Taking Liberties events index
Complete list of upcoming events between now and the end of the exhibition on 1 March 2009
Wednesday 7 January
The Liberty Tree
An evening of storytelling, music and song with two of the country's most
dynamic performers, Hugh Lupton and Nick Hennessey. The
Liberty Tree tells tales of lawlessness and liberty from Robin Hood to
Tom Paine and the English Radicals. Mischievous, poignant and free-thinking, this is storytelling at its best. Not suitable for under-12s. 
more details
Event Time 18.30-20.30
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £7.50 (£5 conc). Booking recommended
Wednesday 14 January
Can we save the planet yet keep our freedoms?
As global warming and environmental degradation become ever more acute,
will governments need to force us to change our lifestyles and industrial
societies through controls on liberties? The panel includes Andy Atkins, director of Friends of the Earth; David Kennedy, chief executive, Committee on Climate Change; Ken Livingstone, until recently mayor of London; and David North, government and communities director, Tesco. Chaired by writer and broadcaster Gabrielle Walker. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Tuesday 20 January
Time for a new transatlantic partnership?
On the day Barack Obama is due to be inaugurated as the new US president, journalist and author
Timothy Garton Ash explores the special relationship
between the United States and the United Kingdom. This lecture is part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Fulbright Treaty, which created an educational and cultural exchange programme between the US and the UK. Presented by the Fulbright Commission and the Eccles Centre for American Studies, the British Library. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc)
Tuesday 20 January
Glitch
A 30-minute black comedy performance set in an imaginary near future.
A lone traveller finds herself trapped during an automated security check.
Rather than succumb to the totalitarian surveillance, she attempts to
outwit the machine and make a bid for freedom. Created and performed by
Lois Tucker. more details
Event Time 17.30-18.00 and 19.00-19.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Saturday 24 January
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 13.00-13.30, 14.30-15.00, and 16.00-16.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Sunday 25 January
On common ground
An afternoon of stories, songs and music that journeys back to the life,
landscape and folk traditions of the 18th century and the times of poet
John Clare, when the Enclosures Act brought wealth to some but uprooted countless poor from the
countryside, beginning the great shift to towns and cities of the Industrial Revolution. Created by master storyteller Hugh Lupton and folk
singer-songwriter Chris Wood. Not suitable for under 12s. more details
Event Time 14.30-16.30
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £7.50 (£7 conc). Booking recommended
Tuesday 27 January
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 17.30-18.00 and 19.00-19.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Tuesday 27 January
Equality and human rights in modern Britain
Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission, discusses how increasing awareness of human rights and making
them relevant to everyone is a key project for our society. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price Free. Booking recommended
Wednesday 28 January
Is liberty British?
Liberty has been proclaimed as a great British achievement – 'Britons never shall be slaves' – yet the British
state practised empire-building overseas, and lacks a written constitution and
a modern bill of rights. Two leading experts discuss and dissect this mixed heritage and reputation: historian and Princeton scholar Professor Linda Colley, guest
curator of Taking Liberties and author of Britons: Forging the nation 1707-1837 and Captives: Britain, Empire and the world 1600-1850; and Professor AC Grayling, writer and professor of philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London. His many books include Towards the Light: The story of the struggles for liberty and rights that made the modern west. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Saturday 31 January
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 13.00-13.30, 14.30-15.00, and 16.00-16.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Sunday 1 February
The writing on the wall
One of the great political voices of the last 40 years Tony Benn joins acclaimed songwriter and musician Roy
Bailey to present a history of dissent in words and song. An
alternative view of how we came to be where we are today from the Peasants' Revolt of over 700 years ago. more details
Event Time 14.30-17.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £10 (£7.50 conc). Booking recommended
Monday 2 February
Taking Liberties study day
Join Prof Linda Colley, Prof Catherine Hall, Dr Kenan Malik, Lord Lester QC, Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland, Peter Tatchell, and Prof Barbara Taylor for a day of lively discussion and debate exploring issues raised in our Taking Liberties exhibition.
Seminars and lectures will consider changing constitutional and philosophical issues in human rights; the idea of 'Britishness' and identity; the freedom of expression; and subversion. There will also be opportunities to visit the exhibition itself.
• Prof Linda Colley, curator of the Taking Liberties exhibition, will open the day and discuss the making of the exhibition and the issues that feed into it
• Prof Catherine Hall is professor of modern British social and cultural history at UCL and will be discussing issues of ‘Britishness’ and identity
• Dr Kenan Malik, is a writer, lecturer and broadcaster and will be discussing issues around freedom of expression
• Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC, a practising member of Blackstone Chambers and Liberal Democrat peer, will be interviewed by Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland on whether the UK needs a Bill of Rights or full written constitution
• Peter Tatchell – who has campaigned for human rights for over 40 years on issues of democracy, civil liberties and social equality – will focus on the role of protest and direct action in securing our freedoms, linked to items in the exhibition
• Prof Barbara Taylor teaches history at the University of East London and is the author of Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination (Cambridge UP, 2003). She will be discussing her research on Wollstonecraft in relation to the exhibition and collections at the Library
more details
Event Time 10.00-16.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £25 (£15 conc)
Monday 2 February
A kingdom united? The making and breaking of Britain
The nations of the United Kingdom retain distinct identities, increasingly
so since political devolution in 1999. Is the trend for greater political
and cultural independence now threatening the union, and what does this
mean for the debate on Britishness? Panellists include singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, political activist and author of The Progressive Patriot (2006); Scottish theoretician of globalisation and nationalism Tom Nairn, whose many books include Global Matrix: Nationalism, globalism and state terrorism (2005); and Vernon Bogdanor, one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts and professor of government at Oxford University. His books include Devolution in the United Kingdom (2001). Moderated by Kenneth Calman, chair of the independent Commission on Scottish Devolution. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Tuesday 3 February
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 17.30-18.00 and 19.00-19.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Tuesday 3 February
Who loves hate speech?
New speech crimes have been introduced to outlaw 'hate speech' in the
interests of community cohesion. However, some believe that free speech
is a non-negotiable human right. Should we criminalise racism and sexual
hatred? Or can we trust society to strike a balance between competing
versions of freedom? Chaired by Lisa Appignanesi, President
of English PEN, with panellists Germaine Greer, Francesca Klug,
Rex Bloomstein and Peter Tatchell. Followed by a screening of Rex Bloomstein's documentary An Independent Mind, in which eight people from around the world attempt to exercise their right to free expression. more details
Event Time 18.30-22.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc)
Wednesday 4 February
Political animal
Featuring cutting-edge political comedy from an exciting mix of performers,
this acclaimed Radio Four show is insightful, wide ranging and unpredictable.
Expect some biting satire. Hosted by Andy Zaltzman, writer on Bremner, Bird and Fortune. Participants
will include Perrier Award nominee and Thick of It star Chris Addison, and Paul Sinha. more details
Event Time 18.30-21.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £7.50 (£7 conc). Booking recommended
Saturday 7 February
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 13.00-13.30, 14.30-15.00, and 16.00-16.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Tuesday 10 February
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 17.30-18.00 and 19.00-19.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Saturday 14 February
Glitch
As Tuesday 20 January. more details
Event Time 13.00-13.30, 14.30-15.00, and 16.00-16.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Sunday 15 February
The life story of David Lloyd George
This compelling epic film biography of the Liberal Prime Minister, made
in 1918, was controversially withdrawn after a probable government payoff
and then disappeared, only to re-emerge in 1994. Screened with a live
piano score by Neil Brand. Presented in partnership with
the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. more details
Event Time 14.00-17.00 (includes one interval)
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Monday 16 February
Storytelling for families
Every day over half-term there's this free family drop-in session. Sef Townsend tells stories and legends about people who have struggled for freedom. Suitable for families with children aged 7–14. To find out more about tours or storytelling call + 44 (0)20 7412 7797
or email learning@bl.uk. more details
Event Time 10.30-11.30 and 14.30-15.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Tuesday 17 February
Storytelling for families
As Monday 16 February. more details
Event Time 10.30-11.30 and 14.30-15.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Wednesday 18 February
The lost liberty of the English Revolution
The constitutional upheavals of the 17th century gave rise to the idea
of individual liberty to which we have subscribed to ever since: that our liberty consists in our not being unnecessarily interfered with in the pursuit of our chosen ends. Quentin
Skinner, professor of humanities at Queen Mary University of
London, argues that the entrenchment of this idea involved the rejection
of a more democratic view of freedom and citizenship. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Wednesday 18 February
Storytelling for families
As Monday 16 February. more details
Event Time 10.30-11.30 and 14.30-15.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Thursday 19 February
Storytelling for families
As Monday 16 February. more details
Event Time 10.30-11.30 and 14.30-15.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Friday 20 February
Storytelling for families
As Monday 16 February. more details
Event Time 10.30-11.30 and 14.30-15.30
Location PACCAR Gallery, British Library
Price Free. No booking required
Wednesday 25 February
Woody Guthrie: Hard times and hard travellin'
A live musical programme that sets the songs of Woody Guthrie in the context of the American 1930s - the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself. It includes Guthrie songs such as 'Vigilante man', 'Pretty boy Floyd' and 'I ain't got no home' into conversation with other songs of the era, from Joe Hill's 'The preacher and the slave' to 'Brother, can you spare a dime?'. The performer is Will Kaufman, professor of American literature and culture at the University of Central Lancashire. He has published widely on many aspects of American culture and has been a semi-professional folksinger and musician for over thirty years. Presented by the Eccles Centre for American Studies, the British Library. more details
Event Time 18.30-20.00
Location Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 conc). Booking recommended
Video about exhibition
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