Culture Diary w/c 26-06-2017
Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from around the UK – and most of it’s free!
Tuesday – Exhibition Opening: Dreamers Awake 6-8pm @ White Cube, Bermondsey, London – FREE
A harpy, goddess or sphinx; muse, model or mistress? See another side of Surrealism through the eyes of the female artists who embody it – a huge variety of established and emerging names from the 1930s to the present day, including Jo Ann Callis (pictured, below), Kelly Akashi (main image), Sarah Lucas, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Francesca Woodman, Hannah Wilke, and Louise Bourgeois. See it daily until 17 September 2017.
Wednesday – FLARE17: Louisa Claughton Workshop 4.30pm @ Contact Theatre, Manchester — FREE
Artist Louisa Claughton (of Interchangeable Bodies, above) utilises her skills in stand up, spoken word, visual and live art to talk about gender this afternoon. For anyone interested in voicing perspectives, asking questions, and learning about alternative audience interaction. Part of FLARE festival of new international theatre, until 8 July.
Spoon With Support From Adam Buxton 7pm @ The Art School, Glasgow — £22.50
Metacritic’s best-reviewed band of the 2000s, Texan rock band Spoon are currently touring their latest record Hot Thoughts. Supported tonight by comedian and self-confessed Spoonocrat (Spoonatic?) Adam Buxton, you can listen to his recent podcast here with band members Britt Daniel, Jim Eno and Alex Fischel of Spoon to get in the mood — featuring specially recorded songs, Hot Thoughts, I Ain’t The One, and Rainy Taxi, as well as a cover of Bowie’s I Can’t Give Everything Away.
Thursday — PICK OF THE WEEK: Manchester International Festival @ Various Venues Across Manchester — Ticket Prices Vary
It was announced this week that MIF would get its own dedicated venue, Factory, in Manchester, to be completed 2020. See for yourself why this world-class event has gained such backing: a host of new commissions and premieres from top international artists, from today until 16 July. Our highlights? Turner Prize artist Phil Collins’ live film about Engels, entitled Ceremony (16 July), with music by Demdike Stare and Gruff Rhys; their Sounds From The Other City collaborations (various dates) featuring Holly Herndon, Steeling Sheep, Hookworms and more; and Anthony Burgess poems translated into a symphonic song cycle by composer Raymond Yiu (pictured below), entitled The World Was Once All Miracle (4 July), to be joined by baritone Roderick Williams and the BBC Philharmonic. Glorious.
Maker Meetup 6—8pm @ Make. North Docks, Liverpool — FREE
A friendly meeting place for makers of all kinds from the Liverpool region, tonight features short talks from Biennial-commissioned bakery Homebaked, silversmith Brittany Kefira, surfboard designer Josh Moffat , plus metalworker/ artist Ian Colligan.
Friday – All Eyez On Me (2017) @ UK Cinemas Nationwide – Prices & Times Vary
A much-anticipated biopic of rapper/actor/activist Tupac Shakur (2Pac), named after his fourth studio album, All Eyez On Me is, unfortunately, currently receiving one and two star reviews across the board. However, gaining praise for his depiction of the star is newcomer Shipp Jr. (pictured, below), who might well be the film’s saving grace. Expect a chronicle of Tupac’s rise to superstardom, his time at Death Row Records, imprisonment, and untimely death in 1996 aged just 25 – murdered in a drive-by shooting.
Roundtable Discussion With Seecum Cheung & Morgan Quaintance 1–2.30pm @ Grand Union, Birmingham — FREE
A very timely roundtable discussion about the rising surge of nationalism within Europe, via a new exhoibtion at Grand Union. Join The Dutch Window’s artist, Rotterdam-based filmmaker Seecum Cheung, and her collaborator, London-based writer, musician, broadcaster and curator Morgan Quaintance. A fascinating insight into the production of a film made from media footage collected from Germany, Belgium, Sweden, The Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, Bulgaria and the UK. And lunch too!
Saturday – Exhibition Opening: Howard Hodgkin: Painting India 10am—5pm @ Hepworth Wakefield — FREE
“(India) I couldn’t work without it”; so said painter Howard Hodgkin, who first visited the vast country in 1964. A glorious collection of more than 35 works (below) painted since, expect a riot of colour – representing monsoons, blazing sunsets, and lush landscapes and cities – from the artist, who sadly died this year, aged 84. On until 8 October.
Bidston Lighthouse Tours 12pm–3pm @ Bidston Hill, Wirral – £2.50
As part of FACT’s latest exhibition, The New Observatory, artist Yu-Chen Wang has designed new flags, linking the gallery to Bidston Observatory and its Lighthouse. See the artwork for yourself during today’s tour, which also highlights the changing role of the Observatory over the past 150 years; encompassing “astronomy, meteorology, chronometer calibration and the one-o’clock gun, through tide prediction, seismology and oceanography, to its imminent re-invention as an artistic research centre.”
Eat Me + Preach! Fantasy Level 6.30pm @ Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool — £5–22
Rupaul’s Drag Race has a lot to do with our increasing interest in and love of drag culture, which is thriving here in the UK. Wear your best drag for dinner and cabaret tonight for Eat Me + Preach! (below): a gourmet, three-course meal, “fantasy cocktails”, face painting, and Best In Show awards, alongside what we expect to be outrageously entertaining performances from The Hungry Bitches, Velma Von Bon Bon and more.
Laura Robertson, Editor
Main image: Kelly Akashi, Dreamers Awake, White Cube, Bermondsey, London. Image courtesy the artist
