Our top picks of exhibitions together with cultural spaces and places, both online and in the real world.

All, Art, Auctions, Exhibitions, Travel & Hospitality, Initiatives

Viewing Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now

The Wick - Carrie Mae Weems_ Reflections for Now, Installation view, Barbican Art Gallery, 2023 © Jemima Yong

Above Carrie Mae Weems_ Reflections for Now, Installation view, Barbican Art Gallery, 2023 © Jemima Yong

Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now
Barbican Art Gallery

22 June – 3 September 2023
www.barbican.org.uk/CarrieMaeWeems

Head east to the Barbican Art Gallery to see the first major solo exhibition of Carrie Mae Weems in a UK institution. Widely considered one of the greatest contemporary American artists, with activism at the heart of her practice, Weems explores cultural identity, power structures, desire, and social justice. Creating powerful and provocative works that weave new narratives around race, gender, history, class and their systems of representation, Weems challenges the ideologies and historical records.

Explore the wide variety of radical works created by Weems, starting with her rise to prominence in the 1980s, exploring the Black subject and ending with some of Weems’s most recent works, such as the seven-chapter panoramic film, The Shape of Things (2021). Journey through time and find on display photographic series, films, and installations spanning over three decades, from her early iconic Kitchen Table Series (1990), as well as her acclaimed series Roaming (2006) and Museums (2016), where Weems’s muse confronts architecture as the materialisation of political and cultural power. With many works on display never before seen in the UK, this is your chance to see a new side of Carrie Mae Weems.

Whilst you are there, why not pick up Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now? The first publication devoted to the artist’s writings, highlighting Weems’s influence as an intellectual and reflecting the dual nature of her career as an artist and activist.

Viewing Hospital Rooms: Holding Space

The Wick - 'Holding Space' an exhibition presented by mental health and arts charity, Hospital Rooms, a at Hauser & Wirth

Above ‘Holding Space’ an exhibition presented by mental health and arts charity, Hospital Rooms, a at Hauser & Wirth

Hospital Rooms: Holding Space
Hauser & Wirth, London

17 August – 12 September 2023
www.hauserwirth.com/hauser-wirth-exhibitions/42169-hospital-rooms-holding-space/

Art & Mental Health

Now open at Hauser & Wirth’s London gallery is ‘Holding Space,’ a multi-sensory exhibition presented by the award-winning arts and mental health charity Hospital Rooms. Changing the face of the mental health care system one hospital room at a time, this August sees the return of the charity’s annual exhibition with Hauser & Wirth.

Questioning what a ‘Holding Space’ is, the show encompasses the reality of the mental health care system and injects hope into the space through art, music, murals and interactive installations. The exhibition brings together established and emerging artists such as Sutapa Biswas, Victoria Cantons, Richard Mark Rawlins, Jonathan Trayte, Richard Wentworth and Abbas Zahedi, as well as Hospital Rooms Lived Experience Team, National Opera Studio with South West London Recovery College Student. In their own way and through their own experience, each artist responds to the notion of ‘Holding Space’, from embracing cushions to sculptures and murals, each telling a narrative.

Come and walk among the stars in Sutapa Biswas’ mural containing 20,000 hand-painted stars that align to create consolations made in an OCD clinic in the newly built Springfield University Hospital. Elsewhere, embark on the visual journey of Katharine Lazenby, who tells her story of recovery through 144 Polaroids and witness the growing hope through her images. Interactive at its heart, lie down on beds surrounded by artists-made cushions to discover ceiling installations by Richard Wentworth.

As Hospital Rooms continue their partnership with Hauser & Wirth and stride towards their ambitious goal of raising £1 million over three years, come be a part of the journey. Couturier and long term friend, Giles Deacon, has released a limited edition pin, available to purchase online. The exhibition culminates in an online and live auction, taking place this September at Bonham’s Auction House.

Head to The Wick’s video interviews to hear from the Co-Founders of Hospital Rooms, Niamh White and Tim A Shaw.

Viewing Edinburgh Fringe 2023

The Wick - [L-R] Martha Haskins launches the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Martha Haskins launches the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

The Wick - [L-R] Martha Haskins, Cris Peploe and Claudia Cawthorne launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Martha Haskins, Cris Peploe and Claudia Cawthorne launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

The Wick - [L-R] Cris Peploe, Claudia Cawthorne and Martha Haskins launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Cris Peploe, Claudia Cawthorne and Martha Haskins launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Martha Haskins launches the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Martha Haskins, Cris Peploe and Claudia Cawthorne launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Above [L-R] Cris Peploe, Claudia Cawthorne and Martha Haskins launch the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 Programme. Photograph by Peter Dibdin

Edinburgh Fringe 2023
Across Edinburgh

4 – 28 August 2023
name

Fill Yer Boots because it’s the Edinburgh Fringe. Catch the train up north for the iconic 76th Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With a huge line-up, this year will see 72 countries will be represented, with 973 shows from Scotland and 469 from Edinburgh itself. With 3,013 shows, who will undertake over 52,000 performances during the month, the ledge nary Fringe is back and bigger than ever. This year’s theme is ‘Fill Yer Boots’ meaning, ‘to get as much of something valuable or desirable as you can’ – a message that captures the diversity of talent and shows the Fringe has to offer. Not all fun and games, the Fringe also tackles some of today’s most topical issues, from the NHS to mental health, gender and gender identity, neurodiversity, race and racial identity, politics, class and climate action.

With winding lanes, lots of hills, and so much choice, how and what should you go see? This year sees the launch of the new Fringe app – accessibility at your fingertips so you can cram as many shows in as you want. Keeping comedy and the arts for all, there are free shows and others you can pay what you think it’s worth. Although the festival is known for comedy, it also features theatre, music, children’s shows, cabaret, circus, dance and musicals – there is something for everyone. So Fill Yer Boots and scoot over to the Scottish capital.