Culture Diary w/c 08-06-2015
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday – Symposium: Shaping Change: Women, Culture And Art 10.30-2.45pm @ the Bluecoat, Liverpool – FREE
As part of this year’s Liverpool Arab Arts Festival programme (read about our highlights here), join Yemeni rapper Amani Yahya, artist Rachel Gadsden, writer and human rights activist Dr. Elham Manea and youth and community work tutor Steph Green for a fascinating day of conversation that will expose and discuss the difficulties that Arabic women face in a male dominated art scene and, indeed, a male dominated culture.
Tuesday – Fighting History 10-6pm @ Tate Britain, London — £12/ £10.50 Concs
The conflict, martyrdom and catastrophe of war have been captured in startling detail and colour in artwork throughout history. Now, Tate Britain brings together work from the 18th century to the present day – from artists as diverse as John Singleton Copley, Stanley Spencer, Rita Donagh and Jeremy Deller – in celebration of the emotional power and persistence of war painting throughout the ages.
Wednesday – Last Day: Virtual Reality Arcade 4.30-8pm @ Site Gallery, Sheffield – FREE
As this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest draws to a close (including John Akomfrah’s retrospective), so too does this futuristic and immersive exhibition. Using Ocultus Rift, Gear and VISR virtual reality headsets, the limits of virtual reality are tested in a series of newly commissioned creations. Featuring work from Brandan Walker, Oscar Raby, Phil Harper and Nonny de la Pena, enjoy a guided and interactive tour of Grayson Perry’s A House for Essex, a psychedelic journey through Arcadia, and a reimagining of the childhood pleasure of rope swinging as we explore the blending of contemporary art, gaming and technology.
Exhibition Opening: Carsten Höller: Decision 11am-6pm @Hayward Gallery, London — £13.50 (Free Entry With Membership)
Her largest UK survey show to date, Stockholm-based artist Carsten Höller showcases experimental and immersive installations that somehow erupt beyond the walls and roof of the gallery space. Through the use of strategically placed mirrors and mysterious objects, viewers are confronted with a perplexing and memorable experience where appearances can certainly be deceiving.
Thursday – Think Cinema Presents: Mon Oncle (1958) 7pm @ Small Cinema, Liverpool — £3
‘Unforgettably funny, wonderfully observed, and always technically brilliant’ (Time Out), Director Jacques Tati’s satirical slapstick comedy follows the bumbling (and slightly old fashioned) Monsieur Hulot as he visits his technologically astute brother-in-law; and in doing so, provides some much needed disruption and eccentricity to his nephew’s otherwise automated existence in the suburbs.
Friday – SSSSS: Frances Disley 12-6pm @ White Wizard (Studios, The Royal Standard), Liverpool — FREE
Only open on Fridays, this is your chance to check out new gallery White Wizard, run by MODEL co-founder Dave Evans, and featuring other co-founder and print/installation artist Frances Disley. The second artist to enjoy a solo show here, (the inaugural exhibition featured extraordinarily vibrant and technically accomplished new paintings from Canadian Derek Mainella), expect new work from Disley that sets the imagination alive: explosions of colour, painting, pattern, fabric and sculpture.
Exhibition Opening: Live! Rachel Pursglove 7-9pm @ The Royal Standard, Liverpool – FREE
Once youve visited White Wizard, pop downstairs to this – the first of three live performances from three different artists, including Jake Laffoley and Louisa Martin. Tonight, Rachel Pursglove performs experimental video work, The Struggle. Through physically and mentally exhausting interactions with cardboard boxes, this exciting performance explores the experience of loneliness and creates a visual metaphor for the challenges of life.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Saturday – Positive Vibration Vol. 3 2pm-2am @ Constellations, Liverpool — £6 Early Bird/£9 Advance/ £12 On The Door
After the stress of a long working week this is the perfect feel-good kick-start to the weekend. A Jamaican 12-hour street party, expect Jamdown Market’s pop-up stalls, arts and craft workshops, food and drink and a record fair to provide all the vinyl reggae, ska, dub, rocksteady and calypso records you can carry. And if that wasn’t enough, Constellations will also play host to DJs, poetry performances, dub sound systems and live music from reggae artists such as Cut Capers, Jeramiah Ferrari, Samsara and Kayanites — topped off with a belter headline set from UK-based ska/punk combo, King Porter Stomp.
Sunday – The Look Of Silence + Live Satellite Q&A 6pm @ FACT, Liverpool — £10/£9 Concs
As the follow up to The Act of Killing, Director Joshua Oppenheimer documents gut-wrenching moments as he exposes the violence and bloodshed that occurred in Indonesia’s 1965 genocide. Beginning with the tragic story of Ramli, who was murdered at this time, we then witness the exchanges between his brother Adi and the perpetrators who carried out the atrocious acts. This one-off event will be concluded by a live Q&A session between Oppenheimer and a very special guest host.
Heather Garner
Keen to hear about the best art, design, film and music events happening in Liverpool April-June 2015? Download the PDF version of our NEW, printed Culture Diary here
