News

This Week in London – The ‘RRS Sir David Attenborough’ at Greenwich; the Amazon explored at the Science Museum; and, Christmas at The National Gallery…

by exploringlondon
The RRS Sir David Attenborough in Liverpool. PICTURE: By Phil Nash from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 & GFDL.

• Find out what it’s like to live and work in the Earth’s polar extremes at Greenwich from today. The three day ‘Ice World Festival’ centres on the British Antarctic Survey’s vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is visiting Greenwich before beginning its first mission to the Antarctic. Visitors will also be able to meet real polar scientists and explorers and see the Boaty McBoatface submersible as well as treasures from the National Maritime Museum’s polar collection including relics from HMS Erebus and Terror and items belonging to Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton. While the ship can be seen from the dockside, a limited number of tickets are available for walk-up visitors to the festival (advanced booking tickets have sold out). Runs from today until 30th October. Admission is free. For more information, head here.

• More than 200 images – captured by Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado over seven years – explore the rich diversity of the Amazon in an exhibition at the Science Museum. Amazônia provides a close-up look at one of the most unique environments on the planet through Salgado’s eyes, including panoramic scenery and the Indigenous peoples of the region (Salgado spent time with 12 different Indigenous groups over his period in the Amazon). Runs until March next year. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/amazonia.

• Father Christmas with return to The National Gallery for selected dates in November and December. The gallery’s Christmas experience will provide children with the chance to have their photo taken with Santa in his grotto, listen to an elven story in the winter forest set and receive a special token which they can exchange for a gift at the Elven Sorting Office. Meanwhile, Hendrick Avercamp’s painting A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle (about 1608–9) will be enlarged and reproduced on a canvas to provide a scenic backdrop for the activities. Admission charge applies. Bookings are now open. For more, head to www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/meet-father-christmas.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Free family festival kicks off this weekend; Beano the subject of Somerset House exhibition; and, lawyer Helena Normanton honoured…

by exploringlondon

• Pop-Up London, a free festival for families, kicks off in central London on Saturday and runs throughout the half-term break until 31st October. The festival features more than 300 artists – including musicians, dancers, comedy acts and circus performers – who can be seen in more than 100 performances at locations including Trafalgar Square, King’s Cross, Spitalfields, and Canary Wharf. The diverse range of acts will include Brazilian drumming, Cantonese story-telling and Caribbean steelpans. For the full list of events. head to www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/lets-do-london/pop-up-london.

The Bash Street Kids cut outs in ‘Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules’ PICTURE: Stephen Chung for Somerset House

• The world’s longest-running weekly comic, Beano, is celebrated in a new exhibition opening at Somerset House today. Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules features 100 comic artworks from the Beano archive exhibited, including original drawings never previously seen in public, and, works by contemporary artists including artist duo Gilbert & George, sculptor Phyllida Barlow and Oscar-winning animator Nick Park as well as larger-than-life recreations of Beano’s most iconic settings and interactive installations including Peter Liversidge’s patchwork of protest signs and a jukebox filled with music influenced by Beano’s rebellious streak. Beano was first released in 1938 and is still created weekly at its home in Dundee. This year marks the 70th since Dennis, Beano‘s top mischief-maker, made his debut. Runs until 6th March. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.somersethouse.org.uk/beano.

• Barrister and women’s rights advocate Helena Normanton (1882-1957) has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at her former home. The plaque at 22 Mecklenburgh Square – where Normanton lived from 1919 to 1931 – was unveiled almost 100 years since she passed her Bar finals on 26th October, 1921. Normanton played an instrumental tole in paving the way for women to practice law, being the first female students one of London’s Inns of Court, one of the first women to be called to the Bar, the first female counsel to lead a case in the High Court, the first woman to run a trial at the Old Bailey and the first women to lead murder trials in England as well as one of the first two women to take silk as King’s Counsel. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – The extraordinary story of George King; Guildhall statues survive (with explanations); and, Wildlife Photographer of the Year…

by exploringlondon

• The extraordinary story of 18th century foundling and sailor George King, who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, is the subject of a new exhibition opening at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury tomorrow. Fighting Talk: One Boy’s Journey from Abandonment to Trafalgar features King’s hand-written account of his life, a fragment of the flag from Nelson’s coffin, letters between the Foundling Hospital’s matron and Lady Emma Hamilton (annotated by Nelson himself) and two rare Naval General Service Medals, of which only 221 were awarded retrospectively when the medal was first issued in 1849, belonging to King and the foundling William South, who served aboard HMS Victory. There is also a display of works by contemporary artist and photographer Ingrid Pollard – Ship’s Tack – which reflects on the Foundling Hospital’s connections with Empire, trade and the Navy and which includes newly commissioned work responding directly to George’s autobiography. Runs until 27th February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk.

• Two Guildhall statues portraying figures with links to the slave trade will be retained but have information added detailing those links. The City of London Corporation’s Court of Common Council voted last week to keep the statues of William Beckford and Sir John Cass which will have plaques or notices placed alongside them containing contextual information about the two men’s links to slavery. William Beckford was an 18th century slave owner and two-time Lord Mayor of London, while Cass – an MP and philanthropist – was a key figure in the Royal African Company, which traded in slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries. Sir John Cass’s Foundation Primary School in the City and the nearby Cass Business School have already changed their names to remove the association with their founder and his links to slavery.

•  French underwater photographer and biologist Laurent Ballesta has won the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year for an image showing camouflage groupers exiting their milky cloud of eggs and sperm in Fakarava, French Polynesia. The image was selected out of 50,000 entries from 95 countries and is being displayed with 100 images in an exhibition opening at the museum on Friday. Meanwhile 10-year old Vidyun R Hebbar, who lives in Bengaluru, India, was awarded the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 for his colourful image, Dome home, showing a tent spider as a tuk-tuk passes by. The exhibition can be seen until 5th June next year. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots; Ellen and William Craft honoured; and, Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Portrait of Melissa Thompson’…

by exploringlondon
Ink and pencil drawing of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay Castle, 8th February, 1587 © British Library (Additional MS 48027, f. 650r)

• The complex relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, is the subject of a new exhibition opening at the British Library in King’s Cross tomorrow. Highlights of Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens, the first major exhibition to consider both women together, include Queen Elizabeth I’s 1545 handwritten translation of her stepmother Katherine Parr’s Prayers and Meditations – a gift for her father King Henry VIII, a sonnet by Mary, Queen of Scots, which was handwritten the night before she was executed in 1587 (possibly the last thing she ever wrote), the ‘Penicuik Jewels’ which she is thought to have given away on the day of her death and Robert Beale’s eye-witness drawing depicting her entering the hall, disrobing, and placing her head on the block (pictured right). Other items on show include King Henry VIII’s Great Bible (dating from 1540, it was later inherited by Elizabeth I), Elizabeth I’s mother-of-pearl locket ring (c1575) containing miniature portraits of herself and her mother Anne Boleyn, and the warrant confining Mary, Queen of Scots, in Lochleven Castle in 1567. The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of events. Runs until 20th February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.bl.uk/events/elizabeth-and-mary.

• Nineteenth century African-American abolitionists Ellen and William Craft have been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at their former Hammersmith home. The Crafts escaped from enslavement in Georgia in the US in December, 1848, and fled to Britain, settling in a mid-Victorian house at 26 Cambridge Grove where they raised a family and campaigned for an end to slavery. The Crafts returned to the US following the end of the American Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved people and settled in Boston with three of their children. In 1873, they established the Woodville Cooperative Farm School in Bryan County, Georgia, for the children of those who had been emancipated. Ellen died in Georgia in 1891 and William in Charleston in 1900.

Melissa Thompson standing beside Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of Melissa Thompson, 2020, now on display at the V&A © Victoria and Albert Museum

• American artist Kehinde Wiley’s monumental Portrait of Melissa Thompson has gone on display in the V&A’s British Galleries, alongside William Morris’s Wild Tulip designs that inspired it. The massive oil painting, which was created as part of Wiley’s series The Yellow Wallpaper and was first exhibited at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow in 2020, was acquired earlier this year and is being displayed as part of a series of initiatives marking the 125th anniversary of William Morris’s death this October. The painting will be displayed in the William Morris Room (room 125) until 2024, after which it will move to its permanent home at V&A East Museum in 2025. Admission is free. For more, head to vam.ac.uk.

Send all items to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

LondonLife – 5,000 haikus take flight…

by exploringlondon
PICTURE: RBG Kew

One Thousand Springs, an artwork by internationally renowned artist Chiharu Shiota, is the centrepiece of the Japan festival taking place at Kew Gardens in west London. The work features 5,000 haikus submitted by members of the public which have been suspended on red threads in the Victorian-era Temperate House. Says Shiota: “The Japanese language was formed by a culture that cherishes the natural world. Many cultural practices like ikebana, bonsai and hanami are based on the contemplation and enjoyment of nature. For One Thousand Springs I chose to focus on the haiku. The traditional haiku mentions one of the seasons and many haikus are based on observations in nature.” The installation can be seen throughout the month-long festival along with horticultural displays including a specially commissioned Chalk Garden, a contemporary response to a Japanese garden showcasing native plants including grasses, shrubs and trees. For more on the festival, including after hours events, see www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/festival-japan.

This Week in London – Japan at Kew; Young V&A; a Blue Plaque for Diana’s flat; and, a new Lord Mayor of London…

by exploringlondon

• Visitors to Kew Gardens are being invited to immerse themselves in the art, plants and culture of Japan in a month long celebration of the Asian nation. The Japan Festival kicks off this Saturday in Kew’s Temperate House and features at its heart a large-scale artistic installation by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota entitled One Thousand Springs which is constructed of 5,000 haikus submitted by members of the public. There will also be a specially commissioned Chalk Garden – a contemporary response to a Japanese garden showcasing native plants including grasses, shrubs and trees – as well as a display showcasing six different chrysanthemums, Japan’s national flower, and an immersive soundscape by sound artist Yosi Horikawa featuring the natural sounds of the rivers and waterfalls of Kagoshima, atmospheric soundscapes from the Cedar mountains of Gifu and bird calls set across the waves of the Philippine Sea. The Temperate House will also be illuminated for Japan: After hours featuring a varied programme of dance, theatre, and live music performances as well as traditional flower arranging and sake sipping. The festival, supported by Daikin UK, runs to 31st October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.

Sky Brown from Great Britain during women’s park skateboard at the Olympics at Ariake Urban Park, Tokyo, Japan on August 4, 2021. PICTURE: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

• Thirteen-year-old Olympian Sky Brown’s skateboard, children’s garments created by sustainable fashion designer, humanitarian and artist Bethany Williams, and Open Bionics’ 3D printed prosthetic, The Hero Arm, are among new acquisitions to be displayed at what was the former V&A Museum of Childhood. Now renamed the Young V&A, the Grade II* Bethnal Green institution is undergoing a £13m transformation ahead of reopening in 2023. The new interior fit-out, by firm AOC Architecture, will include three new galleries –  Play, Imagine and Design – as well as interactive collection displays, a suite of dedicated learning workshops, an in-gallery design studio for visitors, and a new café and shop.

• The late Princess Diana has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at her former flat in Kensington. Flat 60, Coleherne Court, Old Brompton Road, was her home between 1979 and 1981 during her courtship with Prince Charles. She shared it with three friends including Virginia Clarke who was at the unveiling ceremony this week. Diana, who died aged 36 in a Paris car crash in 1997, described her years at the property as “the happiest time of her life”, according to biographer Andrew Morton’s book Diana, In Her Own Words.

• Vincent Keaveny was this week elected as the 693rd Lord Mayor of the City of London. Alderman Keaveny succeeds Lord Mayor William Russell, who served a second year in office after his term was extended to ensure continuity of leadership during the current COVID-19 pandemic (the last time a Lord Mayor served a second year in office was in 1861 when William Cubitt was re-elected). The annual Lord Mayor’s Show is scheduled for Saturday, 13th November, and will be followed by Lord Mayor’s Banquet at Guildhall on 15th November.

Send all items to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Prince Albert’s papers online; behind the scenes at the London Transport Museum; and, the Marble Arch Mound’s light installation…

by exploringlondon
Statue of Prince Albert on the Albert Memorial, South Kensington. PICTURE: Amy-Leigh Barnard/Unsplash

• Some 5,000 papers and photographs relating to the life and legacy of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, have been published online. The move, which marks the completion of the Prince Albert Digitisation Project, means some 22,000 archival documents, prints and photographs from the Royal Archives, the Royal Collection and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 are now publicly available, many for the first time, through the website Prince Albert: His Life and Legacy which was launched in mid-2019 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Prince’s death. The new items predominantly consist of the Prince’s private and official papers and correspondence as well as excerpts from Albert’s now lost diaries, spanning the years from 1841 to 1852. Highlights include a note he wrote to Victoria on October, 1858, which reads: “I declare that I have every confidence in you. A”; a letter from 10-year-old Princess Louise to her father from Swiss Cottage, the life-sized playhouse he had installed for his children at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, in which she reports cooking and making “some wafers and schneemilch” (a type of Austrian pudding); and, an annotated list of candidates for the role of Master of the Household in which Albert lists why they are unsuitable with reasons including ‘too old’ and ‘too useful to the Navy’ and ‘bad temper’ and ‘French mistress’.

• London Transport Museum are offering people the chance to go behind the scenes at its depot in Acton, West London, this weekend. The depot, which houses more than 320,000 objects from London’s transport history, will play host to a programme of events – ‘Underground Uncovered’ – which includes talks, vintage vehicle displays and family activities. Highlights include a talk by Siddy Holloway, a disused station history expert and co-presenter of the new Secrets of the London Underground TV series, the chance to try your hand at being a train operator in the Victoria Line driving cab, and the opportunity to watch a demonstration of restored London Underground signalling frames. The open days are being held from today until Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Admission charge applies. To book and see the full programme of events, see www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit/depot/events.

• W1 Curates and artist Anthony James’ light exhibition inside the Marble Arch Mound has opened to the public with free entry to what has been a somewhat controversial attraction to continue. James’ Lightfield installation involves a series of 12 cubed light sculptures in three rooms inside the mound through which visitors will make their way after first visiting the viewing platform on top. James, who has described the cubes as alluding to the “mycorrhizal nature of birch tree forests”, says it’s the first time his works have been displayed and viewed in such a “fully immersive way”. Visitors are asked to book an entry time at www.themarblearchmound.com.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – NHM’s Our Broken Planet’s finale; West End LIVE at Trafalgar Square; and, Helen Frankenthaler at Dulwich…

by exploringlondon
Juvenile European bison © The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London

• The third and final part of the free exhibition, Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It, has opened at the Natural History Museum. Following on from sections exploring the food we eat and the products we use, the third phase of the display explores the energy humans consume and how we can we create a greener, cleaner future. Specimens in the display include a juvenile European bison, illustrating an experimental rewilding project in Kent which is investigating if bison feeding habits will improve the forest’s biodiversity and store more carbon in the soil, blue-green algae collected during Captain Scott’s famed RRS Discovery expedition which is being used in the study of climate change, and the recently extinct Chinese paddlefish, a casualty of the global boom in hydroelectric dams. Entry to the South Kensington museum is free but visitors are encouraged to book a time ticket in advance to ensure entry. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/our-broken-planet.html.

• The West End comes to Trafalgar Square this weekend with a line-up of free performances from top shows taking to the stage. Forming part of Westminster City Council’s Inside Out Festival and the Society of London Theatre’s #BackOnStage campaign, the West End LIVE event will feature the first ever West End LIVE appearances from award-winning musicals Hamilton and The Book Of Mormon, as well as an exciting roster of new shows including The Prince Of Egypt, Dear Evan Hansen, Cinderella, Back To The Future: The Musical and Pretty Woman. More than 30 acts will be involved in the free and unticketed event. For the full programme, see www.westendlive.co.uk.

• The first major UK exhibition of woodcuts by the leading abstract expressionist, Helen Frankenthaler, opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery this week. Helen Frankenthaler: Radical Beauty brings together more than 30 works on loan from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation which span the artist’s career from her first ever woodcut in 1973 to her last work published in 2009. Works include including Madame Butterfly (2000), East and Beyond (1973), Cameo (1980) and Freefall (1993). The display can be seen until 18th April. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.

Send all items to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Totally Thames turns 25; Muppeteer Jim Henson honoured; and, Beerfest-Lite…

by exploringlondon
One Night Light Show by Leo Villareall as part of Totally Thames. PICTURE: Totally Thames.

• Totally Thames, the annual month-long celebration of London’s river, is celebrating its 25th iteration this month. Highlights this year include Leo Villareal’s Illuminated River which lights up the Thames every night (along with a special three-day celebration including guided tours, talks, sketching workshops and a one-off illumination event on 23rd September) as well as the chance to explore the foreshore with ‘Mudlarking’ at St Paul’s Cathedral, take a deep dive into the history of dockside communities with ‘The Islanders’ and see river-themed art from children across the globe
come together at the National Maritime Museum in Rivers of the World. More than 80 events are included in the programme which runs until the end of the night. For more, see https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/whats-on.

• Muppet creator Jim Henson was honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former Hampstead home this week. Henson lived in the home at 50 Downshire Hill between 1979 and 1982 and continued to use it as his base until his death in 1990. It stands opposite the former ‘Jim Henson’s Creature Shop’, where creatures from fantasy films including The Dark Crystal, The Storyteller and Labyrinth were created. Henson’s son Brian,  chairman of the board at The Jim Henson Company, said it was an honour to have the property recognised, “knowing that he so admired and respected the talent in London, and that this is the place he called home when creating some of his most memorable productions.” For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• Beerfest-Lite takes place in Guildhall Yard in the City of London today. The event , which runs from noon to 9pm – features beers from the Meantime, Windsor and Eaton, Hook Norton and Shepherd Neame breweries and a street vendor menu including paella, hot dogs, souvlaki and Caribbean dishes as well as a jazz performance from the Alvar Tree Frogs and Bavarian Oompah band Würst Brass. For more, see www.citybeerfest.org.

Send all inclusions to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

LondonLife – Wildlife snapshots…

by exploringlondon
Lynx on the threshold. PICTURE: © Sergio Marijuán, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A selection of entries into this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year have been released ahead of the opening of the annual exhibition at the Natural History Museum in October. Among the images selected from the more than 50,000 entries in the 57th competition is that of Sergio Marijuán’s Lynx on the threshold depicting a young Iberian lynx pausing in the doorway of the abandoned hayloft where it was raised in Sierra Morena in Spain (pictured above), Gil Wizen’s Beautiful bloodsucker depicting a female ornamented mosquito in the process of biting (below), and Laurent Ballesta’s Deep feelers showing a vibrant community of narwhal shrimps in deep waters off the French Mediterranean coast (far below). The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 12th October. The exhibition at the South Kensington museum opens on 15th October at the Natural History Museum. To book tickets for the exhibition, head to www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.html. The 2021 competition opens on 18th October.

Beautiful bloodsucker PICTURE: © Gil Wizen, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Deep feelers. PICTURE: © Laurent Ballesta, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This Week in London – Open House London; ‘After Dark’ at the London Transport Museum; and, Korky Paul at the Heath Robinson…

by exploringlondon
St Leonards Court Air Raid Shelter in Sheen. PICTURE: Courtesy of Open House London

• Open House London kicks off this weekend and this year is being billed as a nine day ‘festival’ of the city’s architecture and urban landscapes. This year’s programme features “hidden gems” such as a World War II air raid shelter designed to appear like an old dovecote or garden storeroom in East Sheen (pictured right) and the UK’s only Brutalist Quaker Meeting House in Blackheath as well as buildings deemed at risk from demolition such as the soon to be vacated City Hall and Notting Hill’s landmark Trellick Tower. The programme also features five of London’s outstanding housing estates in a bid to celebrate those estates which helped support positive wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s also a number of important projects from some of the black, Asian and ethnic minority designers as well as annual programme favourites like 10 Downing Street, the HM Treasury building, and various churches across the metropolis. For the full programme of events (most of which are free but some of which have to be rebooked), check out https://open-city.org.uk/open-house.

• The first in a new series of ‘After Dark’ events kicks off at the London Transport Museum on Friday night. The nights, which run from 6,30pm to 9pm, come with a variety of themes starting with a night themed around the museum’s ‘Hidden London’ tours of ‘ghost’ stations and other secret sites across the Capital’s transport network. As well as the chance to explore the museum’s galleries free from crowds and enjoy the thematic fun, guests can also visit a pop-up bar featuring the museum’s signature red Routemaster cocktail. For full details of the events, head to www.ltmuseum.co.uk/news/new-season-after-dark-evening-events-kick-september.

• The work of award-winning illustrator Korky Paul will be on display at the Heath Robinson Museum on Saturday. Korky Paul’s Magic of Illustration (with a Flying Visit from Winnie and Wilbur) is the first solo exhibition of his original work which includes such characters as Winnie the Witch, The Fish Who Could Wish, Professor Puffendorf and Sir Scallywag. The exhibition will provide an insight into Korky Paul’s process of illustrating and preparing illustrations by drawing on his archive of drawings and other material relating to the development of the illustrations of each book and its publication. Korky Paul, whose work “often clearly shows the influence of Heath Robinson’s humorous drawings” according to the museum, has sold over 10 million of books worldwide in more than 35 languages. Runs until 9th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org.

Send items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

10 London memorials commemorating foreign leaders – 9. Władysław Sikorski…

by exploringlondon
PICTURE: Chmee2 (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
PICTURE: Ethan Doyle White (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

This statue in Portland Place in Marylebone commemorates wartime Polish Prime Minister and military leader (and British ally) Władysław Sikorski (1881-1943).

Larger than lifesize, the bronze statue depicts Sikorski in military uniform standing on a white stone plinth. It is the work of late British artist Faith Winter (also the sculptor of a controversial statue of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris outside the RAF church on the Strand).

Funded by public subscription, this statue of Sikorski was erected on 24th September, 2000, and unveiled by the Duke of Kent. It stands near the Polish Embassy on a traffic island near the intersection with Weymouth Street.

There’s inscriptions on each face of the plinth which commemorate Sikorski as well as the “Soldiers, Seamen and Airmen of the Polish Armed Forces and the Resistance Movement” between 1939 – 1945. The east face inscription commemorates Polish involvement in World War II through a listing of battles.

Sikorski is also commemorated with a plaque adorning the Rubens Hotel in Buckingham Palace Road which served as his headquarters between 1940 until his death in an air crash in Gibraltar in 1943 (where there is another memorial to him).

LondonLife – A weigh-in for all creatures great and small…

by exploringlondon
Bolivian black-capped squirrel monkeys are weighed at ZSL London Zoo PICTURE: © ZSL

Last week saw the annual weigh-in of animals at ZSL London Zoo and all creatures great and small took part – from the Bolivian black-capped squirrel monkeys (pictured above) to the giant Galapagos tortoises and the tiny midwife toads (both pictured below). With more than 20,000 animals in the care of the zoo, the keepers spend hours through the year recording the heights and weights of all the animals. It’s an important task – the information aids them in monitoring the health and wellbeing of all those in the zoo. “It helps to ensure that every animal we look after is healthy, eating well, and growing at the rate they should – weight is a particularly important indicator of health and wellbeing,” says the zoo’s animal manager Angela Ryan. “A growing waistline can also help us to detect and monitor pregnancies, which is so important as many of the species at ZSL London Zoo are threatened and part of international breeding programmes, including today’s Asiatic lions and big-headed turtles. By sharing information with other zoos and conservationists worldwide, we can all use this knowledge to better care for the species we’re striving to protect.” For more, see www.zsl.org.

Joe Capon and Charlotte Ellis weight Polly the Galapagos tortoise at ZSL London Zoo. PICTURE: © ZSL
Unnar Aervarsson weighs a midwife toad at ZSL London Zoo PICTURE: © ZSL

This Week in London – The Northern Lights come to Greenwich; Sir Kenneth Clark honoured; and, Phyllida Barlow at the Tate…

by exploringlondon
Borealis, Dan Acher. PICTURE: Courtesy GDIF

• The Northern Lights come to Greenwich this Bank Holiday weekend. The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, promoted as London’s “leading festival of free outdoor theatre and performing arts”, features two major installations in the Old Royal Naval College grounds – the Borealis and We are Watching – from artist Dan Acher as well as the Greenwich Fair on Sunday. There’s also dance and theatrical performances – including Family Tree, a performance inspired by the life of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells were harvested and cultivated without her consent after her death from cervical cancer in 1951, and Future Cargo, Requardt & Rosenberg, a contemporary sci-fi dance show – and pop-up events in neighbourhoods across the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The festival opens tomorrow and runs until 11th September. For the full programme of events and for more information, see https://festival.org/gdif/whatson/. For bookings for Borealis, head here.

• Art historian and broadcaster, Sir Kenneth Clark, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former Marylebone home. Clark (1903-1983), who is probably best known for the landmark 1969 BBC TV series Civilisation, lived in the property at 30 Portland Place between 1934 and 1939 – the period when he became director of The National Gallery and when he was knighted. Sir Kenneth and his wife Jane hosted parties at the property where guests included Winston Churchill and Vanessa Bell. Sir Kenneth, who also headed organisations including the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Independent Television Authority, is noted for having saved some of the nation’s most valuable artworks during World War II by having more than 800 paintings evacuated to rural Wales. He was also responsible for many of the Ministry of Information’s wartime films and sponsored emerging artists including Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• A celebration of Phyllida Barlow’s art has opened at the Tate Modern on South Bank. ARTIST ROOMS: Phyllida Barlow spans the British artist’s 60 year career and features some of her large-scale sculptures as well as more than 30 works on paper. Highlights include Object for the television (1994), the only surviving work from Barlow’s 1990s series Objects for… and major installations such as untitled: brokenstage/hangingcontainer, 2012/2013 and untitled: upturnedhouse2, 2012. The exhibition is free to enter. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

LondonLife – Changing of the Guard returns…

by exploringlondon

The full Changing of the Guard ceremony returned to Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and the Tower of London on Monday after the longest pause in its taking place since World War II. The ceremony, usually a popular tourist drawcard, had been absent from London since March last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to the ceremonial duty was carried out by the Number 3 Company from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards based in Windsor, accompanied by the Band of The Coldstream Guards. PICTURES: Sergeant Donald C Todd, RLC (UK MOD © Crown copyright 2021/published under the MOD News Licence).

This Week in London – Skateboarding explored at Somerset House; and, looking behind ‘Oliver Twist’…

by exploringlondon
One of the images in No Comply – ‘Here to win’ © Katie Edwards.jpg

• A celebration of skateboarding and its impact on communities and culture of the past 45 years is underway at Somerset House. No Comply: Skate Culture and Community is a free exhibition featuring imagery from some of the world’s foremost photographers capturing skateboarding scenes from across the UK as well as early editions of skateboarding titles like Alpine Sports, Read and Destroy (R.A.D) and Skateboard!, and original film commissions including a new short film from London-based director Dan Emmerson and a new short by skate videographer Sirus f Gahan. The display also explores the influence of skateboarding on mainstream culture – everything from fashion brands to video games – and uses archival objects, photographs and personal anecdotes to share stories from skate communities in the UK and beyond as well as those of skateboarding-related non-profit initiatives including Free Movement Skateboarding and SkatePal. Runs until 19th September; pre-booking required. For more, see www.somersethouse.org.uk.

• On Now: More! Oliver Twist, Dickens and Stories of the City. This exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum in Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, showcases a selection of letters, illustrations, postcards and photos – including a provocative artwork by artist Cold War Steve – as it explores the story of Oliver Twist and the inspiration behind it. Can be seen until 17th October; admission charge applies. For more, see https://dickensmuseum.com.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Art hits Westminster streets; Open House London now a nine day celebration; and, historic sites recognised for Festival of Britain anniversary…

by exploringlondon
Inside Out Festival launch at The National Gallery. PICTURE: Nyla Sammons

• Reproductions of some of The National Gallery’s most famous works have appeared on Trafalgar Square’s North Terrace as part of the City of Westminster’s ‘Inside Out’ festival. The life-sized replicas include Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888), Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire (1839), Botticelli’s Venus and Mars (1485), Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-3) and John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821). The display is being accompanied by ‘Sketch in the Square’, a programme of free, daily alfresco art activities with a strong emphasis on mindfulness and wellbeing. Other events in the Inside Out festival include the ‘Tusk Lion Trail’ in which 22 life-sized lion sculptures take visitors on a journey to trail some of the West End’s most iconic landmarks, a immersive light installation by artist Chila Burman at Covent Garden’s historic Market Building, and ‘Art of London’, in which five Royal Academy artists have brought their art to Piccadilly Circus and its surrounding streets. The ‘Inside Out’ festival is part of the ‘Westminster Reveals’ campaign which aims to encourage visitors to return to the city’s streets and enjoy the city’s cultural scene. For more on ‘Inside Out’ – which runs until 31st October, see www.westminster.gov.uk/insideout.

Trellick Tower (courtesy of Open House London).

• Usually held over a weekend, Open House London is this year a nine day celebration of London’s architecture and urban landscapes. Highlights this year include the chance to see inside 10 Downing Street, Ernő Goldfinger’s brutalist landmark Trellick Tower (pictured), a street of self-build timber houses in Lewisham and a former Victorian workhouse which has been transformed into a homeless shelter in Camden. There’s also the first chance to see a new design district in Greenwich, a yet to be opened community centre in Holborn and a special focus on the capital’s pubs and breweries. The full programme for the festival – which runs from 4th to 12th September and features hundreds of events – is now available online. For full listings, see www.openhouselondon.org.uk/2021.

• Historic sites and objects related to the landmark 1951 Festival of Britain have been officially recognised to mark the event’s 70th anniversary. The London sites include Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church in Tower Hamlets, built as part of the ‘live’ architectural exhibition of the Festival of Britain, which has seen its heritage listing upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*. Among the sites which have had their listings updated are: Royal Festival Hall which was designed by the London County Council Architect’s Department as part of their contribution to the Festival of Britain; the Church of St John located just off the Waterloo roundabout which, struck by a bomb during World War II, remained damaged until 1950 when the interior was remodelled in a neo-Georgian style for the festival; and, the Newbury Park Bus Station Canopy, which was designed with a high arched, open structure in what has been described as the modernist ‘Festival style’. The Festival of Britain, which ran from May to September, 1951, was a national exhibition and fair aimed at promoting British design, science, technology, architecture, industry, and the arts. Held in the aftermath of World War II, one of its key aims was to help foster a national sense of recovery.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

This Week in London – Emblem for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee unveiled; Marble Arch Mound free after apology; and, ‘Pet Life’…

by exploringlondon

• A 19-year-old graphic design student from Nottinghamshire has won a competition to find an emblem for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Edward Roberts, who is studying at Leeds, said that for his design, “I wanted to give a modern twist to the iconic elements of St Edward’s Crown, and so I created a continuous line, which I felt was a fitting representation of The Queen’s reign”. Paul Thompson, vice-chancellor of the Royal College of Art and a member of the judging panel which selected the winning design said it takes people “on a simple line journey to create the crown and the number 70, beautifully capturing the continuous thread of Her Majesty The Queen’s 70-year reign”. “Drawn on a computer, the ingenious emblem works across all scales and the flow of the line gives us a sense of a human touch behind the digital design process.” The competition, which was was open to young people aged between 13 and 25 from all over the United Kingdom, was judged by a panel of graphic designers, visual artists and design professionals, experts from the V&A, the Royal College of Art, the Design Museum, and a representative from the Royal Household. It was chaired by V&A Director Tristram Hunt. As the winner, Edward will be invited to next year’s Jubilee celebrations including the ‘Platinum Party at the Palace’, and his winning design, along with the other nine shortlisted emblem design entries which will be revealed next year, will be displayed at the V&A in June. Edward will also receive a prize of £1,500 and a year’s free membership of the V&A.

• The £8 entrance fee to the Marble Arch Mound has been dropped for visitors during August after it closed only two days after opening following sustained criticism from visitors. In a statement Stuart Love, chief executive of the City of Westminster, apologised that the Marble Arch Mound wasn’t ready for visitors when it opened. “London’s businesses and residents have suffered through the pandemic and we built the Mound as part of our bigger plan to get people back into the City and into the shops, restaurants, theatres and to see the amazing sights the West End has to offer,” he said. “We wanted to open the Mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets. We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasn’t had a great experience on their visit.” The 25 metre high temporary attraction will reopen on Monday. For more, head here.

• Explore the stories of real-life pets and their owners in a new feature at the Museum of The Home in Shoreditch. Pet Life – which features animations, projections, hands on activities and stories written by author and storyteller Bernadette Russell – aims to show “the joy, companionship and challenges our pets bring to the home”. Runs until 31st October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions-and-installations/pet-life/.

Send items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

LondonLife – Lost ‘garden snug’ recreated at Red House…

by exploringlondon
The new garden snug with the Red House in the background. PICTURE: © National Trust/Chris Davies

A lost ‘garden snug’ has been recreated at 19th century designer William Morris’ Arts & Crafts home, Red House, in Bexleyheath. Inspired by the original notes of architect Philip Webb, the design draws on an ordnance survey map from when Morris and his family were residents at the house between 1860-1865 which shows outdoor spaces separated into different ‘rooms’. Photos of the garden from the 1890s were also used to guide the project. The 100 square metre garden is enclosed with traditional hazel and hawthorn and the planting inside its bounds references some iconic Morris & Co designs like ‘Trellis’, ‘Daisy’ and ‘Fruit’. At the centre is a Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula) and the garden also features traditional cottage plants like Shasta daisies, columbines, honeysuckle, irises, peonies, jasmine and mock orange. Around the central tree are specially commissioned wooden seats from Scottish craftsman Angus Ross with distinctive two-metre high arches designed to echo the house’s medieval-inspired architecture. For more, see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/red-house.

The Red House and lawn seen from the south east. PICTURE: © National Trust/Andrew Butler.

This Week in London – Royal portraits in Greenwich; Sir Roger Bannister to be honoured; and, drawing on the Tate’s Turbine Hall floor…

by exploringlondon
King Henry VII by unknown Netherlandish artist, 1505 (oil on panel) © National Portrait Gallery, London

• More than 150 of the finest portraits of royal families over five dynasties are on show at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits, which is being run in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery, features famous paintings, miniatures, sculpture, photographs, medals and stamps from the Tudor, Stuart, Georgian, Victorian and Windsor dynasties. Highlights include the earliest known portrait of Henry VII (also the oldest artwork in the exhibition) which was painted in 1505 by an unknown artist, Flemish artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger’s famous ‘Ditchley Portrait’ of Elizabeth I, portraits of Charles II and his mistresses, early 19th century domestic photographs of Queen Victoria and her family, and a selection of paintings and photographs of Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton and Annie Leibovitz. Runs until 31st October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.rmg.co.uk/TudorsWindsors.

• Westminster Abbey has announced a new memorial to Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run under a mile in four minutes. The abbey said the memorial ledger stone to Bannister, who later became a neurologist, will be placed in what is known as ‘Scientists’ Corner’ in the building’s nave, close to the graves of scientists Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin as well as the ashes of Stephen Hawking. “Throughout his life Sir Roger Bannister reached out for that which lay beyond,” said the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, in a statement. “As a sportsman, pushing himself towards a prize some considered beyond human reach, as a scientist ever eager for deeper understanding of neurology. We are delighted that his memory and his achievement will be set in stone in the Abbey. He ran the race set before us all.” Bannister is famous for having run a mile in three minutes, 59.4 second at Oxford on 6th May, 1954 – a record which stood for almost nine years.

• Be among those transforming the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall into an “ever changing work of art”. Visitors are invited to join in covering the hall’s floor with their own jottings using coloured drawing materials as part of artist Ei Arakawa’s interactive installation, Mega Please Draw Freely. The installation, which can be contributed to until 29th August, kicks off UNIQLO Tate Play – a new free programme of playful art-inspired activities for families, being in partnership with UNIQLO, at the Tate Modern. The project, which has seen the Turbine Hall floor covered with a temporary surface allowing it to be drawn upon, is inspired by the Gutai group, radical Japanese artists who wanted to change the world through painting, performance and children’s play and, in particular, the group’s ‘Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition of 1956’ in which Yoshihara Jirō created the groundbreaking work Please Draw Freely, a large board on which people were free to draw and paint. Visitors can access Mega Please Draw Freely by booking a free collection display ticket online at www.tate.org.uk.

• Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.