Lenin once remarked that, “Capitalist society is and has always been horror without end.” It is a feeling unconsciously shared by millions and reflected in the popularity of the horror genre since the very beginning of cinema, demonstrating the anxieties and fears in the society of the times.

We publish here a letter from a comrade in West Yorkshire, who highlights Jeremy Corbyn’s programme for culture and the arts. Rather than simply protecting funding for the arts, socialists should be arguing for a revolution in how art is created, displayed, and distributed – and, in turn, for a revolution in how society is run and organised.

In this speech to the ULCU Marxist Society, Alan Woods – Marxist author and editor of www.marxist.com – explores the question of art from a Marxist perspective, looking at the history of art from a materialist perspective – from the early art of cave drawings, through to the revolutionary paintings of Pablo Picasso. In doing so, Alan Woods touches on questions such as “what is art?” and discusses what would be possible in terms of art under a socialist society.