Have we got Culture recommendations for you! A trio of must-see events this weekend...
BELFAST: Phil Collins: This Is The Day
This major exhibition across all three of the MAC’s galleries brings together a series of recent projects by Turner prize nominee Phil Collins. The most recent of these works, Ceremony, is centred around the life and work of Friedrich Engels, co-founder of communist theory - it's a film which follows Collins’ search for and retrieval of a decommissioned statue of Engels from an Ukrainian village, its journey across Europe and arrival in Manchester where it was permanently installed last summer in the city centre. Large-scale installation Delete Beach from 2016 is an anime which tells a story set in the near future of a schoolgirl who joins an anti-capitalist resistance group in a society in which carbon-based energy is outlawed.
Where? The MAC, Belfast, until October 21 - details here.
DUBLIN: Jimmy's Hall at The Abbey
Back on the Abbey stage after a sold out run last summer, director Graham McLaren's inspired adaptation of Ken Loach's film tells the true story of Leitrim farmer Jimmy Gralton, the only Irishman deported from his own country. His crime was to build a dance hall where he encouraged the local community to learn, to argue and to dream, but above all to dance and have fun. As the hall grew in popularity its free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close. Featuring a whip-smart ensemble who sing, play and dance their hearts out, this is a tragic tale with topical resonance, and a grand night out at the National Theatre.
Where? The Abbey Theatre, until September 8th - details here.
GALWAY: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Hypnotic (also known as HBE, or Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, or The Bros) is an eight-piece, Chicago-based brass ensemble consisting of eight sons of the jazz trumpeter Phil Cohran. With only horns and a drum set, they've traveled the world, making a joyous rocket everywhere they go. With a musical style ranging from hip-hop to jazz to funk and rock, including calypso and gypsie music, they have performed everyone from Prince and Wu Tang Clan to Gorillaz and Childish Gambino. A HBE show is always the best party in town - miss at your peril.
Where? Roisin Dubh, Friday August 24 at 8pm - details here.
