At the moment the Barbican is showing the stage production of Scenes from a Marriage, by Ingmar Bergman, in the theatre from November 14 – 17.

To complement the stage, they also present a short cycle of films by Bergman foregrounding the importance and influence of women in his work.

Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. He is recognized as one of the most accomplished and influential film directors of all time and has directed over sixty films and documentaries.

His work is emotional and very honest, often portraying scenes of death, illness, faith, betrayal, bleakness and insanity.

Barbican are showing two films, the first one is Persona, about an actress who loses her voice during a performance and subsequently refuses to speak. The second one is Cries and Whispers, telling the angst-drenched story of a woman who is dying of cancer in the family mansion, and her two sisters who return home to comfort her.

Both films are starring the Norwegian actress and movie director Liv Ullmann.

Don’t miss out on these two beautiful films, order your tickets now at barbican.org.uk/film

Image from Scenes from a marriage 

Tags: barbican, Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullman

When Japanese visionaries Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto stormed the catwalks in the early Eighties they redefined fashion. The androgyny of their architectural shapes not only blew apart how women in Europe dressed, but succeeded in turning fashion into art.

Thirty years on and Japanese fashion continues to challenge Western notions of beauty and the Barbican’s new exhibition, ‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ charts the history and impact of the country’s inimitable style.

As Kate Bush, Head of Barbican Art Galleries says: “The tight silhouettes of Western couture were jettisoned for new fluid shapes. Out went the magnificent ornament and extravagant techniques of the post-war tradition and in came a stark, monochrome palette and an entirely new decorative language – holes, rips, frays and tears – emerging from the stuff of fabric itself.”

An epic journey through Japanese fashion history, featuring over 100 beautiful pieces by labels such as Comme des Garcons and Junya Watanabe – courtesy of the Kyoto Costume Institute – as well as catwalk footage and archive interviews, the exhibition dazzles the senses. Spanning the grand masters to the new radicals of Japanese design, it’s the story of an avant-garde fashion culture where breathtaking beauty and innovation are all part of the same rapid beating heart.

‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ is at the Barbican Centre until 6 February 2010.
Barbican.org/JapaneseFashion

Images by Lyndon Douglas. Words by Boudicca Fox-Leonard.

Tags: barbican, Comme des Garcon, Future Beauty, Issey Miyake, Japanese Fashion, Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto