Brexit and the Expressionists
The Expressionists were a school of painting and photography in the early 20th century, heavily based in Germany and other parts of Central Europe but also in the US, whose exponents believed in the use of bright colours and edgy artwork to evoke the emotions and feelings that they were trying to represent. A number of these artists were loosely connected through what became known as the “Blue Rider” collective and included members such as Vassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Muenter.
The Expressionists inter-related with exponents of other art forms, in particular music, and the relationship between colour and sound has, for instance, been explored by Kandinsky and Schoenberg who inter-acted with each other on this fascinating subject.
The Tate Modern Gallery in London has curated a deeply sensitive exhibition on the Expressionists, which has placed its subject-matter in the context of the societal changes through which these artists were living.
Munich was a city very much at the heart of the movement but London is where the work of the movement has very much been brought to public attention in this stunning collection of paintings, photographs and accompanying narratives, which the Tate Modern has put together.
A case of London at the cultural centre of Europe, even in these post-Brexit times!
Brexit and Japan
On 28th May 2024, “City AM “ published an article by City of London Lord Mayor, Michael Mainelli, about the possibilities for increased UK- Japan trade and investment, prior to his then forthcoming official trip to Japan ( and Singapore) to promote the City of London in Japan.
In his article, the Lord Mayor pointed out that Japan was the first country to sign a fully renegotiated trade deal with the UK following Brexit, breaking new ground in financial and digital services. He also referred in the article to the 2023 Hiroshima Accord on UK-Japan economic, security and tech collaboration and to the 2017 City of London Memorandum of Understanding with Tokyo which he described as having helped the flow of business between the UK and Japan, particularly in asset management and fintech.
It may, therefore, be worth looking at the statistics on UK-Japan trade and investment. In this context, on 17th May 2024 the UK Department for Business and Trade (“DBT”) published one of its regular factsheets on UK- Japan trade and investment , which showed that total trade in goods and services ( exports plus imports) between the UK and Japan was £27.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q4 ( Quarter 4) 2023,a decrease of 0.4% or £118 million in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022.
Of the above-mentioned £27.6 billion :
- Total UK exports to Japan amounted to £13.8 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2023 ( an increase of 1.6% or £213 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022); and
- Total UK imports from Japan amounted to £13.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2023 ( a decrease of 2.4% or £331 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022).
According to the DBT factsheet, Japan was the UK’s 14th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2023, accounting for 1.6% of total UK trade.
The factsheet also showed that, in 2021,the outward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in Japan was £3.1 billion, accounting for 0.2 % of the total UK outward FDI stock and that, in the same year, the inward stock of FDI in the UK from Japan was £92.0 billion, accounting for 4.6% of the total UK inward FDI stock.
There is clearly a lot to play for in promoting trade and investment between these two important island nations on opposite sides of the World!
Brexit and Atrani
Atrani is a beautiful village on the Amalfi coast, within walking distance of its more famous neighbour, Amalfi.
It is a village which has justifiably attracted the attention of artists, who were awed by its natural location, between the mountains and the sea.
One artist, in particular, the Dutch-born Maurits Escher, spent 4 years in Atrani and other places along the Amalfi coast, creating powerful works of art and graphic design, which were inspired by the region. One work, which he called “Metamorphose II”, was inspired by Atrani itself.
Almafi, of course, is well known to the British over many centuries as John Webster’s “Duchess of Malfi” clearly shows!
Let us hope that, with the embedding of Brexit, the UK does not cut itself off from European culture, of which the UK has so traditionally been a part.
Brexit and the Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is read on the Jewish Festival of Shavuot around June of each year.
In the story, Ruth , the widowed Moabitess daughter-in-law of Naomi, resolved to follow her Hebrew mother-in-law, also a widow, back to the Promised Land , despite Naomi’s concerns that Ruth would be happier staying with her own people. Ruth refused to be parted from Naomi and famously said to Naomi : “ Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge, your people are my people , and your G-d is my G-d, where you die, I will die , and there I will be buried”.
A lesson for today’s troubled times not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and an imprecation not to erect barriers between peoples.
Ruth, the Moabitess, became great-grandmother to David, King of Israel.
