Guys, guys… have you seen?? Something amazing is happening at around 17:00 each day… whisper it, but… it’s still kinda light outside! We know, we know, it’s quite special. Perhaps one day soon we’ll be able to leave the studio and not think the day is finished. Every finger is crossed.

A film about cleaning toilets
Wim Wenders returns with Perfect Days, an intimate, minimalist portrait of the quiet and introspective life of Hirayama (played by Koji Yakusho), a modest toilet caretaker in Tokyo. Shot akin to a documentary, Hirayama’s routines and rituals become poetic refrains: eating his lunch in the park while admiring nature; driving to work listening to 60s and 70s classics. Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best International Feature category, the film’s gentle pace and appreciation for the small joys in life is a lesson we can all learn from and enjoy.

Perfect Days is out in cinemas now. 

Extraction + Abstraction
Edward Burtynsky’s incredible large-scale photographs reveal in vivid detail the vast impact of human consumption on our planet, showing the winding mines we dig into the earth, the oil fields, rice terraces and salt pans in India – where over 100,000 salt workers extract a million tons of salt annually from the floodwaters of the Arabian Sea. The purpose of Burtynsky’s work is to pull back the curtain on processes either hidden or simply ignored.

Burtynsky: Extraction/Abstraction runs at the Saatchi Gallery until May 6th, more info here. 

Sound + Style
Tune in, NTS has launched a new podcast titled Sounds & Style, focusing on the eternal crossover of music and fashion. The first episode welcomes Martine Rose as a very special guest. An ideal designer for such a podcast, her menswear designs are inextricably linked with her adolescent years on dance floors and in living rooms listening to her family’s records – from acid house tapes to pirate radio channels.

More info here. 

www.nts.live/shows/sounds-and-style to hear a 60 minute mix inspired by Martine’s episode. 

Presenter - Lynette Nylander

Producer - Connor Gani

Exec producer - Lizzy King

Sound design - Jennifer Walton

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A very British retrospective
Founded by Craig Atkinson in 2005, Café Royal Books has now been producing weekly publications since 2012. Building an extensive archive of post-war documentary photography, everyday scenes from festivals, raves, football matches and protests have been captured across the UK in places like London, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Atkinson’s extensive record of cultural and social change is now being celebrated at The Photographer’s Gallery as an exhibition spanning decades of British photography, showcasing work from the likes of Janette Beckman, Elaine Constantine and David Hoffman.

Café Royal Books will run at The Photographers’ Gallery until 2nd June, more info here. 

Pinkpantheress takes over Ally Pally
Playing her biggest-ever headline show to date, Pinkpantheress brings her alt-pop D’n’B-infused sound to North London. Fostering a loyal fanbase off the back of tracks like Attracted to You, Pain, and Boy’s a Liar, which has reigned at the top of TikTok’s most used sounds since the day of its release. Following the release of her sophomore album Heaven Knows last year, the Brit musician’s homecoming show is sure to be a big one. 

More info here. 

 

Me, a royal? Sure
Born in a Deptford council flat, Steve Burden’s latest exhibition, Country Estate / Council Estate, at A.P.T. Gallery (just around the corner from his childhood home) is a direct response to researching his DNA and finding a link to 11th century Norman aristocracy. The resulting work explores notions of socially constructed hierarchy through abstract mixed-media figures, feelings and a family tree.

Country Estate / Council Estate runs at A.P.T. Gallery until February 25th, more info here. 

I know a great little place…
Sager + Wilde founder Michael Sager has added a new East London joint to his roster, following up his Hackney cocktail bar Equal Parts with a new wine bar and bottle shop called Bruno. It’s an intimate, candle-lit space in a converted stable near Vicky Park with an endless amount of wine bottles lining the walls and an extensive menu full of natural wines on offer, alongside charcuterie boards and filled pretzels. Now you can do an East London bar crawl exclusively consisting of Sager + Wilde joints – and that ain’t a bad thing.

Bruno is located at 211a Victoria Park Road, E9 7JN, more info here.