Every week, an Observer critic recommends the best things to see, do and watch this weekend. This week: Fiona Maddocks on a Ukranian violinist and vlogger, and a vat of black recycled engine oil.
5 minutes
A quick blast of cold-season music, recorded on a hot street on the American West Coast. The 17-year old Internet phenomenon Karolina Protsenko, born in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a classically trained violinist, as well as a pianist, singer and vlogger, now living in Santa Monica, California. In this video she finds an unexpected passerby to join her in Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
15 minutes
See why a vat of black recycled engine oil matters. Sculptor Richard Wilson’s celebrated 1987 installation 20:50 is back on show and unmissable. In his own words: “I’ve made you look at that oil. It’s something disgusting – it kills wildlife, birds and sea life in the ocean, but you come out of that room thinking it is beautiful.” Weirdly, it is.
An hour
Brighten the dark days with a winter light trail. Luminate at Birmingham Botanical Gardens promises installations, projections, music and glowing tunnels of light in a magical landscape (4-10.30pm). Other venues: Sandringham, Margam Country Park, Ashton Park, Coombe Abbey. Go at your own pace. Must book.
Multiple locations. Tickets can be found here.
An afternoon
Explore South African artist William Kentridge’s monumental, witty and provocative sculptures, some on show for the first time, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The Johannesburg mixed-media artist ranges across politics, music, science and literature, all probed in Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot (2020-24), a series of films about his artistic process and range.
An evening
Holy dancing – underground. Christmas Silent Disco in the atmospheric crypt beneath St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. Christmas classics and chart hits past and present are promised. Three DJs provide endless choice across three channels via your headphones. Full bar, mulled wine and cocktails. Booking essential. £22 per head, 8pm-midnight.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance