January is over (good riddance) and we’re into Feb, the month of Valentine’s love lust, Groundhog Day, and National Pizza Day (apparently). Plus, it’s a leap year, so here’s an extra day for free. 

The flood is coming
First up, a film: Mahalia Belo’s evocative new work, The End We Start From. Set in a future Britain, the film follows a new mother (Jodie Comer) seeking refuge in the countryside following a devastating flood. What follows is a captivating, cautionary tale full of twists and turns that keep you hooked.

The End We Start From is out in cinemas now.

Photo/painting
Tate Modern has extended its Capturing the Moment exhibition, highlighting the relationship between photography and painting. Featuring many of the greats – Picasso, Warhol, Hockney, Doig – the exhibition picks out similarities and shared sensibilities between the two practices, and how artists have often blurred the lines: Andy Warhol’s silkscreen prints, the photorealist works of Gerhard Richter, and Andreas Gursky’s large-scale panoramic photographs.

Capturing the Moment runs at Tate Modern until 28th April, more info here. 

Goths unite
Saunter down to Moth Club this Friday for a night of deep sonic brooding via Cali darkwave project Harsh Symmetry. With pulsing 80s synths and melancholy vocals, the musician conjures vast soundscapes that engulf the room and drag you in. Looking like a young Nick Cave and sounding like the soundtrack to Robert Smith’s favourite dream, seeing Harsh Symmetry live is the perfect way to start the weekend. Hot tip: wear black.

Harsh Symmetry play at Moth Club on Friday 2nd.

We’re coming for you, Kane! 
What better way to start the month than by dropping a load of cash on some new clobber? You’re in luck! Christopher Kane is hosting a sample sale this weekend, giving us even more reason to restock our wardrobe away from those winter blues. Expect to find classics alongside deep cuts – we’re on the look out for one of those ‘Rubberist’ dresses from FW19! Hands off, it’s ours.

Find more information here. 

Body Movements
Festival season feels like a lifetime ago and if you’re yearning to be back in a sweaty crowd with a cold pint in hand as much as we are, Body Movements may be the answer to your prayers. A celebration of queer identity and culture taking over various venues across Hackney Wick tomorrow, the annual day event is back for its winter instalment with a line-up of thumping electronica from the likes of Adonis, Bottom Heavy, Fèmmme Fraîche, Nite Dykes, Pxssy Palace and T-Boys Club.

Body Movements will take place on February 3rd, more info here. 

Unmissable 
On its final stretch at The Photographer’s Gallery after a four-month-long residency, Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective is one not to miss. For the past six decades, Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama has captured the world in what has now become an instantly recognisable style of black and white images – grainy in texture and dense in subject matter. For the visionary’s first-ever UK retrospective, each step in Moriyama’s extensive career gets its moment as we are exposed to his early works for Japanese magazines, his self-reflective images from the 80s, and everything in between.

Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective runs at The Photographer’s Gallery until February 11th, more info here. 

Gigs, gigs, gigs
Independent Venue Week is back for another year, the UK’s annual 7-day celebrating those special spaces that keep the country’s music scene buzzing. Running until 5th Feb, IVW sees independent venues up and down the country open their doors for a unique series of special live events. Some highlights include Hotel Lux at Oporto in Leeds, Eyesore & The Jinx at The Grayston Unity, Halifax, Hinds at Glasgow’s Stereo, a night of folk horror at The Peer Hat in Manchester, and a DJ set from the legendary Don Letts down at Bournemouth’s The Wight Bear.

With a devastating lack of funding and nationwide inflation, grassroots venues are struggling and need protecting, so make it down to your local IVW gig and show your support.

See the full list of events here.

More bargains! 
Once you’ve filled your bags and maxed out your credit card at Christopher Kane’s sample sale, you can do it all over again for Ahluwalia. Priyah’s label has become synonymous with designs which fuse her dual Indian-Nigerian heritage with her London roots, and if you’ve been wanting to get your hands on some of her garms then now’s your chance because the brand’s archive is going to be on sale for up to 80 percent off this weekend. Go on, head down and have a rummage.

Find out more information here. 

Dumplings and cocktails
Kinkally, a new Georgian-influenced restaurant in Fitzrovia, tastes as good as it looks. With sleek, modern interiors (including an interesting stick/tree installation) inspired by the landscape of the Caucasus Mountains, the restaurant is centred around a dish particular to Georgia: khinkali, which is a twisted dough-based dumpling traditionally filled with meat and spices. Elevated, here they’re filled with the likes of langoustines and tarragon, wagyu and peppercorn plum sauce, and mussels and braised leek.

Need a little more persuading? Well, what’s better than a restaurant turned bar? Head downstairs and discover subterranean hang-out, Bar Kinky. With its dimmed red lighting, intimate seating and delicious cocktails, it’s the perfect boozy escape from the existential perma-crisis that is life. Enjoy!

Kinkally is located at 43 Charlotte St, more info here.