Silent Spaces - Venues and spaces that have remained largely unused due to the pandemic feature in a new series of films in which performers and musicians take over the spaces. The series of films, called Silent Spaces, is described as a “creative lockdown response driven by a pervading sense of Covid-induced personal and professional loneliness”. It has been created by musician and composer Soumik Datta and directed by his brother Souvid Datta.
Featuring a team of British Asian, black and ethnic minority musicians and dancers, the film-makers and performers create works in the British Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, Depot Mayfield in Manchester and Sage Gateshead, alongside Hawkwood College and London King’s Cross station. The six films explore “resonant themes in keeping with the choice of venue”, the producers said, and tackle issues around mental health, activism, the environment, colonisation and identity.
Three Raspberries - Sia has been named ‘worst director’ for her controversial debut film at the Razzies, the pre-Oscars prizes for the year's worst movies. Titled Music, her film won three Golden Raspberry Awards in total, including worst actress for Kate Hudson and worst supporting actress for Maddie Ziegler. The movie has been criticised for casting Ziegler in the autistic lead role and for its portrayal of autism. It was described as an "insensitive" and "ill-conceived" "autism musical".
The film follows Zu, a drug dealer, who is a recovering alcoholic, played by Hudson, who becomes the guardian of her young autistic half-sister, played by Sia's protégé Ziegler.
In The Saleroom - A pair of shoes designed and worn by the musician Kanye West have sold for $1.8m (£1.3m) at auction - the highest amount ever paid for trainers. The Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes beat the previous record, which was held by a pair of Nike Air Jordan 1s that sold for $615,000 last year. "The sale also marks the first pair of sneakers to top $1m," Sotheby's auction house said. West first wore the shoes while performing at the Grammys in 2008. The shoes were bought by RARES, an internet platform for investing in rare footwear. Its users can buy shares in a pair in a similar way to how investors buy stocks in a company.
Farewell - Former Bay City Rollers frontman Les McKeown has died aged 65. The Scottish pop singer fronted the Edinburgh band during their most successful period in the 1970s. They had hits with tracks like I Only Wanna Be With You, Bye Bye Baby, Shang-a-Lang and Give a Little Love.
(Jim Evans)
27 April 2021

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