Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from around the UK – and most of it’s free!
Tuesday – Auntie Sharon Tribute / Queer City: London Club Culture 1918–1967 7pm @ The Caravan @ Freud Bar, London — £8
Hosted by award-winning activist, academic, performer and writer Dan Glass, expect an evening paying tribute to queer people and activist groups who lived before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967. Part of a recreation of queer-friendly club The Caravan – “London’s most bohemian rendezvous” – by the National Trust and The National Archives, which includes tours and talks, this is a significant commission to remember very recent (and still shocking) history; when being openly gay meant jail-time or enforced medication (pictured, below: a Police raid on a queer venue in Fitzroy Square, 1927).
Wednesday – How To Write An Artist Statement: Back-to-Basics Writing Class 10am—5pm @ Heart of Glass Workspace, St Helens — £0-6
Taking part in an exhibition soon? Think your website’s ‘about’ page could do with a revamp? Being able to clearly communicate and contextualise artwork is essential for any practicing artist — yet can be difficult and stressful. This practical and friendly day-long workshop run by (me) TDN editor Laura Robertson welcomes artists wishing to get to grips with their work, ideas and wider intellectual concerns through writing. And it’s free for St Helens residents!
Exhibition Opening: Oliver Beer 11am—5pm @ IKON, Birmingham — FREE
Probably the most exciting work in this new show from young British artist Oliver Beer (b.1985) is a special commission by IKON, made by 2,500 children from the Birmingham area. Entitled Reanimation (I Wan’na be Like You) (2017), toddlers to teenagers have each redrawn a single film still from Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book; the twist being that the frames are played back in order of the children’s ages, so that the animation progresses from scribbles to more ‘grown up’ pictures as the film is played.
Panel Discussion: History: Northern Peripheries 6.30—8pm @ The Bluecoat, Liverpool — £4/3
As the Bluecoat (pictured below) is currently celebrating an incredible 300th birthday, this is a great chance to hear the experts discuss its key progressive (and sometimes provocative) exhibitions and art events since the 1970s. Join Dr Michael Birchall (Liverpool John Moores University & Tate Liverpool), Professor Julie Sheldon (LJMU), Gabriel Gee (Franklin University, Switzerland and author of Art in the North of England, 1979-2008), Anjalie Dalal-Clayton (Black Artists and Modernism project), and Public View curator and Bluecoat stalwart Bryan Biggs.
Thursday – Bodies Saying Words: Jesper List Thomsen And Hanne Lippard @ Grand Union, Birmingham – FREE
Consider the power of language in art tonight with a special evening of poetry readings by artists. Taking as a starting point “embodied language”, expect artist Jesper List Thomsen to present Avoiding The Genius: thinking about what eight sculptures from Palermo, Sicily, have to say about the body. Plus c u l8tr elevator: a performance by Hanne Lippard on etiquette, or the “makeup of politeness in language”.
Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night 8—11pm @ Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – SOLD OUT
Now famous for his entertaining book The Psychopath Test (pictured below), hear more from journalist and author Jon Ronson tonight about what makes a psychopath, and do they actually rule the world? Ronson will be joined by intriguing special guests who may – or may not — be psychopaths. A quick Google on Mary Turner Thomson and Eleanor Longden is an eye opener… Part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival (until 26 March). Read our Big Interview with Ronson here.
Saturday – Tomboy (2011) 2—4pm @ Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool – FREE (No Booking Required)
Described as “tender and affectionate” by the Chicago Sun-Times, Céline Sciamma’s drama Tomboy (main image) follows 10-year-old girl Laure, the new kid in town who presents herself as Michaël when her family move house. How will she change as she gets to know her new group of mainly male friends, who all think she’s a boy? Part of Andrew Fekete’s current exhibition in the first floor gallery, Out of Time (see it until 22 April 2017).
PICK OF THE WEEK: Have A Go At Pottery Throwing 2—3pm @ Harris Makerspace, Harris Museum & Library, Preston – FREE (Booking Essential)
This is for anyone who’s been enjoying BBC Two programme The Great Pottery Throw Down. An hour-long workshop run by Throw Down winner Matthew Wilcock’s dad Geoff — who has worked in UCLan’s ceramics department for over 30 years — all beginners are welcome and all clay and equipment is provided. Part of Harris Makerspace, which wants to encourage ways of contemporary info sharing as an essential resource for 21st century libraries.
Irish Liverpool 8–10pm @ St Georges Hall, Liverpool — £16.50
An alternative St Patrick’s Day? Performed in the magnificent surrounds of St Georges Hall’s concert room, this quiet dramatisation of Liverpool’s Irish ancestry includes historically-accurate short stories — researched by LoveHistory and the University of Liverpool’s History department. Hear what it was like to emigrate following the Great Famine: mass starvation and disease that struck Ireland between 1845 and 1852.
Sunday — Masterclass With Anne Sofie von Otter (Mezzo-Soprano) 7—10pm @ Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester – FREE (Booking Essential)
Fancy a singing lesson from Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (pictured above)? This public masterclass has been squeezed into the international opera singer’s very busy rehearsal schedule, as she prepares for the UK première of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel at the Royal Opera House; a fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the world’s greatest.
Laura Robertson, Editor