September 1, 2010
August 15, 2010
Glen McClure
McClure’s dreamy photos give off a kind of East Coast Ansel Adams vibe that has made his work popular among art and nature lovers. The handsome gallery space at Eklektikos should provide an ideal setting for McClure’s pictures, many of which sparkle with a kind of freshness that is unusual in nature photography. His backers claim that spending enough time with his work can even produce a kind of metaphysical, meditative state. Find out for yourself this month at Eklektikos.
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August 12, 2010
Filmfest DC
Also known as the Washington International Film Festival, this multi-venued celebration of film spreads itself across the entire city for 12 days of the best in both mainstream and experimental cinema. Audience award winners from past years have included the Belic Brothers raw ‘Genghis Blues’ and the gentle ‘Buena Vista Social Club’, which gives an indication of the festival’s range. Another highlight is the ‘Arabian Sights’ branch of the festival, which showcases the best of contemporary Arab cinema, all of which are presented with English subtitles.
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August 9, 2010
El Karachi
Calle K, entre 15 y 17 (no phone)
Open 10pm- 5am daily. Admission $3.
El Karachi is well known for playing a variety of rhythms from pop to rap. There is a daily midnight show while on Sundays there’s a techno matinée from 4pm to 9pm.
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August 2, 2010
Hurón Azul/UNEAC
Calle 17 #351, entre Presidentes (G) y H (324152)
Open 5pm-2am daily. Admission $5.
The Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) hosts various weekly cultural events in the patio and garden of its beautiful mansion headquarters. (The name, incidentally, means ‘blue ferret’.) Saturday is bolero night (9pm-2am); Wednesdays (5-8pm) alternate between nueva trova and rumba ; and Sundays (from 5pm) feature son or rumba . All events can be highly recommended, although the rumba seems to be the most popular. Quite apart from the music, you might want to check out the scene in the Hurón Azul’s bar, which attracts an eclectic mix of local artists, intellectuals, tourists and jineteros .
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July 30, 2010
Albert Memorial
Kensington Gardens, SW7
Knightsbridge or High Street Kensington tube then 9, 33, 49, 52, 73 bus.
This grandiose memorial to the beloved husband of Queen Victoria was
finally unveiled by the Queen in October 1998 after a decade-long
restoration programme. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and
finished in 1872, it centres around a gilden Albert, holding a copy of
the catalogue of the 1951 Great Exhibition. It is hard to believe that
the modest German Prince, who explicitly said, ‘I would rather not be
made the prominent feature of such a monument’, would have approved of
the pompous finished product, or the fact that its restoration cost ?11
million (although this was ?3 million under budget, and completed a
year earlier than expected). It’s quite a sight though. Guided tours of
the memorial can be booked on 020 7495 0916/ http://www.tourguides.co.uk ;
they allow you to get closer to the memorial and examine, in
particular, the superbly crafted and wonderfully detailed marble frieze
of 168 leading literary and artistic figures from history.
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July 24, 2010
Leaves of Gold
‘Leaves of Gold’ presents 80 works from the major manuscript centres of medieval and Renaissance Europe. Characteristic of the manuscripts are lavish decorative elements such as gold leaf, calligraphic pen work, illuminated initial letters or finely wrought cycles of miniature paintings. Among the highlights of ‘Leaves of Gold’ is two magnificent early 13th-century Psalters, five miniatures from a 12th-century South German Psalter, many exquisite Books of Hours and illuminated bibles by such noted artists as the Orosius Master, Jean Bourdichon, Jean Colombe and Liberale de Verona.
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July 23, 2010
Edwidge Danticat
For a writer still in her twenties, Edwidge Danticat has racked up quite a body of work. Her first novel, ‘Breath, Eyes, Memory’, a touching coming-of-age tale set in Haiti, was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club and achieved instant best-seller status. ‘The Farming of Bones’ garnered wide acclaim for its depiction of the Depression-era massacre of Haitian women in the Dominican Republic. Now Danticat has edited ‘The Butterfly’s Way’, a collection of essays by Haitian writers reflecting on life back in the troubled homeland and in the United States.
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July 22, 2010
Club More
Out to fill the void left after the tragic burning down of the Roxy, More is employing many of the creative minds, DJs and VJs behind that infamous nightclub. Ardy Beesemer and Quinten de Rosario are the DJs hosting the Wednesday Gay ‘Life’ night. Dimitri and friends hold court on Thursdays’ ‘Hi Tech SoulMovement’. Garage and 2-Step are the order of the day on Fridays’ ‘Speedfreax presents Bingo!’. Saturdays have been dubbed ‘Club Risk’ while Sundays are under the sign of Puck’s lesbian night.
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July 21, 2010
City Lights
While you may have seen Charlie Chaplin’s classic 1931 film, you’ve never seen it like this. As the movie is projected on a giant screen, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs a programme that includes the complete film score – composed by Chaplin – and two folk-inspired works by American composers Aaron Copeland and Ruth Crawford Seeger. With slapstick and pathos, bawdiness and grace, ‘City Lights’ weaves the story of the Little Tramp falling in love with a blind flower girl and his friendship with a drunken millionaire who, when sober, doesn’t recognise him.
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