KATHARINE HAMNETT has been plotting. On her battered iPhone, she's scrolling through what she hopes to be the blueprint for, come UK election day, a ballot box-based revolution. It's a PDF with an array of mocked-up billboards, each emblazoned with a policy or slogan. A designer and campaigner renowned for her political punchiness, she has made the text snappy and succinct, all in her trademark capital letters. "In here is everything that's missing from this so-far awful election," she laments. "Both main parties want us to feel like progressive ideas are in the bin. Forgotten. We mustn't let them."
She reels off a selection: "Vote freedom to protest; vote free education; vote save the NHS; vote let aid into Gaza now". There are plenty more. "Vote legalise, nationalise and tax marijuana; vote help refugees; vote ceasefire; vote good, free public regional transport; vote roller-discos." Yes, roller-discos. "I did some research while working with Podemos in Spain. They foster community and solidarity. Isn't that fun?" Another, her overarching mantra: "Our vote is the most powerful tool to get the world we want. I want that one all over."
Hamnett's plan is simple: get these messages plastered across public spaces. "Politicians aren't talking about this stuff, but it's hugely popular," she says. "If I put them out and get people talking, maybe the parties will have to pinch them. It could swing the dial. And if not, it's a reminder to all of us that we deserve to vote for the future we actually want."
Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.
