Culture Diary w/c 16-09-2024
Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from across Liverpool and beyond…
Monday – Exhibition Continues: David Jacques: The Cyborg Insects and the Sargasso; The Sargassum and the Entrepreneur (until 19 September) 12–4pm @ The Bridewell Studios & Gallery – FREE
As I’ve certainly said before, this artist-led space is currently Liverpool’s most vibrant and reliable independent exhibiting gallery. As such, I have no hesitation in recommending you pay a visit to this display of surreal, mythologically-inspired recent works by David Jacques (last seen, at least by me, in 2022′s Refractive Pool show at the Walker). Expect a surreal take on the climate crisis across collage, text and film.
The Long Goodbye 7.40pm @ FACT Liverpool – £8
New Hollywood firebrand Robert Altman adapts Raymond Chandler novel, The Long Goodbye, with Elliott Gould in the starring role as careworn gumshoe, Philip Marlowe. What’s not to love?
Tuesday – Exhibition Continues: The Flowers Still Grow @ Open Eye Gallery – FREE
An output of a multi-project collab between photographers, creative writers, and communities in Anfield and Garston, exhibition The Flowers Still Grow foregrounds the concerns, experiences, and aspirations of those communities in an exploration of local – and, in many ways, universal – issues.
Wednesday – RIBA Walking Tour: Waterfront Walk – £10
From the Pier Head to the Royal Albert Dock, expect insight and insider knowledge into the history of Liverpool’s many architectural wonders.
Thursday – Exhibition Opening: Into the Wyld – Chivalry 6pm @ Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead – FREE
Into the Wyld – a major artistic exploration of the medieval poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – continues this week with an interrogation of Chivalry (curated by John Elcock). Tonight’s opening includes Tender Knights, a performance by Craig Sinclair and Piotr Marchewka aiming to ‘queer the nature of chivalry’.
Liverpool Book Art: Art, Science and Creativity Curator Talk 5.30pm @ Central Library, Liverpool – FREE
This Central Library exhibition showcases a range of artists whose works on paper explore and respond to Einstein’s belief in creativity’s being crucial to explorations across the disciplines of art and science. Hear more about the show, its theme, and its artists in this evening’s free talk.
Friday –Plotting the Course @ the Bluecoat, Liverpool – FREE
The Bluecoat has long since put many of its city contemporaries and peers to shame when it comes to, among other things, the platforming of artists of colour. Plotting the Course, an ongoing exhibition taking stock of that history, features a plethora of archival programming materials, comprising posters, brochures, photography, publications and film.
Further Reading: Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton on the need to diversify
Omni 7.30pm @ Kazimier Stockroom, Liverpool – £17.60
Angular post-punk from Sub Pop-signed Omni. The trio tour their latest album, Souvenir, released to veritable raves earlier this year.
Saturday – KUČKA 7pm @ Quarry, Liverpool – £11
Hailing from Western Australia via the northwest of England and LA, producer KUČKA, AKA Laura Jane Lowther, has an impressive list of collabs, including SOPHIE, Kendrick Lamar, and Mount Kimbie. The electronic producer and songwriter takes centre-stage this evening.
Sunday – The Shape of Water 5pm @ FACT Liverpool – £8
Not my favourite of Guillermo del Toro’s, I must admit, but what do I know? A wyrd fable steeped in folklore, The Shape of Water won its Mexican filmmaker best director, among a throng of other Oscars – including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Cinematography – at the 2018 Academy Awards. It kicks off Picturehouse’s This Is Searchlight season, with subsequent screenings including Park Chan-Wook’s TDN fave, Stoker, and Chloé Zhao’s own multiple Oscar-winner, Nomadland.
Further Reading: Jason Wood on The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema; Park Chan-Wook – Six of the Best
Mike Pinnington
Images/media, from top: The Long Goodbye trailer; David Jacques/The Bridewell exhibition poster; the Pier Head from Albert Dock © Rob Battersby; Plotting the COurse, Bluecoat, © Rob Battersby; Omni, Souvenir Bandcamp
