Free things to do in London this week

DJ by night and artist by day, French interdisciplinary talent Christelle Oyiri is set to take over Tate Modern this June as the first recipient of the Infinities Commission, a new annual award celebrating experimental contemporary art. Working across music, film, performance and installation, Oyiri’s practice explores hidden narratives within media, identity, and diasporic culture. She focuses on what ‘lies between the lines’, from lost mythologies to youth subcultures. Presented in Tate’s Tanks, the commission was awarded by a panel including Brian Eno and Anne Imhof, with additional support granted to artists Xenobia Bailey, Rashida Bumbray, and Jean Katambayi Mukendi.

After getting her breakthrough as part of the renowned artist group BANK, Milly Thompson went on to carve out a place for herself in the art world as a painter, sculptor, video artist and writer in her own right. A selection of her work from 2010 onwards will be on display here, showing her trademark blend of irony and sincerity as the pieces tackle the hegemonic force of luxury consumer culture on women, the libidinal power of the middle-aged female body, and more.

Sophie Podolski’s work will be presented solo for the first time in the UK at this exhibition, with the display spanning the poet, writer and artist’s drawings, etchings, archival materials and texts. Although she died tragically at 21, Podolski made a huge impact on literature and culture and celebrated radical creativity and personal freedom through her work.

‘The sleep of reason produces monsters’. It’s a perpetually instructive aphorism that artists have repeatedly returned to. Francisco Goya used it to name one of his most well-known etchings from the late 18th century, depicting a character whose head rests on a desk, surrounded by shadowy creatures. Centuries later, in 2008, British artist Yinka Shonibare borrowed the image and title for another body of work. And now, the Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani’s new commission for Somerset House takes the ongoing sleep of reason as its starting point. In the grand Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, she has installed a ten-metre-tall blue figure, who lays supine, gently breathing with closed eyes. We’re told that this ethereal, childlike giant has slept through ‘warnings of present and imminent catastrophes, political and social disaster and environmental collapse.’ Watching its stomach peacefully rising and falling, it’s easy to believe that ignorance is bliss.  Here is a deft balance of content and form Encased in an illuminated casket-like glass box, the figure – the dreamer – is clothed in white lace and mesh. Visitors are invited to step onto its plinth for a closer look at the beautiful hand- painted sculpture, which is both imposing and delicate. On one end, its feet are each the size of a toddler; on the other, flushed cheeks and pink lips give the impression of a fairy tale princess. The Sleeping Beauty parallel is emphasised by an otherworldly, subtly swelling...

In the Hayward Gallery’s HENI Project Space, two Iranian-Canadian artists are having fun with language. Sculpture, video and found objects all find their place in this playful exhibition that juxtaposes words and images to show us the precarity of truth and meaning in today’s world. From a hyper-realistic sculpture to a repurposed electric motorway sign, Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi find many ways to combine the quotidian with the uncanny.

During the big men’s sports tournaments, you can count on practically every pub in the city to broadcast matches and fill up with fans. When it comes to the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, though, public places fans can gather at to watch matches remain relatively few and far between. But this year, there is at least one place where you’re guaranteed to catch every single game: the brand new Asahi Open Arms. The fan-focused pub, backed by Women’s World Rugby Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne, is taking residency at The Queen’s Head in Shoreditch for the duration of the tournament. Besides the live screenings, it promises to host grassroots events, like Q&As and exclusive launches. A full programme is on its way soon.

Part of an ongoing exhibition series of group exhibitions featuring artists not represented by the gallery, this show will see three painters – Koak, Ding Shilun and Cece Philips – fill Hauser & Wirth’s vast Savile Row space with windows into imagined interiors. All taking domestic architectures as their starting point, each artist’s work becomes a meditation on the psychology of space.

Whenever we all have a collective day off, you can always count on Walthamstow beer hall Big Penny Social to mark the occasion with a sud-filled party, and the late August Bank Holiday weekend is no different. This big ’ol 12-hour-long shindig will fill the venue with beats, eats and plenty of fun. Hear DJs in the garden from 7pm, live music from Laville in the beer hall from 9pm and then DJs carrying on the party ’till late. The venue’s very own sandy beach Walthamstow-on-Sea will also be open for deck chair lounging, ice cream eating, and Aperol sipping.