Readings, Lectures, Talks, Debates - the best of October

Readings, Lectures, Talks, Debates - the best of October

26 September, 2011
by: Spoonfed Arts Team

Our selection of the five best talks, readings, lectures, debates and other wordy-based events taking place across London next month.

4th October
Tracy Chevalier, Iain Sinclair @ The Courtauld
£12.50, 6.30pm
Now in its third year, Picture This sees a pair of specially invited authors discuss their favourite work from the Courtauld Gallery's impressive permanent collection. Our pick of the 2011 programme features Tracy Chevalier discussing Rubens' famous depiction of Jan Brueghel's family, and psychogeographer Iain Sinclair on Bruegel's small grisaille painting, Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery. After the two talks there's also a Q&A session and a chance to meet the writers.


5th October
Confessions book launch @ Villain Bar
Free, 7pm
Curated by Charlotte Meddings, Confessions consists of a series of portraits by London-based photographers, alongside anonymous confessions that range from the commonplace – “I am too loving” – to the genuinely shocking, like, “In Kashmir in 1991, I wish I had told an Israeli tourist he was going to be kidnapped, he was was shot dead that night”. The launch night at Villain Bar features photography, drinks, music, and even an interactive confessional room.


6th October
Mind Over Matter @ The Dana Centre
Free, 7pm
The result of a collaboration between artist Ania Dabrowska and Dr Bronwyn Parry from Queen Mary, University of London, Mind Over Mater consists of a series of photographs of brain donors, taken behind the scenes at various brain bank laboratories, and on show this month at Shoreditch Town Hall. Programmed in conjunction, Dabrowska, Parry, bioethics professor Michael Parker and public health physician Carol Brayne discuss the taboos around bodily donation.


12th October
Something About Food @ Mason & Taylor
£5, 7pm
Ah, now this sounds really cool. Taking place at one of our new favourite bars – craft ale specialists Mason & Taylor – this is a night of discussions on 'new food culture'. Set up by two journalists (from Times Literary Supplement and Waitrose Kitchen) the event features music, beer (obviously) and some great speakers. Topics include the future of real ale, what makes good coffee, and the fascinating possibility of growing meat in labs.


19th October
Significant Voices – Yinka Shonibare @ Iniva
£7, 6.30pm
This is an interesting one: Yinka Shonibare MBE in conversation with Ekow Eshun. Both are extremely influential figures on the London (and international) art scene, respected not simply for what they do but also for what they represent. Both also attract strong opinion, and not always positively – Shonibare for his contribution to the fourth plinth, and Eshun for his controversial directorship of the ICA. The two are discussing culture in post-colonial Britain.


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Spoonfed Arts Team