A celebration of the beat poet, thinker, and activist Allen Ginsberg
The Horse Hospital and the Bureau of Lost Culture present an exhibition and program of happenings to celebrate the beat poet, thinker and activist Allen Ginsberg. The program will mark the UK publication of Material Wealth - Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg and celebrate Ginsberg-inspired musical projects by Youth and Aidan Andrew Dun, as well as revisiting the 2021 album Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America. Participants include Barry Miles, Youth, Iain Sinclair, Pat Thomas, Rozemin Keshvani, The Allen Ginsberg Estate, Wizz Jones, and Dr Camila Oliveira Querino.
In May 1965, Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997) arrived in London, gave a free reading at Better Books in Charing Cross Road, an event described by Jeff Nuttall as "the first healing wind on a very parched collective mind” and one which provided the impetus for the International Poetry Incarnation at Royal Albert Hall, a hugely significant moment in the birth of the British counterculture. His host during that visit, and in many subsequent sojourns in the capital, was his friend, and later biographer Barry Miles [more often known as Miles]. The exhibition presents a memoir of their friendship and Ginsberg’s life in London up until his death in 1997, recollected through personal ephemera, rare and previously unseen images, film and sounds. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events exploring Ginsberg’s legacy.
THURSDAY MARCH 7TH: Book Launch: Material Wealth
In conjunction with the exhibition private view will be the launch of Pat Thomas’s book Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg.
SATURDAY MARCH 9TH: Counterculturing the Capital: Allen’s London Life
Iain Sinclair & Miles in conversation, followed by a screening of Sinclair’s film Ah! Sunflower, and Peter Whitehead’s Wholly Communion
THURSDAY MARCH 14TH: Sunflowers and Sutras: Ginsberg and Blake
Iain Sinclair & Dr Camila Oliveira Querino in conversation, followed by a live reading of Ginsberg’s Sunflower poems as well as his masterpiece Howl
FRIDAY MARCH 15TH: Keeping The Beat: Ginsberg, Muse and Music
A screening and performance to follow a panel discussion between Pat Thomas, Miles, and musician Youth. Music featured prominently in Ginsberg’s work - both in his self-accompanied performances and live collaborations with artists including Dylan, Paul McCartney and Patti Smith - and in the inspiration it has had on the wide range of musicians who have set it to music.
Booking is advised for this exhibition, though drop-ins are welcome. Suggested donation £4 - £10.
Further Information: Ginsberg in London — The Horse Hospital