What’s On * Wildlife Photographer of the Year
imjussayin’s guide to what’s on recommends Wild Life Photographer of the Year, Beyond Nollywood and Dream Girls
KIMPA VITA: The Mother of African Revolution
Peckhamplex | 11 Nov 2016
In the Great Kingdom of Kongo, at the time of slavery, a fearless young woman decides to fight for her country. Tragically she and is burned alive on the 2nd of July 1706. She remembered throughout her Kingdom as, Kimpa Vita: The Mother of the African Revolution
After show talk Q & A with the film director Ne Kunda NLaba
Performances: 20:00 | Running Time 71 minutes
Tickets £7:00 | Concs from £7
Peckhamplex
95a Rye LaneSE15 4ST
SE15 4ST
Lonnie Holley
Cafe OTO | 11 & 12 Nov 2016
Sixty-something Holley is a folk artist from Alabama who creates sculptures out of trash, and his music has a similar aesthetic – rough, difficult, improvised and dipping into whatever he can find for inspiration. The result is a mesmerising mixture of soul, jazz lo-fi hip hop and folk.
Performance 20:00
Tickets £14, adv £12.50, mems £10
Cafe OTO
18–22 Ashwin street
E8 3DL
+44 20 7923 1231
hello@cafeoto.co.uk
The Hotel Cerise
Theatre Royal Stratford East | To 12 Nov 2016
By Bonnie Greer Inspired by Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.
While, America’s first black president his set to end his eight years in office, Anita Mountjoy risks losing her family’s beloved hotel and cherry orchard.
Bonnie Greer’s new play is T he Hotel Cerise. It is was a famous retreat for middle-class black people during the time of segregation. It’s a landmark and symbol: a place where Black America once felt welcome and safe.
Are the family keepers of its proud history or simply trapped by its ghosts?
Stars include Ellen Thomas and Angela Wynter
Performances: 19:30
Previews: £12/£15 (20 – 24 Oct)
Sat eves £12 – £25
All other shows £12 – £22
Tickets from £12:00
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Gerry Raffles Square
London E15 1BN
Box Office 020 8534 0310
A Man Of Good Hope
Young Vic | To 12 Nov 2016
Asad is a young Somali refugee with a painful past, miraculously good luck and a brilliant head for business. After years in a refugee camp and then learning to hustle in the streets of Ethiopia, he sets off for the promised land of South Africa. But when he arrives, he discovers the violent reality of life in the townships – and his adventures begin.
Asad’s story is told through song and dance.
Music by the critically-acclaimed South African Isango Ensemble
Performances: 19:30 & 14:30
Tickets from £10
Young Vic
66 The Cut
Waterloo SE1 8LZ
020 7922 2922
Oliver Samuels in Guilt Trip
Broadway Theatre | 12 – 13 Nov 2016
Guilt Trip is a comedy-drama about secrets kept. A long time ago a woman acted out of fear and expediency. The woman’s decision continues to haunt her and impact on the lives of those around her. the. Historical secrets are hard to face and so hard to resolve.
Guilt Trip reminds you that knowledge of your past can turn out to be cruel and emotionally draining, but it can also be a powerful and invigorating force.
Performances 20:00
Tickets from £30
The Broadway Theatre
Lewisham
SE6 4RU
020 8690 0002
What’s On * Beyond Nollywood
BFI Southbank | 18 – 20 Nov 2016
A 3-day programme of international Nigerian cinema showcasing a new crop of filmmakers who are revolutionising the industry – beyond Nollywood!
From arthouse to documentary, animation and experimental films; Beyond Nollywood.
My programme list picks
Saturday 19th Nov
Silent Tears: How the ‘war’ on prostitution in the Nigerian capital of Abuja has led to the victimisation of innocent women.
Dir: Ishaya Bako 30min/Nigeria/2015/ Pidgin English with Subtitles
A Man Called Dad (Novel by Helon Habila): Four London-based fathers narrate their experiences, challenges and triumphs as parents.
Dir: Cherish Oteka 10min/UK/2015
I Believe in Pink : In a crowded market on the Lagos mainland, John runs a thriving beauty business making men beautiful by tattooing their lips.
Dir: Victoria Thomas 5min/UK/Nigeria/2016
Henna: 13-year-old Reina has dreams but in her village young girls are married off at a young age. Will her voice be heard?
Dir: Ishaya Bako 22min/ Nigeria/2015/ Hausa with Subtitles
Mrs. Bolanle Benson: 60-year-old Bolanle Benson has a secret rendezvous with her lover.
Dir. Sade Adeniran 3min/UK/201
Programme List and bookings.
BFI Southbank
South Block
Belvedere Rd
London SE1 8XT
020 7928 3232
The Red Barn
Lyttelton Theatre | To 19 Nov 2016
A psychological thriller set in a New England farmhouse.
On their way back from a party, two couples struggle home through the snow. Not everyone arrives safely…
Performances: 19:30 & 14:15
Tickets £26 – £60
National Theatre
Upper Ground
South Bank
SE1 9PX
020 7452 3000
What’s On *Dream Girls
Savoy Theatre | 19 Nov 2016 – 11 March 2016
Inspired by R&B music acts in 1960s America, Dreamgirls transports you to a revolutionary time in American music history. Dreamgirls charts the tumultuous journey of a young female singing trio, from Chicago, Illinois called ‘The Dreams’. They learn the hard lesson that show business is as tough as it is fabulous.
Features the classic songs ‘And I Am You I’m Not Going’, ‘I Am Changing’, ‘Listen ‘and ‘One Night Only’.
Performances:19:50
Matinee:14:30
Tickets from £15 plus £3 booking fee
Savoy Theatre
Savoy Court
Strand WC2R 0ET
Pigeon English
Ambassadors Theatre | To 22 Nov 2016
Pigeon English looks at the sometimes harsh reality of adulthood in modern-day Britain. Inspired by one of the most compelling events in modern history.
In the shadows of concrete, high-rises, eleven-year-old Harri is walking a tightrope towards manhood. Events quickly spiral out of his control and the world will never be the same again.
Running time 90 minutes
Performances 19:30 & 14:30
Tickets from £17.50
Ambassadors Theatre
West Street
WC2H 9ND
020 73955
The Royale – A Bush Theatre Production
The Tabernacle | To 26 November 2016
Based on Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world.
Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But it’s 1905 and, in the racially segregated world of boxing, his chances are as good as knocked out. Told in six rounds and set in a boxing ring, The Royale is inspired by the often overlooked story of Jack Johnson, a boxer who–at the height of the Jim Crow era–became the most famous and the most notorious black man on Earth.
Performance 19:00
Saturday Matinees: 12, 19, 26 November
Tickets from £15
The Tabernacle
35 Powis Square
off Portobello Road
London W11 2AY
Tel: 0207 221 9700
Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds
British Museum | To 27 Nov 2016
Vanished beneath the waters of the Mediterranean, the lost cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus lay at the mouth of the Nile. Thonis-Heracleion was one of Egypt’s most important commercial centres for trade with the Mediterranean world and, with Canopus, was a major centre for the worship of the Egyptian gods. Their surprising discovery is transforming our understanding of the deep connections between the great ancient civilisations of Egypt and Greece.
Preserved and buried under the sea for over a thousand years, the beautiful objects in the exhibition range from great colossal statues to intricate gold jewellery. Sacred offerings and ritual objects reveal the cult of Osiris – the god of the underworld who held the promise of eternal life. They tell stories of political power and popular belief, myth, and migration, gods, and kings. Journey through centuries of encounters between two celebrated cultures, meeting iconic historical figures such as Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Hadrian and Antinous on the way.
Entry 10.00 – 17.30
Adults £16.50, under 16s free
Tickets £16.50
44 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
One Night In Miami…(Reviewed)
Donmar Theatre | To 03 Dec 2016
Before they were icons, they were friends.
25 February 1964: 22-year-old Cassius Clay (soon to become Muhammad Ali) has just won the world heavyweight boxing title. Instead of hitting the town, he chooses to celebrate in a Miami hotel room with three close friends – activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke, and American football star Jim Brown.
This fictional account of a real night imagines what might have happened in that tiny hotel room. As the Civil Rights movement stirs outside, and the melody of ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ hangs in the air, four men will emerge from that one night ready to define a new world.
Performances: 19:45 & 14;30
Running time 70 minutes – no interval
Tickets £10 – £40
Donmar Theatre
41 Earlham Str
WC2H 9LX
0844 871 7624
Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Royal Observatory | To 23 Dec 2016
Come and be inspired by the annual free exhibition of stunning space photography
Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year is the biggest international competition of its kind, annually showcasing spectacular images shot by astrophotographers worldwide.
For a taste of past exhibits and a preview of this year’s contestants click on the link
Opening hours: Daily 10am-5pm (last admission 4.30pm)
Free Event
Blackheath Avenue
London
SE10 8XJ
Samson Kambalu
Whitechapel Gallery | To 08 January 2017
In a new work for the Project Galleries, London-based artist Samson Kambalu (b. 1975) draws inspiration from early cinema and watching films as a child in Malawi. Flickering images, appropriated footage, improvised projections, unexpected power cuts and a lively audience made every screening a joyful live event, one that also made visible the mechanics of film.
Turning the gallery into a magazine spread, Kambalu projects his black and white films of visual slapstick alongside his writings. Influenced by Situationism and psychogeography, as well as by the Gule Wamkulu rituals practiced among the Chewa people, Kambalu embraces the subversive potential of non-productive time, gift economies and play.
Performances Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 – 18:00
Tickets FREE ENTRY
Whitechapel Gallery
Galleries 5 & 6
77-82 Whitechapel High Street
E1 7QX
THE EY EXHIBITION: WIFREDO LAM
TATE MODERN | To 08 January 2017
Wifredo Lam sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture.
Wifredo Lam’s distinctive style shook the assumptions of Western Modernism. His unique paintings introduced the symbolism of his Cuban roots and defined a new way of painting for a post-colonial world. As he travelled in Europe and North and South America, he was a witness to twentieth-century political upheaval – including the Spanish Civil War, the evacuation of artists and intellectuals from France with the onset of World War II, and the new Cuba borne of the Revolution.
Throughout his long career, his work addressed themes of social injustice, nature, and spirituality, that challenged prevailing attitudes held by western artists about other cultures.
Tickets £14.50 FREE for Members
Tate Modern
Bankside
London
SW1P 4RG
020 7887 8888
email visiting.modern@tate.org.uk
The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures
Hampstead Theatre | To 10 Jan 2017
New York, 2007. Gus Marcantonio, a retired longshoreman, former trade union organiser, renaissance man, feels that the world has turned its back on everything he has fought for in life. With his sister, he summons his three grown children home, trailing the appendages of their chaotic lives, to their Brooklyn brownstone for the most unusual family reunion yet…
Performances 19:00 Matinee 14:00
Tickets from £10 – £35
Hampstead Theatre
Eton Avenue
Swiss Cottage
NW3 3EU
020 7722 9301
boxoffice@hampsteadtheatre.com
Malick Sidibé
Somerset House | To 15 January 2017
The eye of modern Malie.
Sidibé is celebrated for his black-and-white images chronicling the lives and culture of the Malian capital, Bamako, in the wake of the country’s independence in 1960.
At a time when the West was fretting about whether photography was even an art form, Malick Sidibé was taking pictures of young people in Bamako which contain all the issues in that debate: authenticity, imitation, control of the image. Not because he was a theorist, but because all of those issues were also central to the newly emerging country. We see teenagers doing the twist, showing off their record collections, rocking drainpipes, then flares, then pimp suits. Friends relax by a river: everyone is young and carefree. But there are questions in these images too.
Doors 10:00 – 18:00
Entry Free
Somerset House
Terrance Rooms
South Wing
Strand
London
WC2R 1LA
Bedlam: The Asylum
Welcome Collection | To 15 Jan 2017
Asylums are a thing of the past in Britain, whether they helped the patients is debatable.
Named after the South London Royal Bethlem Hospital, Bedlam a new exhibition at the Wellcome looks at the tensions between biomedical and psychosocial therapy for mental illness, the imperative to protect patients, and how integration benefits patients and the public.
Doors: Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 Sunday 11:00
Entry Free
Welcome Collection
83 Euston Road
NW1 2BE
020 7611 2222
info@wellcomecollection.org
South Africa – The Art Of A Nation
British Museum | To 26 Feb 2016
See the history of a nation from a new perspective
From some of the earliest examples of human creativity to cutting-edge contemporary works, discover the fascinating history of South Africa through art.
In this exhibition, a diverse range of art from across the ages tells a story that stretches back 100,000 years. From rock art made by the country’s earliest peoples to works by South African artists at the forefront of contemporary art, the exhibition features beautiful and important objects, which illustrate South Africa’s rich history.
The exhibition features a selection of significant objects, including some of the world’s oldest art objects and striking contemporary pieces responding to the country’s recent past. See the history of a nation from a new perspective and celebrate the artistic accomplishments of the many peoples that have contributed to the story of South Africa.
Admission 10:00 – 17:30
Tickets £12.00 | Members/under 16s free | Booking fee: £1.00 per ticket
Great Russell St
London
WC1B 3DG
Ticket booking: +44 (0)20 7323 8181
Guerrilla Girls: Is it even worse in Europe?
Whitechapel Gallery | To 05 March 2017
Do women have to be naked to get into a Museum?
The Guerrilla Girls are probably the art world’s most creative complainers. For over 30 years they have been successfully showing the hypocrisy of American galleries and museums. Now they are turning their attention to Europe.
Guerrilla Girls: Is it even worse in Europe? explores diversity in European art organisations. It presents responses to questionnaires sent to 383 directors about their exhibitions programme and collections. The questions were formulated to critically look at the narratives that are produced by cultural institutions.
Curator’s Tour Thu 8 Dec, 6.30pm | Free
Admission 10:00 – 18:00
Tickets Free Entry
Whitechapel Gallery
Gallery 4
77-82 Whitechapel High Street
E1 7QX
What’s on Wildlife Photographer of the Year*
Natural History Museum | To 10 Sept 2017
From intimate portraits to dramatic landscapes, see how photographers’ passion for the natural world produces startling images. Visit the exhibition to see 100 exceptional images, revealing the astonishing diversity of life on our planet.
Admission 10.00 -17.50
Tickets Adults from £10.50 | Child & concs from £6.50 | Family from £27.00
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
SW7 5BD
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