London Festival of Photography

Various venues in London
June 2012

In June 2012, London’s most celebrated venues (Museum of London, British Library, British Museum, Tate Modern, the V&A and more…) will play host to a world-class, city-wide celebration of photography as the London Festival of Photography returns for its second year.

Encompassing street, documentary and conceptual photography, the festival includes 18 exhibitions and 40 satellite events including workshops, talks and screenings.

Exhibitions include The Great British Public featuring contemporary British photographers such as Zed Nelson, Martin Parr and Simon Roberts, and an exhibition of photographs by Steve Bloom of 1970s apartheid-era South Africa.

Bauhaus: Art as Life at the Barbican, 3 May – 12 August 2012

Experience the spirit of the Bauhaus in this series of talks, events, workshops and films.

Daring and joyful, the spirit of the Bauhaus is characterised by experimentation, collaboration and play. As one of Europe’s leading cross-arts centres the Barbican embraces this energy with talks, workshops, tours and films forming the Bauhaus: Art as Life events programme.

The biggest Bauhaus exhibition in the UK in over 40 years presents the modern world’s most famous art school. From expressionist beginnings to a pioneering model uniting art and technology, this London exhibition presents the Bauhaus’ utopian vision to change society in the aftermath of the First World War. Bauhaus: Art as Life explores the diverse artistic production that made up its turbulent fourteen-year history and delves into the subjects at the heart of the school: art, culture, life, politics and society, and the changing technology of the age.

‘Swamp Juice’ shadow puppetry

Canadian puppeteer Jeff Achtem’s  Swamp Juice is playing at London’s Soho Theatre until 5th May before doing a 3 month UK tour.

The comedic shadow puppetry features punk snails, opera singing mice and a  toothy swamp monster all made from bits of rubbish. The show will be of interest particularly to theatre design and animation students.  It features an innovative 3D section. The creator, Jeff Achtem, is not hidden behind the scenes;  he works from on stage so you can see how he creates his special effects.

The show has previously played at the Edinburgh Festival to rave reviews and was the winner of the Edinburgh Festival Total Theatre Award 2011.

“The 3D finale is the absolute highlight of show and beggars belief as we follow these characters underwater and through the air, dodging jellyfish and aircraft as we go. This is brilliantly magical entertainment for the whole family” – Edinburgh Festivals Magazine.

“One of the greatest innovations in shadow puppetry” – The Scotsman

For more information see http://www.bunkpuppets.com

Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan at Tate Modern until 27 May 2012

Alighiero e Boetti (1940–1994) was one of the most important and influential Italian artists of the twentieth century. He was a key member of the Arte Povera group of young Italian artists in the late 1960s which was working in radically new ways using simple materials. This is the first solo show by an Arte Povera artist at Tate Modern. Boetti used industrial materials associated with Turin’s booming economy and later made works using postage stamps, biro pens, and magazine covers.

See the Tate website for details about the exhibition and related events.

British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age at the V&A until 12 August 2012

The V&A’s exhibition, British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, celebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games’ to the summer of 2012. Over 300 British design objects highlight significant moments in the history of British design and how the country continues to nurture artistic talent and be a world leader in creativity and design.

For information about the exhibition and its associated events visit the V&A website.

UCA Illustration Print Fair

George Rodger Gallery, UCA Maidstone, ME16 8AG
Wednesday 7th December 2011, from 12:30pm

Students and staff from the BA Illustration department at UCA Maidstone will be having a Christmas print fair on Wednesday 7th December.  Illustrator Mireille Fauchon (a sessional tutor on the course) will talk about the launch of her new book, a new interpretation of The Prisoner of Zenda, and the importance of self publishing as a platform for emerging talent, before opening the fair at 12.30pm.

For more information, please see the UCA Illustration blog.

Free talk with JAKe at the Hazlitt Arts Centre, Maidstone

New Photographs Gallery at the V&A

On 24 October 2011, the V&A’s new Photographs Gallery will open to the public. The gallery will have an inaugural  display of works by key figures of photographic history including Victorian portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron and significant works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Afred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus and Irving Penn.

The Photographs Gallery will draw upon the  V&A’s internationally renowned collection of photographs, and will chronicle the history of photography from 1839 up to the 1960s. In 1858, the V&A became the first museum to exhibit photographs, and the new Photographs Gallery is able to showcase some of the most technically brilliant and artistically accomplished photographs in its collection. Temporary displays, primarily showcasing contemporary photography, will be shown in the V&A’s existing photographs gallery.

For more information about the V&A New Photographs Gallery and collections please visit their website.

Peter Blake talks at the Turner Contemporary

7th October 2011 at 6pm

Sir Peter Blake CBE, eminent British Pop artist who designed the record sleeve for Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, talks about his iconic painting featured in the current Turner Contemporary exhibition Nothing in the World But Youth.

Book your place on the Turner Contemporary website.

Bande Dessinée / Comics festival

The Institut Francais, London SW7 2DT
7 – 9 October 2011

The Bande Dessinée & Comics Passion is a brand new festival, celebrating graphic novels, and featuring a wide range of events with American, British, French and Belgian authors.  Amongst the highlights are a conversation / drawing event with Dave Gibbons (who illustrated the Watchmen series) and Jean-Claude Mézières, and Bryan Talbot discussing his graphic novel Grandville and the anthropomorphic tradition.