Our Hot List is back, and as usual, we've curated a selection of the hottest upcoming arts and culture events for Londoners who want to fill up their cultural agenda and experience something new. This week, our list includes everything from life drawing with naked live music, Japanese rarely screened films, experimental music, thought provoking theatre - and that's only part of it. Keep reading to discover it all!
ART SHOW
SABLE ELYSE SMITH: SCRIMMAGE
CARLOS ISHIKAWA
Whitechapel | Until 15 February
Part of Condo London 2025, Sable Elyse Smith traces her path toward creating powerful works on America’s relationship between incarceration and capital. And whislt you're thre, also check Moka Lee’s FACE ID .
Image Sable Elyse Smith: Scrimmage
TALK, SCREENING & PERFORMANCE
HYPER FUNCTIONAL, ULTRA HEALTHY
SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS
Temple | 30 January - 1 February
The biannual series investigates the ways in which virtual spaces have reshaped our experiences of sex and desire: through friendships and romantic relationships to eroticism and automation.
On Thursday, join a performative reading, conversation and screening exploring how technology is transforming the erotic and how fiction can empower individuals and challenge stigmas.
On Saturday, screenings, discussion and performance will reflect on how AI is being integrated into intimate digital services, and whether machines can truly replicate love in the digital age.
Full programme and tickets here.

FILM
THE NICKEL: MERMAID LEGEND & DOOR
ALL IS JOY
Tottenham Court Road | 31 January 19:00
If you’re after “subversive bewildering, sensational, fearless, shocking, transgressive, and bizarre cinematic treasure”, don’t miss The Nickel next screening evening with two rarely screened Japanese gems.
DOOR (1988), a socio-political genre film and stone-cold yuppie nightmare classic, takes place in the domicile of a modern bourgeois family, where an overworked housewife finds herself the subject of a campaign of terror by a deranged door-to-door salesman.
MERMAID LEGEND (1984), a rarely-seen Japanese exploitation film, gives a visceral account of industrialisation and corporate greed encroaching upon a coastal fishing hamlet, and one woman’s bloody vengeance upon the corrupt businessmen responsible.
LIFE DRAWING
HACKNAKEY: LIFE DRAWING WITH NAKED LIVE MUSIC
7 GROSVENOR WAY
Clapton | 3 February 19:30
A unique evening of life drawing with live music performed by guest musicians local to East London. The first half of the evening will be tutored, with a series of short poses, getting you out of your comfort zone, with playful exercises designed to get you thinking and seeing differently. There's then a short break where there will be homemade vegan food available to buy!
The second half of the evening will feature live music from a guest musician who will be performing their solo work, naked. It's a wonderfully relaxing and supportive environment. Hacknakey is a safe space that promotes body positivity and celebrates all creative abilities. Absolute beginners and more advanced people welcome. This is a great place to meet new people… come alone or brings some pals!
Find out more and get your tickets here.

EXHIBITION
LIVES LESS ORDINARY
TWO TEMPLE PLACE
Temple I Until 20 April
The exhibition explores the overlooked richness and diversity of working-class life and creative expression from the 1950s to now. Challenging long-standing inequities and misrepresentation, this exhibition will present compelling assertions of pride, tenderness, resilience, humour and hopefulness, and moments of play, joy and rest.
Looking beyond the often reductive narratives of crisis and struggle that traditionally characterise representation of working-class people and communities in British arts institutions, Lives Less Ordinary champions a gaze from within, from artists from working-class backgrounds who have used their creativity to reflect wide-ranging experiences and identities, depicting and defining their culture and communities on their own terms.
All info here.

EXHIBITION OPENING
MYA CAVNER: DANCING AMERICA
SET STAGE GALLERY
Peckham I Until 20 April
DANCING AMERICA: Imitation is the Sincerest form of Flattery is a solo show by Mya Cavner and an exploration of digital dysmorphia and our post-pandemic relationship with media consumption and internet culture, examining their impact on global legacies of social dancing and dance music. This show unravels the entanglements that connect pop culture to Black America on digital and physical dance floors around the world.
Mya showcases found footage considering the value of social dancing as “the people’s tradition" alongside images captured by Naod Keflom, which reassert Black bodies into stereotypical western representations of dance. Together, creating visual contradictions reflecting on disillusionment, authorship, and trend. Throughout the month of February, this show will backdrop conversations about archives & ownership, media censorship & distribution, and most importantly the need for preserving dance floors.
All details here.

THEATRE
BELARUS FREE THEATRE: KS6: SMALL FORWARD
BARBICAN
Barbican I 5 February to 8 February (with a post-show talk on 7 February)
A new production based on the extraordinary life story of Belarusian basketball player and activist Katsiaryna Snytsina, this is theatre turbocharged with the electrifying energy of a basketball match. KS6: Small Forward invites audiences into Katya’s world, tracing the stratospheric highs of twenty years on the court, and the dramatic events that set her on a new path as an activist, political dissident and “extremist lesbian”.
Olympian Katya performs alongside clubland’s rising star, DJ Blanka Barbara in this soul-shaking show about proudly celebrating your sexuality, standing up to dictators, and above all, being fearlessly true to yourself.
Find out more and get tickets here.

FILM
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
THE GARDEN CINEMA
Holborn I 7 February 17:50
Stanley Kubrick's controversial film triggered copycat violence on its initial release and as a result the director withdrew the film from circulation in Britain, keeping it suppressed right up to his death in 1999. The film follows sadistic punk Alex (Malcolm McDowell) as he takes his gang on a rape and murder spree, showing absolutely no mercy to any of his victims. When he is eventually captured, the authorities subject him to a series of experiments designed to rid him of his violent tendencies. See the classic at The Garden Cinema, with its eclectic art deco style and small bar.
Buy your tickets here.
MUSIC
DBRIDGE & MADISON WILLING, MU TATE, EXLRUTH
ICA
Charing Cross I 8 February 19:00-23:00
dBridge & Madison Willing present an electronic-meets-classical live performance, featuring analogue hardware and a live piano. mu tate in support with a rendition of his audiovisual live set.
Tickets here.

YOGA + SCREENING
MINUTE SHORTS PRESENT: YOGA + CHILL - JOURNEY TO THE HEART
ART'OTEL LONDON HOXTON
Old Street I 8 February to 9 February
Minute Shorts' first event of the year will be celebrating the theme of Love in an immersive yoga + film screening series, *YOGA + CHILL*. The event includes 45 minutes of guided immersive yoga and meditation, followed by a 30-minute carefully curated short film screening within the theme of love. Your ticket also includes complimentary drinks and snacks.
You can get it here.
SHOW
WET MESS: TESTO
BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE
Clapham Junction | 11 February to 22 February
In TESTO, Wet Mess messifies transitions, testosterone and the edges of drag. Combining movement with pre-recorded interviews, expect surreal spectacles, dykey desires, and a choreography of guttural sexuality as Wet Mess pinches at the dull flesh of life where the magical is in the mundane and made up shit becomes real.
Find all information and get your tickets here.

PREVIEW FILM SCREENING + Q&A
LONDON PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL: TO A LAND UNKNOWN
CURZON MAYFAIR
Green Park I 11 February 18:00
Back by popular demand after selling out three times at the London Palestine Film Festival, don't miss this exclusive preview of To A Land Unknown ahead of its official UK cinema release. The story follows Chatila and Reda, two Palestinian refugees in Athens. Desperate to escape their harsh reality, they risk everything—facing addiction, betrayal, and danger in a plan to secure fake passports and a way out.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with BAFTA-nominated director Mahdi Fleifel, diving into the themes and making of this gripping tale.
Buy your tickets here.