Your local Arena: from Brixton to Barbados

A look back to the fascinating 1981 BBC Arena Film when the Jamaican-born, London-based poet Linton Kwesi Johnson visited the Carifesta arts festival.

WritersMosaic hosted a rare screening of From Brixton to Barbados, part of the series Your Local Arena, a unique project featuring iconic films from the archives of BBC TV’s Arena, the pioneering cultural documentary strand. After the screening, Colin Grant was in conversation with the Arena editor Anthony Wall, the poet Dorothea Smartt and Helen Thomas, who also performed a new poem inspired by the film.

They also explored the continuing relevance of the Arena archives today. The Your Local Arena concept was developed by Lucy Hannah and Speaking Volumes, with Arena’s award-winning director/editor Anthony Wall as creative consultant and funding by Arts Council England.