Culture Diary w/c 12-03-2018
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 – Annihilation (2018) @ Netflix UK
Based on the first novel in Jeff VanderMeer’s best-selling Southern Reach Trilogy, Alex Garland’s new sci-fi thriller (he of Ex Machina and 28 Days Later) has the superb Natalie Portman investigating a terrifying alien presence here on earth: one which consumes (and changes) all in its wake and is growing larger.
Tuesday – KINOTEKA: Butterfly Kisses (2017) & Director Q&A 8.30pm @ ICA, London — £11/7
A good day to enjoy the 16th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival, tonight’s screening features a live interview with one of new Polish cinema’s rising stars. Rafael Kapeliński’s award-winning first feature is a monochrome coming-of-age drama, following three teenagers as they navigate their London housing estate, peer pressure and some dark secrets to boot.
Wednesday – Wednesday Talks: Alistair Hudson 12.30-2pm @ The Whitworth, Manchester – FREE (Booking Required)
Having had to navigate criticism around his exhibition Idea Home Show earlier this year, as the director of Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, it will be fascinating to hear Alistair Hudson talk more about the idea of “useful art” and what it means for artists and institutions alike. Now the new director of the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery, expect Hudson to discuss his ideas for “projects that have real impact in people’s lives” and what “useful museums” could look like.
Thursday – In Certain Places And Making Histories Visible: New Research Base Launch 1pm @ Victoria Building, UCLAN, Preston — FREE
Our friends In Certain Places have a new home! A creative organisation researching art, culture and urban development – which have included specially commissioned writing by and about fantastic contemporary artists Rebecca Chesney and David Jacques, published on these very pages – you can find out more this afternoon about their valued work across the edgelands of Preston. They’ll be joined in their new base by the Making Histories Visible visual art research project – led by Turner Prize winner, Professor Lubaina Himid.
Talk: Rethinking Landscape 7-8.30pm @ Whitechapel Gallery, London — SOLD OUT (Waiting List Opens 11am On Day Of Event)
Speaking of edgelands, how do contemporary artists challenge representations of the rural? The aforementioned artist Rebecca Chesney is joined tonight by art historian Rosemary Shirley, who wrote about her work for us in 2015, courtesy of In Certain Places. Expect the pair to discuss how artists think about remote places and spaces beyond an idea of the sublime.
Friday – Noor Afshan Mirza & Brad Butler: Film Programme Artist Q&A 6.20pm @ HOME Manchester — £9/7/5
Screening three of their short films tonight – Deep State (2012, 44mins), Everything for Everyone and Nothing for Us (2014, 9mins), and Hold your Ground (2012, 8mins) – and delivering an in convo event with HOME’s senior producer Bren O’Callaghan, expect artists Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler to talk about their fascinating work and references to dystopian fiction, real political violence and protest.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Saturday – Exhibition Opening: On Paper: Arts Council Collection Touring 10am-5pm @ Gallery Oldham — FREE
If you love drawing, print and collage, this one’s for you… Some of the finest British artists of the 20th century are showcased today in an exciting new touring show, selected from the Arts Council Collection. Expect John Stezaker’s photo-collage portraits, Karla Black’s sugar paper and hair gel sculptures, Brian Griffiths’ corrugated cardboard computer, destroyed works by Cornelia Parker, and many more. See it here until 13 May before it goes to Inverness, Wrexham, Swansea, Bath, and Honiton.
Room To Breathe: Four Walks In Four Seasons 9.30am-4pm @ Yorkshire Sculpture Park — £38/Four Walks £114
Fancy a bit of fresh air? YSP’s new initiative promotes using the open air as a catalyst for thinking, and focusing on things that matter to you. Get your comfy shoes on and join group analyst Chris Powell and GP Andrew Wilson for the first in a series of four days of walking and talking amongst some fantastic outdoor sculpture – starting with a visit to James Turrell’s Deer Shelter Skyspace, and ending with tea, coffee, and cake.
Sunday – Vintage Sunday Studio Ghibli Season: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) 6pm @ FACT Liverpool — £12.20/11.20/10.20/9.20/7.70
This Studio Ghibli classic won four awards upon its release, including Best Japanese Film Director for
Hayao Miyazaki. An adaptation of Eiko Kadono’s 1985 novel of the same name, it’s a charming animated fantasy about 13 year old trainee witch Kiki, who runs a delivery service via broomstick – helped by her talking cat, Jiji.
Laura Robertson, Editor
Images, from top: Annihilation (2018) Netflix, still. Rebecca Chesney, Death by Denim (2015). Noor Afshan Mirza & Brad Butler: The Scar (2018). Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), still
