Culture Diary w/c 30-04-2018
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 – 120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017) 6pm @ FACT Liverpool — £7.50/5.50
A Cannes award-winning, tense and intimate look at the vital work of AIDS activist group ACT UP-Paris, from the personal experiences of French director Robin Campillo. Expect drama that encapsulates the fear and misinformation of the 1990s, as well as the community spirit.
Tuesday – Exhibition Opening: fig-futures 10am–5pm @ The Grundy Gallery, Blackpool — FREE
Evolving from an exciting project at ICA London in 2015, fig-futures is aiming to present ambitious, site-specific artworks from 16 international artists – starting with Allison Katz 1-5 May – and buy those artworks for our public collections. Expect new exhibitions to be slowly revealed in Blackpool from today until 26 May, before the tour heads to Cambridge, Leicester and Plymouth throughout 2018 and 2019.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Wednesday – Writing On The Wall/Burying The Typewriter: Carmen Bugan In Conversation 6pm @ The Women’s Organisation, Liverpool — £11-5.50
The first event of this year’s WOW Fest, entitled Crossing Borders, expect a challenging and entertaining month-long programme talking about Trump, shy radicals, re-colonialisation and toxic masculinity, from guest speakers Robert Webb, Shami Chakrabarti, Kit de Waal and – tonight – award-winning author Carmen Bugan (above). Only 12 years old when her dad was arrested for opposing Romania’s Ceausescu regime, hear first-hand how their contraband typewriter – used to make protest leaflets – was buried in the garden, and how Bugan and her family survived years of close surveillance and intimidation. Festival continues until 31 May.
Thursday — Exhibition Opening: Embody 4-6pm @ School of Arts & Media, University of Salford — FREE
Who are we, and where might we be going? University of Salford students and artists from the UoS Art Collection come together tonight in an attempt to answer the eternal questions for a contemporary audience. Expect a specific focus on body politics, gender and equality, including artwork by Megan Ashcroft (pictured); exhibition continues until Friday 15 June.
Exhibition Opening: Gigs & Graphics 3.30-9pm @ Northern Lights, Liverpool — FREE
Whetting appetites nicely for the weekend’s forthcoming Sound City, Gigs & Graphics combines an exhibition of newly commissioned gig posters for 10 acts from Sound City’s line-up, plus industry talks, workshops and discussion. With live music, DJs, bar and shop, this collaboration between Northern Lights, Sound City, Toucan Tango, The Paper Moon and local artists and musicians ushers the weekend in early.
Friday – Exhibition Opening: Susan Gunn: Ground Evolution 6-8pm @ HOME, Manchester — FREE
What should a monument look like? Tonight, artist Susan Gunn presents an alternative way to mark the construction of the new Factory arts building in Manchester – by creating a pigment from the concrete and earth found at its site, the Old Granada Studios. Expect a celebration of reinvention and evolution.
Saturday – Print Symposium: Activating The Archive Of Gwyneth Alban Davis 10am-4pm @ Harris Museum, Preston — FREE
Join print enthusiasts including collective Typ-ooo North (Bradford) and artists Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdottir (Iceland) and Małgorzata Warlikowska (Poland, pictured below) for a day-long analysis of the medium. In honour of printmaker Gwyneth Alban Davis, whose press is at this very moment being re-housed at UCLAN’s Artlab Contemporary Printmaking Studios.
Sound City @ Various Venues Across Liverpool – £60.50 (Weekend)/£32.45 (Day)
This metropolitan festival returns for its 11th year, spread across 20 venues in the city’s burgeoning Baltic Triangle. With an emphasis on, as their website says, “showcasing some of the very best bands and performers of their era”, don’t expect some of the ‘heritage’ big hitters of yesteryear, such as John Cale and the Human League. Do expect, however, a refresh, with the accent very much on uncovering your new favourite band, Superorganism (pictured), Wye Oak and Queen Zee & the Sasstones amongst them.
Sunday – Sounds From The Other City 3pm-4am @ Various Venues Across Salford — £27.75 ADV
The North-West is remarkably well-served in the way of music festivals this weekend. And, as with Sound City, Salford’s Sounds From The Other City festival (SFTOC) also looks to showcase the best of genres represented by reliable homegrown names and those on the cusp. Don’t miss Goat Girl, Bitowski, Bodies on Everest, Cavalier Song and Ex-Easter Island Head.
Laura Robertson & Mike Pinnington
