Akrm Kahn: DESH World Premiere:
4 – 8 October,
Sadler’s Wells, London – followed by world tour
DESH (meaning homeland in Bengali) is a new solo from celebrated choreographer and performer, Akram Khan. Following critically acclaimed collaborations with artists including Sylvie Guillem, Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley, DESH is set to be one of Khan's most powerful and personal works. Inspired by Bangladesh, the country of his birth, Khan portrays several characters familiar in daily Bangladeshi culture as well as seeking to embody the beauty and brutality of the Bangladeshi climate. For this solo performance Kahn has teamed up with Oscar-winning Chinese visual artist Tim Yip (production designer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), fellow Sadler's Wells Associate Artist and lighting designer Michael Hulls, Indian writer and poet Karthika Nair and Olivier Award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook.
‘Tracer Fire’, Architectural Association School of Architecture,
36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES
19 September – 26 October. Entry Free.
Inspired by the phosphorescent trail of tracer bullets in the night sky, ‘Tracer Fire’ explores the juxtaposition between the beauty and violence of ballistic weapons - their mesmerizing, burning trail belying their destructiveness upon impact, and the highly-wrought nature of their machinery at odds with the havoc they wreak. Projected in a darkened room to a soundtrack composed by the artist, the ‘video’ work, which took a year to make, in fact uses motion graphics and is comprised of 30,000 images hand-drawn using a digital pen.
‘Nour Festival of Arts’, Leighton House Museum, Kensington, W14
1 October – 30 November
Some of the brightest stars in their respective disciplines feature in this illuminating festival – ‘Nour’ means ‘light’ in Arabic – which seeks to use contemporary art to challenge clichéd preconceptions of the Middle East and North Africa. Set in the magnificent environs of the Eastern-inspired interior of Leighton House and programmed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Festival’s highlights include a new collection by acclaimed fashion designer Ziad Ghanem showcasing his distinctive ‘Cult Couture’ style, special screenings of new Middle Eastern films, including ’18 Days’ – 10 short films chronicling the uprising that led to the overthrow of Egyptian president Mubarak – and former Middle East editor for The Guardian Brian Whitaker’s talk on the taboo subject of homosexuality in Islamic countries.
Medieval Misconceptions: Churches Conservation Trust Annual Lecture, The Geological Society, Burlington Place, Piccadilly, London W1J
Thursday 6 October 2011 at 6.45 (doors open 6.15)
Exclusive chance to hear Historian and ex-Monty Python star Terry Jones’ take on the Middle Ages, one of the most misunderstood eras of our history, in aid of the Churches Conservation Trust, charity responsible for some of the finest medieval churches in England. Was medieval England really full of knights on horseback rescuing fainting damsels in distress? How mired in ignorance and superstition were the Middle Ages? With his distinctive and original perspective on history, Jones promises to open our eyes to the Middle Ages as we’ve never seen them before - a vibrant society teeming with individuality, intrigue and innovation.
1 – 26 October 2011, AA Gallery Architectural Association School of Architecture, 36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES
‘Double or Nothing’ presents the architectural and spatial projects of Brussels-based practice 51N4E. Curated by French architectural critic Dominique Boudet, the show re-examines a selection of recent projects from the large-scale to the intimate, including the transformation of Tirana’s Skanderberg Square (the most important public space in Albania) through the use of water and altered perspective and Arteconomy; an extension of high steel walls to cocoon a Belgian farmhouse. ‘Double or Nothing’ challenges the visitor to look beyond architecture’s surface conventions and their representation.
