Culture Diary w/c 10-12-2018
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 – Why Rachael Low Matters 6.30pm @ BFI Reuben Library, London – £6.50
It’s a fact impossible to ignore that cinema suffers from a gender imbalance issue, with female actors, writers, directors and other film workers perennially short-changed compared to their male counterparts. Tonight, the BFI foregrounds a largely forgotten figure responding to early British cinema, historian Rachael Low, co-author of the first volume of The History of the British Film (published in 1948). Low’s overlooked contribution is discussed by Ian Christie, Luke McKernan and Sarah Street.
Tuesday – Victorian Ghostly and Theatrical Tales 9.45pm @ Liverpool Playhouse – £4
From Dickens to M. R. James, the Victorian ghost story remains a great Christmas staple, doesn’t it? Thrill seekers, mark Tuesdays leading up to the holiday in your diary, as the Playhouse celebrates seasonal (mild) terror. Using the venue as a character in its own right, we are invited to partake in “cautionary tales about the strange things that lurk in the dark corners of our theatre and beyond”.
Wednesday – Sounds and Silence Cinema: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) 7pm @ Jacaranda Records Phase One, Liverpool – £10
Winter seems a suitable time to screen Robert Wiene’s 1920 expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, and its striking, highly stylised visuals, full of dark shadows and dread – a reflection of 1920s German angst. In 2014, the film received a sumptuous restoration (described by critic Philip French as “probably the best version of the film anyone alive has seen”). Accompanied tonight by a live score from composer and improvising pianist Tony Judge, audiences could well be in for an atmospheric treat.
Thursday – Queen Zee 8.30pm @ 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool – £7
Self-described “local punk weirdos”, Liverpool’s Queen Zee announced their arrival with last year’s debut single, Sissy Fists. Since then they’ve recorded a session at Maida Vale for Huw Stephens’ Radio One new music show, and come to the attention of Iggy Pop no less after a dispute over a sample of I Wanna Be Your Dog on the song Lucy Fur (geddit?). Pop has since described the band as “strange, weird & crazy.” See – and hear – for yourself this Thursday, as Queen Zee give a first play of their debut long-player ahead of its release next year.
Friday – The Fernweh 7pm @ Arts Club Liverpool – £8
Back-to-back gigs supporting debut albums this week as obstinately under-the-radar folk combo The Fernweh bring in the weekend with this Arts Club show. Despite themselves, the trio have increasingly come to the attention and gleaned the support of the likes of Cerys Matthews, Guy Garvey, and Gideon Coe of BBC 6 Music. Citing influences as far ranging as Fairport Convention and Joy Division, their sound is a refreshing palette cleanser; in the face of ubiquitous Christmas-themed dross, and much else besides.
Saturday – Exhibition Opening: ARTIST ROOMS: Robert Mapplethorpe @ The Atkinson, Southport – FREE
“You drew me from the darkest period of my young life, sharing with me the sacred mystery of what it is to be an artist.” So said Patti Smith in a letter written to Robert Mapplethorpe, whose 2010 memoir Just Kids documents the pair’s relationship, and perhaps brought Mapplethorpe to the attention of new audiences eager to discover his work. The Atkinson’s presentation of the ARTIST ROOMS collection – which includes his iconic portraits of artists, writers and musicians (Smith among them), and his documenting of the New York S&M scene – will be a feast for fans old and new.
Sunday – One World Pop-Up Football Giveaway! 12pm @ Chavasse Park, Liverpool – FREE
Proof that art and football can co-exist, One World is a commission by artist Mark Wallinger, which marks this year’s centenary of the First World War. Riffing on the famous Christmas truce football matches between those on opposing sides of the trenches, the project is manifested this weekend in an 90-minute event giving away limited edition footballs designed by Wallinger.
Mike Pinnington
Images, from top: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920); Queen Zee; Robert Mapplethorpe, Patrice #2, 1977 (detail)
