shelters in the city, provides beds for 56 people over 22 years of age, and about 20 younger people. In November of 2019, it was estimated that 43 people were rough sleeping in central Oxford.
Image credit: Andi North/ Flickr. License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
What does it mean to be a bisexual woman? According to most mainstream media, it means cheating on your partner and being indecisive or promiscuous; spend enough time on TikTok during quarantine, like I did, and you might think it’s cuffing your jeans, having a bob haircut, and not knowing how to sit still on chairs. And then there’s the other classic accusation, that we’re confused. Strangely I think that might be the closest to the truth we’ve got so far – lots of us are confused. But not for the reasons you might think.
During my time at university, most of the LGBTQ+ people I’ve met here have been bisexual – there are a lot of us around. In fact, it’s been estimated that bisexual, pansexual, and polysexual people comprise 40% of the entire LGBTQ+ community. It’s ironic, then, that despite being a majority we are so often invisible. Bi women are often perceived as only being truly romantically interested in men, faking their sexuality for attention, or as (my personal least favourite description) ‘spicy straight’. Bi men, on the other hand, are assumed to be gay but in denial, or not to exist at all. In a particularly controversial tweet, American psychologist John Michael Bailey claimed to have proved the existence of male bisexuality just a few months ago, as if the men already identifying as bisexual were not proof enough. Generally, bisexuality is viewed with a veneer of scepticism, by people both outside and even sometimes inside the queer community.
It’s often difficult for queer women to discover and come to terms with their sexuality. From a scarily early age, society instils the idea in women that their purpose is to marry a man and raise children with him. Unlearning this can take decades, so it’s extremely common for lesbians to experience ‘compulsory heterosexuality’, the belief that they are attracted to men when they do not tangibly experience that attraction. But growing up as a bisexual woman is often puzzling because you are attracted to men. You might have known throughout your childhood that you liked other girls, heard your Year Seven classmates calling you a lesbian behind your back, and then watched Titanic aged 12 and fancied Jack as well as Rose, and breathed a deep sigh of relief because you’re ‘normal’ after all. Or, conversely, you might know that you like men, but think it’s normal for straight women to want to kiss or sleep with other women, and only learn later on that this is called attraction.
As a bi woman, it took me quite a long time to reach a point of total confidence in my sexuality. I was at an all-girls school between the ages of 11 and 18, and so for a while I was convinced that I was a lesbian because I simply hadn’t encountered a man that I liked for years. Aged 14 I made the error of coming out as queer over Instagram on a whim, and school became very miserable for the next two years. After coming out at an all-girls school, you feel predatory for even so much as looking at another woman, like everyone is watching you to detect any evidence that you might – gasp! – fancy them. Sometimes I did fancy straight girls who would have been disgusted if they’d known, and when I saw them, I started deliberately looking the other way, a tragicomic attempt to avoid any kind of suspicion falling upon me. But there were still the invasive comments, the barely whispered comments in the changing rooms.
Then after watching Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice I had to admit I was at least somewhat attracted to men. A year or so later I met my sixth form boyfriend and took the opportunity to distance myself from queerness almost completely. There was a running joke amongst my year that I’d “left my lesbianism in Year Eleven” and was now straight, and I didn’t mind it at all. I was more than happy to leave all that behind if it meant people would think of me as normal. I only started feeling comfortable in my bisexuality in my second year of university, and I don’t think this experience is at all unique. We often view coming out as a one-time thing, and there’s a pressure to get your identity ‘right’ first time. When your sexuality seems so fluid and unclear, it’s difficult to be confident enough to publicly pin it down.
It’s also hard to settle on ‘bisexual’ as a label when there are very few positive bisexual characters in media in whom we can see ourselves reflected. At the time of writing, I literally cannot think of any bisexual male characters in films or TV shows I’ve watched apart from Captain Jack in Doctor Who; when it comes to bi women, representation is a little better, but writers appear reluctant to actually use the word ‘bisexual’. Back in 2013, Orange Is the New Black was considered ground-breaking television for its portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters and relationships and its diverse cast, but despite Piper Chapman having relationships with both men and women, the show waited six whole seasons before anyone used the word ‘bisexual’ to describe her. Similarly, Annalise Keating of How To Get Away With Murder is never defined as bisexual, despite her past romantic relationship with Eve and her complicated relationship with Bonnie. Even in Fleabag, Fleabag unsuccessfully tries to go home with another woman mid-way through the second season, even though in the rest of the series she has never previously expressed attraction to women, and she never does again.
These women’s same-sex attraction is treated as a fun, quirky addition to the storyline, rather than a very real part of their identity, likely so that shows continue to be marketable to cisgender heterosexual audiences. It’s hard to find any bi women characters in media who publicly own that label, and whom we can relate to, and even harder to find characters who are bisexual people of colour, bisexual and disabled, bisexual and transgender – how can it be easy to know what you are when you can’t see yourself anywhere?
Even once they’ve come out, bi people often feel like they are constantly proving themselves right. When coming out to friends and family, we’re often subject to questioning over how many people we’ve dated, and of which genders, as if we’re supposed to have dated a certain equal number of men, women, and non-binary people before we can become an official, card-carrying bisexual. And then once we do find a partner, our bisexuality is often treated as irrelevant because we’ve ‘chosen a side’. We become even more invisible.
Where we are most visible, it’s often in the wrong ways. To many, ‘bisexual’ is not a sexuality but a porn category. It’s why so many bi women, to their frustration, are bombarded with messages from couples on dating apps asking if they’d like a threesome. Bi women are often expected to engage in performative acts of sapphism for male sexual pleasure – their same-sex attraction is viewed through the third party of the male gaze, something to be exploited by men rather than true desire that exists regardless of who else is in the room. Even more upsettingly, this could partially explain why bisexual women are far more likely to be subject to sexual assault than their heterosexual peers and even other groups within the LGBTQ+ community. According to the research of Dr. Nicole Johnson, who has carried out several studies on domestic violence, 75% of bi women have been sexually assaulted – bi women of colour and bi trans women are the most at risk.
23rd September was Bi Visibility Day, and there’s a reason why the name focuses on visibility rather than pride or celebration. It’s frustrating to be so frequently disbelieved, subject to homophobia or biphobia from much of society and then deemed ‘too straight’ for some LGBTQ+ spaces, and it’s exhausting to have to work so hard even to be acknowledged. Bi Visibility Day was first celebrated 21 years ago; the first bi activists started their work in the early 1970s, and that work still isn’t over. Perhaps the fight to be accepted hasn’t even begun if we have not yet ended the fight to be seen.
An Oxford undergraduate has launched a video project to raise awareness of the experiences of ethnic minority students at the University.
Walk in my Shoes, an Oxford SU project, will give a voice to BAME students through video content uploaded online.
The project’s first series focused on the experience of being a mixed-race student at the University and how ethnic diversity can be improved within Oxford. At time of publication, the most popular video has gained over 800 views on Instagram.
“Walk in my shoes (WIMS) will allow other ethnic minorities to feel supported and relate based on similar experience,” said Tony Farag, the project’s lead.
“This project was particularly important to me because I realised that ethnic minority students often experience a lot in places like Oxford which many people do not know or understand. I wanted to give a voice to students who are often voiceless or are assigned a voice by others.”
He added: “WIMS was inspired by the need for a greater sense of empathy, understanding and awareness. I wanted to create a platform where ethnic minority students could openly and honestly express their personal stories, whether positive, negative or a bit of both.”
Tony, a Geography student and BAME representative at St Catherine’s College, hopes the project will promote communication between the student body and the University, leading to “informed changes guided by the voice of the students.”
Walk in my Shoes also aims to help prospective applicants. Tony said: “The project will hopefully also provide… a resource through which [prospective students] can realise the diversity of the student body at Oxford, not to mention an authentic and honest review of the current ethnic minority experience at Oxford.”
“The project will make a statement of proactivity emulated by many ethnic minority students who endeavour to make Oxford a more welcoming and diverse place.”
558 BAME students successfully applied to Oxford in 2019 for undergraduate study, accounting for 22.1% of UK students admitted.
Oxford will consider socioeconomic data in PhD applicants, as the University looks to improve access to postgraduate courses. Tutors across departments use contextual data in undergraduate admissions, but this is the first time a similar approach will be taken for DPhil candidates.
Admissions staff will consider information such as whether UK applicants received free school meals at secondary school when shortlisting for interview. The new scheme will cover five doctoral training programmes across the sciences and medicine, starting with applications for 2021 entry.
Stuart Conway, Professor of Organic Chemistry, told the Times Higher Education magazine: “Some students are working to support themselves throughout university. They will be on an upward trajectory if they are applying to us, but they may not have seen the full results [of what they can achieve].”
Gail Preston, Director of the Interdisciplinary Bioscience doctoral programme training, added that socio-economic data may level the playing field for applicants unable to take up research placements: “Many applicants will spend their summers going to different research groups and getting researching experience, but others find it hard to do this.”
Oxford will also remove names and gender pronouns from applications to ensure more equal gender balance. 52.5% of graduate students admitted for 2019 entry were male, compared to 45.6% of undergraduates.
Conway hopes anonymisation will ensure students from ethnic minority backgrounds do not face discrimination.
“We had a few people come up to us at open days, saying they didn’t think Oxford was for them, but this kind of thing showed we are taking these issues seriously,” he said.
Applicants will also submit standardised forms rather than their CVs. This aims to give tutors “fairer and more consistent” information.
Professor Preston said: “Some applicants leave out information that we would like to know about, while others have greater support when filling out these applications.”
This is the latest in a series of steps to improve postgraduate access at Oxford, mirroring efforts to support undergraduate applicants from under-represented backgrounds.
Oxford announced the launch of ten scholarships to Black UK research students last week. It acknowledged that Black students are under-represented at Oxford, accounting for only 1.5% of postgraduate students.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Martin Williams, said: “I am thrilled to announce Black Academic Futures programme – the next step towards our vision of ensuring over time that finance is not a barrier to educational opportunity… at Oxford.”
The University also voted to remove the £75 application fee for postgraduate applicants, after pressure from the Oxford SU and student campaigners.
A University spokesperson said: “This pilot scheme for doctoral training programmes forms part of the long-term, University-wide efforts to increase the number of promising postgraduate students from under-represented groups at Oxford. We are making steady progress towards improving postgraduate access through a number of recently-introduced initiatives and will be announcing further new schemes very shortly.”
Oxford has 11,813 postgraduate students, 63% of whom come from outside the UK.
Oxford City Council has approved plans by the Blavatnik School of Government to erect a statue of a giant pink pen in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.
The artist behind the piece, Sir Michael Craig-Martin is well-known for his sculptures of line drawings of single objects, and he told Cherwell: “The image chosen for Oxford was the fountain pen. The image can be seen as a reference to the signing of important documents, an age-old formality that continues to the present-day.”
Craig Martin is currently the Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he was a significant influence on the Young British Artists movement in the late 1980s. He is also internationally regarded for his conceptual work An Oak Tree which has divided critical reception since its debut in 1973.
The design and access document submitted to Oxford City Council explained that the sculpture was intended to “express the research and learning carried out by the Institute”, although comments by residents to the Council’s planning department included the view that a fountain pen was an “inappropriate choice” due to it being “outdated technology”.
A spokesperson from the Blavatnik School added: “When the Blavatnik School building was granted planning approval, one of the conditions was that we would commission a piece of freely accessible public art.
“We’re delighted Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s installation has been given planning permission – he is already known in Oxford for his mural at the JR Children’s Hospital and we hope his new installation will further contribute to the city’s environment and community.”
Image Credit: The Blavatnik School of Government. (Image edited)
