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26/03/2007

Andrew Marr and guests set the cultural agenda for the week.

The columnist PETER HITCHENS is not known for mincing his words. And he lives up to his reputation in his latest television documentary, which is about David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party and possibly the winner of our next general election. Peter is not a fan, believing that Cameron is too posh and too lacking in real political belief to lead either his country or his party. Choice in British politics is becoming extinct, he argues, and without choice there can be no liberty. He fears that the whole basis of our political system is being undermined and that our free constitution is in danger. Peter Hitchens is presenting a Dispatches programme, Cameron – Toff at the Top, on Channel 4 at 8.00pm on 26 March.

Alleged abuse, and even illegal killings, of Iraqis by British and American forces has been one of the most sensitive aspects of the Iraq war and is the subject of TONY MARCHANT’s new screenplay for Channel 4. Tony was not looking to write about Iraq specifically, but he read an article in the newspaper about a soldier who had taken his photos to be developed and was subsequently arrested after the shop alerted the police to his documented activities. This story seemed to have great potential as a way into the whole business of violence, trophy photos and the occupation of Iraq in general. The Mark of Cain is on Channel 4 at 9.00pm on 5 April.

The V&A’s major spring exhibition, Surreal Things, is an unprecedented exploration of the links binding Surrealism and the commercial world of the early twentieth century. GHISLAINE WOOD, who curated the exhibition, discusses how a politically radical, avant-garde art movement came to become such a commercial phenomenon. Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design runs from 29 March to 22 July 2007.

When in their lives do great artists produce their greatest art? Do they strive for creative perfection throughout decades of painstaking and frustrating experimentation, or do they achieve it confidently and decisively, through meticulous planning that yields masterpieces early in their lives? DAVID GALENSON is an economics professor at Chicago University and he argues that there are two types of creative people – those who are experimental or conceptual innovators. Experimental innovators work slowly, try things out, use the methods that work and abandon those that don't. Their masterpieces, like those of Cezanne, tend to come late in their lives. Conceptual innovators, like Picasso, formulate new ideas at an early age. He talks about art, innovation and age in advance of his appearance at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, which will be held in Oxford on 27-29 March.

45 minutes

Last on

Mon 26 Mar 2007 21:30

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  • Mon 26 Mar 2007 09:00
  • Mon 26 Mar 2007 21:30

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