Culture Diary w/c 26-02-2018
Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from around the North of England and the rest of the UK – and loads of it’s free!
Monday – Artist Talk: Taus Makhacheva 6.30-7.30pm @ The Bluecoat, Liverpool — FREE
With the 20th anniversary edition of Liverpool Biennial approaching, entitled Beautiful world, where are you? and reflecting “social, political and economic turmoil”, Russian artist Taus Makhacheva seems a good fit. Makhacheva – whose work was included in the 57th Venice Biennale – explores art history, politics and cultural authenticity in a context of Sovietisation.
Tuesday – Preview: The Square (2017) 6pm @ FACT, Liverpool — £12.20/11.20/10.20/9.20
Ever been to a gallery or exhibition opening and mused to yourself that this is a sector ripe for satire? Of course, you’d be right, but you wouldn’t be the only one. A detail demonstrated by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, whose latest film – art world satire The Square – bagged the Palme d’Or last year at Cannes. AND it stars the sensational Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Haidmaid’s Tale).
Artist Talk: Jade Montserrat 6.30pm @ Castlefield Gallery, Manchester — £5
A practice-based PhD candidate at the prestigious Stuart Hall Foundation, The Institute for Black Atlantic Research, The University of Central Lancashire (2017-), tonight hear artist Jade Montserrat talk about the key themes throughout her varied work – including huge-scale, performative drawing referencing body and race politics.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Thursday – Exhibition Opening: Lubaina Himid: Hard Times 6-7.30pm @ Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston — FREE
2017 Turner Prize winner and Preston-based artist, Professor Lubaina Himid MBE, returns to the gallery that last exhibited her work (Moments that Matter) in 2012. This new show, Hard Times, makes timely political reference Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name – inspired by his visit to Preston during the workers’ Lock-out of 1853 – as well as to immigration, art world hypocrisy and those excluded from society.
Termini: Tom Wood In Conversation With Curator Thomas Dukes 6-7.30pm @ Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool – SOLD OUT
If you can get on a waiting list of any sort, expect a great insight into photographer Tom Wood’s current exhibition The Pier Head, as well his accompanying new book, Termini – both based on his journeys across the River Mersey by ferry over the course of 25 years. Also: free rum bar with Brugal 1888 Rum! Not to be missed.
Friday – Edge of Frame: Between The Frames 1-5pm/Persistence Of Vision 6.15pm @ BFI Southbank, London — £6.50-12.10 Each/Joint Ticket £10
Part of BFI’s Edge of Frame Weekend 2018 (also at the Barbican and Close-Up Cinema), this afternoon of discussion – Between the Frames – has leading animation experts weighing in on the histories and creative processes of this dynamic art form. Later on, expect the opening film programme – Persistence of Vision – to showcase international, indie and experimental works to satisfy animation newbies and fans alike.
Saturday-Sunday – 21st International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair @ The Tetley, Leeds – FREE
We heart artist book fairs! And this is one of the longest running outside of London. Expect a fitting 21st anniversary celebration: absurd print-based performance from Kate Hodgson with slogan t-shirts (Having Fun Isn’t Hard… 1.30pm, Saturday); the Commoners Choir protesting public library closure through song (2pm, Sunday); plus a bevy of visual artwork, illustration, zines and handmade books.
Laura Robertson and Mike Pinnington
Image: Taus Makhacheva, Tightrope (film still), 2015, image courtesy the artist. The Ecology of Care Bureau, image courtesy artist Jade Montserrat. Lubaina Himid: Warp and Weft, courtesy the artist and firstsite. Still, from the Edge of Frame Weekend 2018. Feature image: still from Ruben Östlund’s The Square (2017)
