From Guernica to Iraq

There is undoubtedly a historic feel to the impending arrival here of the new American president.

But despite the ascent of Barack Obama, Grosvenor Square, in London’s west end, together with the looming hulk that is America’s embassy, will be the focus of anti-globalisation protesters tomorrow.

As a clapped-out old protester myself – to my shame I never made it to the Vietnam demo in the same square in 1968 – I know the difficulties of focusing protest.

When I was sent down from university on the heels of a six-week sit-in over Liverpool University’s investments in apartheid South Africa, I seem to remember that in order to bind a large enough protest movement, we had to include no fewer than 10 disparate causes in our campaign.

Thinking of the Stop The War movement which will be part of this week’s G20 demonstrations, today sees the arrival in London of the wonderful tapestry version of Picasso’s Guernica (to be hung at the Whitechapel gallery for its reopening).

It is quite a coup. The UN building in New York is being refurbished and someone had the wit to grab it for London.

It was, of course, notoriously covered up whilst the UN debated the war in Iraq. It wasn’t seen as an appropriate backdrop for the warrior diplos to appear in front of.