Site search

Do Nothing on Experimental Song Writing, Playing Moscow and Making a Proper Record

It’s exciting to witness the rise of local quartet Do Nothing. They’ve played some massive shows this year — including a sold-out gig at The Bodega — and are soon to embark on a European headline tour, featuring a highly-anticipated hometown show at Rescue Rooms in November…

Review: Experimental Electronica At a Bicycle Workshop With Sweets On Tap

Nick Strang went along to one of the city’s more intriguing events, to watch local leftfield acts perform live at Nottingham Bikeworks.

Have I Got Newstead For You: Ian Hislop On His Satirical Exhibition Showing at Newstead Abbey

Private Eye Editor and Have I Got News For You panellist Ian Hislop is no stranger to satire. He was in Nottingham recently to launch an exhibition of satirical art at Newstead Abbey. It’s an offshoot of the British Museum’s 2018 exhibition I object: Ian Hislop’s search for dissent. Together with British Museum Curator Tom Hockenhull, Ian has selected nine of his favourite British satirical prints by Gillray and Cruikshank, among others, which are on display all summer...

Urban Exploring in Nottingham

The last decade has seen an explosion of interest in urban exploration – the activity of exploring abandoned man-made structures. But with several recent high-profile deaths, and growing concern from the police, the practise has started to come under increasing scrutiny. We talk to Kayleigh Manning, an urban explorer from Notts, to find out what the fuss is all about…

Life on Death Row: "I witnessed two executions – it’s not a pleasant experience at all."

A practising Buddhist priest for over four decades, Kobutsu Malone established the Dharma Song Zendo in New York State’s notorious Sing Sing Prison, and serves as a death row chaplain. Now in his sixties, we talked to Malone as he reflected on a life spent trying to reform America’s broken justice system through Buddhist teachings…

Pete McKee on Raleigh, Working-Class Art, and his Upcoming Rough Trade Exhibition

Since he began painting in 2004, Pete McKee has been a constant presence in the UK art scene, offering a vivid and wide-ranging snapshot of working-class life. Ahead of his new book and a series of pop-up shows throughout the UK, in which he will exhibit in Nottingham's Rough Trade from the Wednesday 24 – Sunday 27 July, we met up with Pete to discuss rock ‘n' roll, caravan holidays, and stunt jumps on Raleigh bikes.

"Trent is definitely on the up." - Students Showcase Their Art at National Exhibit

The New Designers exhibition, held every summer in Islington, is a national showcase for the best art and design talent across the country, with prizes up for grabs for those exhibiting their work. We caught up with three Nottingham Trent University students to talk about their pieces and their experience at New Designers…

Future Sound of Nottingham 2019 Finalists: Exchecker

This weekend sees the return of Nusic's Future Sound of Nottingham, where local acts take to the stage at Rock City to battle it out for a slot at Splendour Festival. Meet Exchecker, one of this year's finalists...

The Princes Trust Want to Help Nottingham's Youth Explore Enterprise

The Prince’s Trust is a youth programme designed to help young people discover their potential within the big wide world of business...

Film Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Following on from his Conversations with a Killer... documentary, director Joe Berlinger is back with another Ted Bundy film, this time starring Zac Efron as the serial killer... 

Masked Booksellers ExLibris Return to Raise Money for Charity

Imagine turning up at your neighbor’s house, expecting little more than a cup of sugar and a natter about the local goss, only to find that it has been turned into a pop-up book store. That is exactly what the neighbours of Bob and Chris Cann can expect this weekend on their quiet suburban street in Carlton. Presenting: The Masked Charity Booksale. 

Street Artist Kid 30 on His Latest Exhbition Misspelt Youth

You might not know his name, but if you’ve ever walked around Nottingham, you’ll definitely be familiar with his work. Whether dominating Hopkinson by the station, covering the outside wall of Brass Monkey or brightening up The Avenues in Sneinton, Kid30’s bold, iconic cartoon characters have helped shape the visual landscape of the city. We caught up with the street artist to talk about his latest exhibition, Misspelt Youth…

The Harley Gallery Announces Two New Exhibitions

EXCLUSIVE: Leader of Nottingham City Council Steps Down

He’s been a fixture in local politics for many people’s lifetimes. To date Jon Collins has served for 32 years as councillor of St Ann’s, and for sixteen years as Nottingham City Council leader. 

Now, in an exclusive and frank interview with LeftLion, he reveals that from May he will leave our local authority behind forever. He also gives his thoughts on the council going forward, how our city has changed, how local government should be reorganised, the shambolic state of national politics, Brexit and a whole lot more. Read on...

Tom Quigley's Weekends and Everything In Between Exhibition is a Behind the Scenes Look at Nottingham's Skate Scene

As a member of Nottingham’s skateboard scene, photographer Tom Quigley has developed a reputation for brilliantly capturing candid moments of the subculture. An advocate of creating art that his audience wants to see, his work has been praised for its authentic portrayal of life as a skateboarder in the city, striking a balance between the everyday and the sublime. Following on from his 2014 and 2015 shows, his latest exhibition, Weekends And Everything In Between, is at Surface Gallery until Saturday 9 March…

The Colour of Love at New Art Exchange

Contributors from The Colour of Love project came together to share their photographs of life and love as Black African-Caribbean and White British people in mixed-race relationships through times of resentment and hardship. We went along to the launch event of the new exhibition to celebrate a significantly important and moving local heritage community project...

Workshops Extend Wigflex City Festival to Entire Bank Holiday Weekend

With headliners such as Honey Dijon, Midland, DJ Stingray and Call Super, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a lot of sweating taking place at stalwart Nottingham promoter Wigflex’s debut festival. However, the recent announcements outlining panel discussions, workshops and art installations hint that there’s much, much more than just sore feet to be gained from the most exciting community gathering to hit Notts this year.    

Explore Vertical Gardening at the Festival of Science and Curiosity's Urban Greening Conference

This month sees the Festival of Science and Curiosity come to town. As part of the events, the Urban Greening Conference offers attendees the chance to find out about vertical gardening, resource efficiency and sustainable eating. We sat down with event organiser Penney Poyzer to find out about the conference...

Desire, Love, Identity: An LGBTQ exhibition at the National Justice Museum

It’s fair to say that most Nottingham folk still call it the Galleries of Justice and associate it with ghost tours and a family day out in a scary old prison, but there have been new developments at the rebranded National Justice Museum lately. This includes making more innovative use of the temporary exhibition space, accessible for free. Our Rebecca headed on over to check out their newest exhibition...

Paranoid Picnic at NAE

Paranoid Picnic: The Phantom BAME is a solo exhibition from Hardeep Pandhal taking place at the New Art Exchange from the 19th of January to the 17th of March. This is an exhibition of two halves, with one half in the NAE and the other taking place in Primary. We got trusty Caroline down to check it out...

New Exhibition at Lakeside Arts Marks the Centenary Since the Death of British Artist Harold Gilman

Nottingham Lakeside Arts’ Djanogly Gallery host the first extensive survey of his work in over 35 years with Beyond Camden Town...

Cannibalism, Poison, and Lost Ships: The True, Gruesome Tale of the Failed Franklin Expedition

In May 1845, Robert Hopcroft, a 38-year-old Royal Marine from Nottingham, bid a final farewell to his loved ones before boarding the HMS Erebus at Greenhithe, Kent. Alongside the HMS Terror, his ship was part of the Franklin Expedition, tasked with circumnavigating one of the final blank spaces on the world map: the Northwest Arctic Passage...

Express Yourself in Notts: We Made a Zine with Hannah Whitlow and Dizzy Ink

We visited Nottingham Zine Library down at Nottingham Contemporary, to get inspired by the city in a zine workshop put together by Express Yourself...

The Movement: Director Sharon Walia on Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

After a year dominated by Brexit negotiations, President Trump and #MeToo, the images of toddlers washed up on Turkish beaches and life boats brimming with desperate people trying to stay alive seem like ages ago. The refugee crisis that once dominated our minds and news feeds is not fixed, or over, or past. It’s still very much an issue, and a Nottingham documentary maker has made a film that highlights the problem from a different point of view...

Photographer Emily Andersen on the Release of Her New Book and Photographing Celebrities

From photographing well-known artists, musicians, writers, directors and actors - including Helen Mirren, Bella Freud and Nico - to exhibiting at some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, Emily Andersen has forged a fascinating photography career. Carefully balancing her craft while lecturing part time at NTU, she has recently published her second book, entitled Portraits: Black & White. We caught up with Emily ahead of her book launch and exhibition at Bonington Gallery later this week…