Arts & Events: July 2009 Archives

The droopy economy has done a done a lot to perk up local loving this year. Staycationers are keeping busy spreading the local love by organising and attending fairs, fetes, festivals and fiestas all over the capital. This weekend sees a bit of a knees up on Hackney Downs in aid of Kids Company.

Hot from an encounter with a bag thief and Sharon Osbourne at the Dorchester, "It-boy and socialite" Emmanuel Ray was a picture of fabulousness with cheeky cocked hat presiding over a packed but compact Avista Bar at the Millennium Mayfair hotel. We went with no expectations and surprisingly had a lovely time. The socialites were hugely diverse in age as well as personal and professional background. We met a personal stylist, actors, Margot Fonteyn's chauffeur, representatives from the Gay Business Association and the Eccentrics' Club, photographers, fashion, media and eventsy types. There were beautiful dresses, modish haircuts, bar peanuts, cravats, cameras flashing, a Tiger Lily singing and business cards changing hands at a rate of knots.

Now here's something a bit different. An art exhibition entirely devoted to eels.

A Tradition I do not Mean to Break is an exhibition you should not mean to skip. Featuring new moving image works by David Blandy, Tereza Bušková and Henry Coombes, the exhibition explores cultural subjects near and dear to these three artists’ hearts. Blandy’s Mississipi minstrel film, Crossroads draws viewers in with serene imagery. Coombes ignites imaginations with his erotically charged period drama about English landscape and animal painter, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer. And, Bušková? Well, her film and photography of Slavic Easter rituals, (cockerel beheading ceremonies and whatnot) simply mesmerize.

The squish of a sodden soft toy underfoot as we are led carefully into six inches of water in a darkened, flooded studio theatre encapsulates the uncomfortable and unnerving atmosphere of A Lament For Medea. This short (under an hour) performance is stiflingly intimate; the hypnotic slosh of water, the keening songs of the performers, the proximity of everyone else dangling their feet in the pool is a coup by Zecora Ura. The setting is extraordinary and the intense, ritualistic performances throws all who enter into the limbo world of Medea, post-murder, pre-consequences.

There's a spirit of saving money in the air -- even The Guardian's getting in on the act, while this week came the announcement that London is no longer among the world's top ten most expensive cities. To rejoice or despair at this news? Be on the safe side and take in our preview of the coming week in cheap:

You want your comedy rough and unplaned as opposed to smooth and varnished? Then check out some of these nights for some excellent Edinburgh preview material.

The Montague Arms and Frog Morris will be serving up a delicious weekend warm up in New Cross this evening. Victor Mount will be providing art, music and brown sauce sandwiches and audience members can also win the chance to dine for free on a giant sausage roll!

Wanna carry around a picture of a nude lady without accusations of perversion? Or are you more sophisticated than us, and crave knowledge about your favourite masterpieces while on the move? Either way, the National Gallery's new mobile application 'Love Art' is worth downloading.

So, the weather's putting you off going outside and enjoying all London's free lunchtime entertainment, is it? Well, here's an indoor londonist lunchtime to whet your appetites. And there's a free sarnie included in the price too. What more could you want?

      

Skystation, a "new concept in public seating", has opened outside the Hayward Gallery.

Felt a distinct lack of tweed in your life recently? Fret not, gentle readers, for the Chap Olympiad is almost upon us, bringing period costume, 'sporting' events and other genteel silliness to Bedford Square Gardens this Saturday.

Between the weather, the plinth and the Ashes, we're wondering if you have room for any more excitement in your London lives this week. Ahh, there's always room for just a little bit more...

Isn't it great when you hear a song and love it straight away? A band we'd never heard of wandered into our inbox this morning, and this afternoon sees us scouring the net for more about them. Cymbals Eat Guitars have got a fresh sound: it kind of blended with today's smell of wet pavements and got into our head. If that makes sense. Great lyrics too.

The Wellcome Collection throws open its doors on Friday for an evening of "diagnoses and cures" with all manner of delightful (and not so delightful) talks and curiosities to divert you.

Tucked away in the high-end designer Village in Westfield you'll find the final exhibit in a trilogy from British photographer Terry O'Neill in association with Getty Images. Entitled 'Behind The Scenes', these intimate photos of iconic celebrities are a far cry from the pap-trash we're more accustomed to, instead harking back to a golden era when true celebrities were few and far between, not mass produced from countless reality tv shows.

       

It could have been yesterday’s gloomy, drizzly weather or maybe just the cold feet that accompanies the thought of bopping about the City of London in your underwear. Whatever the case, those that donned less than usual for the Pants Amnesty at the Royal Exchange numbered in the dozens and not the thousands. Still, what they may have lacked in numbers they more than made up for in sheer enthusiasm. Their commitment to the anti-Endosulfan cause (which according to a comment left on our preview post is misguided) is impressive. Pants off to you!

The first Ashes test begins today, but what with television rights to the series now gobbled up entirely by Sky, those without a subscription to Murdoch's empire are sh*t out of luck when it comes to watching at home. Fortunately, this being a summer event and all, there are screens around the city where you can catch all the action.

Celebrating 'normal' people in art is this summer's big thing: we've got the plinth and now flowerbeds in the five Olympics-hosting boroughs for artist Joshua Sofaer's Rooted in the Earth. There's been much amusement and curiosity about who has been paid tribute in floral form; all of the names were nominated for their generosity, spirit and inspiration along with lack of recognition, and were part of Sofaer's exploration of the notion of reward.

"You're a quiet audience," says Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, addressing a packed Roundhouse on the sixth night of the iTunes Festival in Camden. Given the random mix of die-hard fans and casual visitors here tonight, for a few minutes perhaps he has a point. But after opening with Do You Want To, rolling through No You Girls and then playing This Fire at about 100 miles an hour, everyone starts paying attention.

In a pop world rather obsessed with electro girls, VV Brown has somewhat got lost despite her bag full of brilliant songs. From the Monster Mash should have been #1 of 'Crying Blood' to new single 'Shark in the Water', her mix of 50s doo wop and modern pop has certainly pricked up our ears. Even if music doesn't totally work out for her (which it should) her sense of style and fashion hasn't gone un-noticed with her recent launch of the very cool-y named VV Vintage boutique. We grabbed five with the gorgeous star:

Your host is a deeply not-great local comedian by the name of Karl Edrik. Let's just say he's no Terry Wogan. Although a large portion of the kids seem to come from the same "Eyes and Teeth, Boys and Girls!" stage school there is a distinct lack of pushy parents and hissing at opponents that you might expect at such an event; the laid-back atmosphere of Champion Hall (a small community centre-cum-church) helping to put everyone at ease.

This week's tip for a London lunchtime with a difference is over at Canary Wharf. Each lunchtime this week, Canada Square Park welcomes performers from the City of London Festival, and a very lively bunch they sound too.

Tomorrow around 1pm, thousands of people from around the world (including some undisclosed celebs) are expected to descend upon the Royal Exchange for (as far as Londonist can ascertain) the world’s first ever Pants Amnesty. The idea is to show up at with a pair of “bad pants” and to change into a free pair of more humane and eco-friendly undies. Organized by makers of fair-trade and organic cotton underwear, the event is part of global campaign to “rid the world of bad pants” and to raise awareness about the highly toxic insecticide, Endosulfan. Despite it being banned in 62 countries (including the European Union), Endosulfan is still in widespread use in many developing countries, on crops like cotton, soy, coffee, tea and vegetables.

   

Sometimes we hear of an idea that's so brilliantly simple, we wonder why nobody's tried it before. And so it is with the Invisible Library exhibition at Tenderpixel on Cecil Court.

Yesterday we offered you opera al fresco, today it's laughs in the park. The nice organisers at Ealing Council are offering you 2 lots of comedy prizes to tempt you to their manor.

This exhibition is a retrospective of the work of Jan Kaplicky; architect, designer and co-founder of Future Systems, probably the most daringly futuristic practices of our time. You will be familiar with their work; Oxford Street's New Look flagship store is a Future Systems commission, as is Floating Bridge in the Docklands and most famously the media centre at Lords cricket ground.

As both Noel Gallagher and Glasto fans know, it's pretty hard to upstage Jay-Z. Yet that's just what Hornsey's Sway DaSafo did in November 2005 by unexpectedly winning the MOBO for Best Hip Hop Act, despite at that time being largely unknown outside certain parts of north London, and having yet to release an album.

          

A week after London's minimalist Stonewall celebrations, London's Pride Parade took over town yesterday afternoon. There are grumbles that it's been depoliticised and some were unhappy at the growing commercialisation of the colourful event (Selfridges and Calvin Klein taking advantage). But Gordon and Sarah Brown hosted a morning reception at no. 10 for Pride organisers and the pink press and the usually backstage Mrs Brown was at the vanguard of the march down Oxford Street. It's estimated up to 500,000 people gathered to party in Trafalgar Square in the blazing sun. Boris couldn't make it but his deputy, Richard Barnes, urged London to be "out and proud everyday".

Last week we highlighted some of the brilliant local festivals going on around the boroughs this summer and we got some great tip offs in response, telling us about even more great happenings that hadn't yet hit our radar. And so we share:

Yesterday, Ealing's vast programme of summer festivities rolled into action at Greenford Carnival. The fun runs on until the Mela on 16 August and there's a dazzling array of entertainments to choose from and we've got a pair of tickets to giveaway.

Facing a losing battle in their fight to preserve Seventies-vintage housing block Robin Hood Gardens, the 20th Century Society and RIBA have gone on the offensive with a photography show dedicated to showing the building in its best possible light.

Oh my. It's like being 16 again. Alex is shaking his fringe, Damon's doing the 'walking geezer' dance in his Fred Perry shirt, Dave is... well, Dave's drumming isn't he, and Graham is just being the coolest bastard on the planet. Yes friends, it's Blur, and they're back in London.

Taking a staycation? No holiday at all? Locked in London for the rest of the sweltering summer? Hooray! You can come to the Camden Fringe. Bigger, better and more pigeony than ever before, the sparky young pretender to the deranged and sprawling Ed Fest throne bursts out all over Camden from 3 to 30 August with 399 performances of 118 different shows across 4 venues.

         

Last night the Architectural Association officially launched their summer pavilion in Bedford Square.

Across three of the hottest nights of the year, this summer’s inaugural Serpentine Sessions presented three altogether more wintry headliners: New York’s Russian ice queen Regina Spektor, the snow-bound Bon Iver, and tonight Nottingham’s glummest sons, Tindersticks.

Following on from our review of the opening night, and our earlier preview of the Buzz Aldrin talk, here's a quick rundown on some of the other highlights from the festival.

The London Literature Festival 2009 kicked off at the Southbank Centre last night with the author and political activist Arundhati Roy in a discussion on the idea of democracy. The last time she was here was to pick up the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things.

Vicky Richardson, editor of Blueprint magazine, must enjoy stirring up trouble. Weeks after admitting she was the one who yelled out "abolish the monarchy!" during Prince Charles' RIBA speech, the magazine she edits has responded to Boris Johnson's call for ideas on public space by, err, calling for a picnic.

       

Previewed earlier in the year at the Design Museum's Super Contemporary exhibition, Wayne Hemingway's KiosKiosk was officially opened today outside City Hall.

If you enjoyed the Transport Museum's Art of the Poster exhibition and are a dab hand at design yourself then you've got just over 3 weeks left to enter the Poster Design Competition which is being run by the Museum, TFL and the London Design Festival.

If, like us, you are of 'a certain age' (i.e., over 30) then you'll be wetting your pants with joy at the prospect of seeing Stewart Lee and Simon Munnery on the same bill.

There are things you can do that won't cost a lot

Some of Londonist's favourite club nights have been organised by an entity called Soundcrash. Multi-media, shiny, flashing, musical extravaganzas, with sounds and video and stuff flying at you from all directions. Party nights with knobs on.

Today sees the opening of the Madonna Nudes exhibition in Covent Garden, set to coincide with the London leg of her Sticky & Sweet tour. Taken in 1979 whilst Madonna was struggling to pay her way through dance school, the photos are being displayed here for the first time to commemorate their 30th anniversary.

Ooh it's been a little while since we've checked out London's best new club nights hasn't it. Well fortunately we've been spurred into action by one of our favourites celebrating a successful first 6 months. Since it launched in February, the Boogaloo's monthly Recession has proved itself to be a must for the credit crunch clubber. The idea is simple - you pay money to get in, but for every hour you stay you get a £1. Tonight is a little different as they've teamed up with Trekstock to put on an extra special night featuring the lovely Alessi's Ark.

We're not entirely sure what we think of Kid British. On one hand their new single 'Our House is Dadless' makes us run away screaming thanks to its use of Madness' untouchable 'Our House'. It would probably work much better if Suggs didn't actually kick in during the chorus. On another they are quite fun and summery and well they are offering us free tickets for you to go and see them at the iTunes festival. Hurrah. The best thing about this prize is that Kid British are supporting Mr Hudson, who's ditched his 'library' and been hanging about with Kanye since his last album so you get to see him too.

Surbiton. Famous for a rather dashing art deco train station and being a byword for suburbia. But we've been tipped off about a good thing happening there, in late summer, involving dressing up, lush consumption, a big old party and raising money for a very worthwhile cause. Here's the lowdown:

Every brand and his fisherman friend are teaming up to look cool and sponsor music events at the moment. We're half expecting an Asda Shoppers Choice set of concerts featuring an Emma Bunton comeback to pop up any day soon, but for now we've got news of an old favourite, Levi's, returning to the world of music.