Culture Diary w/c 10-11-2014
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday – Matisse: From Tate Modern and MoMA 6:30pm @ FACT, Liverpool – £10/8
The next best thing to actually being there, let Tate Director Nicholas Serota and broadcaster Francine Stock tonight guide you via live satellite around the world of Matisse, courtesy of Tate Modern’s critically-acclaimed Cut Outs summer blockbuster exhibition. It’s the first ever live, behind-the-scenes broadcast from inside the London-based gallery, and boasts a ‘dazzling array of 120 Matisse pieces from around the world’, plus exclusive shots from MoMA’s (New York) collections.
Derek Jarman’s The Last of England (1988) 8.30pm @ FACT, Liverpool, as part of Homotopia Festival — £10/8
The late 1980s were a surprisingly productive time for Derek Jarman. Despite being diagnosed with AIDS, he finished his long term masterpiece, Caravaggio, and experimented with the Super 8 format with The Last of England. An experimental and hypnotic film, it is a scathing attack on the state of Thatcherite Britain, homophobia and the treatment of AIDS victims. Read Adam Scovell’s preview here.
Tuesday – Unity Theatre: Dance Triple Bill 7pm @ Unity Theatre, Liverpool, as part of Homotopia Festival – £10/£8
Becoming a regular part of the LGBT festival Homotopia, Unity Theatre again presents an ambitious contemporary dance triple bill; expect performances to cover topics from interactive projection to celestial sex change. Carlos Pons Guerra describes his dance, O Maria, as a “divine comedy of ham and bondage”, whilst Connor Quill depicts the plights of a gay man raised by lesbian parents.
Wednesday – Future Station 6-8pm @ Metal, Liverpool — FREE (Booking Required)
This week’s artists’ social, Future Station, features artist Kelvin Okafor who specialises in the field of photorealism. The focus of Okafor’s session is ‘goal setting for artists’, as he believes that, as humans, we have all been blessed with innate gifts that have limitless potential that we ignore, like having wings but refusing to fly. Expect this guest speaker plus peer mentoring and a (welcome) warm meal.
Thursday-Sunday – Mirror City Events Weekend @ Hayward Gallery, London — £10.90 (all events FREE with same-day exhibition ticket)
One of our Unmissable Autumn Exhibitions, Mirror City is a product of the digital revolution. It’s a showcase of rising artist talent reacting to a reality that already far exceeds ‘the visions conjured by science fiction by the end of the 20th century’. Their special events weekend takes the audience backstage; expect debates, new artworks and live music, including a live audio-visual performance inspired by cyclotrons and particle accelerators, a nano politics workshop and a 15-strong contemporary dance show inspired by the M25…
Liverpool Radical Film Festival 11am-6pm @ venues across Liverpool — FREE
From justice for Justin Fashanu and more widely gay men in football, to the powers of community action, to the fight for equality in Syria, to an experimental vision of independent cinema, unearth some eye-opening alternative and radical filmmaking this weekend with this fantastic international film festival. Be sure to check out the accompanying events, including an exhibition of artist moving image, showcasing works entirely by women.
Thursday – Ballet School 8pm @ The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool — £7.50
Join the Berlin-based Ballet School for some wind-chime/’80s/alt pop led by the swooping vocals of Rosie Blair. Featured earlier this week in our 10 Best Winter Gigs Playlist, Ballet School come highly recommended.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Exhibition Opening: Type Motion 11am-6pm @ FACT, Liverpool — FREE
Designers and typography fans, listen up! Aiming to showcase the inseparable bond between design and the written word, FACT’s new exhibition Type Motion is set to feature over 200 examples of text and typography that have all been used alongside moving image. It’s an innovative exploration of the potential of text that far exceeds the realms of font.
Friday – John Cooper Clarke 7pm @ Camp & Furnace, Liverpool — £24.75
Pay your respects to the Bard of Salford as he graces Liverpool with his socio-political punk poetry this Friday. For those of you that don’t know, Cooper Clarke is the poet equivalent of rock star royalty. Keep your ear out for Chicken Town.
Bido Lito 50th Edition Party 7pm @ Static Gallery, Liverpool — FREE
Bido Lito is set to release their 50th edition! To celebrate their landmark moment, join the team for a kick-ass party at Static Gallery this Friday. Live music from Beach Skulls — think 1950s surf rock, Hawaiian shirts and Docs — plus expert DJing from Bernie Connor and A. W. Wilde. And a cheap bar.
Saturday – Last Day: Human Interface 10am-6.30pm @ Hus Gallery, London — FREE
Human Interface explores how the assimilation of visual information through platforms such as Google and Wikipedia impact ‘how iconography manifests’ in this post-information age. The artists react to our social sense of interconnectedness, whereby a person can explore a destination 3000 miles away or engage in dialogue across time zones with strangers.
Last Day: Postmaster’s Secrets 10am-5pm @ The Minories, Colchester — FREE
Using a central motif of secrets, former MA Contemporary Art students at Colchester Institute have formed works that react to the idea of making, managing and disseminating information. Although part of the exhibition takes place in a gallery space, more intriguing is the trail of artwork left to encounter at various locations in Colchester town, discoverable through a map in the gallery.
Sunday – Metropolis Re-Issue (1927) 6pm @ FACT, Liverpool — £10/8
What would your perfect city look like? Before you begin designing your futuristic ‘learning spaces’, hundred story-high art galleries and lush tropical gardens, you’d better think a bit about what sort of people are going to be living there, and who will be working the machines that power the whole thing. For reference, you may wish to attend FACT’s screening of Fritz Lang’s masterpiece, Metropolis this Sunday. Read Nik Glover’s ace essay on the film’s restoration and original political implications on pre-WWII Germany here.
Maisie Ridgway
