Exhibitions
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
One of the UK’s pre-eminent open-air galleries, the YSP continues to attract brilliant and beguiling names. Currently you can catch the peculiar, cartoonish monuments of KAWS, who also enjoyed a recent indoor exhibition in the park’s Longside Gallery. Also showing at the moment are the enigmatic works of Swiss artist Not Vital, plus Night In The Museum: British conceptual art figurehead Ryan Gander’s curated exhibition showcasing a selection of works from the Arts Council Collection as it celebrates its 70th birthday.
More details here
Vogue 100
Naomi, Claudia, Kate, Cara: over the last 100 years, British Vogue has crafted a catalogue of images that are genuinely iconic. Featuring shots by the likes of Cecil Beaton, Patrick Demarchelier, Nick Knight and Mario Testino, Manchester Art Gallery houses 280 prints of vintage archives and unseen pics from the world’s most revered fashion editorial. It’s on until the end of October.
Manchester Art Gallery until 30 October
Music
Apple Music festival
This competition winners-only event offers up big names in London’s unusually intimate Roundhouse for those lucky enough to snag tickets. This year’s performers include stadium pop-rockers the 1975, sunny Chicago hip-hop star Chance The Rapper and old Rocket Man himself, Elton John. The ballot closes five days before each event, so don’t delay in entering.
Enter for free here
B-Side Hip Hop Festival
It’s a hip-hop hooray for Birmingham as the city celebrates the genre with a three-day festival spotlighting the local rappers, producers, dancers and graffiti artists underpinning the independent Brummie scene. Events taking place across the city include films, workshops and pop-up performances. It all kicks off with The Hip-Hop Conversation, with local artists Juice Aleem and DJ Silence discussing Midlands rap both past and present.
Various venues, 23-25 September
Film
Cult Classics Film Night
Manchester’s Pen And Pencil pub hosts a festival of film geekery each Wednesday (first weekend of the month excepted), with screenings of the likes of Trainspotting and Kill Bill.
Details here
An American In Paris
Starring Gene Kelly, this film inspired by Gershwin’s symphonic poem of the same name is worth trading an explosive blockbuster for one night. It’s part of Journey Film Club, a non-profit pop-up event held on the first and third Tuesday of every month at Birmingham LGBT Centre.
Details here
Online
In The Dark
The disappearance of Jacob Wetterling confounded Minnesota detectives for 27 years, before the 11-year-old’s remains were found earlier this month. Reporter Madeleine Baran considers why the case took so long to solve in an absorbing and affecting podcast.
Listen here
TV
BBC4 Conceptual Art Season
Conceptualism has always been the curate’s egg of the art world, dismissed by some for its daftness but lauded by others. This new season from BBC4 looks more of a celebration than castigation. Highlights include Vic Reeves discussing the delights of dada (Wed, 9pm) and a doc on the controversial “Tate Bricks” (Tue, 9pm). It all kicks off on Monday.
Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls
In aid of Stand Up To Cancer, TV’s favourite grub-eater leaves a celeb lineup of pop star Aston Merrygold, Towie’s Lydia Bright, prankster Dom Joly, Embarrassing Bodies’ Dr Dawn Harper, Made In Chelsea’s Ollie Locke and Labour selfie queen Karen Danczuk to fend for themselves on a deserted island. Given the ordeals suffered by contestants of the regular series, this looks to be a more taxing prospect than the usual ’sleb docco fare.
Events
City Of The Unexpected
Inspired by Roald Dahl’s fantastical writings, Cardiff is set to become a wonderland for this city-wide event celebrating the author’s centenary. For two days, the streets of his childhood home town will be filled with weird and wonderful surprises, stories and music. Drop your cool exterior for the weekend and let your imagination run wild.
More details here
