NO TAV

I recently visited Milan to attend an eyewear trade show, and managed to take one afternoon in which to have a look around the city. One thing that became immediately obvious was just how much graffiti covered any available surface. It reminded me a little of the outskirts of Paris, but the difference being that in Paris they seem to have been able to keep more of a control over it as you get closer to the centre.

One phrase / statement that I kept spotting was “NO TAV”. Without a clue what it meant, it became something that I started to look out for and become more interested in. Sometimes it was scrawled very quickly on the open surface, others had a little more time taken over them with larger block letters, and eventually I began to notice stickers too. Realising that “TAV” must be something bigger than some teenager putting a tag up, I consulted our old friend Google to see if it could shed any light on the matter. It would appear that NO TAV is actually a huge movement [beginning in the middle of 1995] fighting against Government plans to build a high-speed train link between Turin, and Lyon in France. There seem to be various reasons as to why the group are against the building of the train. one is that it is felt it would be uneconomical due to the high cost. Another is felt that it is simply being used as a profit-making scheme for the large shareholders investing in the programme, as they will primarily be the ones benefitting. Other reasons site noise pollution, environmental damage and disruption to water. There is an official NO TAV website [http://www.notav.info/] and various other propaganda websites discussing the subject, but as with all of these types of protests it seems that violence has become a by-product of the campaign.

This is from Italy Calling, posted in the summer of last year:

After a crowded torchlight march on the night between June 26th and 27th, the Free Republic of the Maddalena in Piedmont was brutally assaulted by a full-scale military operation performed by around 2000 forces that turned the place into a battle site: teargas thrown at eye level, bulldozers and heavy vehicles used to evict the camp, water jets against protesters, beatings, tents and equipment smashed up. In the nearby town of Venaria, a riot police vehicle on its way to the site ran over and killed “by mistake” an elderly woman. Demonstrations, pickets and several other initiatives were organised all over Italy to show solidarity with the NO TAV movement that for years has been fighting against the construction of a high-speed train line between Turin and Lyon in France. A national demo was called out for today 3rd July, and  it’s still going on as I’m writing this.  It’s about 8.40pm and it’s difficult to have a clear idea of what’s been happening at the Maddalena today, but what is clear is that there have been hundreds of people injured on both sides (but it’s only one side that I care about). Police have been using rubber bullets and at least one young man is seriously injured after being shot in the face. Protesters have compared the military operation to the repression in Palestine…

Personally, I know much too little in order to have an opinion on the movement, I just find it interesting that noticing two words on a wall led me to the complex political web touched upon above.

On Eagle’s Wings: British Adventure Comics 1950 – 1969

Currently tucked away in a small corner room at the V&A Museum [Room 74, Level 3 to be exact] is a modest exhibition showing how the adventure comic grew in popularity in post-war Britain. The “baby boom” following the end of the war coupled with a relax in conditions of rationing meant that by the 1950s a new generation of children emerged eager for entertainment, with pocket money to spend.

Although old favourites such as The Beano and The Dandy first appeared in the 1930s, it seemed that it took a little while for the idea that comics didn’t have to be “comic” to grow. The adventure comic probably came to fruition post-war as children became more interested in the stories of their soldier fathers and also as they genuinely became more educated about the war itself.

Eagle was the first true adventure comic publication and featured new hero Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future [founded by John Marcus Harston Morris]. Morris had noticed a trend of British youngsters buying American ‘horror’ comics intended for reading by GIs. Impressed by the high standard of artwork in the US magazines, but disgusted by their content, he realised that a market existed for a children’s comic which featured action stories in cartoon form, but which also would convey to children the standards and morals he advocated. Running from 1950 to 1969 the publication was hugely popular [900,000 copies of Issue One were sold]. The comic was heavily publicised before its release; copies were mailed direct to several hundred thousand people who worked with children, and a “Hunt the Eagle” scheme was launched, whereby large papier-mâché golden eagles were set on top of several Humber Hawk cars, and toured across the UK. Those who spotted an eagle were offered tokens worth 3d, which could be exchanged at newsagents for a free copy of Eagle.

Eagle spawned many imitators and also gave rise for the first time of magazines for younger people to be marketed by gender with publications like Girl and Marilyn aimed towards young girls. These publications soon began to introduce readers’ issues sections creating the first ‘problem pages’ and laying the foundation for this section typical in so many of today’s magazines.