11 Things to do in Nottingham This Week

City Arts Young Producers Festival
City Arts are an awesome Nottingham institution doing massive things for the creative scene in the city. When they’re not designing beautiful, mechanical birds to parade down the streets at Hockley Hustle, they’re hosting salsa classes and all sorts. Now, participants in their Young Producers programme are taking a slice of the action for themselves. The crew are whacking on a festival of workshops, talks, exhibitions and events to tickle all kinds of arty pickles. A couple of events have already been and gone, but you can still catch Introduction to Arts Council England and Grants for the Arts on Tuesday, a talk on art and activism from Rebecca Beinart on Thursday, and even a puppetry workshop on the Wednesday. There’s loads more to check out over the next month, just visit the link above and that’ll take you to their website, including the full programme. It’s all free, but make sure you get booked on by registering for individual events.
Saturday 12 November – Sunday 4 December, free, City Arts Nottingham

Sleaford Mods: Invisible Britain Film Screenings
The gobbiest Nottingham bloke abaht and his beatmaking chum have once again graced the Rock City stage. As part of a larger tour, the loud and contemporary Sleaford Mods have been promoting their new TCR EP, gathering donations and raising awareness for Trussell Trust food banks as they make their way around the country. Last year, directors Paul Sng and Nathan Hannawin worked alongside the musical duo to create a film surrounding austerity in the UK – Invisible Britain. You might remember the film premiere and Q&A at Broadway Cinema around this time last year. Well, it’s returning to the screen, following the story of the Mods’ tour around all the boarded-up towns of the country and asking some vital questions about what it means to be a part of this country’s society today.
Friday 11 – Thursday 17 November, 6.30pm and 8.45pm, £4/£6, Broadway Cinema  

Notttingham People’s Assembly present Health in the 21^st Century
Whether we’ve had the sniffles, broken us leg, or suffered with something more serious, we’ve all had to use the National Health Service at some point in our lives. Free healthcare is something this country is massively proud of, but now the very foundations of the UK institution are being threatened. With £22billion budget cuts impending, private companies carrying out routine operations for profit, and an increasingly strained mental health service, it’s difficult and confusing to predict what will happen next for UK healthcare. As part of a regular series of events, Nottingham People’s Assembly have organized three speakers to discuss, in depth, the crisis at hand. Born before the introduction of the NHS in 1948, Harry Leslie Smith will be there to talk about life before and after free healthcare; local doctor and junior doctor strike supporter Dr Asha Mashru will be slinging in a good two-bob’s worth; and Julie Gosling from local service user network Making Waves is talking mental health. On top of all this, there’ll be spoken word and music, all chaired by Lauren Mitchell.
Thursday 17 November, 7pm, free, Rough Trade

Look Sharp: The Barber Shop
CRS Studio in St Ann’s is legendary. Having helped develop talent like Scorzayzee and Nina Smith, and the incredible film, Guillemot, the community-focused recording studio have turned their hands to theatre. Following weekly sessions and workshops led by local director, Siobhàn Cannon-Brownlie, fifteen young’uns from the St Ann’s area have taken on the challenge of completing Nick Stez’s vision of a hip hopera – a brand new version of musical theatre. Supported by the Full Effect programme – a scheme with the aim of preventing children and young people becoming involved in crime and youth violence – the play presents real life stories, told in the cast’s own words. Based on the Look Sharp barbers on Carlton Road, a focal point of the local community, you can expect rap, spoken word and some proper gritty theatre, told straight from the barber’s chair.
Thursday 17 November, 7.30pm, £5, Nottingham Arts Theatre

Goldie Lookin’ Chain
Guns don’t kill people, rappers do. Or so they say. And by ‘they’, we mean Goldie Lookin’ bleddy Chain. After pulling in the likes of Devvo earlier in the year, Spanky Van Dykes are up to no good again, yoinking the fake chavs from their shellsuit-laden crevices and plonking them on a Nottingham stage so we can all have a good laugh. If Devvo’s appearance was anything to go by, the dancefloor better watch out. As well as hip hop and party tunes from various DJs all night, you’ll be able to balter your kecks off to the GLC crew’s greatest hits. That includes songs like Your Missus is a Nutter, Your Mother’s Got a Penis, and You Knows I Loves You. Yep, it’s all a bit daft but... honestleh... their vibe is actually pretty funky. If you ignore the crap flows and Welsh accents, that is.
Thursday 17 November, 8pm, £10/£12, Spanky Van Dykes

BFI present Black Star Film Season
We’re well into the film season already, but there’s plenty to be getting stuck into over the next couple of weeks. The British Film Institute have been working to create awesome collections of films, pushing them out all over the country, and they’re all flashing up on the screens of Broadway Cinema for the period in Nottingham. All the films celebrate the versatility of black actors, championing their power in creativity, charisma and talent. You can catch Carmen Jones on Thursday, Car Wash on Friday, and Sister Act 2 the following week, on the Sunday. If you end up going down, make sure you Tweet your support using the hashtag #BFIBLACKSTAR and have a grand old time. Keep your eye on the Cafebar following the film, too – there’s free live music tagged on to the end of many of the screenings.
Thursday 17 – Sunday 17 November, Broadway Cinema

Being Human Festival
Along with the rest of the country, UoN are championing humanities research this month, looking at all kinds of issues relating to people and how they affect society today. Religion, human rights, Black Lives Matter, slavery, community divisions, Brexit and culture are all topics up for exploration. There are events happening all over the city, so make sure you check out the website for the finer details. Surface Gallery are hosting a Conversation Dinner on day one of the programme – you’ll be invited to ignore your British upbringing and discuss various topics selected from a menu with absolute strangers. Looks proper. Another highlight is a lecture called The Rights and Justice City I: Making Nottingham Slavery-Free, taking place on the day two at the Newton Lecture Theatre – it’s the first of a three-part series looking at the ways in which UK cities can put an end to slavery once and for all. On top of all this, there are walking tours, historical happenings, and even some choral music to stuff your tabs with. Most of the events are free, but make sure you register to avoid disappointment. And if you feel like a wander, there’s plenty going on outside of Notts, too.
Thursday 17 - Monday 21 November, free, University of Nottingham

Thinkover and Talha Iqbal Exhibition
Another in Rough Trade’s series of awesome events is an evening of extraordinary art with a dollop of live music on the side. Discover the good, the bad, and the ugly bits of the human body with clothing brand Thinkover and artist Talha Iqbal. The former celebrates individuality and challenges the influence of art within modern day society using painstakingly hand-painted clothes as the canvas, while the latter explores the portrayal of raw emotions such as pain and trauma along with the destruction of the body with a moving post-war theme. The night is completed with an injection of jazz, blues, soul, garage and even Hungarian folk-rock with the addition of INFL’s musical lineup, featuring Foreign Accent, Jasmin Issaka, and The Damn Heavy. With such a wide variety of treats on the itinerary, you’re sure to find something that’ll pique your interest.
Saturday 19 November, 7.30pm, free, Rough Trade

Soul Buggin 12th Birthday Party
If the groove is in your heart and your feet can’t stop fidgeting when the funk begins, then you’ll sincerely regret missing out on the most raucous, most exclusive loft party the heart of Hockley has to offer. The stupendous Soul Buggin’ disco is turning twelve this month, and to celebrate their last year of childhood before the murky teenage years, they’re throwing one hell of a shindig up at The Lofthouse. With sets from Beane, Mark A, Elmo, and the phenomenal, forward-thinking soul DJ that is Dego, you’ll be movin’ and shakin’ until the early hours. 3am, to be exact. There are a limited number of tickets and even fewer physical tickets available from Mimm, should you be something of a collector. Make sure you think fast and get a crew together. This is one party you don’t wanna miss.
Saturday 19 November, 10pm, £10/£12, The Lofthouse

The Invisible Orchestra Vinyl Secret Show
You’d be forgiven for thinking every bleddy Nottingham musician that exists is in this orchestra. They’ve got everyone from Percy Dread, to Harleighblu, to Scorzayzee, to Hannah Heartshape as vocalists, and instrumentalists like busking saxophonist Mogs Morgan, keyboard player Benjamin James, as well as band leader James Waring heading the 24-man clan. The plethora of influences found within The Invisible Orchestra has made for a tight and diverse debut album Champagne Taste Lemonade Money, and now it’s time to celebrate the bogger in a proper intimate show boasting Yazmin Lacey and The Echoes, plus King Kahlua as support. They’ve had the album made into a seriously sexy vinyl LP, which you must purchase in order to get your ticket to the secret-location gig, where you can collect your new prized possession. Make sure you look after it – their parties get a bit messy.
Sunday 20 November, 7pm, £15, Secret Location

Afro Hair Party
Can you remember the exhibition on afro hair at New Art Exchange from a couple of years back? We got local creative Bea Udeh to tell us a little something the subject from her perspective, plus a rundown of the stunning photography collection by the late J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere that was on display at the time. Now, New Art Exchange are revisiting the matter with an Afro Hair Party to end ‘em all. If you fancy contributing to a future NAE exhibition, make sure you get yourself down. You’ll have the chance to ogle hair and beauty memorabilia from the past fifty years with National Caribbean Heritage Museum, plus get stuck in to free tea, cake and patties if you’re feeling peckish. On top of all this, everyone is invited to record something for the video blog and have a professional portrait taken, as well as get involved in the discussion. Whether you rock plaits, dreadlocks, cornrows, bantu knots, or any other style, get down and share what your hair means to you.
Sunday 20 November, 1pm, free, New Art Exchange