Culture Diary w/c 01-06-2015
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Tuesday – Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Verses After Dusk 9-6pm @ Serpentine Gallery, London – FREE
Using the traditional medium of oil painting, London-based artist Yiadom-Boakye reconsiders the meaning of contemporary painting in analytical detail. Through the depiction of timeless and enigmatic figures, this survey exhibition raises questions of identity, representation and even takes of the shortcomings of art history itself.
Wednesday – Biennial Talk: Céline Condorelli In Conversation With Rosie Cooper 6.30pm @ The Bluecoat, Liverpool — FREE
The already much anticipated Liverpool Biennial 2016 is on the horizon – tonight join the festival’s Head of Programmes, Rosie Cooper, and London and Milan-based artist, Céline Condorelli, for the third in a series of ‘in conversations’ to propose and discuss ways of working towards next year’s big event. Topics will include object as props, how the exhibition might be set and how the role of conversation can be vital to the production of art.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Thursday – Exhibition Opening: Build Your Own: Tools For Sharing 11-6pm @ FACT Liverpool – FREE
3D printers, advanced prosthetics and robot gardeners – once dreams of the future, now just some of the very present technologies on display in FACT’s latest multi-layered exhibition. With new commissions by 2015 Turner Prize nominees Assemble, plus Will Shannon, Linda Brothwell, Rachael Rayn and DoES Liverpool, we are invited to reconsider the potential of modern day skill-sharing, the democratisation of tools and how traditional craft skills can be utilised in new and ever advancing technologies.
BFI Flipside: Deep End (1971) 7.30pm @ A Small Cinema, Liverpool – £3
As part of BFI’s Flipside of British Cinema Season, this darkly comic and deeply surreal coming of age drama has, as film critic David Thomson puts it, all the ‘sting of a punch on the nose’. Set around the local swimming baths of North-East London, we follow 15 year-old Mike (the young swimming pool attendant) as he falls into a deep obsession with an attractive young woman — leading to a downward spiral of relationship sabotage, stalking and, eventually, murder.
Friday – Sheffield Doc/Fest @ Various Venues Across Sheffield – £180 Day Pass
Described as the ‘Cannes for documentary people’ (IndieWire), Doc/Fest brings together the best factual and digital content filmmakers have to offer over six jam-packed days. Continuing its dedication to experienced, debut and student filmmakers, the festival will provide a jam packed programme of masterclasses, Q&As and screenings from the likes of Danny Leigh, Jeanie Finlay, John Akomfrah, Benedikt Erlingsson and Joshua Oppenheimer. And if that’s not enough, this year sees the welcome return of the African Skate Charge: Roller Disco ensuring that the festival entertains, enlightens and inspires in equal measures.
The Hudsucker Proxy 7.30pm @ Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool – £12-£25
Adapted from the Coen brothers defining and exuberant romantic comedy, directors Simon Dormandy and Toby Sedgwick inject a fresh theatricality to this original 1994 film. With a set lovingly and inventively crafted, this performance ‘highlights the Coens’ debt to 1920s American theatre’ (The Guardian). Amidst big business, we witness a clumsy graduate as he is placed in charge of manufacturing company; however, this initial naivety is perhaps a little more than deceiving.
Saturday – Liverpool Arab Arts Festival @ Venues Across Liverpool — Ticket Prices Vary
Celebrating the unique perspective Arabic artists have to offer the world, this year’s theme – Shaping Change: A Work in Progress – is explored through a plethora of theatre performances, films, music, visual arts and discussions to highlight the positive and inspiring aspects of Arabic art. Throughout this exciting nine-day line-up, national and international artists and speakers – such as Yemeni rapper Amani Yahya, artist Rachel Gadsden, percussionist Simona Abdallah and artist Elaine Stapleton – will exhibit and converse to discuss and visualise how Arabic artists respond to contemporary changes from within.
Sunday – Young Fathers 7.30pm @ The Kazimier, Liverpool – £10 ADV
Since winning last year’s prestigious Mercury Prize, the musical ascent of this Edinburgh-based hip-hop combo is showing no sign of slowing down. As part of their UK wide tour (see here for more dates) in support of their latest album, White Men are Black Men Too, expect tonight’s performance is set to be ‘visceral, propulsive and bursting with life’ (Mojo) with a powerful dose of ‘narcotically twisted beats, gospel infused vocals and surreal wordplay’ (Uncut).
Heather Garner
Keen to hear about the best art, design, film and music events happening in Liverpool April-June 2015? Download the PDF version of our NEW, printed Culture Diary here
