Once considered progressive, then later derided, a new exhibition is exploring the developments\u2019 place as part of a collective experience<\/p>
Communist East Germany\u2019s high-rise prefab residential blocks and their political and cultural impact in what was one of the biggest social housing experiments in history is the focus of a new art exhibition, in which the unspoken challenges of today\u2019s housing crisis loom large.<\/p>
Wohnkomplex<\/a><\/em> (living complex) Art and Life in Prefabs explores the legacy of the collective experience of millions of East Germans, as well as serving as a poignant reminder that the \u201chousing question\u201d, whether under dictatorship or democracy, is far from being solved.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan<\/strong> describes the intricate planning that has been taking place. But Mark Vaughan<\/strong> thinks an animated display would be better<\/p> For the first time in almost 1,000 years, the Bayeux tapestry will come to Britain. In 2026, it will be displayed at the British Museum as part of a landmark cultural partnership with France, while the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy is closed during the construction of a landmark new building. In return, some of the UK\u2019s greatest treasures \u2013 including the Lewis chessmen, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Mold gold cape, and the Dunaverney flesh hook \u2013 will travel to Normandy.<\/p> Understandably, there has been interest in how these priceless items will be moved and concerns about their safety (\u2018La tapisserie, c\u2019est moi\u2019: Macron accused of putting politics first in Bayeux tapestry loan, 30 August<\/a>). I want to be clear about the detailed work under way in both countries. Since a partnership agreement was signed earlier this summer, experts on both sides of the Channel have been carrying out rigorous planning and due diligence to ensure the safe transport and conservation of the tapestry. Colleagues in France are preparing for its careful removal before work begins on their new museum, and intricate plans are being made for its journey to London. This expert-led collaboration \u2013 indeed, supported for 12 years by one of our leading specialists on the Bayeux scientific committee \u2013 will guide every stage, including a full dry run\u00a0of the journey.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> A forthcoming display of the singer\u2019s archive includes sticky notes detailing a theatrical work called The Spectator, about a petty thief and high-class gangs in London<\/p> David Bowie\u2019s final project prior to his death in 2016 was an 18th-century musical called The Spectator, a forthcoming extensive exhibition of Bowie\u2019s archive at the V&A East Storehouse has revealed.<\/p> The work was based around a daily newspaper of the same name that ran between 1711 and 1712, documenting the mores of society in London. Bowie\u2019s notes reveal that he considered the publicly beloved petty thief Jack Sheppard as a potential lead character, as well as Jonathan Wild, the vigilante who was responsible for Sheppard being arrested and executed. He also focused on the Mohocks, a notorious gang of high-class young men who would get drunk and attack people on the streets.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> The John Moores prize names its next stars, Renaissance booty is uncovered in Bath and a lover\u2019s brothers plan a beheading \u2013 all in your weekly dispatch<\/a><\/p> John Moores <\/strong>painting <\/strong>prize Surfer Todd Weaver takes magical pictures of the Golden State \u2013 from ombre skies reflected in the sea to crashing waves and rising full moons<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Paul Jasmin, who died in May, helped define the visual language of LA and its youthful dreamers \u2013 as these sensual, glowing portraits prove<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Barbican, London Mona Hatoum\u2019s show begins with an indelible afterimage of modern war. Into a stack of welded steel boxes resembling an apartment block in a city that could be anywhere, Hatoum has melted or blasted holes imitating drone or missile strikes. Parts of interior walls and floors have been shorn away to look like apartments with their fronts blown off. This is the shell of what was once a home to many, emptied out by war, like the buildings you saw on the news last night.<\/p> Hatoum created Bourj, which means \u201ctower\u201d in Arabic, for an exhibition in Beirut, the city where she was born into a Palestinian family in 1952. Since 1975 she has been based in London but her art knows no peace. Home and family are perforated by violence. A steel cot resembling a prison cell has cheese wire in place of a soft mattress. A kitchen with small chairs for the kids, alongside larger ones for mum and dad, has been incinerated, and the carbonised fragments of wooden furniture painstakingly reassembled inside wire mesh replicas of what they looked like before the disaster.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> The UK\u2019s first dedicated space for Somali heritage has built its collection from 15 years of donations. Culture House\u2019s founders explain the power of giving a permanent home to a community\u2019s heritage and hopes<\/p> You could probably walk right past Culture House<\/a> without noticing it. Tucked away, just off the bustle of London\u2019s Uxbridge Road, the building\u2019s muted colours, simple sign and arched doorway give little away. Step inside, though, and you\u2019ll soon be enticed by what is the UK\u2019s first permanent exhibition and cultural space dedicated to Somali heritage.<\/p> Officially opened last May, Culture House features a collection of over 150 artefacts, a rotating exhibition, poetry workshops and a digital archive. <\/strong>It has quickly developed a reputation as a hub for the UK\u2019s Somali community, while drawing in curious visitors from outside the diaspora too. Non-profit group the Anti-Tribalism Movement<\/a>, who lead the project, say the aim is to \u201ccelebrate, preserve and connect\u201d Somali culture and communities.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Gym sessions | Richard Tice | Men\u2019s Hundred final | Y Ddraig Goch | Politicians learning | Postcards from Palestine<\/p> When giving advice about protein intake linked to exercise, the performance nutritionist Bethan Crouse says: \u201cIf you are just a casual gym-goer doing resistance training three to four times a week\u201d Is it true that \u2026 you should eat protein immediately after working out?, 1 September<\/a>). I was surprised that this training was described as casual. I would suggest the other 99.9% of non-elite humans would consider this level of commitment regular, dare I say even serious. \u2022 It is clear that Richard Tice neither believes in free speech nor understands the Christian gospel, since he thinks the archbishop of York should not \u201cinterfere with international migration policies\u201d (Richard Tice hits back at C of E criticism of Reform immigration policy, 31 August<\/a>). Does he plan to tell Christians the matters on which we are now allowed\u00a0to\u00a0express opinions? A Year in Normandy features iPad works with which British artist brought people comfort during Covid crisis<\/p> In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 virus was \u201cgoing mad\u201d, David Hockney kept himself busy by painting winter trees bursting into blossom in his Normandy garden. \u201cMany people said my drawings were a great respite from what was going on,\u201d Britain\u2019s pre-eminent living artist said at the time.<\/p> Citizens of the post-pandemic world, with its rollercoaster of conflict, rightwing populism, climate crisis and techno-revolution, may still be in need of Hockney\u2019s respite by next spring. They will find it at an exhibition of his extraordinary 90-metre frieze, A Year in Normandy, and other works at the Serpentine gallery in London.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Mona Hatoum goes hammer and tongs with Giacometti, Andrew Geddes is revealed as a pioneer and Saint Nick rocks up four months early \u2013 all in your weekly dispatch<\/a><\/p> Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum<\/strong> Israel says Britain\u2019s decision to exclude it from military weapons showcase is a \u2018regrettable act of discrimination\u2019<\/p> The UK has banned Israeli officials from attending the country\u2019s flagship defence event next month.<\/p> Israeli industry, including UK subsidiaries of Israeli companies, will be able to attend London\u2019s Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) show in September but the UK government will not invite representatives of the Israeli government to the major industry event.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> The Cannes-winning film-maker\u2019s latest work, created specially for Sydney\u2019s Museum of Contemporary Art, is a tribute to his obsession with the magic of light and shadow<\/p> Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ul> As a child, while other kids were playing with toys, Apichatpong Weerasethakul was content with a flashlight. \u201cThat was enough: the shadows on the wall or the blanket,\u201d he says. \u201cI chose to work in cinema because of that feeling of taking me back to childhood, that freedom and curiosity.\u201d<\/p> This primal fascination with light and shadow has fuelled a career spanning three decades, across experimental features and video works, feted by the likes of the Cannes film festival and London\u2019s Tate Modern.<\/p> Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning<\/a><\/strong><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Anna Boghiguian sinks a boat in Margate, Emma Critchley takes soundings in St Ives and Guy Oliver examines his masculine identity in Edinburgh \u2013 all in your weekly dispatch<\/a><\/p> Anna Boghiguian: The Sunken Boat: A Glimpse Into Past Histories<\/strong> Simon Diggins <\/strong>says <\/strong>African veterans were awarded settlements that were one-third of that given to British soldiers or white settlers from Africa<\/p> Thank you for highlighting the new exhibition at the National Army Museum, commemorating the invaluable service of Indian and African soldiers in the second world war (London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war, 14 August<\/a>). I had the honour of serving with Ghanaian, Nigerian and Sierra Leonean soldiers in west Africa in 1999-2000 and they remembered, with pride, their forefathers\u2019 campaigning in Burma; rightly so \u2013 the battles in the Arakan in 1943 were some of the hardest fought in the war.<\/p> Far less honourable has been successive British governments\u2019 refusal to treat African veterans, who fought so bravely for us, equitably. At the end of their service, African veterans were awarded a settlement one-third of that given to British soldiers or white settlers from Africa: it was straightforward racial discrimination.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> He was a struggling 16-year-old when he first saw her paintings. Now, the Booker prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain sits down with the record-breaking artist to talk early success, bad reviews, and the joys of making art<\/p> In the summer of 1992, I was a 16-year-old who was watching his mother drink herself to death. I had a desperate need to find work and somewhere to stay, and so remaining in education didn\u2019t seem like a possibility. I had two teachers who saw how I was struggling. They dreamed a future for me that I could never have imagined for myself. One evening they took me up to the degree show at the Glasgow School of Art, and there I came face to face with the paintings of Jenny Saville.<\/p> The power of that encounter has never left me. Those images were fierce and confrontational. A few months after the degree show, I lost my mother to her addiction. With the support of my teachers, I eventually finished school and went on to art school and built a career in design. Meanwhile, the GSA degree show formed a body of work that would lead to Jenny\u2019s ascension into the Young British Artist movement \u2013 with her works appearing on the covers of Manic Street Preachers\u2019 albums The Holy Bible and Journal for Plague Lovers \u2013 and help cement her reputation as one of the greatest British painters of any generation.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Archivist Deborah Carnegie has gathered 70 years\u2019 worth of photos of women from the Windrush generation to the present day getting ready for a big evening out \u2013 and changing the face of fashion in the UK as they went<\/p> Before the beat drops, there is first the bedroom. A hot comb sizzling fresh from the stove, the gentle whirring of a sewing machine. A group of women cross-legged on the floor, swapping clothes and gossip: who got turned away at the club door last weekend? Who might show up tonight?<\/p> For the London-based archivist Deborah Carnegie, there is something atavistic and sacred about the pre-night out ritual, in particular for Black British women. It is the subject of her latest work, a photography archive spanning 1950 to the present day, chronicling Black British women\u2019s Saturday night fashion across the decades.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Scottish artist Victoria Crowe serves up an evocative rural portrait, Nkem Okwechime explores his other self and domestic objects get strange \u2013 all in your weekly dispatch<\/a><\/p> Victoria Crowe: Shifting Surfaces<\/strong> National Army Museum\u2019s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain\u2019s colonies<\/p> The forgotten story of African and Indian troops who fought in south Asia against Japanese forces during the second world war and who have largely been omitted from the official history is to be brought to life in a London exhibition.<\/p> The National Army Museum\u2019s Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies show includes rare items from Indian and African soldiers who toiled in some of the harshest conditions seen anywhere during the conflict.<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li> Extreme tanning | Art nouveau paradise | AI history | Plane travel | Slicing salami | Heightism<\/p> I can\u2019t tell you how sad this article makes me (Burn notice: Gen Z and the terrifying rise of extreme tanning, 6 August<\/a>). Sunbeds and extreme tanning cause skin cancer. My son, aged 23, discovered a mole on his back. It took quite a bit of persuasion for him to go to his GP. Seemed quite simple: cut it out, end of. The mole became more moles, more operations. It then became his arms, then his lungs, and then two brain tumours. Two years from his diagnosis, he died. I would plead with people to avoid sunbeds, tanning without sun cream and complacency. I will never get over the death of my son. \u2022 It is indeed regrettable that art nouveau has long been neglected generally in France (Editorial, 8\u00a0August<\/a>), but the city of Nancy is an outstanding exception. Furniture, glass and other works by \u00c9mile Gall\u00e9, Louis Majorelle and others are richly represented in the Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019\u00c9cole de Nancy. The Mus\u00e9e des Beaux Arts de Nancy has extensive collections, and the Villa Majorelle, the designer\u2019s former home, is devoted to his work. An essential destination for the enthusiast.
<\/strong>Davina Jackson, Katy Shepherd and Joanna Whittle are among the painters shortlisted for this prize that was once won by a young David Hockney
<\/strong>Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool from Saturday until 1 March 2026<\/a><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li>
<\/strong>This extraordinary show is a conversation, across the decades, between two kindred artists who refuse to shy away from the world\u2019s horror and pain<\/p>
Diego Penagos<\/strong>
Surbiton, London<\/em><\/p>
Michael Sanderson<\/strong>
Elsecar, South Yorkshire<\/em><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li>
<\/strong>Second in a sparky series of shows comparing sculptors of today to the 20th-century legend who captured the slender survival of the human spirit in spindly simplified figures.
\n \u2022 Barbican, London, 3 September to 11 January<\/a><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li>
<\/strong>Decayed and broken boats, puppet-like figures and sand feature in a salty installation about the sea as a space of world history.
\n \u2022 Turner Contemporary, Margate<\/a>, until 26 October<\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li>
\n To mark the 80th birthday of this Scottish artist, this evocative survey brings together some of her rural portraits and wintry landscapes.
\n \u2022 Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until 11 October<\/a><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li>
Ruth Heggarty<\/strong>
Sheffield<\/em><\/p>
Ron Wells<\/strong>
Eastbourne, East Sussex<\/em><\/p> Continue reading...<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n