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Patti Smith as photographed by Mapplethorpe in 1979

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Here's our round-up of the weekend's events, including a bonfire of the vanities, an exhibitions of iconic Patti Smith snaps and the novel opening of a new gastropub-cum-disco...

BONFIRE OF THE BRANDS
Venue tbc.
Sunday, time tbc.
"One day this year, I am going to gather every branded possession of mine into a warehouse, douse them with petrol and burn the lot," announced reformed label junkie Neil Boorman on his thoughtful blog back in March. That day has come. He'll torch "Jacobson chairs, Dior shirts, a Louis Vuitton bag" and, just possibly, a part of his identity on Sunday. Check www.bonfireofthebrands.blog spot.com for details.

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE: STILL MOVING AND LADY
Alison Jacques Gallery, Clifford Street, W1. Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm. 020 7287 7675
Punk poet Patti Smith performed her extraordinary elegy to former lover photographer Robert Mapplethorpe at the Queen Elizabeth Hall earlier this week; Mapplethorpe posthumously returns the favour with this exhibition of iconic snaps of Smith, including the famous album cover of Horses.

QUEEN BOADICEA
292-294 St John Street, EC1.
Friday, Saturday, 7pm-2am. 020 7354 9993
Paint your face blue (in homage to Queen Boadicea, duh) and come to Clerkenwell to celebrate the opening of this new gastropub-cum-disco, promised site of cheap Sunday lunches, "trendy DJs", speed dating (Ms Topham?) and, most appealingly, "bad dancing".

DESTRICTED
Curzon Soho,99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1. Friday, Saturday, 11pm. 020 7734 2255, www.destrictedfilms.com
"The most controversial and sexually explicit film ever to receive an 18 certificate" apparently. Though it's fair to presume this compendium of seven short films isn't going to be particularly sexy; just a bit arty. Still, there are some promising directors involved, including Sam Taylor-Wood and Matthew Barney, and it's bound to provoke debate.

MEDIUM RARE PRESENTS RAW-HYDE
Spiegel Tent Hyde Park, W1. Friday-Sunday, 6pm-2.30am. www.mediumrare.tv
Variety shows seem to be the spice of London's nightlife at the moment; Medium Rare are among the leading lights of the craze. This weekend, they've camped in Hyde Park to host a weekend of louche vaudevillian acts with dinner and dancing. There's a tamer kids' show, too, on Saturday and Sunday at 12.30pm.

CANNONBALL 8000
Starts at Earls Court, SW10. Sunday 10am. www.cannonball8000.com
Not a race, I'm told, but a way of life, Cannonball 8000 sets off from London this weekend, with 120 souped-up motors storming their way across Europe to Budapest in 72 hours. If cars and celebs are your sort of thing, you know where to go.

 

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