• 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.
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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.
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• 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/.
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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.
• 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.
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• The 25 metre high viewpoint in the grass and tree covered Marble Arch Mound opens to visitors on Monday. Created by Westminster City Council, the mound – which has been designed by Dutch architectural studio MVRDV, provides expansive views of Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone. Visitors can either climb the 130 stairs to the top or take a lift. The mound will be open to the public until January next year. Ticket holders are also invited to visit W1Curates art installation Lightfield, led by British/American artist, Anthony James, which is located inside the mound. For more information and to book tickets, see www.westminster.gov.uk/news/get-set-summit-marble-arch-mound-summer.
• The history, art and culture of the Native Americans who met the passengers of the Mayflower is explored in a new exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery. Opening on Friday, Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America centres on a newly-crafted wampum belt created by the Wampanoag people of Massachusetts alongside historic material from the British Museum. Wampum belts are the creative expression of the Wampanoag people, with each shell on the belt imbued with memory and meaning. The display is presented by The Box, Plymouth, and supported by Arts Council England as part of commemorations of the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from England to America. Runs until 5th September. Entry is free (booking required). For more, head here.
• On Now: Paula Rego. This exhibition at Tate Britain – the largest retrospective of Paula Rego’s work to date – features more than 100 works including collage, paintings, large-scale pastels, drawings and etchings as it showcases the career of the Portuguese-born artist. As well as early work from the 1950s, the display features her large pastels of single figures from the acclaimed Dog Women and Abortion series and richly layered, staged scenes from the 2000s. Runs until 24th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/paula-rego.
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Westminster Abbey Library, part of of the ‘Hidden Highlights’ tour. PICTURE: Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
• A lost medieval sacristy used by Westminster Abbey’s monks in the 13th-century which has been revealed in the abbey grounds has been opened to the public. A visit to the dig uncovering the former sacristy is one of the stops on new ‘Hidden Highlights’ tours which also take in other areas not usually open to the public including the Jerusalem Chamber where King Henry IV died in 1413 and, the Library, formerly part of the monk’s dormitory which features a 15th century oak roof and 17th century bookcases (pictured above). The tour, which finishes in the Diamond Jubilee Galleries which have been closed since the start of the pandemic, is part of a summer of events at the abbey which also includes open air cinema, visits to the abbey after dark, live music performances and a chance to look behind the scenes at the abbey’s role in the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For more, see www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/lost-medieval-sacristy-opens-to-public-for-summer-festival-of-events.
• A new exhibition looking at the central role food plays in Black entrepreneurship and identity in the city’s south east has opened at the Museum of London Docklands.Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place puts four businesses in the spotlight – Livity Plant Based Cuisine in Croydon, Woolwich businesses African Cash & Carry and Junior’s Caribbean Stall, and Zeret Kitchen in Camberwell – and tells their stories through objects, recipes and videos as well as newly commissioned photography by Jonas Martinez and original oral histories and soundscapes by Kayode ‘Kayodeine’ Gomez. The free display can be seen until 17th July next year in the London, Sugar & Slavery gallery. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk.
• Ride the dodgems at Somerset House.Dodge, described as a “thrilling open air experience” that takes an “inventive twist on the traditional fairground”, features dodgem cars and installations from acclaimed artists as well as food and drink and DJ sets. The event runs until 22nd August. There is free entry to the site but charges apply for the dodgem rides. For more, see www.somersethouse.org.uk. The event is part of the #LetsDoLondon campaign, described as the “biggest domestic tourism the capital has ever seen”.
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The historic 39 acre garden at Buckingham Palace opened to the public for the first time last Friday as part of the palace’s summer opening. Visitors can follow a route that takes in the 156-metre Herbaceous Border, plane trees which were planted by and named for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and views of the island and its beehives across the 3.5-acre lake. There’s also the opportunity to enjoy a picnic on the lawns and guided tours of the south-west of the garden with features including the Rose Garden, summer house and wildflower meadow. The current landscape dates back to the 1820s when King George IV turned Buckingham House into a place. It features more than 1,000 trees, the National Collection of Mulberry Trees (mulberry trees were first planted by King James I in 1608), 320 different wildflowers and grasses, and, since 2008, five beehives. The Queen traditionally hosts three garden parties in the gardens annually which are each attended by 8,000 guests, who consume around 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake. The gardens are open until 19th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.rct.uk.
• A new family friendly exhibition celebrating Paddington Bear opens at the British Library tomorrow. The Story of a Bear features more than 50 books, documents, film clips and original artworks as it explores Michael Bond’s creation of the much loved children’s book character. Highlights include a first edition of Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington published in 1958, Barbara Ker Wilson’s original review of the book, photographs and memorabilia of Michael Bond on loan from his family as well as original illustrations of Paddington stories by artists including Peggy Fortnum, David McKee and RW Alley. There are also clips from the Paddington movies and sound recordings featuring Bond speaking about his creation. The exhibition is ticketed (booking in advance recommended). Admission charge applies. For more, see www.bl.uk/events/paddington-the-story-of-a-bear.
• Pioneering neurologist James Samuel Risien Russell has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former home and practice in Marylebone. Russell, born in 1863 in what was then British Guiana (now Guyana), was one of the UK’s first Black consultants and played a critical role in establishing the British school of neurology in the 1890s. His contribution in furthering our understanding of many conditions of the nervous system and mental health issues has only recently come to light thanks to new research by the Windrush Foundation. Dr Risien Russell lived and worked at 44 Wimpole Street from 1902 until his death in March, 1939. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques.
• A display of images from Sir Quentin Blake have gone on show at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury to mark his gift of 24 drawings to the museum. Curated by children’s author and illustrator Lauren Child, Quentin Blake: Gifted features pictures form two series – Children and Dogs and Children with Birds & Dogs – as well as a range of responses from writers including poetry collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE, children’s author and poet Michael Rosen and Scottish playwright, poet and novelist Jackie Kay. Admission charge applies. Runs until 26 September. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/quentin-blake-gifted/.
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Queen Elizabeth II has awarded the George Cross – the country’s highest civilian gallantry award – to the National Health Service. In an accompanying statement, the Queen said: “It is with great pleasure, on behalf of a grateful nation, that I award the George Cross to the National Health Services of the United Kingdom. This award recognises all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations. Over more than seven decades, and especially in recent times, you have supported the people of our country with courage, compassion and dedication, demonstrating the highest standards of public service. You have our enduring thanks and heartfelt appreciation.” Details of when the award will be presented are yet to be announced. It is only the third time, the George Cross has been awarded to a collective body, country or organisation, rather than an individual (the first time was when it was collectively awarded to the people of Malta in 1942 by Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, and the second time when it was awarded to the Royal Ulster Constabulary by the Queen in 1999). PICTURE: Nicolas J Leclercq/Unsplash
• A new statue of the late Princess Diana is being unveiled today at Kensington Palace. The statue will be unveiled in the Sunken Garden at Diana’s former home. The garden – originally created on the orders of King Edward VII in 1908 – has been redesigned by designer Pip Morrison to provide a more reflective setting for the memorial. This included planting more than 4,000 of Diana’s favourite flowers including forget-me-nots and tulips. The statue, which is the work of sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, is expected to be unveiled by Diana’s two sons, William and Harry, who commissioned it in 2017.
The V&A’s new gallery, Design 1900. PICTURE: Courtesy of the V&A
• A new permanent gallery has opened at the V&A which explores the role design plays in shaping, and being shaped by, how we live, work, travel and communicate. Design 1900 is housed within the museum’s former 20th Century Gallery and, among the displays are new acquisitions including Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir’s iconic British road signage system, Kim Kardashian’s Selfish book, Nike’s Nigeria football shirt for the 2018 World Cup and a one-of-a-kind desk designed by Future Systems for Condé Nast Chairman Jonathan Newhouse. The display also includes items from the Rapid Response Collecting programme such as 3D-printed door openers, designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and the I Believe in Our City bus shelter posters that highlighted increased anti-Asian bias. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.
• Twentieth century dressmaker and fashion designer Jean Muir has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at the Mayfair address she worked for 30 years. The plaque was unveiled at 22 Bruton Street, the location of the showroom and office she operated out of from 1966 to 1995, by her house model, friend and client Joanna Lumley. Others among Muir’s clientele included actress Patricia Hodge and writer Lady Antonia Fraser. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.
• The City of London Corporation has unveiled the design for new ‘Digital Service Points’ which will reimagine the concept of the traditional police boxes. ‘The London Stones’, the work of architecture and design studio Unknown Works, will include information screens, life saving emergency equipment and serve as hubs for City of London Police officers and community events. Details from buildings, stories and images of the Square Mile will be collected and ‘digitally carved’ into the exterior of the ‘stones’ which will also be home to a vast array of lichen colonies and species expected to evolve in their colour and appearance as they grow.
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HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, 2017, Ralph Heimans. PICTURE: Royal Collection Trust/All Rights Reserved
The Coronation Robe and Coronet worn by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during the Queen’s Coronation on 2nd June 1953 PICTURE: Royal Collection Trust/All Rights Reserved.
• Further Afield Special: A exhibiting the life and work of Prince Philip opens at Windsor Castle today.Prince Philip: A Celebration traces the late Prince’s life, including his naval career and his role as consort, and also cover his many patronages and associations in areas as diverse as science and industry to sport, conservation and the environment to art. Highlights among the more than 120 objects on display include the Coronation Robe and Coronet he wore on the day on display (pictured – right) as well as his Chair of Estate, usually located in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room. Also present is the journal in which his great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, recorded the birth of his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (describing her as “very pretty”), George A Weymouth’s portrait of the Prince standing in the shell of Windsor Castle’s St George’s Hall and holding a set of floorplans after a fire in 1992, and a portrait of Prince Philip painted by Ralph Heimans in 2017, the year of His Royal Highness’s retirement from public engagements, which is on display for the first time (pictured above). Other highlights include a First Nations feather headdress presented to the Prince during a Commonwealth visit to Canada in 1973, and a display of archival material and historic photographs in St George’s Chapel’s south quire which celebrates his faith and service to society, his support of the chapel and his role in the foundation and development of St George’s House consultation centre. The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland will have its own exhibition focusing on the life of the Prince in July. Admission charge applies. The Windsor Castle exhibition runs until 20th September. For more, see www.rct.uk.
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Marking this year’s Windrush Day, the Museum of London has made two new acquisitions – an ensemble from London fashion designer Tihara Smith’s ‘Windrush collection’ and a suit owned by her grandfather – available to explore on the Museum of London website. Tihara’s outfit, which was designed as part of Smith’s UCA Epsom graduate collection in 2018 and selected for display at Graduate Fashion Week, references the story of her grandfather, Lazare Sylvestre, who arrived in the UK from St Lucia in 1958 as part of the Windrush generation. Details including a raffia vest hand embroidered with the words ‘Black and British’ which is accompanied by a Black Power fist and the red lion symbol of England as well as a shirt made from a tablecloth purchased in Peckham Market and flared 1970s style denim culottes – all of which are representative of her grandfather’s experience and that of so many other Black British Londoners at that time. Her grandfather’s suit, meanwhile, was designed and made for him by a close friend, Winceslas ‘Winston’ Giscombe, a tailor who originally from Kingston, Jamaica, who came to the UK in 1947 on a ship called the Ormonde, a year before the Windrush arrived in 1948. Photographs of the items, along with oral histories recorded by Tihara, her mother and her grandfather, can be explored on the Museum of London website. For more on Windrush, see the Windrush Stories page on the Museum of London Docklands website.
• The 18 day meeting between King Henry VIII and King Francois I of France in 1520, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, is the subject of an exhibition at Hampton Court Palace. Gold and Glory: Henry VIII and the French King, which is being held to mark the 500th anniversary of the event (having been rescheduled from last year), is being held in rooms in Hampton Court Palace that were once used by the architect of the summit, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and features objects from the actual meeting as well as treasures from the courts of the two kings. They include the spectacular Stonyhurst vestments – woven from cloth of gold and chosen by Henry for use at the religious services held near Calais, Wolsey’s Book of Hours, and a unique tapestry which, manufactured in Tournai in the 1520s, depicts a bout of wrestling at the event with a black trumpeter shown among the brace of royal musicians. The display can be seen until 5th September. Admission charge applies. For more information and tickets – prebooking is essential, see www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/.
• A free sculpture trail, featuring works by artist Josie Spencer, has opened on the King William Lawns at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Fragments in Time features life-sized bodies captured in dramatic positions, including fractured figures, which demonstrate the beauty and resilience of the human spirit while highlighting the fragility of life. The artist says the works have been chosen from a group of pieces that treated the figures as if they were the “archaeology of our time found in another century, in the future, when those then looking at them can see the fragility of our life now”. The trail can be seen until 6th August.
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This month marks 150 years since the passing of the Hampstead Heath Act, which confirmed the heath as a public open space, and, to celebrate, the City of London Corporation, the Heath & Hampstead Society and other partners have launched a year of commemorations. Upcoming planned highlights include an outdoor exhibition showcasing the heath’s history and the significance of the 1871 Act which will be launched on the heath (on the main path leading onto the heath from the Hampstead Heath Overground Station) on 23rd June, a community fun day (27th June), an outdoor cinema screening (8th September), a summer music event (tentatively scheduled for 5th September) and historic walks as well as an Historic Postcard Project featuring an interactive online map with historic images of the heath. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath.
• The glittering world of playwright and songwriter Noël Coward is on show in a new exhibition openingat the Guildhall Art Gallery this Monday. The much delayed Noël Coward: Art & Style, which marks the 100th anniversary of Coward’s West End debut as a 19-year-old earlier this year, brings together never-before-seen materials from the Coward Archive and demonstrates the impact he and his creative circle had on the culture of his time – and today. Highlights include an original page of Coward’s handwritten lyrics for Mad Dogs and Englishmen, the chocolate brown evening suit he wore in the film Boom!, two of his signature silk dressing gowns, his iconic ‘Hamlet’ chair, and several of his own paintings. There’s also a specially commissioned new reconstruction of the iconic white satin dress that Molyneux designed in 1930 for Gertrude Lawrence in Private Lives and a never-before-exhibited gold lamé theatre cape by Lucile (Titanic survivor Lady Duff Gordon) from 1920. The exhibition, which is free, runs until 23rd December. Tickets must be booked in advance. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/noelcoward.
• A new portrait depicting Dido Belle (1761-1804) has gone on display at Kenwood House – one of six works depicting historic figures from the African diaspora now on show at English Heritage properties across the nation. Belle, who is depicted by artist Mikéla Henry-Lowe, was the illegitimate daughter of a young black woman named Maria Bell and a Royal Naval officer, Sir John Lindsay. She spent much of her life at Kenwood House with her great-uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice. Other portraits in the series depict the likes of African-born Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (the work of Elena Onwochei-Garcia, it’s on display at Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland), North African-born 7th century Abbot Hadrian (the work of Clifton Powell, it’s on display at St Augustine’s Abbey in Kent) and Queen Victoria’s god-daughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta (the work of Hannah Uzor, it’s on display at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight). For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/black-history/.
• More than 25 works by Australian artists exploring debates around land rights and colonialism have gone on show in a new exhibition at the Tate Modern. A Year in Art: Australia 1992 takes as its starting point the High Court of Australia’s landmark 1992 Mabo ruling which overturned the doctrine of terra nullius. Works on show include Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s 1989 Untitled (Alhalkere) – an expression of her cultural life as an Anmatyerre elder, Gordon Bennett’s 1991 work Possession Island (Abstraction) which is presented in dialogue with Algernon Talmage’s 1937 work The Founding of Australia 1788, and Tracey Moffatt’s 1997 photographic series Up in the Sky, which speaks to the ‘Stolen Generations’ – the forced separation of Aboriginal families by government agencies. At the heart of the display is Vernon Ah Kee’s 2010 four-screen video installation tall man which shows footage of the protests and riots following the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island in 2004. The exhibition is free. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.
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Forest for Change – The Global Goals Pavilion at London Design Biennale. PICTURE: Ed Reeve
The courtyard at Somerset House has been transformed into a forest as part of the London Design Biennale.Forest for Change – The Global Goals Pavilion features some 400 trees with clearing in the middle containing an installation aimed at raising awareness of the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The biennale also features a series of more than 30 pavilions from across all six continents – created in response to the theme ‘resonance’ – which have been placed in rooms and outdoor areas throughout the property. Among the countries represented with pavilions are Antarctica, Argentina, Austria, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Taiwan, and Venezuela. Others, including Italy, Nile Region, Norway, New York City and Pakistan, are taking part digitally. There’s also an exhibition – Design in an Age of Crisis – showcasing radical design thinking from the world’s design community, the public, and young people, as well as a series of installations by a selected group of universities and galleries in which they demonstrate their contribution to global issues through design under the banner of ‘Sustainability and Innovation’. The biennale runs all month. Admission charge applies. For more and to book tickets, head to www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/london-design-biennale-2021.
• A stunning wedding dress worn byDiana, the Princess of Wales – including its 25 foot long sequin encrusted train – and a rare surviving ‘toile’ – a working pattern – of the 1937 coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, are among star items on display in a new exhibition in Kensington Palace’s Orangery. Royal Style in the Making features some never-before-seen items from the archives of some of the most celebrated royal couturiers of the 20th century as well as original sketches, fabric swatches and unseen photographs from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, a treasure trove of more than 10,000 items of dress and design history cared for by Historic Royal Palaces. Admission charge applies. The display can be seen until 2nd January. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk.
• The first in a series of ‘blossom gardens’ has been opened by the National Trust in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London’s east. The garden features 33 trees including cherry, plum, hawthorn and crab apple which represent the city’s 32 boroughs and the City of London itself. The garden, which was opened last month by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will be followed by further gardens planted over the next five years across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• The brightest colours ever created are dazzling eyes at Kew Gardens.Naturally Brilliant Colour, an exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, explores the origins of colour and vision and showcases how botanical artists have depicted the brightest and most intense colours found in nature. Works by Robert John Thornton (1768-1837) and contemporary artist Julia Trickey are on show as well as the world’s first botanical artwork to accurately reproduce natural structural colour (it features flakes of ‘Pure Structural Colour’ which artificially replicates how microscopic structures within the surface layers of plants and animals reflect sunlight in a specific way to generate bright colours). Runs until 26th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.
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The Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in 2006, the year of its closure. PICTURE: Edward (public domain)
The Bow Street Police Museum, located on the site of the 1881 Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, has opened its doors in Covent Garden. The museum tells the story of the early Bow Street Runners, the first official law enforcement service in the city, and the Metropolitan Police officers who came after. Visitors can explore the former cells and hear the stories of those who once worked in the building. The connections between Bow Street and the constabulary dates back to 1740 when Thomas de Veil opened a Magistrates’ Court in his family home at number four Bow Street in the 18th century and continued until the closure of the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in 2006. Among the famous faces who passed through Bow Street’s police station and court over that time were Oscar Wilde, Suffragettes Sylvia Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst and Mrs Drummond, and the Kray twins. For more, head to https://bowstreetpolicemuseum.org.uk.
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