Following Conservative Education Minister Gillian Keegan’s announcement of a major funding cut for creative arts courses at English Universities in April and Goldsmiths University’s mass redundancy program, we are once again confronted with the increasing devaluation of the creative arts in our wider society.

Set in 1973 Glasgow, Ratcatcher depicts the gritty, decaying world of a city caught between neglect and renewal. Twelve-year-old James roams the remnants of a housing scheme, waiting with his family for the promise of a better life. With no basic amenities and garbage piling up due to a strike, the film offers a stark portrayal of urban decay while delving into James’s transition from childhood to adolescence. Lynne Ramsay’s debut captures the quiet despair of poverty, offering a haunting reflection on hope and resilience.

In Childish Gambino more recent release Little Foot Big Foot, the song is accompanied by a music video directed by Hiro Murai, set in around 1940s America. It follows a musical trio, ‘Johnny and the Pipes’, who are seemingly performing on the Chitlin Circuit, a network of underground performance venues found in the South and Midwest of the United States during the years before the Civil Rights movement, where segregated black musicians and entertainers could be employed to perform there.