News | Tuesday, 29th June 2021

University lecturer chooses ‘banned novels’ for replica Big Ben made from 20,000 books

Prof Andrew Biswell selects Anthony Burgess and D.H Lawrence works for monumental Manchester International Festival artwork

Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books will be in Piccadilly Gardens throughout MIF
Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books will be in Piccadilly Gardens throughout MIF

A 42-metre replica of Big Ben made from 20,000 political books created for this year’s Manchester International Festival will include controversial and influential literature that has shaped British politics, selected by a University lecturer.  

Argentinian artist Marta Minujín will unveil a monumental new participatory artwork, Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books, in Piccadilly Gardens for this year’s Festival (July 1-18). The replica Big Ben tower will be covered in 20,000 copies of 150 different book titles, and audiences will be invited to walk through the structure, before the books are given away for free to the public after the Festival has ended.

The book titles were selected for their importance in shaping British politics, including forgotten histories, neglected voices and books that will influence the future of Britain.

Minujín has invited a coalition of Manchester-based organisations to compile the list of books, including Manchester Metropolitan University Professor Andrew Biswell, in his role as director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

This follows the Burgess Foundation’s ‘Banned Books’ exhibition in 2018, which reconstructed the collection of ‘indecent’ books owned by Burgess and destroyed by the Maltese government in 1969.

I hope this MIF project will bring thought-provoking political books to a new readership, both through the public installation on Piccadilly Gardens and when copies of each book are given away to local communities at the end of the festival.

Andrew Biswell, Professor of Modern Literature, has selected two influential books by Burgess, Obscenity and the Arts and A Clockwork Orange, as well as D.H Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover and novels by Doris Lessing, Christopher Isherwood and Ken Saro-Wiwa. Another seven titles were recommended by Anthony Burgess Foundation staff, including books by Margaret Atwood and George Orwell.

Professor Biswell said: "It's a great honour to be involved with this project for Manchester International Festival. It is clear from my conversations with Marta Minujín that she has a long-standing interest in what she calls 'forbidden books', and there is a close connection with my own research and publications about banned books.

“I hope this MIF project will bring thought-provoking political books to a new readership, both through the public installation on Piccadilly Gardens and when copies of each book are given away to local communities at the end of the festival. The list of titles contains many provocations: it is intended to encourage discussion and debate."

Manchester International Festival

Manchester International Festival is an artist-led festival of original, new work and special events reflecting the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture that takes place every two years.

Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books is Minujín’s first major UK commission, and inside the structure there will be a short film showing Big Ben landing on Manchester. A new sound composition will play inside and outside the structure composed from speeches from history and Ben Ben’s iconic chimes.

Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books - Marta Minujín - Retrato…ta Minujín Archive.jpg

Minujin is celebrated for her monumental sculptures, participatory artworks and performances. She has exhibited at major institutions like MoMA in New York and the Tate Modern.

Minujín said: “People need this! We need new ideas and new places where people meet. Things need to change, global symbols like Big Ben stand up straight and never change but the world is always changing – the UK is now living through covid and Brexit –  things are never ‘straight’, we need to be able to adapt and be flexible with our ideas. This will be a new national symbol, one that the people of Manchester will create.

 Books selected by Professor Andrew Biswell

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