Culture Diary w/c 29-08-2016

What’s hot this week? Our pick of the arts, design, film and music listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…

Tuesday — Preview: Anthropoid + Intro & Q&A With Cillian Murphy 8.30pm @ BFI Southbank, London — £16/12

Join director Sean Ellis and actors Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy for a special preview of their new WWII thriller. Czechoslovakian army-in-exile operatives Josef Gabcik (played by Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Dornan) are sent on a covert mission to assassinate “The Blond Beast”: Nazi officer SS General Reinhard Heydrich, who was second in importance to Heinrich, and the leading planner of Hitler’s Final Solution.

Preview: Anthropoid + Intro & Q&A With Cillian Murphy 8.30pm @ BFI Southbank, London -- £16/12

Wednesday — Some Dimensions Of My Lunch: Conceptual Art In Britain: Part 4: Ed Herring & Roger Palmer 6-8pm @ Richard Saltoun Gallery, London — FREE

Wrapped sandwiches, evaporated tea, and changing landscapes: part of a season of exhibitions devoted to Conceptual Art from the 1960s and 70s, see photography by two of Britain’s more obscure artists: Ed Herring (b. 1945, Southport – 2003 Montcrabier, France) and Roger Palmer (b. 1946, Portsmouth).

PICK OF THE WEEK: Thursday – Exhibition Opening: NEON: The Charged Line / Illuminations Archive Exhibition 10am-5pm @ Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool — FREE

In time for the city’s famous Blackpool Illuminations (see below), The Grundy presents an incredible line-up of artists working with neon from the 1960s to the present day – including Fiona Banner, Martin Creed, Shezad Dawood, Tracey Emin, Tim Etchells, and Gavin Turk. Expect a wide variety of sculptural experiments with light, plus an archive exhibition of rarely seen 1930s designs highlighting Blackpool’s pioneering role in Britain’s neon history. Until 7 Jan 2017.

Joseph Kosuth, Neon (1965). As part of NEON: The Charged Line @ Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool -- FREE

Exhibition Opening: Vasilis Asimakopoulos: Norwegian Concrete 6-8pm @ Castlefield Gallery, Manchester — FREE

Making new work in the gallery to “accentuate the feeling of a harsh and desolate environment”, expect allusions to the Aegean Islands, salt pits and Portland stone quarries in this solo show from Asimakopoulos. Part one of the gallery’s annual Head to Head exhibition, partner artist Christian Falsnaes follows up with First from 7 Oct.

Friday — Bristol Biennial 2016: In Other Worlds @ Venues Across Bristol — FREE

With Alex Bailey & Krõõt Juurak theatre performance for pets, Natalia Skobeeva’s naughty sound installation The Swearing Door, and Liz West’s colour-bathed office space, in addition to a Bearpit Banquet, choral stargazing and a Festival of Ancients, this year’s Bristol Biennial features 13 frisky new commissions over nine days. Not to be missed.

Liz West, Your Colour Perception, Federation House, Manchester (2015)

Film Station: Fire at Sea (2016) 6.30-8pm @ Metal, Liverpool — £3/FREE

Winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary about the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa investigates its part as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants hoping to make a new life in Europe. Part of Scalarama DIY UK film festival: full listings here.

Blackpool Illuminations Switch On 7pm @ Tower Festival Headland, Blackpool — FREE (Donations Welcome)

Stretching across 200 miles of cable, along six miles of coastline, with one million lamps, and equipment weighing more than 711,000 kilograms… welcome in a very British Winter with the beloved Blackpool Illuminations this Friday. Expect comedian Peter Kay, and pop music from Little Mix, Texas, George Ezra and more.

Clam Jam at The Royal Standard, Liverpool. Images courtesy Sophie Rose Williams

Saturday — Dark Matter Symposium: The Unseen World Of Artist-Led Activity 11am-4pm @ Frederiks, Liverpool — FREE

Talk trials, tribulations and triumphs of creating and sustaining artist-led organisations with one of the world’s best: The Royal Standard (as voted by No Soul For Sale, Tate Modern, 2010). Expect panellists from around the UK — including Supercollider, Seize Projects, East Street Arts, and Islington Mill — to discuss the safety, security and future for independent arts spaces. Including lunch and TRS tour of retrospective show Gettin’ the Heart Ready.

Saturday & Sunday — Fusion Festival 2016 @ Otterspool Promenade and Park, Liverpool — £48.50 General Admission Day Ticket

An unapologetic pop-extravaganza for kids of all ages… It’s Fusion Festival’s fourth year, but the first Liverpool iteration – moving to the city’s waterfront in 2016 to coincide with its UNESCO City of Music status. Expect Jason Derulo, Tinie Tempah, Labrinth, Craig David’s TS5, Olly Murs, Busted, The Vamps, Ella Henderson and more.

Laura Robertson, Editor

Hosting a #BiennialFringe event July through October 2016? Use the hashtag so visitors can find you, and email us the details in advance so we can publish it in our weekly, online Culture Diary listings (published every Monday)

Download or pick up in print now our Biennial Fringe edition of Culture Diary! Your indispensable pocket guide to a wide range of alternative events across Liverpool, happening at the same time as Liverpool Biennial 2016 festival of contemporary art (Jul-Oct 2016)

Posted on 30/08/2016 by thedoublenegative