SHOWstudio at BTV
Owned and directed by photographer par excellence Nick Knight, SHOWstudio is an 'online fashion broadcasting company' (I wonder how many creatives it took to come up with that title) out to unravel the traditional opacity of the fashion world by revealing all the manifold processes that go into producing their marvelous shows and exhibitions. For the conjoined monstrosities of London Fashion Week and the London Design Festival, SHOWstudio are joining with Evian for a curiously Dr. Frankenstein exhibition at the Beyond the Valley gallery. Installing an enormous video grid on one of its walls, viewers and invited model-types alike may participate in the project by having their bodies recorded, a moving segment of which will then fit into the giant, oscillating montage to produce an ever-replenishing being. Here, then, is your chance to finally swap pins with the eternally skinny Kate Moss. Until you find a crack team of willing surgeons, that is.

In Principio
It is a predictable aspect of our fast-paced capitalist lifestyle that we remain remarkably ignorant of the origins of our beloved consumables, of the processes that bring them to us and the individuals involved in their production. Whilst organizations like the laudable Fairtrade group may raise awareness of inequality, they do little to address our simple lack of knowledge; which is where Illy and renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado step in. The result of a five year collaboration, 'In Principio' reveals the often hidden world of coffee production by giving it a face. Rather than the anticipated pedagogy, Salgado's travels through green coffee plantations in India, Brazil, Guatemala and Ethiopia reveal with tenderness a world that is fascinating and beautiful. See this, and afterwards your weekly bag of Fairtrade fresh ground Arabica from Monmouth will never taste so good.

Society of Wood Engravers Annual Exhibition
From bold, African-inspired abstracts to subtly shaded still-life studies, complex Art Nouveau designs to the heavy monochromes that one expects, wood engraving is one of those frustratingly simple art media. Frustrating, in that being so simple it is rather difficult to be any good, and bloody tough to master. The Society of Wood Engravers, all masters apparently, was founded in 1920 solely to promote the constrained wonders of their art. This, their 70th annual exhibition, offers the opportunity to enjoy 100 unique engravings of the highest calibre from around the world, all of which are for sale and reasonably priced. An added bonus this year, is that the Engravers are also sharing their space with a series of designs from the Folio Society to mark their 60th anniversary. All in all, a charming exhibition from a selection of expert artists and artisans.