Culture Diary w/c 26-03-2018
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 – Critical Focus: Study Of An Arts Centre 6.30-8pm @ The Bluecoat, Liverpool — FREE
Presenting her new film tonight alongside Sociologist in Residence Dr Paul Jones, our contributor Laura Harris will be discussing how it’s been shaped around the Bluecoat’s current exhibition, In the Peaceful Dome, plus her PhD research into the value, labour and social world that makes the art centre what it is. Show continues until 8 April.
Tuesday – A Clockwork Orange: Open Rehearsal 11am @ The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester – FREE (Booking Required)
A great opportunity to grab a sneak peek of the Everyman Rep’s brand new, theatrical adaptation of A Clockwork Orange – Burgess’s 1962 infamous novel, made famous ten years later by Stanley Kubrick. Expect Director Nick Bagnall and crew to run through scenes and songs – accompanied by Musical Supervisor George Francis on Burgess’s original Bösendorfer piano – ahead of the show’s official opening 14 April.
Wednesday – Exhibition’s Last Day: Positions Of Power 11am-4pm @ The Tapestry Gallery, Liverpool – FREE
What does ‘power’ mean in 2018? A diverse range of responses from photographers Keeley Bentley, Drew Forsyth, Claire Griffiths, Mark Hobbs, Abbie Jennings (main image) and Conrad Ohnuki – aka Disparity Collective – expect portraits of young warriors, a play on contemporary femme fatales, and an (unexpected) insight into landscapes that hide military-guarded data. Open every day this week until 4pm today; look out for version II during the Liverpool Biennial Fringe come July.
Talk: What Do We Need In A Space For Play? Emily Speed And Lee Ivett 6-8pm @ The Bubble, Kennington Primary School, Preston — FREE
Grab this chance to visit Preston’s space-age ‘Bubble’ classroom – which has been recently Grade II listed – for this special in convo event with architecture-inspired artist Emily Speed and architect Lee Ivett. Calling on Emily’s research with local community groups, plus Lee’s expertise as a Lecturer at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, expect a chat about multi-use spaces and leisure spaces in the public realm.
Thursday – Tour: The Pre-Raphaelite Women of Manchester Art Gallery 5.30-7.15pm @ Manchester Art Gallery – SOLD OUT / Exhibition Open: Sonia Boyce 10am-5pm — FREE
Intrigued by the recent and controversial removal of Hylas and the Nymphs by artist Sonia Boyce? Beg, borrow or steal a ticket to today’s tour of the painting in question, plus lots more works by 19th century (male) artists including John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. But please: go to see Sonia Boyce’s retrospective too, to understand her work as a Black British woman, and why she challenged the Victorian sexual fantasy in the first place. Continues until 22 July.
Exhibition Opening: In So Many Words: Roget’s Thesaurus & The Power Of Language 7-9pm @ The Portico Library, Manchester — FREE
See new work by artists Jez Dolan, Rowland Hill and Jonathan Hitchen that give contemporary responses to the legacy of the Portico Library’s first Secretary, Peter Mark Roget: doctor, inventor, linguist, mathematician, and famed author of Roget’s Thesaurus (1805). Expect responses that investigate queer identities through language, found text, and performance about power and the misuse of words; exhibition continues until 12 May.
Friday – Exhibition Opening: Ken’s Show: Exploring The Unseen 10am-5pm @ Tate Liverpool — FREE
An Art Handler at Tate for over 30 years, the recently retired Ken Simons picks his fave works from the gallery’s collection – marking 30 years since the gallery opened in Liverpool in 1988. Expect big works by Phillip King (pictured), Turner, Dame Barbara Hepworth and Mark Rothko, with specific reference to Ken’s interest in sculptural and landscape art. Continues until 17 June.
Saturday – Exhibition Opening: And Yet It Moves 2-8pm @ The Royal Standard, Liverpool — FREE
They’ll be sculpture in motion all across the gallery today by four recent UK graduates: Beata Wrobel (featured in our Class of 2017), Callum Johnstone, Charlie Cook, and Molly Mae Whawell. Expect kinetic, in-situ and performing sculptures, including ones that are activated by the audience … See it until 13 May 2018.
Film Night: Here To Be Heard – The Story of the Slits (2017) 7.30-10pm @ British Music Experience, Liverpool — £8.14-10.30
“People love a fight. Don’t we all?” Expect legendary Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt and director William E. Badgley get together tonight to discuss his new documentary, Here to Be Heard: the story behind the formation of Britain’s most kick-ass female punk band.
Sunday – Exhibition Continues: Nature Photography By Ken Lewis 10am-5pm @ Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead — FREE
You can almost feel the wind in your hair from Kenneth Lewis’ stormy portrait of sea birds diving for food. Originally self-taught and now a successful freelance photographer, expect an insight into his passion for nature, including his first love: bird-watching with his father in North Wales.
Laura Robertson, Editor
Main image: courtesy Abbie Jennings, Disparity Collective
