ICM - Leeds Design Agency

On my recent travels to Barcelona I visited the Joan Miro Foundation and saw an absolutely awesome exhibition. Not knowing anything about Kiki Smith or the exhibition it was like watching a film without the trailers, the surprise is incredible.

The exhibition, entitled Her Memory, explores the human life cycle, taking you on a journey through one woman’s acknowledgement of her own death and fading existence. I really hope this exhibition comes to the UK and would strongly recommend checking it out.

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Today is World AIDS Day.

The statistics are still shocking.

In the UK alone
• More than 80,000 people living with HIV
• One in three people with HIV are undiagnosed
• One in every 360 pregnant women in the UK is HIV positive

Worldwide, 2 million people died from HIV-related causes last year. That’s more than the entire population of Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham put together. It’s more than the entire popluation of several African countries.

This weekend I went to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It was fantastic, and worthy of it’s own blog, which it will get in a bit. The icing on the cake was the bonus exhibition showing for this week only – a little room at the bottom of the gallery, showcasing the covers she took for Vanity Fair, about “the challenge, the promise, and the future of Africa”. They’re well worth a look…

The exhibition was hosted by (RED), who so far have helped purchase antiretroviral treatments for nearly 80,000 people in Rwansa, Swaziland, Ghana and Lesotho.

Do what you can. Get involved. Buy RED. Save live…

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Okay, so it never really went away. But since the closure in 2001 of the Town & Country, many acts have bypassed Leeds as a viable gig location.

Tonight sees the opening of the Leeds Academy, opening in the old location of the Town & Country and Creation nightclub, originally the Coliseum building on Cookridge Street.

In its early years, it was used for circus and variety shows of the day, through to political meetings and religious gatherings. Changing hands between various theatre and property developers, the Coliseum converted to a cinema in 1938 and was renamed the Gaumont. It closed in March 1961 and re-opened as a Bingo Hall and Social club, through to use as a television studio in the 1980s until 1991.

From 1992 to 2000, the legendary Town and Country Club, played host to many high profile acts including Blur, INXS, and The Stones Roses.

2008 sees the opening night being headlined by Leeds’ Kaiser Chiefs (well it had to be really!) to be followed by some really great bands over the next few weeks and months – Spiritualized, The Last Shadow Puppets, Elbow, The Streets, Hot Chip, The Stranglers, even Mercury Rev! to name but a few – there’s something for everybody.

The full, impressive listing can be seen here.....

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