British artist Issac Julien’s installation Ten Thousand Waves is shown at the Hayward Gallery, London SE1 (0844 875 0073), 13 October to 9 January. The starting point of Ten Thousand Waves was the 23 Chinese cocklepickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay in 2004. The photographic show is at the Victoria Miro Gallery, N1 (020-7336 8109), 7 October to 13 November.

The Guardian reports:

So Waves, while mourning victims of globalisation, has a discombobulating nature. In the course of its 50 minutes, we see the great Chinese actor Maggie Cheung, best known for Hero and In the Mood for Love, play the goddess Mazu, fabled in the Fujan province from where the drowned immigrants hailed. According to myth, Mazu would assure the safety of seafaring folk as they struggled amid 10,000 waves. This failed, sad-eyed goddess becomes our spirit guide to Julien’s vision of China.