AGI’s weekly events column is back and ready to get you started for the 7 days to come with a load of new Asia-related things to do. Have your pen handy to schedule in a few dates on your calendar….
EAT
Try some authentic Taiwanese street food at the newly opened Old Tree Daiwan Bee restaurant in Chinatown (26 Rupert Street). Highlights of the menu include beef noodles in soup and lamb hotpot. The obligatory bubble tea is also available.
GO
From now until November 17, visitors to Hokusai Exposed at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane will be immersed in the artworks of the great Japanese Master, Katsushika Hokusai, “re-created” using state-of the-art digital technology, as well as the vibrant 3D streets and pleasure districts of Edo, 18th century Tokyo. The world of ukiyo-e style woodblock prints will be brought to life in a unique event which engages all the senses and is the first showcase of the “re-create” concept outside of Japan. A highlight will be re-creations of Hokusai’s famed 36 Views of Mount Fuji, a fitting tribute to Mount Fuji’s June 2013 inscription onto the UNESCO World Heritage list as both a sacred place and a source of artistic inspiration. All tickets: £5 (cash on the door). Please note there will be a restricted over-18 area within the exhibition. If you like this, you might also be interested in Women of the Pleasure Quarters: A Japanese Painted Screen, which is on view for free at the British Museum until November 3 (this is in addition to the continuing Shunga exhibition).
Yet more Japanese art comes in the form of a presentation of recent white Infinity Net paintings by acclaimed modern artist Yayoi Kusama. It is the first time Kusama has exclusively shown white Infinity Nets in Europe. You can see them at Victoria Miro’s new Mayfair gallery. The exhibition will close on November 16. Kusama’s autobiography entitled ‘Infinity Net’ was recently issued in paperback by Tate Publishing. Over at Victoria Miro Gallery 1 on Wharf Road, a display of Pakistani Londoner Idris Khan’s work is also ongoing (up to November 9).
WATCH
‘The Taste of Money’ is a Korean film from director Im Sang-soo (‘The Housemaid’) which will be showing exclusively at the Curzon theatre in Soho for a limited time only. One of the stars of the erotic drama, actress Yoon Yeo-jeong, will be coming to the UK soon to take part in the London Korean Film Festival (November 7-22). Film listings and ticket information for the festival is now available, and four screenings can be booked for free online; one of them is for a film called ‘Behind the Camera’ in which Yoon Yeo-jeong also appears and she will join the director for an on-stage Q&A afterwards.
Set in Indian Kashmir, ‘The Djinns of Eidgah’ is a new play at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square. Interweaving true stories and testimonies with Islamic storytelling, the play paints a magical portrait of a generation of radicalised kids, and a beautiful landscape lost to conflict. Tickets £20. More info here.
