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LONDON FOR FUN Newsletter: 12 November 2012 Issue No.219

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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 - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs Britten`s War Requiem - An unmissable performance of this exceptionally powerful work, in honour of Britten's forthcoming centenary. As a pacifist, Britten relished the opportunity to explore the futility of war, while paying tribute to its dead. The work combines texts from the Latin Requiem Mass with poems by the First World War poet Wilfred Owen. 27 November. www.southbankcentre.co.uk

2 - Bronze - This exhibition will bring together outstanding works from the earliest times to the present in a thematic arrangement that is fresh and unique. With works spanning 5,000 years, no such cross-cultural exhibition on this scale has ever been attempted. The exhibition will feature over 150 of the finest bronzes from Asia, Africa and Europe and will include important discoveries as well as archaeological excavations. Many of the pieces have never been seen in the UK. Arranged thematically, Bronze will bring together outstanding works from antiquity to the present. Different sections will focus on the Human Figure, Animals, Groups, Objects, Reliefs, Gods, Heads and Busts. The exhibition will feature stunning Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan bronzes, through to rare survivals from the Medieval period. The Renaissance will be represented with the works of artists such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Cellini, and later Giambologna, De Vries and others. Bronzes by Rodin, Boccioni, Picasso, Jasper Johns, Moore, Beuys and Bourgeois will be representative of the best from the 19th century to today. Until 9 December. www.royalacademy.org.uk

3 - Art of Change - New Directions from China - This is the first major exhibition to focus on contemporary installation and performance art from China. It brings together the work of some of the most innovative artists from the 1980s to today. The exhibition traces their artistic development, showing outstanding early examples from each artist alongside recent works and new commissions. Change, and the acceptance that everything is subject to change, are deeply rooted in Eastern philosophy. The exhibition focuses on works that deal with transformation, instability and discontinuity, looking at how these themes are conveyed through action or materials. Each of the artists presents works that alter their appearance over time or convey a powerful sense of volatility in some way. These include a person magically floating above the gallery floor, and sculptures that are tossed up and down in the gallery. See a wildly thrashing hose pipe dancing through space and structures made by live silk worms. Until 9 December. www.southbankcentre.co.uk

4 - Cecil Beaton: Theatre of War - Cecil Beaton is one of Britain’s most celebrated photographers and designers of the twentieth century. His glamorous photographs of royalty and celebrities projected him to fame but this major new exhibition reveals the less well-known side of Beaton – his work as an official war photographer. Commissioned by the Ministry of Information in July 1940, Beaton was the longest serving, most productive high profile photographer to cover the Second World War. In his distinctive style he captured the impact of war on society in Britain as well as societies on the brink of change throughout the Middle East and the Far East. In later years, Beaton attributed his war photographs as his single most important body of photographic work. Through his photographs, drawings and books as well as his work in theatre and film, this exhibition tells the story of how the war became a personal turning point in Beaton’s career. Until 1 January 2013. london.iwm.org.uk

5 - The Nutcracker - Journey back in time with English National Ballet to a frost-covered, gas-lit London and join Clara, her Nutcracker and the magician Drosselmeyer in this traditional festive tale for all the family. In a world of Edwardian elegance, The Nutcracker brings to life the eternally popular Tchaikovsky score featuring the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. On an enchanted Christmas Eve, under the heavy boughs of the candlelit tree, Clara battles with the Mouse King and falls in love with a handsome stranger. As the air grows colder and snowflakes begin to fall, Clara and her valiant Nutcracker take a hot air balloon ride across the frost-dusted London skyline from the glistening Land of Snow. Her fantastical journey continues as dancers from all over the world leap out of a magical puppet theatre and the Mouse King is finally vanquished. From 12 December 2012 until 5 January 2013. www.eno.org

6 - Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 - Displayed over two floors,Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 will feature more than sixty designs for social events such as private parties, royal balls, state occasions and opening nights. The exhibition will cover over sixty years of a strong British design tradition that continues to flourish. Eveningwear from the V&A’s vast collection, by designers including Victor Stiebel, Zandra Rhodes, Jonathan Saunders and Hussein Chalayan, will be on show alongside dresses fresh from the catwalk shows of Alexander McQueen, Giles Deacon, Erdem and Jenny Packham. A selection of royal ballgowns will be on display, including a Norman Hartnell gown designed for Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Diana’s ‘Elvis Dress’ designed by Catherine Walker and gowns worn by today’s young royals. Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 will also include dresses worn by actresses and celebrities including Elizabeth Hurley, Bianca Jagger and Sandra Bullock, and a stunning metallic leather dress created especially for the exhibition by innovative designer Gareth Pugh. Until 6 January 2013. www.vam.ac.uk

7 - Turner Prize 2012 - Discover the work of the four artists shortlisted for the UK’s most prestigious contemporary art award. The Turner Prize returns to Tate Britain after a hugely popular exhibition at Gateshead’s BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in 2011. The £25,000 Turner Prize is presented to an artist under 50, living, working or born in Britain for an outstanding exhibition in the previous 12 months. Until 6 January 2013. www.tate.org.uk

8 - Shoot! The Existential Photography - In the period following World War I, a curious attraction appeared at fairgrounds: the photographic shooting gallery. If the punter’s bullet hit the centre of the target, this triggered a camera. Instead of winning a balloon or toy, the participant would win a snapshot of him or herself in the act of shooting. Shoot! Existential Photography traces the history of this fascinating side-show – from its popular use at fairgrounds to how it fascinated many artists and intellectuals in its heyday, including Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Man Ray and Lee Miller. The artist Erik Kessels celebrates one shooter in particular – Ria van Dijk, who took portraits of herself in this way every year from 1936 – sixty of these images feature here. Investigating numerous analogies between taking photographs and shooting, the exhibition includes works by many contemporary artists including Sylvia Ballhause, Agnès Geoffray, Jean-François Lecourt, Christian Marclay, Steven Pippin, Émilie Pitoiset, Niki de Saint Phalle, Rudolf Steiner and Patrick Zachmann. Until 6 January 2013. http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk

9 - Richard Hamilton: The Late Works - This highly personal exhibition by one of Britain’s most influential artists traces an intriguing path leading to his unfinished and unseen final work, '"Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu"– a painting in three parts'. Up until his death at 89, Richard Hamilton (1922-2011) was planning this major exhibition of recent works conceived specifically for the National Gallery and including work never before seen by the public. The exhibition as a whole encapsulates many of the significant directions Hamilton’s art had taken over recent decades, when his international reputation soared. Until 13 January 2013. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

10 - English National Ballet - The Sleeping Beauty - The Sleeping Beauty reawakens the magic of the world’s favourite fairy tale in an enchanted world of castles and curses, forests and fairies. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, Princess Aurora lived in an enchanted castle where fairies bestowed her with gifts of beauty, temperament, purity, joy, wit and generosity. The wicked Fairy Carabosse put a curse on Aurora; to prick her finger and die on her 16th birthday. The beautiful and kind Lilac Fairy cast a spell to counter the curse so that instead of dying Aurora fell asleep for a hundred years. Only the touch of true love’s kiss could awaken her and undo the evil spell... Kenneth MacMillan’s production of the popular classic is the perfect way bring some sparkle into your New Year. The Sleeping Beauty features some of Tchaikovsky’s best-loved ballet music ever, including the Rose Adagio and the music used as Once Upon a Dream in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. From 9 January 2013 until 19 January 2013. www.eno.org

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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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