Culture Diary w/c 10-02-2014
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday – Movies On The Mezz #4: Blade Runner (Final Cut) 7pm @ The Kazimier Garden — £2 (25 seats max, first come first served)
Continuing with their regular Monday night screenings on Science Fiction: Vision of the Future, tonight The Kazimier treat us to Ridley Scott’s BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning dystopian cyberpunk thriller. Based on Philip K Dick’s seminal novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Harrison Ford takes the lead as the disillusioned Deckard, a ‘Blade Runner’ (or cop) who specialises in terminating replicants. A box-office and critical flop on opening, this is now a genuine cult classic, for both the astonishing special effects, and the probing of what it actually means to be human.
Tuesday – The1st4 Launch Event 6.30pm @ Blade Factory (Camp and Furnace) — FREE
We’re very proud of our live art critic C James Fagan; he has launched a brand-new platform for live art and performance artists, and tonight unveils new commissions and new collaborations, including the excellent Mark Greenwood (of the gambling-themed durational performance Lad Broke) with a piece exploring the erasing of housing across Liverpool and the displacement caused. Not to miss.
British Animation Awards 2014 Programme 1 8.30pm @ Cornerhouse (Manchester) — ticket prices vary
Offering a diverse and eclectic mix of short films, animated adverts and music videos, the BAA is always great to spot new talent and genuinely change your ideas of what animation can be. With this year’s programme including several international festival award-winners, it may be difficult to vote for your favourites (see what we thought of BAA 2012). Catch Programme 2 this Thursday and Programme 3 on Saturday.
Wednesday – Future Station: How to present your work online 6-9pm @ Metal Liverpool – FREE (RSVP essential)
A much-needed, regular, informal event for artists to get together to discuss ideas over food, Future Station is always welcoming and a great opportunity to meet other artists from a variety of disciplines. This evening is themed around presenting your work online (obviously an increasingly important part of our portfolios that can be difficult to get right), and the work of artist and curator Rhys Coren (of online-takeover project bubblebyte.org and Opening Times – Digital Art Commissions).
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom 7.30pm @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall — £6/£7
It’s not easy to make a biopic of a multifaceted man — a politician, activist, boxing enthusiast, ‘playboy’ and freedom fighter — who meant so many things to so many people; director Justin Chadwick’s Oscar-nominated take on Mandela’s (played by Idris Elba) life tries to explore the unknown side of an icon, from his childhood in a rural village through to his election as President of South Africa.
Thursday – Please Come to the Show 6pm @ LJMU Exhibition Research Centre — FREE
The New York institution that gave us our first coherent understanding of modern art (and the first white walled gallery spaces) comes under review in ERC’s latest exhibition; displaying a fabulous array of innovative printed invitations, posters and flyers from the 1960s to the present from The Museum of Modern Art’s Library collection, questioning ways in which artists, designers and galleries have used invitation cards and other print as part of their work.
Friday – Grayson Perry Tapestries Tour @ Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery – FREE
The tour continues! These complex and lavish tapestries record a ‘class journey’ of objects, collectibles and artworks encountered by Perry in British homes for his BAFTA award-winning Channel 4 series, All in the Best Possible Taste. See Unmissable Exhibitions for more details…
PICK OF THE WEEK: Saturday – Bruce Nauman @ Harris Museum & Art Gallery – FREE
At 72 years of age, Nauman (main picture) is still redefining art, it seems. Presented here is the breadth of this seminal US multimedia artist’s practice from the 1970s to the 1990s, featuring installation, sound and sculpture that focus on body language, word play and repetitive gesture. See Unmissable Exhibitions for more details…
HEDS-UP 10pm @ Mello Mello — £2 donation
By all accounts last month’s HEDS-UP (hosted by arts/music promoters Deep Hedonia and record label Upitup) was awesome, including enough partying to make Mello’s tiny dancefloor shake; DJs Kepla, Tomasu and Croe provide the techno and abstract electronic this time, and at £2, you won’t find a cheaper night out of this quality. Get your dancing shoes on.
Sunday – Casablanca (70th Anniversary Edition) 1pm @ FACT — ticket prices vary
“We’ll always have Paris…” Just uttering that makes our skin tingle, and we can’t wait to see this beautifully restored version on the big screen. Michael Curtiz’ romantic drama won three Oscars at the 1944 Academy Awards, with lead Humphrey Bogart nominated for Best Actor. It is, describes critic Jay Carr, “as much about movies as about romantic adventure. It taps our love of movies, our involvement with them, our dreamy bondage by them.” We couldn’t agree more.
