Wild and wonderful weekend

Another weekend beckons, with some of the most extraordinary events to hit the region kicking off tomorrow. Here’s our top five picks, not all of which are for the faint-hearted.

ART IN ROMNEY MARSH From Sat 25. Free

Starting somewhat sedately, the fourth annual Art In Romney Marsh project begins tomorrow (Saturday). A selection of nine medieval churches across Romney Marsh, on the East Sussex and Kent borders, will be hosting site-specific work by a variety of contemporary artists. Art In Romney Marsh continues every weekend until Oct 17, with the churches open 1 – 5pm. Full details of the participating artists and sites can be found at www.artinromneymarsh.org.uk

ARTIST ROOMS: ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, TOWNER, EASTBOURNE Opens Sat 25. Free

Opening the same day at Eastbourne’s inspiring Towner gallery is a very different sort of exhibition – a rare display of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs, selected from the full range of his work. Mapplethorpe was one of the 20^th century’s significant photographic talents, but visitors to the Towner should take note that some of the pictures feature graphic sexual imagery, and are not suitable for minors. The Towner’s Mapplethorpe exhibition is open until Nov 21, barring police intervention. (For a full preview, see Adam Monaghan’s feature in the current issue of East Magazine).

CHILDREN’S SHOWTIME with RICHARD CADELL & SOOTY, DEVONSHIRE THEATRE, EASTBOURNE Sat 25. £8

For families who really need to distract the kids away from the Towner this weekend, the nearby Devonshire Theatre comes up trumps with a morning of magic, headlined by TV favourite Sooty and his friend Richard Cadell. The Children’s Showtime entertainment begins at 10.30am, and helps conclude the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians' convention at the Winter Garden this week. Izzy wizzy, let’s get busy!

MIRRORS, AUDIO, BRIGHTON Sat 25. Free

Back to an approximate reality, and our recommended gig this weekend comes from Brighton’s synthpop band Mirrors, playing a free show with Martyna Baker at Audio on Saturday night. This is one of Mirrors’ last UK dates before heading out to the continent for a tour with OMD. Electro heaven! Keep an eye out for an exclusive chat with Mirrors in next month’s East Magazine.

YOU ARE HERE, VENUU, HASTINGS Sat 25. £3

Finally, it’s back over to Hastings, for the Coastal Currents end of festival party at Venuu. Titled You Are Here, Saturday night’s show sees some of the region’s wildest experimental musicians, including Warrior Squares and Noteherder & McCloud, performing back to back with films, projections, an electrocreche, and (if last year’s mayhem is to be repeated) unscheduled onstage interruptions from some severely inebriated Hastings artists. The night concludes with an analogue face-off between electropop icons Vile Electrodes and their outer space foes The Starlords, in ‘Battle Beyond the Syndrum’ – crikey.