First impressions aren’t always right. For some freshers, York may seem a little twee. Initially, I too became frustrated by the constant flow of tourists riding open-top buses in the freezing cold, taking photos of completely spurious buildings and clogging up the Shambles. I’ve often heard those who are used to the hustle and bustle of big city life call York “too small”. However, behind the façade of Betty’s and the unmistakable musk of the Yorvik Viking Centre lies a city alive with culture, waiting to be discovered.

York was traditionally England’s second city, acting as an administrative centre for the unruly North. The courts of London were replicated here to enforce the King’s Law, and York was also the headquarters for many trades and crafts. The Merchant Adventurer’s Hall, for example, is one of the oldest buildings in the city, built before 1361. Before you leave, you’ll probably have an opportunity to attend a college or society ball in this historic place. In much of the city, beautiful Tudor buildings are still very much in use as restaurants and shops, which creates a feeling of being steeped in history. A fact to impress your new housemates: Whip-ma-whop-ma Gate (next to the Shambles) is so called because it used to be the site of a whipping post where criminals were flogged. You can almost feel the onomatopoeia.

But on to York today. Arts enthusiasts, or anyone wishing to inject a little culture into their lives, will be spoilt for choice. Next to the historic King’s Manor (the University’s centre for Medieval Studies, which often features its own exhibitions) is York Art Gallery. A quiet haven after the bustle of the city centre, the gallery features a number of semi-permanent exhibits in addition to a variety of visiting collections. Recent highlights have included a selection of Japanese paintings and ceramics; ‘Relationships’, an exploration of mixed media in modern art; and the tantalisingly titled ‘Mad Man in the Minster’ exhibition of paintings and sketches.

From October 6, just in time for the new term, the gallery will play host to an exhibition of Tracey Emin’s work, and a collection entitled ‘Marking Time’, comprising pictures of York from sunrise to sunset.
Having whet your appetite for culture, and maybe a little lunch, why not head back into the city centre to VJ’s Art Bar, where the colourful modern works on the walls are all for sale, and the alley outside is illuminated at night by projections from local contributors.

Near the Minster, on and around High Petergate lie a number of smaller arts and crafts shops, topped off by the student’s choice, Shared Earth. Here you can pick up fair trade jewellery, ornaments, and pretty much anything else at a reasonable price. A few hours can also be well spent in the Castle Museum, where an entire Victorian street has been recreated.

If you enjoy treasure hunting, York offers a large number of antique shops, but undoubtedly the most interesting is the Banana Warehouse on Picadilly. Amongst the plastic ‘80s junk and old workout videos, great pieces of furniture, old books and trinkets can be found on the cheap.
As evening draws in, the arts fan has a choice of venues at their disposal. The Grand Opera House has secured a spot on the touring circuit of many popular musicals (Chicago was a recent highlight), also offering opera and ballet from both nationally renowned and local companies.
The City Screen in the town centre acts as far more than just a cinema, playing host to the weekly gathering of the Other Side Comedy Club, where up and coming comedians try out their material every Sunday. The cinema also regularly shows classic films as well as some edgy, arthouse flicks.

Alternatively, one of the best value choices is York Theatre Royal, which offers a student concession at £3.50 for the majority of its performances, making it a lot cheaper than a night at the cinema. The theatre has forged links with many local amteur and youth groups, offering a wide variety of music, dance and plays in addition to the professional productions.

So in your first few weeks at York, why not take some time to explore what the city has to offer. A walk around the walls is a great way to see the city from a new perspective, just make sure it’s a nice day! Wander in the Museum Gardens, or the grounds of the Minster where, during the summer months, you can see open-air productions of Shakespeare or Wilde. Certainly, as a new arrival you will want to see inside the Minster, which has become something of a tourist trap in recent years with the introduction of turnstiles and a large entrance fee. But there are many experiences that won’t cost a penny. The Art Gallery is always free, and the city hosts several festivals per year, packing the streets with markets and street performers.

And finally, remember, you don’t have to be a History of Art student or know about Brecht to enjoy the art gallery or the theatre once in a while.

When asked to describe the society’s purpose Seward is not short on inspiration. “Pantomime is one of last great, mighty bastions of comedic genius in this oh-so-serious world. A refuge and ark for all that’s good and magical; a great twinkly beacon of fantastitude shining merrily through the thick smog of misery and cynicism, a great safe-house of Christmassy goodness where nowt is sacred.”

This year, following the resounding triumph of last year’s Robbin’ Hood, Pantsoc will be presenting The Peter Pan…tomime!, featuring, among other increasingly bizzarre excitements, a Captain Hook who sells dodgy videos (‘a video pirate, you see’), a spaced out Tinkerbell dealing ‘fairy dust’, and what promises to be a breathtaking sequence in Ziggy’s nightclub.

Look out for auditions in Week 2 of this term if you want to perform, and the society is also looking for assistant directors, producers, techies, backstage hands, costume designers, set builders, and everything else. Email socs418 for details, or just look out for the posters. As Seward concludes; ‘Pantomime or death!’.

Fresh from the lecture, we were treated to a jazz warm-up from Quinquagesimal, followed by an energetic performance from Samba York, unstoppable despite a broken drum. ACS impressed the audience with attitude and innovation and the Dance Society also made several appearances, combining energetic futuristic routines with jazz and street. By lunchtime a holiday atmosphere prevailed. Strawberries and cream were handed out to all and sundry, and many ventured into the bar, where a tempting yet sickly chocolate fountain was on offer.

I took the opportunity to tour the Norman Rea Gallery, featuring an exhibition based around ‘movement’. Artists from St Johns, York College and the Mount School shone alongside the work of York students in a variety of mediums. Competition winners were Jim Ayres of York College and Hannah Welch, whilst the provost’s choice was Deirdre Ford.

Returning to the courtyard, Juggle Soc began a poi, juggling and staff spinning workshop which attracted many. The return of Samba York really began the audience participation as people were encouraged to grab an instrument and shake it with the drummers. Break dancers from Gravity Control then took to the stage, provoking whoops from spectators at their amazing balancing and acrobatics. They reappeared later with a courageous bunch of Langwithians who also attempted some spinning, with limited success but a lot of audience support.

To illustrate the variety of performances, we were then impressed by Footnotes, a barbershop quartet who combined classic songs such as ‘Yesterday’ with a shameless plug for Bad Taste magazine, which was handed round during the performance.

After a short spell on stage, magician Tom Weil entertained the crowds, shrieks of disbelief often drowning out the performances as he turned packs of cards into blocks of glass, and pulled people’s jewellery out of his shoes.

The afternoon was rounded off in style by Pant Soc and their gauntlet of madly attired characters. One plucky contestant completed the haphazard challenges, beating off a series of aggressors to win a coveted bottle of cherry Lambrini, and then beginning an impromptu cream pie fight, exacting her revenge on each member of the cast in turn.
Hopefully this will be the first of many arts festivals in Langwith, attracting an even wider variety of submissions and performances.

The Drama Barn was packed out for the last evening of The Cut, an intense production of Mark Ravenhill’s play. Matt Springett shone as Paul, who administers ‘the Cut’, a loose allusion to the death sentence, reinstated in a dystopian future Britain. After an unnerving encounter with one of his patients, Paul begins to regret the sham he lives, in a country where his job is increasingly seen as horrific by the public.

Springett effortlessly evolved from a comedic bureaucrat to handling an existential crisis within the first 20 minutes, and Adam Whybray delivered admirably as the patient who receives ‘the Cut’. What could have been a very powerful scene, however, when John (Whybray) persuades Paul to embrace the darkness and set himself free, did not gel too well, and raised more questions than the swift disposal of Whybray’s character could answer.
Anna Rohde also impressed as Paul’s austere and detached wife; the chemistry between the two perfectly illustrated the strains of a marriage plagued by secrets.

The most striking image was that of Springett falteringly removing his blood spattered gloves and gown after performing ‘the Cut’, whilst the scene changed behind him.

The main issues I had were with the lack of explanation in the play itself, which left the audience in the dark.

Things I have gained from the hitch to Morocco: a newfound appreciation for toilet roll, confidence in my ability to botch communications in a mixture of pidgin Spanish and frantic hand gestures and an inexplicable urge to quit university and become a truck driver.
This Easter, whilst many nestled in the nourishing cocoon of suburbia, a motley crew from York joined students from across the country in the hitch to Morocco. A journey of around 1600 miles, crossing time zones and borders and smashing language barriers with a mixture of big smiles and non-threatening movements, the goal was to raise £300,000 for the charity Link Community Development. With every participant raising at least £300, it is one of the biggest fundraising events in the country. And, although the glow of charity work adds a sense of legitimacy, any excuse for a holiday, right?

Our journey began at the beginning of the M1, where my hitch partner Matthew and I tumbled from the safety of his Dad’s estate car, along with an assortment of backpacks and luminous outdoor clothing. There is much to be said for fresh-faced enthusiasm and at first we were relatively lucky, securing a lift to Nottingham within a few minutes. From there, we began to discover that hitchhiking is not as easy as just sticking out your thumb.

Any hitcher will tell you that it is a journey of amazing highs and incredible lows, all of which are forgotten as soon as your next ride pulls up. Several hours spent cluttering up a grass verge in a service station becomes a pleasant lunch stop once you’re on the move again. Similarly, the last hitch, which you pounced upon when it arrived, becomes the worst lift ever if the driver drops you off in the wrong place.

We left Nottingham in a 60-foot lorry headed for Poole, a five-hour journey away. Upon arriving at an industrial estate in the aptly named Blandford our fortunes suddenly changed. Hiking through deepest suburbia to the main road, we discovered that the area was solely populated by OAPs. One of these, however, took pity on us, and took us two miles in a cab filled with bouncing toddlers and Labradors, nearly causing a pile-up by dropping us off directly on a roundabout. We reached Portsmouth by nightfall, after being rescued by two squaddies, who squashed us into the back of an Audi TT, and taking a sneaky rail journey. At the ferry port, exhausted, we met a bunch of fresh-faced York students who had enjoyed a leisurely train ride from their southerly homes, and were so excited to see how this hitching lark would go.

Perhaps our first day’s experience had given us an edge, as we overtook them coming off the ferry and blagged a friendly lorry driver and a nine-hour hitch to Lyon. By early evening, Yves and I were best friends, and whilst Matthew snoozed contentedly on the bunk, I learnt about his family members, his taste in dubious French folk music and why he was voting Le Pen.
The next morning, the toll road and a couple of lucky hitches took us south, and by 11am we were in Valence, fishing for that perfect lift to Spain. We caught a white van man completely off guard as he hacked apart a baguette and a hunk of ham. The young Spaniard, affectionately nicknamed ‘Sandy’, as we were unable to pronounce his name, took us all the way to Barcelona, combining breathtaking speed with texting, eating and singing at the wheel. He dropped us off in a prime location, a service station teeming with HGVs. Unfortunately, our extremely limited Spanish didn’t stretch to reading the ‘under construction’ sign next to the symbol for a hotel.

A frustrating issue which haunts the hitcher from an early stage is how to get back onto the motorway. If you end up, as we did, in a dodgy suburb with no main slip road, the sight of the motorway speeding past a hundred yards away is enough to induce tears of hysteria. Coupled with the disappearance of service stations in southern Spain, and the fact that lorries don’t move on a Sunday, this is notoriously the most difficult part of the hitch. As the week wore on and the distance covered in a day dwindled, we grew desperate. A hitch from a Moroccan couple with a shattered windscreen and a collection of incessant Arabic music left us in a provincial maze of roadworks and a second hitch, hours later, got us into slightly hot water. The driver took us back to his house and gave us his keys whilst he parked, resulting in his keys dangling in the door and us shuffling off as fast as people carrying three stone on their backs could go. Round the corner in a cafe, we gave up on hitching to Algeciras and a sympathetic local drove us to the station. As we boarded the bus in Malaga, a sheepish group from Warwick appeared, escaping the hitching hellhole of Spain. As the bus filled up with hitchers, we began to realise that we hadn’t done too badly after all.

Everyone comes back with a few stories to tell, and I managed to get mild ammonia poisoning from one service station’s overzealous toilet cleaners, resulting in a lot of stress, mainly induced by Matthew’s insistence that he couldn’t smell burning. And, when the adventure was over and the holiday began, our first night in Morocco was interrupted by a drunken man getting into our hotel room at 1am. He left when we started screaming like little girls and we departed too early to ask the owner how it had happened.

Other hitchers had similarly colourful experiences. One group from Leeds counted the police amongst their hitches; another had walked 10km cross-country in the dark. Our friends from Warwick had hitched a lift with a possibly-illegal coach load of Romanian immigrants, whose driver listened to non-stop accordion music and honked the horn if any passengers fell asleep.
So, after 15 hitches, too much junk food and not nearly enough showers, our holiday began. Our first night in Fes, a local took us out to a shisha bar where we spent the night in style for £1 each. The next morning our guide took us to a carpet cooperative where the trio from Warwick were hassled into spending £400 on a small rug.

Marrakech, too, was a great experience. Although it is the main tourist centre (the shop keepers will assure you their goods are “Primark prices”), it is a unique city, centring on the large Place Djema el Fnaa which comes alive at night with open air food joints and street performers. The best way to enjoy the sights without finding a snake round your neck and a monkey on your shoulder is to retire to a rooftop cafe and watch the world go by, sipping an addictive thé a la menthe and ordering the local specialty, tagine, a kind of casserole served in a conical pot.

Unfortunately, Matthew and I only left 12 days for the whole trip, which left us short of time when we actually arrived in Morocco. However, despite the ups and downs of an inevitably difficult journey, we have both come away with some great memories and, though lacking a tan, I think it is one of the most worthwhile experiences university has to offer.

University dance has received mixed publicity recently. The cliquey image associated with performing arts in general is hard to shake off. But, as the build-up to the extravaganza that is Fusion continues, I find out what’s going on and how to get involved.

Lucy Davies and Emma Meigh, the Dance Society chairs, are keen to dispel the old myths. “We’re not in the least bit exclusive! The society caters for all levels and abilities. We aim to offer something for everyone, from people who began dancing at a young age to complete beginners.” The variety of classes that the society offers reflects this diversity – jazz classes, break dance, jive, tap, beginners and improvers salsa and street dancing are all on the menu, plus specialist workshops every term which range from advanced classes, to belly dancing, to afro-cuban body movement.

The society currently boasts over 700 members, making it one of the largest on campus, and it’s still growing. Secretary Nat Carter explains, “we’re a successful, self-sufficient society, and over the last few years we’ve grown dramatically. The increased interest means we are constantly expanding our capabilities and adding new classes.” It’s not all hard graft though, and with classes comes a varied social scene, from fancy dress to salsa social nights where students can try out the moves they’ve learnt. “We’re keen to see new faces at our socials, and it’s a great way to get to know your committee”, they tell me. “We’re having a dance film night in Week 6 and we hope plenty of people will come along.”

Classes aside, this is a very active society. Auditions give all members a chance of strutting their stuff on stage, be it at a charity event such as Stop AIDS or Make Poverty History, or a well-known campus event like Woodstock or the infamous Fusion. “This year’s Dance Society scene at Fusion is a really special one”, says Lucy, “as this time many classes are taking part.” In addition to on-campus performances, a group from the society will be representing York at this year’s inter-university competition in Loughborough. “We’re entering the hip-hop category, but in the future there’s the potential for students to represent us in other categories, too”, Lucy explains.

The committee will be holding elections in Week 9 for all positions, including two reps for each class, a secretary and the chairs. Anyone can run for a place, no experience required. “We’re a friendly bunch and want everyone to enjoy our classes. You don’t have to go with a friend, just turn up and meet some new people!” Ben Dove, salsa rep, says. “And it’s definitely not just for girls”, he adds. “Salsa is fun and sociable, and I get to meet lots of new people every week.” The girls agree, “girls love a guy who can dance! That’s our motto – making you look good on the dance floor”.

Although the Dance Society provides the widest range of lessons, other societies are also flying the flag for dance in York. Jenny Frankish, chair of Ballet Soc, explains what’s going on this term: “We are currently preparing for a competition in Edinburgh against other university dance societies in the UK. Everyone who went last year had loads of fun and can’t wait to go again. It’s nice to have the opportunity to perform, as well as practise in classes.” Members benefit from a Royal Academy of Dance trained teacher and, of course, plenty of socials. The societies are also succeeding in improving the dance facilities at the University; the last year has seen the transformation of the minor sports hall into a dance studio with mirrors and barres for the ballet dancers.

Dance Society class times are available at www.uyds.co.uk, and information on Ballet Soc can be obtained via email: ballet@yusu.org. Try something new!

LUX
Small-scale public artworks by York St. John art students
19 – 28 January
Selected venues in Micklegate

Relationships
A celebration of modern art through contrasts in material and form
27 January – 8 May
York Art Gallery
Lenny Henry, Where Are You From?
The comedian brings his new one-man show to York
2 February
York Grand Opera House

South Pacific
Adapted by York Stage Musicals from James Michiner’s short stories
2 – 10 February
York Theatre Royal

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Presented by the York Light Opera Comany
13 – 24 February
York Theatre Royal
Jorvik Viking Festival
5 days of Viking-themed festivities featuring a huge range of activities and events
14 – 18 February
Visit www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk for full events programmes.

The Other Side Comedy Club
City Screen
28 January: Brendan Riley, Danny James, Dan Nightingale
4 February: Jim Jeffries, Sarah Millican, Markus Birdman
11 February: Josie Long on tour
18 February: Robin Ince on tour
(7.30 for 8.00 start)

Despite the heavy scaffolding covering the eastern side of the Minster, Paul Kaiser and The OpenEnded Group have created a dazzling light exhibition, with their project Recovered Light. With the backdrop of the Great East Window, the light acts as an ‘x-ray’, illuminating what lies behind. As projected light emanates and spreads, deep crimson red and majestic bright blue run down the canvas and intersect with the bright white light. Together they form the striking image of a Renaissance stained glass window in a celebration of the miracle of life. Although the scaffolding has obscured much of the beauty of the Minster’s eastern façade, Recovered Light evokes the majestic architecture of its interior with startling brilliance, allowing us to visualise its beauty through something seemingly mundane.

At any mention of pantomime I can’t help but conjure images of inescapable jollity and headache-inducing colours, so I was wary at the prospect of Cinderella at York Theatre Royal. However this is no ordinary panto. Written and led by Berwick Kaler who has been in the role for 29 years, with Martin Barrass his trusty sidekick for 21 of those, they have refined it to an art form. As Barrass says, the mantra for pantomime creation is “is this the best we can do?” and it is this dedication that gives the show its magic. Barrass cites the “laziness” that has built up (complete with questionable ‘celebrities’) and given pantomime a bad name. Kaler has flipped this around, and in any YTR panto “the only celebrities are in the audience”.

The term ‘postmodern pantomime’ has been used to describe the show, and was justified within the first five minutes. We were greeted with a typical English Morris dancing scene, yet after just two minutes of the chorus’s ‘good old pantomime’ song, the Pussy Cat dolls belted out and the demure village ladies became somewhat burlesque. Berwick dislikes “anything twee”, with Barrass and Vincent Gray (Buttons) emphasising that the show is all about “the unexpected”. This attitude of challenging audience expectations results in a fantastical assault on the senses.
Cinderella’s modern edge comes from the careful interlacing of pop culture witticisms, with 2006 summed up with a video remake of the irritating ‘Sheila’s Wheels’ adverts and of course the Hoff. Barrass highlights the heavy emphasis on “physical theatre” which Gray continues with the importance of “partnerships” within the production.

Asking about the traditional moral message of the performance, I received a mixed response: Barrass concluded “it’s nicer to be nice than nasty, then I get beaten up for it”, with Gray adding, “don’t stop trying and it will eventually happen”. If you are still questioning whether to see Cinderella, from Gray himself: “you can’t get a funnier night out anywhere”. In all its pythonesque glory, I really have been converted by the show; long may Kaler and his team’s reign over the pantomime season last.

All the fun of the panto can also be found on our own doorstep. For three whole nights, Central Hall becomes a fully-fledged forest, complete with merry men. I met Will Seaward, director of Robbin’ Hood, who explained his unusual take on the classic story.

“It all begins in Tang Hall”: not often a phrase connected with a heart-warming story. Seaward’s Robin (Rebecca Chalk) swaps Sherwood for YO10, roaming the dangerous territory off Hull Road. Here, in the process of stealing her handbag, he meets Marian (Amy-Claire Scott), the beautiful SU officer who will turn him from slumming it by the Co-op towards a valiant crusade against the evil Sheriff, terrorising the students of York to fund the Heslington East development.

Although Seaward’s version carries a clear message to the student audience, let’s not forget that we’re still talking pantomime. Enter Will Scarlet (Catrin Jones), a girl dressed as a boy in order to win the affections of Robin, who (s)he thinks is gay. Add a Friar Tuck who only talks in rhyme, a Little John confused by his amorous feelings towards comrade Will, and, as if that isn’t mayhem enough, a despondent Cupid with suicidal tendencies.

Pantsoc have clearly gone all out on this one, but they are on a strict budget. “We don’t receive any SU funding”, Seaward explains, “so we’ve been raising money by waxing our legs” (he shows a shiny shin). Overall this promises to be a hilarious and successful student production.
Robbin’ Hood is in Central Hall on 25, 26 and 27 January. Tickets are £3 on Thursday, £4 on Friday and Saturday, and available at Your:Shop, Vanbrugh stalls, or from pantsoc@yusu.org.

The cast certainly didn’t disappoint. From the first, the audience was swept up into the high-kicking world of Chicago vaudeville. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were appropriately reckless, flirtatious and egocentric; Billy Flynn wonderfully sleazy yet suave, and Roxie’s unwitting husband Amos, had the audience whimpering sympathetically into their programmes. The dancing was truly superb, especially the raunchy “Cell Block Tango”, and the unexpected harmonies in some of the songs were excellent.

The band and conductor were also worked into the narrative, which was refreshing. Characters stopped and chatted on their way on and off stage, and after the interval we were treated to a lively instrumental rendition of “All That Jazz”. It was clear that the stage was significantly smaller than the cast were used to, but they coped well with barely any slip-ups.

However, for me, Chicago has always lacked something; it is one of the few musicals from which not all the songs are truly memorable, and seems to peter out towards the end, when the audience is expecting a spectacular finale.

Unfortunately, the Opera House uses Ticketmaster with extortionate service charges, leaving me with a rather light wallet, but certainly a shimmy in my step all the way home.

Week 3
‘Epitaph’
Directed by Ollie Jones, produced by Neil Arden

Week 4
‘Enola’
Directed by Katie Kelly and produced by Molly Bird

Week 5
‘The Glass Menagerie’
Directed by Emma Miles, produced by Heather Barber

Week 6
‘Stone Cold Dead Serious’
Directed by William Bowry and produced by Anna Rohde and Edd Fortes

Week 7
‘Lying for a Living’
Directed by Doug Kern, produced by Chris Hogg

Week 8
‘Cricket on the Moon’
Directed by Kate Lovell and Beth Pitts, produced by Rina Nalumoso

Week 9
‘Women Beware Women’
Directed by Matthew Lacey, produced by Helen Fletcher

Week 10
‘The Fire-Raisers’ (RESCHEDULED)
Directed by Mark McDaid and produced by Adam Formby

Contrary to student popular opinion, there are two Galleries in York. In one, you can expect to be doused in dubious champagne, and possibly even bodily fluids. In the other, you can expect to pass a leisurely Sunday afternoon and not spend the entirety of the next day cocooned in a duvet drinking Tetleys. Even the uninitiated (and in my case, ill-educated) must enjoy a quiet hour spent perusing the current exhibits at York Art Gallery. Equipped with a trusty pashmina, I decided to take a tour and learn a little something.

Amongst the stern portraits and modernist offerings nestles a small collection of colourful, thoughtful Japanese pieces from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to tempt the curious explorer. These mesmerising prints combine simple yet delicate representations of everyday occurrences in bold and bright hues. A depiction of a Japanese port buzzing with activity lies alongside scenes from the Zodiac and New Year celebrations. Along the walls of this tiny room, actors and courtesans go about their daily routines, and beautiful Japanese women make music, cook and prepare tea in the ancient Buddhist way.

A closer look reveals intricate patterning and exquisite detail, from the kimonos of the women to the exotic flowers. The collection is described as “simple beauty inspired by nature”, a refreshing change from studied portraits and family groups.

The prints themselves are testament to a tradition of innovation and ingenuity. Some are on wood, others crepe, to withstand wear and tear. They are interspersed with Japanese pottery, old and new, such as saki cups, dishes, and the traditional tea-making paraphernalia. These functional pieces reflect the theme of everyday life but are works of art in their own right, some of them offerings by the famous potter Shoji Hamada. The two complement each other well, and add another dimension to this journey into aesthetics and Japanese culture.

Many of the pieces on display are prime examples of the ukiyo-e movement, meaning “pictures of the floating world”. These prints reflect a growing culture of urban pleasures, but also the Japanese love of nature in its simplest form. This may seem paradoxical, but both aspects are exemplified in the work of one of the more famous artists in the collection, Ando Hiroshige. Such prints often focused on famous actors or geishas, and were even used as posters for theatre performances. The sharp lines and ingenious shading make it easy to see why.

Although a relatively small exhibition, the collection really is effective and inspiring. And as if that isn’t enough reason to pay a visit, entry is completely free. Even better, you don’t need a sequin boob tube to get into this Gallery.

Japanese Art in Life runs at the York Art Gallery until 04/02/07

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Brown’s novel’s predecessor by some thirty years, is filled with the kind of detail and evidence which he refuses us. I was amazed to find that, despite its hugely controversial reputation, this was not just the report of some investigation, but a gripping tale, beginning in nineteenth century France, with a parish priest’s startling discoveries in his church, and sweeping back through the ages to the mysterious Templars and their relation to that elusive treasure, the Holy Grail.

We are privy to the author’s thought patterns in a way which a fictionalisation of this issue could never allow. I was intrigued to read that even now, when the legend of the Holy Grail appears to have assumed a mythical, antiquated status, individuals still exist with close links to the Templars and some potentially huge religious secret, and are, perhaps, still concealing it.

This is a surprisingly easy read, and if you want something a little more worthwhile to get into this summer, I highly recommend it.

£7.99
Delacorte Press

At the age of five, Nelio watched bandits burn his village to the ground and massacre his people. When ordered to shoot another boy, he turned the gun on the bandit and ran, making his way to the coast and encountering a bizarre character en route who gave him guidance. Upon arrival in the city, Nelio joined a rough street gang, and began a very different way of life.

Comical elements are balanced by Mankell’s realism, most likely created from his own experience as the director of Teatro Avenida (Street Theatre) in Mozambique’s capital Maputo and his long involvement in AIDS awareness programmes there. It is difficult to tell if the book is intended just to show a picture of misery or provide a solution to it. Although Jose decides to become a “chronicler of the wind” by telling Nelio’s story, it is unclear if he will carry out his new calling by whispering to African storm-clouds or take up arms against them. Mankell’s portrayal of the harrowing children’s ordeal is remarkable, and makes for compelling reading.

£12.99
Harvill Secker

We follow Doig as he attempts to avenge his father’s death by creating a vaccine against the plague which killed him. This foray into the natural world becomes complicated, however, as Doig matures and other interests, such as his family’s honour, his love for his cousin Elizaveta, and the outbreak of war, interrupt his travels. Tension builds as Doig gets the girl, but their life together is threatened by the instability of 1914 Russia.

The couple are forced to shelter soldiers and other endearing characters from the bitter winter, and, whilst in close confinement with the army officers, Doig becomes convinced that one of them is a Bolshevik who will “destroy them all”. Don’t expect light Easter reading, but be prepared for a gripping story which might come as a refreshing change to the usual holiday paperback.

£12.99
Random House