Concert: Gideon Conn

Never In All My Years of Show Business presents a special concert by Gideon Conn and Dr Butler’s Hatstand Medicine Band in the intimate surroundings of the Engine House. Tickets £10/£8 advance from here.

Reading: MMU End of Year Student Poetry Reading and Open Mic

The Manchester Writing School at MMU presents its end of year student poetry reading and open mic night. The first half will be a showcase of poets in their first year of the MA in Creative Writing. The second half consists of an open mic night for any alumni, current students (whether doing the MA or an undergraduate degree) and friends. You do not need to register for the open mic, just turn up and bring a poem. This is a great chance to hear new talent and meet old colleagues, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Screening: Cacotopia

Accompanying the Cacotopia exhibition this programme of artist’s films will explore contemporary manifestations of the cacotopian. The films each present a subversion of the everyday through structures of repetition and interruption, from a techonological disruption of the projection screen, representations of disconnected filmic landscapes to juxtaposed fragments of destructive imagery infused with
subversive melancholia. Artists contributing to the programme include Matti Isan Blind, Aline Bouvy & John Gillis, Rebecca Lennon, Jen Lui, David Wojtowycz and Ulf Aminde. Free, no booking required.

Exhibition: Cacotopia

Anthony Burgess uses the work ‘cacotopia’ to describe a society ‘structured on the lines of a cacophony’, with extreme states of political disharmony and social dissonance. Working with the contemporary artists Matti Isan Blind, Franziska Lantz, Rebecca Lennon, Elisabeth Molin and David Wojtowycz, Laura Mansfield has curated a selection of works that respond to the theme of ‘Cacotopia’. The exhibition plays with the discord between everyday rationality and the potential chaos, oppression and violence such rationality holds. Cacotopia will open on Thursday the 23rd of May with a performance by Franziska Lantz. Franziska Lantz is an artist musician creating staged and arranged performances. Using masks, props and backdrops, Lantz sets scenes to deep beats and physical instrumentals with vocal associations.

Performance: Electronic Voice Phenomena

Taking its name and inspiration from Konstantin Raudive’s 1970s experiments into hearing unidentified voices in electronic interference, Electronic Voice Phenomena is a brand-new programme of performance works featuring seven of the country’s most innovative artists working across text, technology and physical performance. Part séance, part avant-garde cabaret, all new, the artists appearing include Outfit, Ross Sutherland, Hannah Silva and SJ Fowler plus special guests. Tickets £7/£5 advance, available here.

Exhibition: Anthony Burgess, The Writer and His World

Anthony Burgess was one of Manchester’s greatest cultural exports. Born in Manchester in 1917, he spent the Second World War in Gibraltar and witnessed the final days of British colonialism in Malaya. In the 1970s he lived in Malta, Italy and New York, before settling in Monaco, Switzerland and the south of France. He died in London in 1993.

This exhibition examines how Burgess’s experiences of travel changed his ambitions as a novelist. Objects from the archive of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, including photographs, musical instruments, sculptures and multi-lingual manuscripts, will bring Burgess’s global journey to life, and trace his artistic development from British novelist to international man of letters.

Anthony Burgess: The Writer and His World will open on May 16th 2013 with a free public lecture by the exhibition’s curator, Graham Foster. He will discuss Burgess’s as an internationalist writer, examining his reputation alongside those of his contemporaries, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Umberto Eco and Thomas Pynchon. The talk explores the literary consequences of expatriation, and considers Burgess’s place within a tradition of writers who have attempted to transcend their linguistic origins.

Graham Foster’s work with the International Anthony Burgess Foundation is supported by MMU and a Cultural Engagement Fellowship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Concert: Liam Frost

Second date added due to exceptional demand.

Described by Elbow’s Guy Garvey as “the UK’s answer to Bright Eyes” and heralded in some quarters of the British music press as a Mancunian Bruce Springsteen, singer-songwriter Liam Frost has developed, across two critically acclaimed solo albums, into an artist whose distinctive voice, songwriting and sincerity really set him apart. Following his recent TOKOLOSH collaboration with members of The Earlies and The Whip, Liam returns for a special performance in his home city showcasing songs from an as yet untitled third album. Tickets £8 in advance via Ticketline (0161 832 1111,  www.ticketline.co.uk ) and See Tickets (0870 264 3333,  www.seetickets.com). Promoted by Classic Slum / Ruby Lounge.

Concert: Liam Frost

Described by Elbow’s Guy Garvey as “the UK’s answer to Bright Eyes” and heralded in some quarters of the British music press as a Mancunian Bruce Springsteen, singer-songwriter Liam Frost has developed, across two critically acclaimed solo albums, into an artist whose distinctive voice, songwriting and sincerity really set him apart. Following his recent TOKOLOSH collaboration with members of The Earlies and The Whip, Liam returns for a special performance in his home city showcasing songs from an as yet untitled third album. Tickets £8 in advance via Ticketline (0161 832 1111,  www.ticketline.co.uk ) and See Tickets (0870 264 3333,  www.seetickets.com). Promoted by Classic Slum / Ruby Lounge.

Concert: Steven Severin and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Hey! Manchester presents Steven Severin giving a rare performance of his electronic score for The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Live in person, acclaimed solo artist and founder member of the legendary Siouxsie and the Banshees, Severin presents a mesmerising synthesis of sound and image, heightening appreciation of the surreal and enigmatic nature of the original work. Support is from the trio Ears In Excellent Condition, performing soundtracks for Cinderella (1922) and The Death-Feigning Chinaman (1928), two ten-minute silhouette animations by the German director Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981).  Tickets £10 advance from Hey! Manchester, Common (no booking fee), Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Seetickets.com, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

Booklaunch: Michael Symmons Roberts