Feather-filled rooms, a parade of drummers dressed like chefs and Jonathan Glazer's 'The Zone of Interest'. What to do and see in Europe this week.
ADVERTISEMENTWelcome back for another week of culture highlights. As awards season ramps up, there's certainly no shortage of great new movies and TV shows to watch, while winter festivals and fairs such as Paris Design Week are breathing life into the long yawn that is January.
And while you're updating your calendar, we've also put together a list of some of the best upcoming European music fests to look forward to.
Don't say we don't spoil you.
Exhibitions and fairs
‘Inside Other Spaces. Environments by Women Artists 1956 – 1976’, Munich, Germany
Great art is transformative and transportive, guiding us through different perspectives and dimensions of life. A new exhibition at the Haus der Kunst hopes to ease visitors into a more intense version of this experience, through immersing them in various rooms that feature sensory installations, each one by 11 different female artists. These artists include Judy Chicago, Lygia Clark, Laura Grisi, Aleksandra Kasuba and Lea Lublin. Conservationists and art historians also helped to curate the spaces; vivid blue-hues, feather-lined floors and a crocheted 'Womb Room' are just some examples of how the scenery swallows your senses, while also reminding us of the importance of female artists in the immersive art space. Open until 10 March.
Andy Warhol: 'Beyond The Brand', London, UK
Pop art icon Andy Warhol is being celebrated at London's Halcyon Gallery, with a new exhibition that showcases 10 canvases of his most famous pieces, including the Campbell's soup cans, Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe. It also looks at Warhol's lesser-known adverts for Chanel No.5 and Volkswagen cars, giving a fascinating overview of the artist's portfolio. On until 24 March.
'Color is Life', Paris, France
Street art appreciators, step inside this free solo exhibition by graffiti artist Bows, at Galerie Amarrage. Organised by the Graffart Association, it showcases Bows' expertise in abstract lettering and 3D printing using mixed colours and techniques. Born in the suburbs of Paris, Bows was once a part of the group of graffiti artists known as 'Bomb Junkiz' and the Anthropoworks collective. In 2021, he came second in the Grafitti & Street Art competition organised by Graffart.
London Art Fair
Taking place at the Business Design Centre until 21 January, London's Art Fair is the very best place to see some of the very best modern and conceptual art. From hyper-realistic bronze figures that cost over €29,000 to a wall of 330 plastic Lego figures, there's truly something for everyone, with a theme of looking at queer love and life.
Festivals and events
La Tamborrada – San Sebastian, Spain
Every January, the silent streets of San Sebastián are awoken to the rhythmical rumblings of percussion that bloom with brass bands into a spectacular parade of musical expression and homage to heritage. Participants gather in Konstituzio plaza square in the old quarter, the drummers dressed like soldiers and chefs, in a tradition that reportedly dates back to 1850, when residents were given barrels to use as drums in memory of when Napoleon's soldiers once marched through the same streets. The event takes place 20 January.
Nuits de la Lecture - Paris, France
Bookmark this: France is celebrating all things books through a series of reading nights in Paris. Libraries, schools, museums, bookshops and various other venues are all taking part, organising poetry readings, writing workshops and more. Currently in its 8th edition, the initiative aims to bring bookworms together and encourage others to read more; celebrating the societal power of literature and its ability to enlighten and connect us all. On until the 21st January.
Movies
The Zone of Interest
Our film critic David Mouriquand called it "a profoundly disturbing and audacious film that will leave you rattled" and one "unlike any you’ll see this year".
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer's loose adaptation of Martin Amis’ 2014 novel and first film in a decade, has been met with much critical acclaim following its rounds on the 2023 festival circuit. It follows Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) as they attempt to build a dream life for their family beside the Auschwitz concentration camp.
ADVERTISEMENTRead our full review here and our interview with the film's star Sandra Hüller.
Mean Girls
Get in loser, we're going to see Mean Girls.
Out now across Europe, this reboot of Tina Fey's cult 2004 high school flick (which is somehow twenty years old!) is based on the successful Broadway spin-off musical and features an updated cast of pink-clad 'Plastics', with Reneé Rapp reprising her stage role as queen meanie Regina George (who is actually a Gen Z hero), ready to corrupt naive newbie Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) and leave catchy musical numbers stuck in our heads for eternity. Whatever, it's going to be fetch.
TV series
True Detective: Night Country
ADVERTISEMENTThere's a chill in the air as 'True Detective' returns for a fourth season - this time in a colder climate. Starring Jodie Foster as sharp-tongued no-nonsense Detective Elizabeth Danvers, who partners up with Iñupiat state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), the two must investigate the disappearance of scientists from a research centre in desolate Alaska. The stripped back, icy and isolated feel to this latest series makes it the most impressive yet, with a wonky 'Fargo' feel and welcome re-focusing from the male-centric and heat-weathered detective stereotypes previous storylines leant into. Streaming now on HBO Max or Sky Go.
Music
Green Day: 'Saviors'
American punk-pop band Green Day are back with their 14th studio album, ‘Saviors’, which is a "laugh at the pain, weep in the happiness kind of record," according to a statement put out by the band in October of last year. They went on to detail some of the album's themes, which include: "Disease, war, inequality, influencers, yoga retreats, alt right, dating apps, masks, MENTAL HEALTH, climate change, oligarchs, social media division, free weed, fentanyl, fragility."
So basically, brace yourselves.
It's the band's first album since 2020's 'Green Day Father of All Motherfuckers' and precedes an upcoming US headline tour that will feature support acts such as The Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid.
ADVERTISEMENT
