Charleston Farmhouse, the former home of Vanessa Bell and other members of the Bloomsbury Group is, for me, a sanctuary for the soul. There is something magical about it, the beauty of the countryside, the stunning gardens and, of course, the house itself.
The house was a hub of artistic creativity where traditional social norms and relationships were challenged. It is still filled with works by both Bell and Duncan Grant, not simply in the stunning paintings and ceramics, but also in their art on every surface, walls, furniture, and doors.
The Charleston Festival
The highlight of the year-round programme of quality art exhibitions, workshops, and talks is the two-week Charleston Festival in May. Although this has run for 36 years, this year marked my first visit. Headliners this year include Cherie Blair, Richard E Grant, Nick Clegg, Ruth Jones, Shirley Collins, artists Maggi Hambling and Sarah Lucas. Many events sell out immediately.
But I had jubilantly succeeded in acquiring a ticket to see the political satirists and campaigners, Led By Donkeys.
During the Festival the usual, languorous air of Charleston disappears, cars filled the fields, picnic tables were packed, and a marquee overflowed. Yet the volunteers who run it remain as warm and friendly as ever.
Led By Donkeys
Led By Donkeys was founded by Oliver (Olly) Knowles, Ben Stewart, Will Rose and James Sadri. Two of them, Olly Knowles and Ben Stewart, were speaking, sharing stories from their campaign trail and promoting their book, Adventures, Activism, Accountability.
Led By Donkeys sprung to life in 2018, as the four sat in a pub bemoaning the Brexit campaign. They stared at a billboard opposite and, four pints in, joked about replacing the current message with one of David Cameron’s ill-judged tweets about a strong and stable government.
Some weeks later, James announced he had acquired the means, and shortly afterwards, they were found up a ladder, with paper sheets and glue, while David Cameron’s face threatened to peel away and engulf them. For the four, it felt like a cathartic release from an intolerable situation of the country being led astray by lies.
Although initially conceived as a one-off spoof, it quickly caught fire on social media, and others followed. Crowdfunding enabled larger campaign work. During the evening, we were reminded of some of their biggest successes, and the sheer volume is astounding. While they are best known for their satirical projections, there are serious short films too, including several exposing Nigel Farage‘s early extreme right-wing views, and how, in contrast to his much publicised views on immigration, he made £47,000 for one speech talking in Malaysia for a company that provides second passports for the mega wealthy.
The satire, however, sprang from their anti-Brexit campaigns in the beginning. Memorable among them were the projections onto the Houses of Parliament and the brilliant Line of Duty parody interviews with Boris Johnson. Johnson, they explain, overreached, as more recently did Elon Musk. Their Musk messages, including Heil Tesla, are directed at all oligarchs getting involved in politics. They described Musk stepping back as “round one to activism”.
Re-naming of Michelle Mone’s yacht
Corruption comes under their scrutiny. Several MPs, including Matt Hancock, were filmed in discussion with a fake consulting firm negotiating their daily rates for promoting causes. It took complex planning to create the Michelle Mone yacht report. The first plan was to steal the Lady M, from the discreet small Barcelona mooring, sail it to Britain and return it to the taxpayer: that had to be abandoned as illegal.
Instead, they hired what turned out to be the slowest of speedboats to take them out to the yacht, complete with a picnic as camouflage, where they managed to attach an enormous sign saying Pandemic Profiteer. One of the crew called harbour security, and what followed was what they described as the slowest of high-speed boat chases.
A clear favourite with the audience was the filming of Liz Truss at Beccles Public Hall. At the time, she was campaigning alongside Steve Bannon, and above all, was showing zero contrition for her premiership, so they decided she was “fair game”.
A banner dropped behind Truss with the words “I crashed the economy” and an image of a lettuce. Liz Truss stormed off. They say that in fairness to Farage, he does take their stunts with better grace.
Ben and Olly also talked movingly of the creation of the War on Children in Gaza campaign to highlight the appalling number of children being killed. They collected tons of second-hand children’s clothing, matched the tops to bottoms in correct sizes and laid out the sets in a 6.5 kilometre line on Bournemouth beach. Every set represented a child killed.
Often accused of being hard left, their intent is focused on accountability, and they confirmed that Keir Starmer is currently in their sights. They are at constant risk of arrest but say that their backgrounds in campaigning for Greenpeace and others have flexed their muscles of tolerance to the dangers.
Change through activism
However, they believe that anti-fascism will be won or lost on the streets. By creating what they call “mind bombs”, they hope to change our culture, to build a stronger community rather than be isolated individuals, and even perhaps generate an appreciation of activism. They believe in the unifying power of laughter, which is also a very British approach.
They are talented storytellers, but their body language conveys they are not altogether happy in the spotlight: it was never where they wanted to be. But it has become a necessary part of raising funds.
I came away with the impression that these are very ordinary men, with a talent for creativity, but above all a strength of passion for what matters that makes them extraordinary.
It was a wonderful introduction to the Charleston Festival.
Look out for more reviews of Charleston Festival events from this author
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