Pick of the Week 24.4.09

Welcome to Pick of the Week. Here's your guide to all that’s good to see, listen to, and do for the last week in April. This week there's a frenzy of film, theatre, art and some night-time fun for you, all recommended by our wise and well-informed gang of Artsbloggers.

Film– Chosen by Joanne
'East End Lives' Dir: Hazuan Hashim / Phil Maxwell
Rich Mix, Saturday 25th April, 6pm

Showing as part of the East End Film Festival 2009, this is a fresh and compelling exploration of the East End by an eclectic group of individuals who were born or have spent most of their lives there, all living in social housing on former Council Estates. A question and answer session with the Director follows. The festival kicked-off yesterday and runs until 30th April, focusing (as the name suggests), on London’s East End, and featuring an inspiring mix of homegrown filmmaking talent alongside larger independent releases.




Event - Chosen by Carly
DIY WOMP at 93 Feet East, Brick Lane, London
30th April 2009

DIY WOMP (Do It Yourself Word Of Mouth Promotions) are a lovely arts-y/music-y collective hailing from Watford originally. Working both there and in London, they help to connect and promote artists and musicians of all sorts and shapes through magical word of mouth - see what they did there?

On April 30th, they are having a spanky fun night in London at 93 Feet East in Brick Lane. The theme is 'Seeing Pink Elephants', and the place will be full of fabulous new art and joyous new music. It starts at 7pm and best of all, it's free, free, FREE! Go, go, go!




Exhibition – Chosen by Rosalie
Ran Huang and Nika Oblak & Primož Novak
VIVID, 140 Heath Mill Lane, Birmingham
30 April-16 May, Free

This show presents new work produced during the artists’ Spring residencies at VIVID. Huang has created a moving image piece that examines the relationship between East and West from a comically absurd slant. Nika Oblak and Primož Novak have previously toured the globe taking amusing pictures of themselves shearing sheep, drinking beer and pushing wheelbarrows. Sounds like fun. Here they have created a billboard displaying pictures of themselves, and then hidden it in the middle of a Welsh forest. Even more fun. If you’re anywhere near the Midlands, go and check it out.




Workshops - Chosen by Alison
V & A Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
Wednesdays from 15 April, 14.00-17.00
Free, drop-in

A series of open afternoons are running at the V&A Digital Studio at the moment, excellent for those of us with computers that creak or if you wanted to try something new. As their website says: ‘one afternoon a week the digital studio will open to allow visitors to drop-in, experiment and play. Explore the V&A collections using digital technology, create a digital drawing, try your hand at composing a piece of music or simply come and chat to one of the team.’ This kind lady pictured might even be there to help you out.




Exhibition - Chosen by Lisa and Frank
Cindy Sherman at Sprüth Magers, London
16th April – 27th May

Some had feared that Sherman's work was running a bit dry, as she has been using the same basic idea for years now. However, her newest self-portrait photography is still rather stunningly perfect, capturing colour and texture in such an unreal way that the images look almost like beautifully detailed paintings. Definitely worth having a look.




Festival - Chosen by Sam
Accidental Festival 2009
The Roundhouse, 22nd – 24th May

The Accidental Festival is produced and managed by students from the Performance Arts Pathway at The Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. Now in its forth year, the festival is happening at the Roundhouse this time around. An impressive selection of performers are involved, including Artichoke’s Helen Marriage and BAC’s David Jubb, and there’s a series of intriguing-looking discussions taking place too. Billed as a ‘celebration of talent, eccentricity and innovation’ in the arts, this should be of interest to practitioners and the just-vaguely-curious alike.




Gig – Chosen by Rosalie
Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard
Touring UK and beyond
22nd April – 16th May

New York comic-book maker and musician Jeffrey Lewis is back in the UK (and then on to France, Germany, Switzerland and Holland) touring his new album. His website describes his music as ‘lysergic garage rock’ and ‘tragi-comic folk’ (meaning...erm?), but really, don’t let that put you off. He’s toured with the likes of Devendra Banhart and Beth Orton, the tunes he makes are great, and his lyrics make you wish you were his friend. How many musicians can make you laugh out loud while they sing about devastating heartbreak, bringing down the capitalist system and doing too much acid? There are hand- illustrated projections to accompany this tour too. Go and see him!