events

This month in our gallery: an exhibition about mental illness, masking, talking animals and feeling left behind

Welcome to the last five years of my life. This exhibition brings together work made while recovering from BPD, trying to make sense of paranoia, anxiety, strange thinking, burnout and the feeling of constantly being behind. Through videos, performances, paintings and an ongoing web series, I document the messy reality of living through mental illness and recovery. The work doesn't try to neatly resolve anything - it just pieces together fragments of different versions of myself, finding humour, absurdity and healing within the chaos.

At the centre of the exhibition is a tension between performance and reality. From the absurd sitcom world of my web-series Cats of Tottenham and years of footage filmed inside my flat and around Tottenham, to paintings where I literally insert myself into classical scenes, the work explores masking, identity and the stories we create to survive. The exhibition culminates in Haringey Hamster, my own failed version of Jiminy Cricket: a reluctant moral guide, emotional support animal and artist who, much like me, doesn't really know what she's doing but keeps going anyway.

Come and see Haringey Hamster live on the following dates:

Sat 4th July 1pm to 4pm

Sun 5th July 2pm to 5pm

Sat 11th July 1pm to 4pm

Sun 19th July 12noon to 4pm

Sat 25th July 1pm to 5pm

Sun 26th July 12noon to 4pm

 Are you a freelancer? And have you seen the latest news about how the tax system will be changing for freelancers? We run a regular Freelancer Friday on the Fourth Friday, which is this Friday, where we'll be talking about the ongoing consultation and what actions are available. It's free, from 1pm - just turn up 

Why not come chill and chat in the surroundings of your favourite local community bookshop? Or perhaps sit in our Readers' Garden.

We will have drinks on offer from our very reasonably priced bar.

You can browse a book or read one as well.

We're getting our Shakespeare on! Come and join other Shakespeare fans and read/discuss a different play each time.

We're all licensed, so you can also have a glass of wine from our fully stocked bard... I mean bar.

We are doing Comedy Club Specials with Edinburgh Fringe preview shows.

In August we have a couple of great acts lined up for you. 

Jon Long

Jon Long is a stand up and musical comedian. His cheery and affable stage presence and host of acerbic comedy songs have seen him become a favourite on the live circuit.

Jon has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe numerous times, making his critically acclaimed solo-show debut in 2019, with ‘Planet Killing Machine’ produced by Mick Perrin Worldwide. 

Eric Rushton

Eric says: Like everyone else, I have had my successes and I’ve had my failures. In 2020, I won the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Award which is more impressive than it sounds. Jason Manford and Johnny Vegas won that back in the day.

In 2023, I won an even bigger award: the Channel 4 Sean Lock Award. They gave me a bunch of money and a bunch of prestige for that and I have a lot of anxiety that I didn’t capitalise on that success.

There will be a bar on the night. 16+ only. All under 18s to be accompanied by an adult.

The Boy on Gojo Bridge retells the origin story of Japan's most famous warrior Yoshitsune and the warrior monk Benkei - one of Japan's most iconic partnerships. From their first meeting as adversaries in Kyoto to the formation of a bond defined by loyalty and skill, the piece blends dramatic narration with elements of kabuki music, including Nagauta song and live shamisen. Audiences can expect vivid storytelling, an epic fight scene and encounters with supernatural figures such as the long-nosed Tengu of Mt Kurama. 

Here comes our next movie night! We're massive film fans and screening movies here at the shop was a dream of ours since we started. Our film night has now been running for nearly six months and works a bit like our book clubs: every film is chosen by someone in the group who came to the previous film. Come join us and enjoy a drink or two from our bar while you're here.

Under the terms of our license we're not permitted to reveal in advance the name of any film we screen - but watch this space for some clues as the date approaches. ;D