Your perfect Friday in Paris
June 21
Exhibition • Mike Kelley
The Galerie Sud at the Centre Pompidou seems to struggle to contain the work of Detroit native Mike Kelley, who committed suicide in 2012. The first retrospective in France gives the the impression of an anarchic jumble: it’s hard to know where one work ends and the next begins. A few helpful pointers wouldn’t have gone amiss; non-English speakers have to do without translations or video subtitles, leaving some visitors confused by a noisy, flickering maelstrom that switches between video, music, architecture, sculpture, drawings and installations. And yet it works, almost, because Kelley’s art – diverting, subversive, sarcastic – delights in disorder...
- Until Mon Aug 5
Festival • Fête de la Musique
Free gigs, encompassing all music genres, take place across the country and around the world as part of this festival on the summer solstice. In Paris Fête de la Musique is particularly fun, with concerts taking place in theatres, bars, on street corners, in parks and even on balconies. In the past some musicians have even been known to serenade folks while teetering on the edge of their apartment windows. Join the throngs and let serendipity lead you to a show...
Gig • Festival 36h de Saint-Eustache
The active cultural programme at the Eglise Saint-Eustache regularly organises concerts and other events beneath the church arches. On June 20 and 21, nearly 20 groups and ensembles will gather for the 36 Hours Festival. It starts on Thursday at 1pm, running through until 5am; Friday, things kick off at 2pm and finish at 10pm. There are fantastic artists on the programme like Nicolas Ker of Poni Hoax, Etienne Jaumet and High Coltman, and less well-known groups (Talisco, Enzyme, Arlt). These are unique concerts in an exceptional venue...
- Eglise St-Eustache Rue du Jour, 1er
- Thu Jun 20 - Fri Jun 21
Film • Room 237
This scrappy, intense doc is a compendium of voices-off musing on the meaning of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film, ‘The Shining’ (which will be re-released at Halloween). Have you ever thought the entire film was an apology for Kubrick’s faking of the moon landings? Or that Kubrick really had the Holocaust on his mind? Well, you’re not alone. The ideas – sometimes bonkers, sometimes convincing – flow like the escalating chat round a pub table (we never know, or see, exactly who’s saying what) and are presented over ample footage of the film itself...
Restaurant • Boucherie Les Provinces
The Marché d’Aligre is already one of Paris’s favourite foodie markets, and now there's a new reason to visit. Young artisan butcher Christophe Dru began to make a name for himself hosting events in his shop during the annual Le Fooding festival. The success of these tastings gave him the brilliant idea to transform his butcher's shop into a restaurant as well, and the place has been packed out since the day it opened less than a year ago. As you walk in, all the meat is displayed on the left as usual, with Aligre locals lining up to do their shopping, while the rest of the space is a jumble of tables and counters, heaving with hungry meat-eaters...
- 20 Rue d’Aligre, 12th
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