LondonLife – View from the river…

PICTURE: Clovis Wood Photography/Unsplash

Looking south towards the Houses of Parliament from the River Thames.

LondonLife – ‘CONGREGATION’ at St Mary Le Strand…

CONGREGATION, a new large-scale installation by Es Devlin, can be seen at the church of St Mary Le Strand – but you’ll have to be quick, it’s only there for two more days (until 9th October). The work, curated by Ekow Eshun, was created in partnership with UK for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and was developed in collaboration with King’s College London and The Courtauld. Created over four months, it features chalk and charcoal portraits of 50 Londoners who have experienced forced displacement from their homelands. Ranging in age from 18 to 90, these “co-authors” have roots in countries ranging from Syria to Sri Lanka; from Rwanda to Albania. An accompanying soundscape has been composed by Polyphonia and features the voices of the sitters while film sequences have been created in collaboration with filmmaker Ruth Hogben and choreographer Botis Seva. CONGREGATION is free to visit and is open to the public daily from 11am till 9pm with free public choral performances outside the church at 7pm each evening to coincide with Frieze London. To book tickets, head to https://www.unrefugees.org.uk/esdevlin-congregation/.

LondonLife – Farewell to the Clouds…

PICTURE: Clovis Wood Photography/Unsplash

The ‘Little Cloud World’ installation by Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III – aka FriendsWithYou, which has been in Covent Garden’s Market Building since the start of August, ends today. Launched in partnership with charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), the 40 inflatable clouds were about spreading a message of “spreading kindness, positivity and helping others”. For more, see www.coventgarden.london/experience/things-to-do/little-cloud-world/.

LondonLife – The Fourth Plinth readorned…

Mil Veces un Instante’ by Teresa Margolles. PICTURE: © James O Jenkins
Teresa Margolles with ‘Mil Veces un Instante’ PICTURE: © James O Jenkins

The 15th commission in Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth programme has been unveiled in Trafalgar Square.

Artist Teresa Margolles’ Mil Veces un Instante (A thousand times an Instant) is made up of plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people which were made in Mexico City and Juárez, Mexico; and London. 

The casts – which Margolles spent more than 1,000 hours making – were created by applying plaster directly onto the faces of participants, meaning the plaster is infused with their hair and skin cells.

The next artworks to grace the Fourth Plinth will be Tschabalala Self’s Lady in Blue – a bronze work patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue which will be installed in 2026 – and Andra Ursuţa’s Untitled – a shrouded equestrian statue which will be installed from 2028.

Mil Veces un Instante replaced Samson Kambalu’s Antelope which had been on the Fourth Plinth since 2022.

For more on the Fourth Plinth programme, head to https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/arts-and-culture/current-culture-projects/fourth-plinth-trafalgar-square. You can also download the free arts and culture app Bloomberg Connects.

LondonLife – Stickered boxes…

PICTURE: Diego Marín/Unsplash

LondonLife – Docklands colour…

The DLR moving past the ‘City Island’ residential development covering 12 acres in the Docklands. PICTURE: Sue Winston/Unsplash

LondonLife – Colour palette, Shoreditch…

PICTURE: Ambitious Studio* | Rick Barrett/Unsplash

LondonLife – Greenwich colonnade…

PICTURE: Sue Winston/Unsplash

The Queen’s House Colonnade.

LondonLife – Cathedral crossing…

Looking up in Westminster Cathedral. PICTURE: Matthias Götzke/Unsplash

LondonLife – Chelsea bridge…

PICTURE: Dorin Seremet/Unsplash

The Albert Bridge in Chelsea which dates from 1873 with subsequent modifications made in the 1880s.

LondonLife – Taking to the skies…

London City Airport. PICTURE: Henry Ren/Unsplash

LondonLife – Summer in the Square…

PICTURE: Leif Christoph Gottwald/Unsplash

LondonLife – Scenes from the State Opening of Parliament…

Last Wednesday, 17th July, was the State Opening of Parliament, the first since the new Labour government took office. More than 1,100 members of the armed forces were in attendance, accompanied by 200 military horses, as the procession of King Charles III and Queen Camilla made its way to the Houses of Parliament where the King delivered a speech outlining the government’s plans.

King Charles III is escorted by The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment through Horse Guards Tilt Yard as part of the State Opening of Parliament parade. PICTURE: Petty Officer Joel Rouse/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
King Charles III, and Queen Camilla, escorted by The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. PICTURE: Corporal Nanda Atherton/© MoD Crown Copyright 2024

The procession travels past the Houses of Parliament to the Sovereign’s Entrance. PICTURE: Sergeant Rob Kane/© MoD Crown Copyright 2024
Heralds, Black Rod, the Lord Speaker, Lord Chancellor and leaders of the House of Lords and Commons are among those proceeding through the Royal Gallery ahead of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. PICTURE: Copyright House of Lords 2024/Photography by Roger Harris © (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND-2.0)
King Charles III delivers the King’s Speech from the throne, written by the government, during the State Opening of Parliament. PICTURE: Copyright House of Lords 2024/Photography by Roger Harris © (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND-2.0)
Members of the the Army’s oldest regiment, The Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London firing a 41-gun signal salute. A further 62-round celebratory gun salute sounded to mark the 77th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Camilla. PICTURE: Cpl Danielle Dawson/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024.

LondonLife – Views of London past…

The Tower and Mint from Great Tower Hill’ byThomas Shotter Boys in ‘Original Views of London as It Is’, 1842. PICTURE: Via Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash
‘Blackfriars, from Southwark Bridge’ by Thomas Shotter Boys from ‘Original Views of London as It Is’, 1842. PICTURE: Via Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash
‘Entry to The Strand from Charing Cross’ by Thomas Shotter Boys from ‘Original Views of London as It Is’, 1842. PICTURE: Via Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash
‘Buckingham Palace from St James’ Park’ by Thomas Shotter Boys from ‘Original Views of London as It Is’, 1842. PICTURE: Via Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash
‘London, from Greenwich’ by Thomas Shotter Boys from ‘Original Views of London as It Is’, 1842. PICTURE: Via Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash

LondonLife – Abbey frontage…

PICTURE: Dembee Tsogoo/Unsplash

LondonLife – Trooping the Colour…

King Charles III salutes. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/©MoD Crown Copyright 2021.

The King’s Birthday Parade took place in central London on Saturday featuring some 242 military working horses, 250 military musicians, 40 pipers and drummers, and more than 1,000 dual role soldiers of the British Army’s Household Division. The parade is a gift from the British Army’s Household Division to the King and is traditionally held on the second Saturday in June, regardless of the Sovereign’s actual date of birth.

Formations at Horse Guards. PICTURE: WO1 Rupert Frere, RLC/©MoD Crown Copyright 2021
Participants in the King’s Birthday Parade. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/©MoD Crown Copyright 2021
King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Horse Guards. PICTURE: Corporal Danielle Dawson/© MoD Crown Copyright 2024
The Royal Family, including King Charles III and Queen Camilla, gather on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the Fly Past. PICTURE: Corporal Squires/©MoD Crown Copyright 2021
An aerial view of the Kings Birthday Fly Past featuring the Red Arrows over Buckingham Palace. PICTURE: AS1 Kirwan-Taylor/©UK MOD Crown Copyright 2024

LondonLife – Dress rehearsal…

Members of the Household Division in London rehearse for the King’s Birthday Parade, known as Trooping the Colour. The Colonel’s Review is held one week before and saw some 250 musicians, 20 pipers, 240 military working horses, and almost 1,000 dual role soldiers of the British Army’s Household Division run through their paces on Saturday. Trooping the Colour will take place on 15th June.

Members of the Household Division are seen here in London today (08/06/2024), rehearsing for the King’s Birthday Parade. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd © MoD Crown Copyright 2024
Members of the Household Division, including the regimental mascot Turlough Mor, an Irish Wolfhound, rehearse for the King’s Birthday Parade in The Mall. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd
© MoD Crown Copyright 2024
The Irish Guards slow marching back to their positions after marching past Lieutenant General James Bucknall who took the salute at the event. PICTURE: Sergeant Rob Kane © MoD Crown Copyright 2024

LondonLife – Cablecar sunset..

The IFS Cloud Cable Car, linking the Greenwich Peninsula with the Royal Docks across the Thames. PICTURE: Nadiia Petrakova/Unsplash

LondonLife – Buses on Piccadilly…

PICTURE: Lachlan Gowen/Unsplash

LondonLife – Quiet corner…

Postman’s Park, King Edward Street, City of London. PICTURE: Fran The Now Time/Unsplash