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LONDON FOR FUN Newsletter: 4 November 2008 Issue No.159

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http://www.londonforfun.com
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1.) Top 10 London events
2.) Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries
3.) How to unsubscribe

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1. Top 10 London events
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1 - Manon - In eighteenth century Paris, Manon is caught between two men vying for her affection in a web of passion, love and vanity. She finally chooses love over material pleasures but pays the ultimate price for her corruption. Join English National Ballet's internationally acclaimed 67 dancers and symphony orchestra for this tragically beautiful ballet. Until 27 November. Buy theatre tickets

2 - Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Christmas Gala Concert - Dame Kiri Te Kanawa invites you to celebrate Christmas in style as she sings seasonal classics and songs and arias from her favourite operas. She will be accompanied by Jonathan Papp on the piano. 23 December. www.cadoganhall.com

3 - Miró, Calder, Giacometti, Braque: Aimé Maeght and His Artists - In Autumn 2008 the Royal Academy will present an exhibition demonstrating the achievement of the famous Galerie Maeght. Founded by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, the gallery opened in Paris in 1945 and was to become one of the most influential and creative galleries of the twentieth century. The artists it showed expressed a bold new spirit in art which exploded in France after the dark years of the war. This exhibition will present Aimé Maeght’s outstanding contributions to art in the mid-twentieth century – as an art dealer, exhibition maker and publisher – and will focus on the major artists he exhibited. The exhibition will include about 70 works, including paintings, sculpture, suspended mobiles, prints and artists books, from the extensive collection of the Fondation Maeght in Saint Paul de Vence. Until 2 January. www.royalacademy.org.uk

4 - Design Cities - Design Cities tells the story of contemporary design through seven key cities at their creative height: London (1851), Vienna (1908), Dessau (1928), Paris (1936), Los Angeles (1949), Milan (1957), Tokyo (1987) and London (2008). The exhibition will feature a full range of objects from textiles and fashion to industrial pieces, furniture and prints. It will include design classics such as chairs by Charles and Ray Eames, as well as work by a spectrum of designers that together will evoke an impacting impression of their era. Key exhibits will include work by William Morris, Christopher Dresser, Adolf Loos, Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray.... Until 4 January. www.designmuseum.org

5 - Alan Aldridge - the man with the Kaleidoscope Eyes - This is the first UK retrospective featuring the works of the celebrated illustrator and graphic designer Alan Aldridge. Dubbed the graphic entertainer in the 1960s and 70s, Aldridge illustrated lyric books for the Beatles, album covers for the Rolling Stones, the Who and Elton John, was Art Director for Penguin, illustrated children’s books such as the much loved The Butterfly Ball and designed adverts and identities for iconic brands such as the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Café. The exhibition will be an elaborate display of complete works as well as sketches, notes, letters and other archival material as well as films; bringing to life the exciting career of Alan Aldridge. Until 25 January. www.designmuseum.org

6 - Sisley in England and Wales - Alfred Sisley (1839–99) was born in Paris to English parents. He remained a British subject throughout his life. However, he only took on two painting campaigns in the UK – once in 1874, and again in 1897. This exhibition will bring together these two groups of paintings for the first time. Executed almost a quarter of a century apart, they reveal Sisley at two of the most creative moments of his life. The earlier works, dating from the year of the first Impressionist exhibition, were created with the impetus of collective innovations in painting back in France. They include depictions of London and the surrounding area. The later group, which were painted near the end of the artist's life, show remarkable maturity and bravura skill. They portray the ruggedly beautiful coast of Wales. From 12 November until 15 February 2009. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

7 - Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize - The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008 will showcase the work of some of the most talented emerging young photographers, alongside that of established professionals, photography students and gifted amateurs. Selected anonymously from an open competition, the diversity of styles reflects the international mix of entrants as well as the range of approaches to the portrait genre encompassing editorial, advertising and fine art images. The judges have selected 60 portraits for the exhibition from 6,758 submissions entered by 2,575 photographers from around the world. From 6 November until 15 February. www.npg.org.uk

8 - Babylon: Myth and Reality - For two thousand years the myth of Babylon has haunted the European imagination. The Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens, Belshazzar’s Feast and the Fall of Babylon have inspired artists, writers, poets, philosophers and film makers. Over the past two hundred years, archaeologists have slowly pieced together the ‘real’ Babylon – an imperial capital, a great centre of science, art and commerce. The exhibition explores the continuing dialogue between the Babylon of our imagination and the historic evidence for one of the great cities of antiquity at the moment of its climax and eclipse. From 13 November until 15 March. www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

9 - The Unilever Series: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster - Tate Modern unveils the latest commission in The Unilever Series. TH.2058 by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster looks 50 years into the future, as the inhabitants of London take shelter in the Turbine Hall from a never-ending rain. Filled with 200 bunk beds scattered with books,the animal forms of gargantuan sculptures, a massive LED screen playing edited extracts from science-fiction and experimental films, and piercing lights that suggest some unseen surveillance, the Turbine Hall has taken on the appearance of an epic film set. TH.2058 is an exploration of some of the artistic ideas that have preoccupied Gonzalez-Foerster over the last twenty years. The notion of the shelter, for instance, is partly inspired by her ideas of both real and fictional situations when London has been under attack, whether by flooding, bombing or invasion. It can also be traced back to her series Chambres, a sequence of environments which recreated fictional or personal and domestic spaces. Until 13 April. www.tate.org.uk/modern

10 - Wildlife Photographer of the Year - The annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition finds the very best wildlife images taken by the world’s top professional and amateur photographers. Now in its 44th year, the most innovative and imaginative photographic images have been judged and selected by a panel of experts and will be on view at the Natural History Museum until 26 April. www.nhm.ac.uk

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2. Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries

Events listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/events-in-London.htm

Theatre listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-theatres.htm

Museum listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-museums.htm

Galleries listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/galleries-in-London.htm

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