Weekly arts agenda: Art Fair Tokyo, Sustainable Futures – can design make a difference

During the week of March 29 visitors to London's Design Museum will see how today's designers are working towards a sustainable future through the creation of forward-thinking products and concepts. In Tokyo, art lovers will be able to purchase artworks ranging from cutting-edge contemporary sculpture to ancient artifacts at the Art Fair Tokyo.

'Picasso: Themes and Variations'
March 28 - September 6
MoMA
New York, USA

One hundred works by Picasso will examine the themes and variations that reappear throughout his career. The exhibition traces the links between his early depictions of itinerant circus performers during his Blue and Rose periods, through to his inventive use of shape and form during his Cubism phase. The exhibition explores his experimentation with the mediums of etching, lithography, painting and printmaking as well as showing how the artist developed his style whilst investigating new themes.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/966

Sustainable Futures - can design make a difference?
March 31-September 5
Design Museum
London, UK

The Design Museum in collaboration with sports lifestyle brand Puma will showcase forward-thinking design, architecture and art projects that focus on the ways in which design can "make a positive contribution towards a more sustainable future." The exhibition is comprised of five different themes: Cities, Energy and Economies, Food, Materiality and the Creative Citizen.
http://CanDesignMakeaDifference.com

Art Fair Tokyo
April 2-4
Tokyo International Forum, Exhibition Hall & Lobby Gallery
Tokyo, Japan

Art Fair Tokyo is a broad-ranging art fair that encompasses contemporary and modern art as well as the more traditional Japanese art forms such as nihonga (Japanese-style paintings) and ukiyoe (Japanese woodblock art). The event, now in its fifth year, draws more than 40,000 visitors annually. The Fair's motto is "art is something to buy, not just something to look at." More than 135 galleries will showcase works made by local and international artist. A special section called "PROJECTS" is reserved for new galleries whose artists primarily create cutting-edge contemporary art.
http://www.artfairtokyo.com/en/

PSFK Conference New York 2010
April 9
Museum of Jewish Heritage
New York, USA

Trends and innovation company PSFK is hosting a conference on the theme of "A Gathering For Our Future." At the event 20 speakers will present their ideas and opinions about culture, technology, art and social media and inspire discussions about ideas that can "make things better." The PSFK Conference has previously attracted key innovators from Apple, BBC, Esty.com, Foursquare, the Guardian, MTV, NASA, Nokia, Starbucks and Virgin America and this year's line-up includes some of the minds behind the inspiration projects recently featured on PSFK's website.
http://psfkconference2010.eventbrite.com/

SOFA New York 2010: Flying High Under the Radar
April 16 - 19
Park Avenue Armory
New York, USA

The International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA) in New York is a contemporary decorative arts and design art fair. Galleries from across the globe will flock to the fair to show off their unique pieces of three-dimensional contemporary artworks. SOFA New York 2010 encompasses a lecture series featuring noted artists, curators and collectors as well as a VIP Program of exclusive events for high-profile gallery clients and collectors.
http://www.sofaexpo.com/

ART COLOGNE
April 21 - 25
Cologne Trade Fair Centre (Koelnmesse)
Cologne, Germany

Almost 200 leading local and international galleries will showcase classical 20th century art, post-war art and contemporary art at the 44th edition of ART COLOGNE. A selection of special projects under the banner of Open Space and New Contemporaries will feature works by young and cutting-edge artists. In 2009, 56,500 people attended ART COLOGNE.
http://www.artcologne.com/

"We Want Miles": Miles Davis vs. Jazz
April 30 - August 29
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal, Canada

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts pays tribute to legendary jazz musician Miles Davis in this multimedia retrospective previously seen in Paris. The exhibition calls on the media of film, music, drawings, paintings, musical instruments, musical scores and photographs to shed light on some of the most inspiring moments of Miles Davis' career. 'We Want Miles' explores vivid connections binding the visual arts and music together. Highlights of the show include paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mati Klarwein, and photos by Annie Leibovitz and Irving Penn. These artworks are featured alongside costumes and original scores provided by the Davis family and drawn together with music from the man that "changed the course of music history five or six times."
http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/en/expositions/exposition_145.html

CONTACT 2010 Toronto Photography Festival
May
Various locations
Toronto, Canada

CONTACT is the world's largest annual photography festival with more than one million visitors each year. The month-long festival is organized in collaboration with galleries throughout Toronto and is comprised of exhibitions, public installations, lectures, films and events. In 2010 CONTACT will explore the ways in which photography "informs and transforms human behaviour."
http://www.contactphoto.com

PHotoEspaña
June 9 - July 25
Madrid, Spain

PHotoEspaña is a major international annual photography and visual arts festival that attracts more than 650,000 visitors per year. In 2010, 70 up-and-coming photographers will be selected and offered the opportunity to showcase their work to curators, gallery owners and editors as part of the 2010 Descubrimientos (discoveries) PHE portfolio review program.
http://www.phe.es/festival/