This weekend’s highlights include Chris Pandel’s new Italian restaurant in Chicago, a surrealist dance performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company and a much anticipated festival of affordable art in London.
1 FILM: GLOBAL
—Four Horsemen
Writer-director Ross Ashcroft’s film is a refreshing documentary about the failing financial system. Unlike previous films on the same topic, this one focuses on how the system can be changed instead of pointing fingers at the rich bankers believed to be responsible. Ashcroft gets the insights of philosophers and financial experts such as Noam Chomsky, Gillian Tett, Phillip Blond, Richard Wilkinson, and Camilla Batmanghelidjh on what’s going on and where we go from here.
Four Horsemen is playing this weekend at Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Also available online at the official website
fourhorsemenfilm.com
2 DANCE: HONG KONG
—Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
The 200 years of the Wei and Jin dynasties in China around the 3rd Century nurtured many exceptional literary figures and artists. This early renaissance of the east becomes the backdrop for Seven Sages – a surrealist reinterpretation of noted cultural figures and achievements during the period by choreographer Yin Mei. The performance that incorporates photography and surrealist design, is being brought to life by the Hong Kong Dance Company.
Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium,12 Hing Ning Road, Kwai Chung, New Territories. Showing Saturday at 19.45 and Sunday at 15.00
hkdance.com/ver2/dance/eng
3 FOOD: CHICAGO
—Balena
This week marked the opening of Balena, a rustic Italian-inspired restaurant helmed by chef Chris Pandel. Located in Lincoln Park, Balena features an extensive menu, highlighted by signature Italian pizzas, pastas and a range of rotisserie cooked meats. Bitters feature heavily on Balena’s well-chosen cocktail list. We recommend sipping a Cardinale No.5 before sampling the Lasagna Pie. And for the hungriest of diners, the 36 ounce Bistecca is hard to beat.
1633 N Halsted Street, Chicago. Open Monday-Thursday 17.00-22.00, Saturday 16:30-23.00, Sunday 16.30-22.00
balenachicago.com
4 ART FAIR: LONDON
—The Affordable Art Fair
This weekend make sure you stop by South London’s Battersea Park to check out the Affordable Art Fair. Offering visitors the opportunity to purchase selected art pieces from 120 international galleries, the fair displays an array of paintings, sculpture and photography all at the price range of £40 to £4,000 (€48 to €4,800). Established in 1999 in London, the Affordable Art Fair has expanded to include annual exhibitions in 15 cities worldwide, all under the premise of offering the public contemporary art without charging them a premium for owning it.
Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, London. Open Saturday and Sunday 11.00-18.00
affordableartfair.com/uk
5 MUSIC: GLOBAL
—Daniel Rossen: Silent Hour/Golden Mile
As part of the bands Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles, Daniel Rossen is building a formidable back catalogue of pioneering and credible, yet always accessible releases. This latest solo EP might make him something of a golden boy at indie music’s upper table, as he flirts with the pop mainstream. Silent Hour/Golden Mile continues the wilting, Scott Walker-esque ballads found on Grizzly Bear’s finest records, all lightly peppered with unusual musical accents while maintaining the feeling he’s part of a rich song writing tradition. But then, melancholy and a wandering mind is nothing new.
Silent Hour/Golden Mile is out on Monday
warp.net
