Van Gogh Immersive Experience

A company called “Life You Deserve” – A website which hosts curated activities for the over 55s in London, has asked me to create content for their website. They suggest an activity, they pay for my ticket and travel and in return I have to review the event and say how suitable I believe it would be for their client base. I send them some photos and video clips and they will edit it all into a short video that they put onto their website.

This all sounded interesting so I have agreed to do it. It fits in well with the idea behind the London Lark and with a little luck it will inspire me to reignite the blog which I had left lying dormant over the past couple of years.

This is the first one I did. It was The Van Gogh Immersive Experience.

It takes place in a huge old building in Commercial Street, just across from Spitalfields Market. They try to immerse you in his life from the moment you enter – offering you perfumed tea to drink while you read about his life and works. They have many recreations of his works throughout the exhibition, some converted into moving images. It is very interactive too you are encouraged to try his techniques and then post them on the walls just before you leave. There is an ingenious room where you get to sit under his starry night and amongst his flowers, I really enjoyed it and found it very relaxing.

The Virtual Reality section of the exhibition costs an extra £5, but do not miss it, for me it was the absolute highlight. You walk through his life and paintings at Arles. Virtual Reality has come on so far since I last tried it a few years ago – it really did feel like I was walking through his paintings.

Of course they do not have any of his actual paintings at this exhibition, they are all recreations, so it is perhaps not one for the purists among us, but it was hugely enjoyable. I loved it, I stayed about an hour and a half and when I left I felt that I had learnt so much about Van Gogh his life and his painting and whenever I go into a traditional gallery, I will certainly make sure that I see the Van Gogh if they have one in their collection.

My intention is to continue blogging about London things and occasionally add these Life You Deserve videos when they are kind enough to make a video for me. I am looking forward to being back in the world of blogging! Also, I’m surprised at how much practical stuff I’ve forgotten about tags, categories and how the blog looks – so if you spot something that need improving, I will be grateful for the feedback. Cheers!

#LoveLondon, art, culture, Day out, Gallery, immersive, London, Painting, retirement, review, Shoreditch, show, travel, Van Gogh, video, virtual reality, VR

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Shoreditch Takeover, Shoreditch Town Hall, London

Shoreditch is the centre of cool in London at the moment, so you would expect its contribution to the Dance Umbrella Festival 2017 to be cutting edge and innovative. On both these counts it certainly delivers. Shoreditch Takeover is made up of four very different pieces, happening in separate spaces within the beautiful old building that is Shoreditch Town Hall. Twenty first century art within nineteenth century architecture.

First is Rays, Sparks and Beating Glows. This is choreographed by Julie Cunningham and is an intense piece, about gender and feminism, for four dancers. It is performed without music, although there is some spoken word towards the end.

Next is Vanessa Kinsuule, who is a wonderful poet. She is, witty, insightful, nostalgic and honest. She has a winning personality, who can really involve an audience and the introductions to the poems are almost as good as the poems themselves.  Her whole set is great and the poem about an evening, dancing at a nightclub, is a highlight.

The third set is Lizbeth Gruwez dances Bob Dylan, a personal interpretation, exploring the edges of dance. For “Knockin’ on Heavens Door”, Lizbeth stands with her back to the audience at the front of the stage and walks, slowly and beautifully, to the back. You haven’t seen minimalism in dance until you have watched this. The Bob Dylan tracks are played on vinyl and are quite scratchy at times, invoking images of drunk and stoned nights in 70’s bedsits.

The final work is a film, The Shadow Drone Project, cleverly filmed from above, where the actual bodies of the dancers can hardly be seen, but instead we watch their shadows interact with each other. Some of this appears choreographed and some not, blurring the line between formal dance and how our brains make patterns.

All in all, a varied and interesting night in a lovely venue, a good addition to the Dance Umbrella Festival 2017.

Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1

Rich Mix is a flexible, interesting venue, very handily located less than 100metres from Shoreditch High Street Overground Station. It has a theatre space and a bar on the 4th floor, holding around 100 people comfortably. The ground floor has a licensed bar in a space suitable for theatre, dance or live music and this area can accommodate many more. The first floor is a mezzanine, looking down over the stage. There are three cinema screens on the floors in between and there is also an Indian restaurant/café on the premises.

What really makes this venue, is the variety and diversity of the cultural events that are put on here. If you look at the programme for the coming month alone, there is theatre, dance, live bands, open mic nights, story-telling evenings, political events, family events, not to mention the films showing in the cinema, where it is one of the venues hosting the London Film Festival. It is also a venue for London Dance Umbrella Festival.

There mezzanine doubles as an art gallery and currently hosts a multimedia exhibition: Black Pride.  Among upcoming exhibitions are “Hard to Read” bringing together art and poetry, and another depicting illustrations of Syrian refugees. There are weekend markets with different themes, one in December is specifically for independent potters and ceramicists.

An adaptable venue, embracing the local community, accommodating the art scene and enhancing London’s rich cultural diversity.

Out of the System, Rich Mix, Shoreditch, London

Out of the System, part of a three year project from London’s Dance Umbrella Festival, is curated by Freddie Opoku-Addaie and runs at Rich Mix 16-17 October.

Made up of three very different dance pieces, there is something here for all tastes. The first piece “Clay” is a flamenco based collaboration between two dancers and a guitarist, the dancing is fantastic, filled with action and humour. I loved the way the two dancers played off each other and the way they slowly drew the guitarist in.

The second is a more interpretive piece, evocative, using symbolist props and occasional filmed backdrop. I have to admit that some of the symbolism went over my head, but the dancing is eloquent and emotional.

The third “Ven” is a double hander, with two harmonious dancers intertwining to dance almost as one person, clever and moving. The trust that the couple show in each other is beautiful, a truly symbiotic relationship.

The evening is finished off with a live band,  The Afrobeat rhythms of Yaaba Funk had the whole audience dancing. All in all we had a very interesting evening in a great venue. The London Dance Umbrella Festival is running at different venues until the 28th of October and with the standard this high, I am looking forward to the other nights I have booked.

TT Liquor, Kingsland Road, London E2.

When you approach TT liquor, it appears to be a remarkable off-licence. Which, of course, it is. It has hundreds of different types of bottles of alcohol arranged neatly on wooden shelves around the perimeter of the shop. However, (this is where you impress your friends with your in-depth knowledge of hip and trendy London hangouts!) go through a wooden door at the back of the store and you arrive in a hallway with wooden stairs up and stone stairs going down.

Upstairs are rooms where they hold cocktail making classes, wine tasting evenings and other events. I have to say that I haven’t tried these yet, but they sound like they should be fun. If you go down the windy, stone staircase into the cellar there is a small speakeasy type bar set up with tables, chairs, and a bar, set along a brick lined wall, this bar holds only about 10 or 12 people.  Apparently, the building is a conversion from an old police station, and so, off this room are some smaller rooms that used to be police cells, these are now  private, old fashioned snugs, set up for individual parties.

 

The cocktails are good, there is large selection of many different types. The bar staff are helpful and knowledgeable, they will advise you on what you might enjoy. The noise level is low, so your conversation can be heard without shouting, but of course, should the evening become a little more raucous, later on, you will be in a semi private room and not disturbing other customers.

I do understand those of you who say that the last thing the world needs is another new bar in the Shoreditch/Hoxton area, but this one does bring something different and despite the number of bars there already, this is a good and innovative addition.

I have to say that we had a great night in TT Liquor, I loved this bar and I will bring friends here, whenever I come back to this part of town.

 

Campania Gastronomia, Ezra Street, London E2.

The setting is idyllic. Even for hip and trendy Hoxton, this place has style. Ezra street is a small cobbled lane off Columbia Road. The restaurant itself is set in a Victorian terrace, it appears to have been converted from a shop or a terraced house. You will need to have your wits about you when looking for it, as the shop says S. Jones over the door and the name, Campania, is just written on the window.

The interior is decorated in washed plain wood, the crockery is old fashioned but pretty. It is mismatched, like the tables and chairs. It has a 1940s or 50s feel inside. The yard of the house has been covered over and holds a large benched table that seats about ten, this would be a good place to bring a big group. There are also seats outside on the street.

We found the service to be very good, our waitress explained the menu beautifully. The menu is short, but everything does feel home made. Our shared platter to start was lovely, it contained something for everyone. The pasta was made on the premises and it was nice, the risotto was good too. This being in the more fashionable part of town, the prices are at the top end of the price spectrum, without being excessive. The house rose wine, was not cheap, but it was delicious.

It was very busy, Luckily we had booked, as it is quite small, maybe 36 covers, and they appeared to be turning people away all evening. If you are planning to go for lunch or brunch, after visiting the flower market, on a Sunday, you will certainly need to reserve your table. The passageway down the side of the restaurant is pretty, with an old fashioned wooden sash window and a Victorian looking street lamp in a narrow, brick lined, cobbled street. It is very photogenic. If you are going out with visitors to London, this would be a charming, quirky place to take them.

We enjoyed our evening and would definitely return.

McQueen, Shoreditch, London

4 of us came here for dinner. We met in the bar first. The room is good, it feels light, bright and spacious. The music is a bit irritating, surely “café del mar” chill-out is past its sell-by date now, but at least it is not loud enough to disturb the conversation. The sofas are nice and the chairs comfortable.

The restaurant is designed in much the same manner as the bar – with big brown distressed leather chesterfields and smaller chairs opposite. We ate from the set menu, the starters were good – the smoked salmon was with a grapefruit salad, which suited it well. The mains were steak; lovely with nice jus and great chips, lamb: nicely cooked with mashed potato and green veg, cod which was also reportedly very good and a risotto that we didn’t try. Between us we tried the house red, white and rose – all were very nice.

They mention on their page on Time Out London that they do a bottomless brunch, and although I haven’t been able to find any details, it would suit the place very well. I can easily imagine reading the weekend papers in here with a giant cup of coffee or Bloody Mary, nursing a hangover…….

The service was very good. I liked all the old Steve McQueen posters around the place.I’d recommend it as somewhere to meet friends especially in the daylight when all the windows make the place so bright and airy.