space thought for
Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 February 2011
Crossing Borders
A programme of events designed to cross disciplinary, international and metaphorical borders, exploring the interaction between the arts and social sciences, with speakers including (clockwise from top left) Andrew Motion, Senay Özdemir, Elif Shafak, Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Lionel Shriver and Professor John Gray. Full details available online.
© JOHNNY RING
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in London
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Marilynne Robinson
Litro Events, January 2011
Explore stories under the light of a magic lantern, see the best of the latest talent put to celluloid, and wonder at lion’s dancing, as our new year gives way to the Chinese, in out inspiration-packed round-up of literary-themed events, edited by Alexander James.
Throughout January, The Last Tuesday Society. London’s quirkiest shop of books and quirky objects opens full time at 9 Mare Street, Hackney. Find antiquarian books among human fetuses to shrunken heads, chocolate anuses, carniverous plants, orchids and mutated teddy bears, not to mention a fine selection of speciality teas, broken children’s toys and dead plants. Watch out for its erotic lantern shows and story telling. British voyeurs of the late nineteeenth century had to suffice with the constraints of peering through a mutoscope simply to grab a glance of what the butler saw while their French counterpart could enjoy an entire lantern show of amours. See: “ www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org/shopevents.html”
11th Jan, The Book Club, Thinking and Drinking, 7pm. A celebration of the power and diversity of words featuring comedy from Marcel Lucont, music from Josienne Clarke and operatic sideshow Riding the Valkyrie. This event is packed full of comedians, writers, illustrators and artists bringing little Interrobang bursts of brilliance to us lucky viewers.see: “www.wearetbc.com”
12 January 2011 , London Lives, Museum of London Docklands, The Museum of London Docklands will be screening a series of short films about London as part of the London Short Film Festival 2011. The films have been directed, written and produced by some of London's most exciting new film makers.
13-15 January 2011, London Ice Sculpting Festival. See stories shaped in ice. Head over to Canada Square Park for the biggest and best ice Sculpting Festival ever! Teams of leading sculptors from around the world will battle it out to be crowned the ice sculpting champions for 2011. The theme of this year’s London Ice Sculpting Festival will be Love London, which will see the teams competing to showcase different aspects of London that make it one of the most exciting, vibrant cities in the world.
19 January - 25 April 2011, Tate Modern, Visit the Tate Modern and marvel at the largest presentation of Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco (b. 1962) in the UK. As a sculptor of global significance, Orozco’s inspiration comes from the histories of western and Latin American art practice. The exhibition will feature over 80 works, including a new installation never previously exhibited, and will focus on his experimentation with found objects, both natural and manmade, including La DS 1993, a classic Citroën DS car which the artist sliced into thirds, removing the central part to exaggerate its streamlined, aerodynamic design.
19th Jan, Book Club Boutique, 7pm, The Red Rattler, Soho. The Book Club Boutique is Soho’s hippest literary salon. The BCB motto is Books, Booze and BoogieWoogie and it’s unique every time, with Salena Godden as the resident poet and host, composing and performing something completely new at each event. Every event is themed and this is no square affair; there is dancing, merriment and mingling over cocktails, plus different DJ’s and live music. See: “www.redrattler.org”
22 January - 8 April 2011, Royal Opera House, Swan Lake. Ancient folklore put to dance. This production of one the most famous ballets in the world is sure to warm your heart. Anthony Dowl has created a Russian Imperial World, which was at the time the ballet was created. The classic love story accompanied by the instantly recognisable music of Tchaikovsky has been pulling at the heartstrings of audiences for more than 130 years.
30 Jan, Chinese New Year Activities, V & A Museum. Have some Chinese-themed fun at the V & A museum this January with a whole host of activities in honour of the Chinese New Year. Activities include a calligraphy and brush painting workshop, storytelling, Chinese paper-cutting workshop and touch and play music workshop. You can also take part in a Chinese costume show and watch as the London Jing Kun Opera perform a traditional lion dance to welcome in the New Year.
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Holland had thrown open its borders to people whose voices had been silenced in other parts of the world, to people who longed for freedom and came to this country or to similarly welcoming countries to lick their wounds. They wanted to live their lives in peaceful surroundings, in places such as Ommoord, Poggibonsi, Sint-Niklaas or Aarhus. Holland was the oasis Malik’s parents had been longing for.
Abdelkader Benali, May the sun shine tomorrow, page 38