August Diary: Our pick of this month’s best events and exhibitions!

As we flit between blazing heat and drenching showers – and between despair and denial when it comes to the UK political climate – let’s not forget to give ourselves respite from the madness by enjoying the world’s ever-enduring creativity! August has it all, from immersive sculptural installation by American artist Nick Cave and a group exhibition raising awareness about climate change, to an in-depth talk series hosted by Film4 at Somerset House, and a new, international, interdisciplinary arts festival in Yogyakarta.

Nick Cave: Until
Tramway, Glasgow
3 August – 24 November 2019

In Europe’s first exhibition of work by American artist, performer and activist Nick Cave, Tramway presents a gargantuan immersive installation fabricated out of thousands of found objects. The sculptural space is linked to Cave’s signature Soundsuits – elaborate, wearable structures which draw on ritualism, drag and kitsch, and, on another level, refer the viewer to the artist’s engagement with the collective and personal implications of racism.

Art Jog
Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta
25 July – 25 August 2019

Art Jog is a new, international contemporary arts festival. Based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the initiative aims to provide a space in which artists from across the globe, and from a multitude of creative disciplines – music, performance, visual art – can engage with one another’s work and extend the boundaries of their own artistic fields to incorporate practices and concepts from others. Participating artists respond to the theme of “common space” to create collaborative, interdisciplinary works.

Sadness is a no gO-Zone
The Copeland Gallery, London
2 – 4 August 2019

Adapt is hosting a free-to-attend exhibition which will feature pieces from 50 European artists and which will be used to raise awareness of the biggest issues facing the planet – from energy to travel to re-wilding – through the lens of creativity in a bid to land more impactful messaging and promote action.

Lauren Greenfield: Generation Wealth
Louisiana Gallery, Humlebæk
22 August 2019 – 16 February 2020

American photographer and documentarist Lauren Greenfield’s series (which is now also a documentary film) comes to Denmark this summer at the Louisiana Gallery. A “visual shell shock”, Generation Wealth is a unique document of the recent decades’ crazed consumerism in a world increasingly obsessed with the dream of looking both beautiful and rich.

Behind the Screen
Somerset House, London 
10 – 21 August 2019

Behind the Screen is a talks series that forms part of Film4’s Summer Screen at Somerset House, revealing more about why and how the films were made. This summer the line-up features Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown and The Last King of Scotland, chatting about his own work as well as William Goldman, his biggest influence. The program also includes an evening of short films for Channel 4’s Random Acts by emerging animators, artists and writers from around the UK, followed by a discussion with some of the directors.

The World of Yamamoto Nizo
Iki City Ikikoku Museum, Nagasaki, Japan
20 July – 16 September 2019

Artist Yamamoto Nizo first trained in architecture before joining Studio Ghibli as a background artist. He went on to paint awesome and intricate scenery for Ghibli classics such as Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies. Now, this museum on one of the Goto Islands, where Nizo is from, is showcasing 60 works, including original drawings, final artworks for the films and new pieces, as a retrospective of his career to date.

Linda McCartney Retrospective
Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow
5 July –12 January 2020

At Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum this August is a major retrospective on the tender work of photographer Linda McCartney, curated by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney. Featuring not only Linda’s photographs but her cameras, diaries and archive material dating back to the 1960s, the retrospective provides insight into her work as well as the contemporary music scene at the time.

Miro
Gallery Ten, Edinburgh
3 – 31 August 2019

As part of their annual Edinburgh Festival exhibition, Gallery Ten is presenting a series of original prints by the figurative-abstract Spanish painter Joan Miró. Alongside these, the gallery will showcase a collection of ceramics by Japanese potter Takeshi Yasuda, as well as a selection of glassworks by the artist duo Baldwin & Guggisberg. Free to enter, the exhibition upholds the role of the plastic arts in Edinburgh’s cultural scene during the festival season.

Juraj Starovecký: Abandoned Nest
Galerie Fotografic, Prague
2 August – 8 September 2019

Photographer Juraj Starovecký exhibits a series of images made using large-format projections of photographic slides from his family’s memory archive. Bringing the empty rooms of his former family home into contact with these images, Starovecký contemplates the notion of “home” as both a physical and emotional space – how we create it, and how we hold onto it.