The CultureTide Weekly
Welcome to our second Issue of the CultureTide Weekly - your Thursday round-up on what to see and experience in Bristol, Bath and the South West’s art and culture scene.
This week, we say goodbye to Spike Island’s brilliant exhibitions of work by Phillip Lai and Olukemi Lijadu, and put a focus on the Diverse Artist Network’s 'DIASPORA! 26’ festival running until Sunday.
As always, we’d love to hear your feedback, so do email back with your thoughts, and if you’ve enjoyed the newsletter, please do share it with friends, colleagues and family. In the meantime, though, enjoy Issue 2 of the CultureTide Weekly.
RAIN / RUIN
New work by Phillip Lai | Spike Island, Bristol
Free entry | Ends Sunday
Phillip Lai’s sculptures combine everyday objects with his own intensive re-makings of them to create a parallel imprint of the real world. Within this familiar visual landscape, he isolates moments of sculptural potential, often by intervening into the industrial processes used to make these objects – often things that provide comfort and facilitate our daily lives.
Dance Out
The RWA | Clifton, Bristol
£11 pp | Opens Saturday
Dance Out is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and film that celebrates dance as an everyday human activity, both solitary and social. The RWA itself will shape-shift during the exhibition, with the main daylit galleries hosting a series of dance and dance-related events.
Curated by David Remfry RA and art historian James Russell, ‘Dance Out’ brings together paintings, drawings and film across decades of dance culture – from 20th century London and New York to Bristol’s contemporary nightlife.
This weekend in Bristol
DIASPORA! 26
This weekend, our focus is on the second DIASPORA! 26 festival, run by the Diverse Artists Network. The festival, which started on 1 May and ends this Sunday, includes over 100 events across Bristol celebrating the amazing cultural diversity of the city, working closely with community groups, artists, partners and venues. Here are some of our highlights this weekend.
Azumei DJ Set
The Plough Inn | Easton
Free | Friday at 10pm
Eclectic DJ set, mixing genres from the Carribbean, UK, South Africa and Brazil. Azumei is a Bristol-based DJ and producer, and co-founder of the women-led label Bad B!tch Dubz. No need to book just turn up.
Vocal Workshop with AUGUST
The Harbour | Totterdown
£3-£15 | Saturday at 2pm
Led by Bristol-based composer, producer, and educator AUGUST, this 2-hour workshop explores the creative possibilities of the human voice.
Dances of Diaspora!
The RWA | Clifton
£11 pp | Saturday at 3pm
Dances of Diaspora! is a project conceived by Diverse Artists Network to honour and showcase the many dance traditions we are proud to host in our city.
Trinity Garden Party
Trinity Arts Centre | Trinity Road
Free entry | Sunday at 12pm
This annual free music and arts festival celebrates 50 years of music at Trinity, bringing together a mix of local artists, bands and performers for a day of live music, creativity and community spirit.
Until September
Reimaginings
Museum of East Asian Art | Bath
£7.50 | Open Tuesdays to Saturdays
In 2025, Hannah Lim was invited to create new work in response to objects from MEAA’s collection. The result is Reimaginings, an exhibition that brings together a mix of new and existing artworks by Lim, displayed alongside Museum objects co-curated by the artist.
Inspired by her Chinese-Singaporean and British heritage, Lim’s work explores how cultural exchange is reflected in object design, art, and architecture. Drawing on historic styles such as chinoiserie, medieval bestiaries, and objects like snuff bottles, she reinterprets these influences into contemporary sculptures that explore themes of mythology, ornament, and her own mixed heritage.
Recommendations
Trophies/Dead Dove
Tobacco Factory | Bristol
£15 | 7:30pm Until Saturday
From Bristol School of Acting, ‘five self-proclaimed feminists submit themselves to the rules of the game’. Playful, wild and ever-so-slightly vile, ‘Trophies’ is a raw and honest conversation about the ethics of competition and the constant need to be politically righteous and incredibly hot.
Core Sample
Centrespace Gallery | Bristol
Free | PV Friday at 6pm | Until 18 May
From soft structures, shifting environments, shadow worlds, and found fragments, the works shown in Core Sample combine textiles, sculptural forms, and performance pieces to explore the relationship between bodies, materials and spaces.
Hop Scotch
The Island | Bristol
Tuesday and Wednesday
A free photographic exhibition showcasing different curated artist works on themes of collaboration and interaction.
Opening night: 7pm on the 11th, with drinks and tunes until close at 10pm.
Free and open to the public 12th & 13th May, 10am - 4pm.
Rose of Nevada
Cube Microplex | Bristol
Sunday at 5pm | Monday at 8pm
Thirty years after the Rose of Nevada and her crew vanished without trace, the boat returns unchanged by time, and unexplained by reason. Two young men sign on to crew her: Nick, a father desperate to provide, and Liam, a drifter with nothing to lose. Shot on 16mm film.
…and finally
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Until next Thursday,
The CultureTide team
Culture’s better together.
Image credits:
Phillip Lai, courtesy Spike Island
Remfry Dancers, the RWA
Azumei, Diverse Artist Network
AUGUST, Diverse Artist Network
Dances of Diaspora!, image credit Cairo Sealey
Trinity Garden Party, Diverse Artist Network
Reimaginings work by Hannah Lim at Museum of East Asian Art
Trophies/Dead Dove, Bristol School of Acting/Tobacco Factory
Em Williams, 2026 - Core Samples at Centrespace
Hop Scotch at The Island
Rose of Nevada, RON Production/Steve Tanner
