What’s On: Exhibition and Events - August 2023
August is here, Another What’s On Monthly Round Up, full of exhibitions & events going on.
All Points East
When: Various Dates
Where: Victoria Park, London
About: All Points East is a festival of music & entertainment in East London's Victoria Park feat. headline shows & free activities during the week. This year line-up includes Stormxy, Kehlani, Raye, Erykah Badu, Olivia Dean and more
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Noir Fever: A Love Letter to Black Dance Music
When: 18 Aug
Where: The Strand, Somerset House
About: UK-born dance/electronic artist Aluna presents Noir Fever, a night celebrating the Black and queer roots of dance music, including sounds such as House, UK garage, UK funky, Soca, Dancehall, Amapiano, Afrobeats, and more.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Field Day
When: 19 Aug
Where: Victoria Park, London
About: Field Day is a yearly outdoor music festival in London. This year line-up includes Kelela, Sudan Archives and more
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Isaac Julien: What Freedom Is To Me
Dates: 26 Apr – 20 Aug 2023
Where: Tate Britain, London
About: This solo exhibition reveals the scope of Julien’s pioneering work in film and installation from the early 1980s through to the present day. The exhibition highlights Julien's critical thinking and the way his work breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines, drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture by utilising the themes of desire, history and culture.
> More information here
Inzalo Ye Langa: Birthplace of the Sun
When: 25 Jul - 24 Aug
Where: Unit London
About: Inzalo Ye Langa: Birthplace of the Sun presents Luthuli’s wish to communicate intangible ideas of history and spirituality to younger generations, reminding us of a more ancient and organic way of life.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
FUJI: A Opera
When: 18 – 28 Aug
Where: The Africa Centre
About: A multi-dimensional exhibition that tells the story of the fuji music genre – one of the most important in Nigeria’s history and without which the Afrobeats artists who top the charts today (such as Burna Boy and Wizkid) would not be selling out stadiums across the world.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Eric Gyamfi: Fixing Shadows
– Julius and I
When: 28 Apr - 2 Sep 2023
Where: Autograph, London
About: How photography can shift meanings and histories – ‘fixing shadows’ of legacy, absence, and revival
> More information here
Ajamu: The Patron Saint of Darkrooms
When: 28 Apr - 2 Sep 2023
Where: Autograph, London
About: Unapologetically celebrating black queer bodies and pleasure as activism
> More information here
Atta Kwami: Maria Lassing Prize Mural
When: until 3 Sept 2023
Where: Serpentine North Garden
About: The last mural commission from the late painter, printmaker, independent art historian and curator, Atta Kwami (1956 – 2021). The mural originates from a painting that Kwami was reworking in his studio in 2021 shortly before his death, making this the final, landmark public work of his pioneering oeuvre. The commission results from Kwami winning the 2021 Maria Lassnig Prize.
> More information here
Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now
When: 22 Jun – 3 Sept
Where: Barbican
About: Explore the work and career of Carrie Mae Weems in this first major UK exhibition dedicated to one of the most influential American artists working today.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
BLACK VENUS: Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture
When 20 Jul– 24 Sept 2023
Where: Terrace Rooms & Courtyard Rooms, Somerset House, London
About:The exhibition examines the historical representation and shifting legacy of Black women in visual culture. Curated by Aindrea Emelife, BLACK VENUS brings together the work of over 20 Black women and non-binary artists to explore the othering, fetishisation and reclamation of narratives around Black femininity.
> More information on Somerset Website here
Johny Pitts: Home is Not a Place
When: 23 Jun - Sun 24 Sep 2023
Where: The Photographers Gallery
About: In 2021, photographer and writer, Johny Pitts, and poet Roger Robinson travelled around the British coast in search of an answer to the question 'What is Black Britain?' Their collaboration became Home is Not a Place > More information here
Somali Museum: Any-Space-Whatever
When: 14 Jun - 1 Oct
Where: Whitechapel Gallery
About: Somali Museum UK is a virtual and physical container for the varied stories of Somalia and Somali people based globally and in the UK. Combining an art gallery, library, archive, museum, dance and music studio in one space, the museum radically reimagines what a ‘museum’ is and what it can do.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Lagos, Peckham, Repeat: Pilgrimage To The Lakes
When: 5 Jul - 29 Oct 2023
Where: South London Gallery
About: Known as ‘Little Lagos’, Peckham is home to one of the largest Nigerian diaspora communities in the UK. Lagos, Peckham, Repeat: Pilgrimage to the Lakes is a major group exhibition looking at the connections between Lagos in Nigeria and Peckham in south east London.
> More information on ticket prices / event information here
Hair: Untold Stories
When: 10 Feb - 29 Oct 2023
Where: Weston Park Museum, Sheffield
About: There’s more to hair than washing, combing and cutting. It’s an extraordinary, renewable fibre with a range of unexpected possibilities. This new exhibition puts the substance before the style and unfurls the untold stories of hair.
> More information here
DIVA
When: 24 Jun 2023 – 7 Apr 2024
Where: Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London
About: DIVA will celebrate the power and creativity of iconic performers, exploring and redefining the role of 'diva' and how this has been subverted or embraced over time across opera, stage, popular music, and film.
> More information here
Did you know these shows were happening or are they news to you?