Arthur Rimbaud became one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture with an experimental form of poetry he described as “verbal alchemy”. For a brief, five-year period he became the ‘enfant terrible’ of French literature, whose rebellious and unconventional lifestyle made Lord Byron look like Pam Ayres in comparison. He quit poetry to travel thirteen different countries where he experienced life in a diverse range of roles that included; gun-runner, Muslim prophet, sailor, student revolutionary, and gay pioneer. He has since been described as “the first poet of a civilisation not yet born”.

I found the above image of Rimbaud disguised as Adam Ant on the aptly named website I am God by illustrator Roberta Marrero, which just goes to show that even though he passed away 121 years ago (10 November) he’s still reinventing himself and living as a seer, as outlined below in Lettre du voyant (“Letter of the Seer”).

“I say that one must be a seer, make oneself a seer. The poet makes himself a seer by a long, prodigious, and rational disordering of all the senses. Every form of love, of suffering, of madness; he searches himself, he consumes all the poisons in him, and keeps only their quintessences. This is an unspeakable torture during which he needs all his faith and superhuman strength, and during which he becomes the great patient, the great criminal, the great accursed – and the great learned one! – among men. – For he arrives at the unknown! Because he has cultivated his own soul – which was rich to begin with – more than any other man! He reaches the unknown; and even if, crazed, he ends up by losing the understanding of his visions, at least he has seen them! Let him die charging through those unutterable, unnameable things: other horrible workers will come; they will begin from the horizons where he has succumbed!”

Given such an impressive and exciting philosophy and CV, it’s an absolute delight to report that the latest exhibition at the New Art Exchange takes its title from a phrase penned by Rimbaud in 1870. ‘I is AnOther’ captures the artistic angst and inner conflict between perceived and true identity and is perfect for an exhibition exploring the rich diversity of Jamaican identity. For too long Jamaica has been defined in terms of its colonial past or as the small island in the shadow of the U.S of A. Here, voice is given to Caribbean diaspora through sculpture, film, photography, painting and a series of symposiums, readings and performances that will hopefully go some way to smashing cultural stereotypes and simplistic thinking. The exhibition is the perfect way to celebrate Black History Month which runs throughout October.

Friday 28 September  – 8 December. New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 6BE nae.org.uk

This preview was featured in LeftLion Iss:49 out now. If you want to know more about the life of Rimbaud, try Graham Robb’s superb biography.