East Festival celebrates unique culture

By John Hill on March 5, 2009 3:57 PM |

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Navigation, digital art and Asian culture will be celebrated in the third East Festival from today until Tuesday (March 5 to 10).

Music, literature, cinema, fashion and visual arts will all get an airing in many of the area's most recognisable locations, including Canary Wharf, Stratford, Spitalfields, the Barbican, Hackney and Whitechapel.

The East Festival is a joint initiative between organisations including Visit London and the Greater London Authority.

Sally Chatterjee, interim CEO of Visit London, said: "The growing popularity of the East Festival shows the importance of this part of London to our cultural offering.

"The sheer range and size of the events taking place means there is something for everyone and a huge number of them are free.

"There's never been a better reason to get out and explore one of the most culturally rich and diverse parts of the city."

The festival will feature 300 events over six days.

Participants will be able to take part in a series of London walks, try new cycle routes around the area or hop on a Routemaster guided tour.

The festival opened this morning with a performance of Mauricio Kagel's Eine Brise, which the director describes as "a fleeting action for 111 cyclists".

Digital art agency All Of Us has been commissioned to produce an online work at findeast.co.uk, while a lecture at Allen and Overy's Liverpool Street base will focus on the future of digital arts.

A six-day showcase of Asian music will be featured in Spitalfields Market, while Rich Mix theatre will present an exhibition of photography and posters examining the relationship of women with Indian cinema.

Acclaimed fashion designer Hussein Chalayan will close the festival with a speech at Shoreditch Town Hall on the creative role of the East End in international fashion.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "This excellent festival also shows the creative possibilities of building new connections between organisations, artists and the public in London."

For more information, go to findeast.co.uk

EAST Festival Highlights:

Author Iain Sinclair will launch his new book, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire in conversation with Patrick Wright, Museum Of London Docklands, March 5, 6pm-9pm, free (booking required), 020 7001 9844

Limehouse resident Steven Berkoff explores the region cockney slang and Shakespearean tongues in Berkoff's East, The Courtyard Theatre, March 5, 8pm, £15 (£10 concs), 020 7729 2202

UK sax legend Courtney Pine will be performing with his Jazz Warriors, Theatre Royal Stratford East, March 8, 7.30pm, £20 (£10 concs), 020 8534 0310

Theatre Royal Stratford East presents the Olivier-award winning Pied Piper, a bold street dance interpretation of Robert Browning's poem, Barbican Centre, March 5-11, £10-£26, 0845 120 7536

A screening of To Sir, With Love, a film on pioneering black teacher ER Braithwaite,
Museum Of London Docklands, March 7, from 10.30am-5pm, £15 whole day (£10 concs), 020 7001 9844

A guided walk in Canary Wharf entitled Sculpture and Architecture in the 21st Century,
Meet outside Heron Quays DLR station, March 7, 2pm, £7, eastlondonguides.com

Be a Pearly King or Queen for the Day - dress up and history talk, Museum Of London Docklands, March 7, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3pm, FREE (booking essential), 0207 001 9844

EastEnders actress and east Londoner Roberta Taylor discusses her first novel, The Reinvention of Ivy Brown, Stratford Circus, March 9, 7pm, £5, 0208 279 1015

Jerry Dammers' 18-piece orchestra performs in Cosmic Engineering: A Tribute to Sun Ra and Other Mystical Musical Mavericks, Barbican Centre, March 10, 7.30pm, £10-20, 0845 120 7536

Musicians such as Theo Bard, Fiona Bevan and Jonathan Geyevu will be playing 12 venues across six days as part of Vortex Tour East 09, Various venues, March 5 to 10, various times, FREE