This weekend’s highlights include a new music series by indie record label Joyful Noise, an art festival in Sydney and a photo exhibition in New York.
1. FESTIVAL: SYDNEY
—Sydney Festival 2012
Australia’s most attended cultural festival attracts a world-class remit of theatre, music, dance and visual art. The three-week event begins this Saturday with a free concert featuring Manu Chao and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. Other highly anticipated shows include the Sydney Theatre Company’s new dance performance, Never Did Me Any Harm, and an exhibition of over 150 of Picasso’s most important works co-organised by the Musée National Picasso in Paris.
The festival runs at venues throughout Sydney from 7 – 29 January
sydneyfestival.org.au
2. EXHIBITION: NEW YORK
—Jeff Wall
Experience Canadian photographer Jeff Wall’s everyday surrealism at the Marian Goodman Gallery this weekend. Wall’s zealous dedication to a neo-realist and near-documentary style has made him a driving force in Vancouver’s art scene since the 1970s and has earned him exhibitions at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin and MoMa in New York. This exhibition explores his latest two years of work and presents three pieces made in Sicily in 2007 shown together for the first time.
Marian Goodman Gallery, 24 West 57th Street. Open Monday to Saturday from 10.00-18.00. Until 21 January
mariangoodman.com
3. FILM: USA
—Norwegian Wood
Adapting Haruki Murakami’s modern classic, more than 20 years after its publication, must have been quite a challenge for French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung. However, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker (for 1993’s The Scent of the Green Papaya) has succeeded in delivering a beautifully shot, entangling love story set against the backdrop of 1960s Tokyo. Norwegian Wood is now on general release in the US. Check out Monocle’s Q&A with director Tran Anh Hung from 2011’s March issue.
4 .EXHIBITION: TOKYO
—Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing
Diplomatic life is imitating art this weekend in Tokyo with an exhibition of masterpieces donated by the Palace Museum in Beijing. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the stabilisation of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, 200 historical Chinese works including calligraphy from the Song dynasty and portraits from the Qing dynasty will be on display.
Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park). Open daily (except Mondays) 9.30-17.00, until 19 February
tnm.jp
5. MUSIC: GLOBAL
—Joyful Noise 2012 Flexi Disc Series
Joyful Noise is the record label that puts the indie in Indianapolis. For 2012, they’re offering listeners a flexi disc series of paper-thin vinyls that you’d often receive free with music magazines in times gone by. Twelve contributing bands, including Of Montreal and Deerhoof mean the brand new tracks and artwork are a treasure trove of melodious, ramshackle US indie delivered for $4 per disc per month. A deluxe version comes with a handmade wooden box to store your singles in decorated by Indianapolis artist Casey Roberts.
A year’s subscription to the Joyful Noise 2012 Flexi Disc Series is now available online
joyfulnoiserecordings.com
