There is another Bank Holiday Monday to enjoy this weekend, and with the next Bank Holiday being far away in August, it's time to make the most of the upcoming three-days. As per usual, we want you to get the best in Art & Culture – here are this week’s suggestions for London:

DISCOVER the myths and monsters of Japan with over 150 works by the nineteenth-century Japanese master printmaker Kuniyoshi, at the Royal Academy of Arts.

VIEW the work of the elusive graffiti/urban artist Banksy at the Andipa Gallery, a free event.

EXPERIENCE Brontë’s Wuthering Heights through the medium of dance. Choreographer/director Cathy Marston explores the relationships between the characters using Marston's lyrical modern ballet.

CELEBRATE your love of the spoken word with the Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival, now in its sixth year. Highlights include comedians and broadcasters Mark Steel and Arthur Smith in an evening entitled Comic Writing for the Mid-life Crisis, and South African novelist Gillian Slovo discussing her most recent novel, 'Black Orchid'.

COMBINE an Art Gallery with a duologue performance and and go see Tim Crouch’s England; an experimental piece of theatre where “your imagination is the theatre in which the thickening walls and failing beat of the protagonist’s heart is vividly displayed.”

ENJOY existentialism at its best with Waiting for Godot. Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Simon Callow star in Samuel Beckett’s thought provoking and humorous “masterpiece”, now also showing in New York.

SPEND a day wandering Oxford Street while it’s closed to traffic this Saturday and watch an outdoor showing of the forthcoming film 'Night at the Museum 2'.

For the students and teachers out there - we know it’s half-term next week - here are a couple of mid-week activities to refresh you for the rest of the academic year:

CATCH the Dance Fever with free outdoor dance workshops and performances, starting on Bank Holiday Monday with Bollywood and flamenco, ballroom on Tuesday, hula hoop and Lindy hop on Wednesday and salsa on Thursday.

RELIVE your childhood with the magical illustrations of Quentin Blake at Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle! The Wonderful World of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, now showing at the V&A.

Enjoy yourself!

Image Source

Wellcome Collection Madness & Modernity exhibition and Bobby Baker’s Diary Drawings 

Opposite Euston Station - 183, Euston Road, Kings Cross, NW1 2BE 

Based on a recommendation from a friend I went along to the Wellcome Collection for these two linked exhibitions, never having realised the Wellcome Centre was even there before.  Wellcome Collection is affectionately described as ‘A free destination for the incurably curious’.     

Initially, I found the Madness & Modernity fascinating with its video wall taking you on an eerie tour of an Asylum built in the 18^th Century in Vienna.  Standing and staring at the endless corridors and dark court yard for a while longer, I began to find it rather disturbing.  The sounds that accompanied the video were what freaked me out the most.   

Moving on to the rest of the exhibition, I could still hear the wailing and footsteps, but it did get a little more cheerful with a model and photos of a white city, built in the early 20^th Century in Vienna as a Sanitorium for the mentally ill.  The greenery and white clean open spaces of the Sanitorium struck me as a place where people who were mentally ill would be much more likely to get better.      

Art was a theme introduced as part of the exhibition with a painting of Sigmund Freud and various Viennese artists who had a fascination with depicting the mentally ill.  The exhibition culminated with a collection of pieces of art created by people who were actually patients at asylums in the 18^th Century.  The final section is especially intriguing, since one of the artists wrote notes to accompany his pieces.  These annotations are an outpouring of emotion, giving you an insight their world, linking on to a modern artists’ similar outpouring in the next exhibition.   

Across the corridor Bobby Baker’s Diary Drawings are incredibly personal and revealing.  The series of drawings from her diary chart her recovery from mental illness over a period of 11 years.  The artist has split her drawings into 17 stages and as I was going along looking at them and reading her thoughts about them, I kept thinking, I hope this gets better in a minute.  Not because, I didn’t like the exhibition, but because I was so taken in by her story that I really wanted her to get better.  Eventually, at the very end it/she does and it is well worth going to see, especially if you have ever suffered from a mental illness yourself.       

Both exhibitions are completely free.  Madness & Modernity runs from 1 April-28 June and Bobby Baker’s Diary Drawings from 19 March-2 August.  Find out more at www.wellcomecollection.org

Emily Ellis

April 1-2-3-4-5 2009 *3^rd Annual

The World’s Greatest Showcase of International Burlesque Talent is BACK!

Over the past decade the art of Burlesque has grown to near mainstream popularity in North America. In recent years this Burlesque Revival has shimmied it's way back across 'The Pond' currently taking the UK by storm! It was only a matter of time before this 'Neo Burlesque Resurgence' would generate the demand for an international showcase in a contemporary city that continues to maintain it's nostalgic aesthetic and reputation as one of the greatest cultural epicentres of the world...

Ladies and gentlemen, Chaz Royal's International London Burlesque Festival is back for a 3rd year, showcasing the best in British Burlesque & beyond!

Chaz Royal is a name that sets the precedent in Burlesque entertainment worldwide having produced Burlesque events in over 200 cities and being the first to successfully book Burlesque tours across North America, the UK and Europe. With over 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry, all of Chaz Royal's groundbreaking endeavours have culminated to the Burlesque world's grandest event for 2009!

The London Burlesque Festival will expose Londoners as well as Burlesque connoisseurs from across the Globe to over 100 of the world's best Ecdysiasts who have been selected from over 200 applicants hailing from North America, Europe, the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom. The festival will feature a variety of acts ranging from the nostalgic traditional style of Burlesque's early years to 50's 'Bump and Grind' as well as more modern avant-garde interpretations that are growing in popularity with Neo Burlesque's younger set.

There will be several showcases of sizzling strip tease, vaudeville variety and Burlesque pageantry at it's best taking place in London's finest districts over the span of five fabulous nights.

For full details & the confirmed LBF '09 performer schedule please visit

LBF Online: www.LONDONBURLESQUEFEST.com

Tickets on sale now exclusively from TicketWeb.co.uk

The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, Shoredich, N1 6LP

£6 from www.ticketweb.co.uk / Hours: 8pm-2am

www.myspace.com/twistedlicks / www.myspace.com/themacbethuk 

LIVE:

EXLOVERS

MY TOYS LIKE ME 

DJs:

TIM FANUCCI

GUY FIERCE PANDA  
 

Slapping the life back into the bare bum-cheeks of East London, Twisted Licks gives you your monthly dose of musical mutiny. Music you can get your teeth into; eclecticism without the bollocks... 

March 21st is another corker from indie/alternative club night Twisted Licks with pretty noise from headliners exlovers, who are set to charm Shoreditch with their delicate harmonies and wistful lyrics. One of those bands that weave their way into your subconscious, you’ll be humming their melodies one minute ‘til you come round and realise you've sold your nan for a rare 7". Following from the success of their debut single ‘Just a Silhouette’ (Chess Club) and tours with Golden Silvers and Pete and the Pirates, they release their second single ‘Photobooth’ on March 30^th through indie label Young and Lost. It’s hard to believe they only formed in 2008! 

Also on the bill are the eccentric wonky-pop sound contortionists My Toys Like Me. Mesmerising, haunting and trippy – it’s pop… but not as you know it. Pinch yourself, you are awake and no, there’s nothing in your tea. Weird and brilliant, you have to see it to believe it, and even then you’re not sure. There’s something futuristic, something other worldly and something childish about the band, a heady mix that gets right under your skin. Don’t just take our word for it, the Guardian describes them as "like Lily Allen lost in a k-hole, battered and twisted but deeply catchy and deeply lovable."  

Up-and-coming artist Ali Miller is putting on a fine art exhibition, 'Brave Soldier and Black Butterfly', to commemorate and celebrate the life of her father, a former soldier and artist, who died of cancer in April 2008, just five months after his diagnosis. The exhibition will raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and the North London Hospice. The private view will take place on 26 February at Bacon Street Project, off Brick Lane and the exhibition continues until 1 March.

The exhibition, 'Brave Soldier and Black Butterfly', is Ali's representation of her father, the brave soldier, who served in the Israeli army during Israel's Six Day War and was incredibly strong and brave during his battle with cancer. The black butterfly represents Ali's sense of loss and hope, as her father's spirit and soul enters her.

Ali's father, Hanania Miller, was a talented artist himself – an award-winning photographer whose captivating, emotive and ground-breaking photography of life at war appeared in numerous publications including Time and Life magazines. Ali's work has been strongly influenced by her father's art and life, which can be seen by the exhibition she has put together.

The exhibition offers an intensely powerful narrative of Ali Miller's experiences during her father's cancer journey. On one hand it visualises her father's rapid deterioration, and the pain, suffering and loss that both he and Ali went through. On the other hand it portrays a sense of hope, as the artist's cathartic work is made to offer support to those who have suffered from cancer to connect with the pieces, giving them an emotional release, offering a sense of strength and optimism for the future.

The exhibition's showpiece displays are boxed assemblages created from personal objects from the family home, including her father's photographs, coat and magazines, decomposing flowers and religious objects. Ali's exhibition also contains paintings, screen printing and collage with her father's photographs, which are subverted and reinvented by her intimate and emotionally charged look at her father's life.

"The pieces show elements of his cancer journey but it also shows that my Dad's life, soul and spirit still live on in me and the world around me." quoted from the Artist.

Ali's work is an amalgamation of personal experiences, family history, religion and identity and the relationship between the individual to the material. This is conveyed in Ali's design perspective, which is an unusual combination, creating artwork of remarkable intimacy and harmonious composition.

Ali, 29, who lives in Muswell Hill, has recently exhibited at the Truman Brewery and the Tricycle Theatre as well as various local north London spaces. She has worked in the creative departments of London's most prestigious department stores, including Fortnum and Mason, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. She will be exhibiting at The Affordable Art Fair this coming March.

"This is a fantastic event which will raise funds and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support. Our supporters are fundamental to our ambition to help all people affected by cancer and it has been a pleasure to support Ali with this project."
Rebecca Steadman, Fundraising Manager for Macmillan North London.

'Brave Soldier and Black Butterfly' takes place at Bacon Street Project, 14 Bacon Street, off Brick Lane, London E1 6LF. Tel: 020 ... or email mail@baconproject.com. For more information about the exhibition and the artist visit www.alimiller.co.uk