Cultural Wednesday Wishes … now with links
16 - 22 October 2024
Hello
Welcome to Wednesday Wishes.
Art superstars and a superstar dog feature in this week’s Wednesday Wishes. Francis Bacon, Hewe Locke, Constable and the Earth are all on show in London. To read along the way, Sophie from Romania by Rory Cellan Jones tells the tale of how his rescue dog disappeared behind the sofa, became a social media star and finally gathered the courage to come out and face the world.
On Saturday Mr Cultural Wednesday and I set off down the A23 to Worthing. It was my first visit but Mr CW was full of nostalgia for Caravan Rallies of his youth. We were visiting to see (Return) To the Sea an exhibition curated by Shutterhub. Over 400 photographs of the seaside displayed right by the seaside. You can visit the exhibition, right next to the Lido, 24 hours a day and it will be on show, for free, until October 2025.
Just after I graduated I lived on the edge of Dartmoor six months. We explored the Tors, swam in the natural pools and traversed the Moor on our way to visit parents. Dartmoor: A Radical Landscape at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter opens this weekend. Land art, photography and film capture the essence of the moor. On until 25 February 2025, I am hoping to see this on one of our University runs.
It isn’t just the pupils at the Royal College of Art that are accomplished artists. Lots of the support staff are creatives too. Their work is celebrated this weekend in Hidden 2024. Go take a look and whilst you’re there marvel at the brand new Battersea campus.
One of the reasons that I love Milton Keynes is its central Midsummer Boulevard is aligned with the path of the sun on the summer solstice. You can check out this alignment on a visit to the MK Gallery which is at one end of the Boulevard. One of my Exhibitons Worth Leaving London For opens there this week, Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour. You have until 25 February 2025 to see it.
Over in Paris one of my favourite artistic duos are staging an exhibitors in one of my favourite museums. Elmgreen & Dragset L'Addition at the Musee d’Orsay see’s the pair installing their sculptures in dialogue with the sculpture nave in the museum. Every Elmgreen and Dragset exhibition I have ever been to has both made me gasp in horror and laugh with delight. This should be an absolute treat.
Last week I was in The Netherlands with Visit Netherlands discovering new architecture and new land. You may remember that earlier in the summer I went on safari in Flevoland, seeing wild horse, cattle and golden eagles. That visit left me really, really wanting to visit the manmade islands just off the coast of Flevoland. Well last week I did and wasn’t disappointed.
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Happy Culturing
Catherine
Bletchley Park is nearby too for a longer jaunt
Have never been to MK but a Vanessa Bell exhibition could have me scurrying there post-haste!