Culture Club: Excellent Things To Do In March

Posted: 01/03/12

Philippa Warr

Follow: Art, Av Festival, Culture, Exhibitions, In The Know, Mass Effect 3, The Big Egg Hunt, The Hunger Games

Culture Club: Excellent things to do in March Images: PA/ Ruth Clark/The Big Egg Hunt

From giant children on rocking horses to a city-wide Easter egg hunt and from the slowest contemporary arts events to the video game we're looking forward to the most, this is your checklist of awesome stuff to do and see in March.

Just click the gallery below to get going!

Culture Club: March

AV Festival
 The latest edition of AV Festival focuses on the theme 'As slow as possible'. It's a great theme for a contemporary culture event - as information delivery speeds up, can we truly say we've processed half of what we take in? Work included in the festival ranges from visual art to music and from sound to film.  We're particularly interested in the UK premiere of <a href="http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/jonathan-schipper" target="_blank">Jonathan Schipper</a>'s film - a 31 day long slow motion car crash - and Torsten Lauschmann's solo exhibition which includes Father's Monocle - an installation where animal flocking behaviour is projected through a rotating monocle lens. <a href="http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012" target="_blank">AV Festival: As Slow As Possible</a>, 1-31 March, various locations across Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland
Idris Khan: The Devil's Wall
 Held in conjunction with the British Museum's current exhibition Hajj: A Journey To The Heart Of Islam, is the first UK showing of Idris Khan's installation The Devil's Wall. Khan's work - a set of three sculptures and a series of drawings - references the ritual stoning of the Jamarat (an important part of the Hajj pilgrimage ritual which acts as a cipher for the suffering experienced by the prophet Ibrahim upon being asked by Allah to sacrifice his own son). <a href="http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/idriskhan/" target="_blank">Idris Khan: The Devil's Wall</a>, until 13 May, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Mass Effect 3
 The gamers amongst you have probably already had this title on pre-order for a while, but in case you're not quite such a devoted gamer, you should definitely add Mass Effect 3 to your must-play list.  As with the previous two instalments, Mass Effect 3 promises rich storytelling, personalised gaming experiences, engaging characterisation and immersive environments as you take Commander Shepherd to do battle with mysterious alien race, the Reapers. If it's half as good as we suspect you can kiss goodbye to your social life on the day of release... Xbox Kinect bonus: Players can also look forward to using voice commands to converse with NPCs, organise your squad in battle and generally order Commender Shepherd around. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_ex_n_0?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amass+effect+3&keywords=mass+effect+3&ie=UTF8&qid=1330607861" target="_blank">Mass Effect 3 (PC, Xbox 360. PS3)</a>, released 9 March, available to pre-order from Amazon
Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs
 Hopping onto the Eurostar during the next few months? We suggest you stop off at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris to take in this exhibition, which examines how these two men, how they have pushed the fashion envelope in their respective periods to take the industry forward. The Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs exhibition will take place from 9 March 2012 to 16 September 2012 at <a href="http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/english-439/">Les Arts Decoratifs, Paris.</a>
Objects in Space
 The Royal Society has put Britain's largest meteorite on display for the first time - with the extraterrestrial rock isn't the only curio on show. The meteorite, which weighs about the same as a baby elephant is joined in the Objects in Space exhibition by a Damien Hirst Spot painting and chunk of Isaac Newton's apple tree - both of which have taken a trip outside our atmosphere. In addition to the well-travelled art, the show also offers a more in-depth look at our own interest in meteorites. <a href="http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2012/02/09/objects-in-space/" target="_blank">Objects in Space</a>, until 30 March, Royal Society
The Fourth Plinth - Powerless Structures, Fig. 101
 Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset's sculpture Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 has now replaced Yinka Shonibare's giant ship in a bottle atop the Fourth Plinth space in Trafalgar Square. Taking the form of a boy astride a rocking horse, the commission comments on the original intention for the plinth - that it would host an equestrian statue. Rather than offering a commemoration of the past, Elmgreen and Dragset provide a monument to the future. According to the artists themselves, "We wanted to create a public sculpture which, rather than dealing with topics of victory or defeat, honours the everyday battles of growing up." <a href="http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/home" target="_blank">Powerless Structures, Fig. 101</a>, Trafalgar Square
The Hunger Games
 If you're looking for a film series to replace Harry Potter and to protect you from withdrawal symptoms when the Twilight Saga concludes later this year then look out for The Hunger Games this March. The film adaptation of the first novel in The Hunger Games trilogy stars Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen - a young girl who volunteers to take part in a brutal competition in her little sister's place. <a href="http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/index2.html" target="_blank">The Hunger Games</a>, at cinemas nationwide from 23 March
Ladyhawke - Black, White & Blue
 Anxiety, the eagerly anticipated second album by New Zealand's Pip Brown (a.k.a. Ladyhawke), doesn't drop until later in the year BUT we're going to be spending the intervening time listening to the album's first single Black, White & Blue over and over and we suggest you do exactly the same! <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/black-white-blue-remixes-ep/id497930192" target="_blank">Black, White & Blue - Ladyhawke</a>, 99p available on iTunes
The Faberge Big Egg Hunt
 This Easter-themed charity egg hunt features more than 200 unique eggs, each crafted by one of a selection of leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers, hidden across the capital. Hunters have just 40 days and 40 nights to track down as many of the eggs as they can following hints and clues as well as a smattering of good old-fashioned looking around. Participants can check which eggs are nearby by consulting the twelve zone maps but after finding out the general direction you should be heading and whether it's indoors or outdoors, you're on your own. For those of you with smartphones you can also use the Facebook app to check in when you've found one! Each egg you find will also give you an extra opportunity to win a £100,000 Faberge egg of you very own... <a href="http://www.thebigegghunt.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Faberge Big Egg Hunt</a>, competition open until 3 April