Diary

London

Move: Choreographing You

Visitors breathe in and squeeze through a tight corridor illuminated in green, then fight their way through a wall of white balloons. They enter a room with two-way mirrors, a hidden camera and a screen on which the footage is projected both in real time and with a seven-second delay superimposed on each other, generating eerie scenes in which you keep bumping into yourself. In the new show at the Hayward Gallery (until 9 January 2011), everything is moving and morphing. Many of the artworks are amusing or enigmatic or feature performances by students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Others are far more unsettling: Tania Bruguera's installation Untitled (Kassel) is like a torture chamber, full of blindingly hot lights that suddenly switch off, to ominous sounds of rifles being cocked.

London

Is the 'Physical' Library a Redundant Resource for 21st-century Academics?

The university library was once a central landmark on campus. But with more and more resources instantly available online, are libraries still relevant to today's researchers? To coincide with the British Library's exhibition Growing Knowledge: The Evolution of Research (until 16 July 2011), Times Higher Education is holding a debate on this theme. The panellists are: Mary Beard, professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge; Clive Bloom, emeritus professor of English at Middlesex University; Sarah Porter, head of innovation at the Joint Information Systems Committee; and Martin Lewis, director of library services at the University of Sheffield. Chaired by THE editor Ann Mroz, it will take place in the British Library's Conference Centre at 6.30pm on Tuesday 26 October.

London

Inside Out Festival

From an open rehearsal of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony to a debate on the literature of New Labour, and from a walk through London's "pleasure zone" in Soho to a series of events on the history of men's underwear, this year's Inside Out Festival (22-30 October) promises a bold and wide-ranging look at many different aspects of cultural life. With Times Higher Education as media partner, it is organised by the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange, which brings together nine higher education institutions to "promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise with the capital's arts and cultural sectors". Highlights include debates on "Should the university survive in its current form?" (with David Willetts, the higher education minister) and "The uses and abuses of contemporary history", a discussion on "Art and the academy" and a film screening and discussion on "Histories of hatred". Full details at www.insideoutfestival.org.uk.

New York

Abstract Expressionist New York

In the 1950s, Abstract Expressionism established itself as one of the most significant movements in the visual arts and put New York at the centre of the international art scene. The city's Museum of Modern Art (Moma) became an early collector of works by Pollock, Rothko, Newman, de Kooning and their contemporaries, and the commitment of curators, trustees and artists ensured that it continued its ambitious acquisitions programme. This exhibition, drawn entirely from Moma's own vast holdings, presents a definitive overview of developments in painting, sculpture, prints, drawing, photography and film. It runs until 25 April 2011.

Belfast

Rites of Passage

From a Hausa kohl container and a Zulu beer strainer to a Fijian whale tooth and a Native American pair of baby's moccasins, this exhibition at the Ulster Museum (until 11 February 2011) puts on display a range of evocative objects from around the world used to mark the great transitions of birth, marriage and death. A recent addition is three scrapbooks created by the Living History Group at the Windsor Women's Centre in South Belfast which portray their own experiences of the food, culture and traditions. Contributors include women from China, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Somalia and India as well as Northern Ireland.