News

This Week in London – Culture, heritage and war at IWM; Sir Arthur Pearson honoured; and, Takis at the Tate Modern…

by exploringlondon

• Exhibitions exploring why culture and heritage are attacked during times of war and how cultural treasures in British museums and galleries were protected during World War II open at London’s Imperial War Museum on Friday. What Remains – which highlights both historic and contemporary instances in which buildings, places, art and artefacts have been deliberately targeted during times of conflict as well as examples of resistance, protection and restoration, and, Art in Exile – which looks at the role UK cultural organisations have played in wartime, are both part of Culture Under Attack, a free season of events that explore how war threatens cultural heritage. Also launching as part of Culture Under Attack this week is Rebel Sounds, an immersive exhibition that reveals how music has been used to resist and rebel against war and oppression with examples from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Northern Ireland in the 1970s, Serbia in the 1990s and present day Mali. All three displays run until 5th January. For more, see www.iwm.org.uk/seasons/culture-under-attack. PICTURE: British Army poster from 1943, created to educate and inform its soldiers of the importance of respecting property, including cultural heritage (© IWM)

• Sir Arthur Pearson, newspaper publisher and founder of St Dunstan’s (Blind Veterans UK), has been remembered with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The plaque was unveiled at his now Grade II*-listed home on Portland Place in Marylebone last week, the place where he lived with his wife and some of the blinded servicemen supported by St Dunstan’s in the later years of World War I and those following. Pearson had made a fortune as a press magnate, founding the Daily Express in 1900 and later purchasing The Evening Standard but his attention turned to campaigning for the blind after he was told he would lose his sight in 1913. For more on English Heritage Blue Plaques, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.

• The largest ever exhibition of the work of pioneering Greek artist Takis (Panayiotis Vassilakis) has opened at the Tate Modern this week. Takis features more than 70 works by the self-taught artist – renowned as a “sculptor of magnetism, light and sound” –  including a rarely-seen Magnetic Fields installation, a series of musical devices generating resonant and random sounds, and forests of his antenna-like Signals. Can be seen until 27th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

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

LondonLife – Angles on an iconic bridge…

by exploringlondon

Tower Bridge marked its 125th birthday last weekend so to celebrate, here’s some different angles on London’s most photographed bridge. The Victorian Gothic bascule and suspension bridge, which spans the Thames just to the east of London Bridge (with which it’s not to be confused), took eight years to build and was officially opened on 30th June, 1894, by the then Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). For more on the celebrations taking place at the bridge over the coming weeks and months, see www.towerbridge.org.uk/125/.

 

This Week in London – Tower Bridge turns 125; Cindy Sherman at the National Portrait Gallery; and, Félix Vallotton at the RA…

by exploringlondon

•  Tower Bridge marks its 125th anniversary on Sunday and in honour of the event, there will be celebrations inside and outside the bridge right across the weekend. Entry to the bridge will be priced at just £1.25 and visitors will also receive a one-off souvenir bookmark as well as £5 off the official Tower Bridge book. Tickets cannot be booked in advance. Among the activities is a new photographic exhibition on the high-level walkways showcasing rare archival images and new photographs while costumed performers depicting historic figures – including the bridge’s first and only Indian engineer, divers who dug the foundations and the bridge’s first female employees – will be re-enacting scenes which (might have) happened during construction. Visitors can also join in the bridge architect Sir Horace Jones’ 200th “big birthday bash” in the Engine Rooms and view a new installation on the piers imagining some of the alternative river crossings that could have been built in place of the bridge. Special events will be continuing until the end of the year. For more, see www.towerbridge.org.uk/125/. PICTURE: Paul Varzar/Unsplash

• Contemporary artist Cindy Sherman’s ground-breaking series, Untitled Film Stills (1977-80) has gone on public display for the first time in the UK in a major new retrospective of the artist’s work. Hosted at the National Portrait Gallery, Cindy Sherman explores the development of the artist’s work from the mid-1970s to the present day and includes all 70 images from the Untitled Film Still series as well all five of Sherman’s Cover Girl series, completed while she was a student in 1976 and being displayed together for the first time. There will also be a range of source material from the artist’s studio to give insights into her working processes. Runs until 15th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.npg.org.uk.

• The work of Swiss artist Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) is being exhibited in a dedicated display for the first time in the UK since 1976. Opening in the The Jillian and Arthur M Sackler Wing of Galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts on Sunday, Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet features about 100 works from public and private collections across Europe and the US and is organised in three sections spanning his career. Highlights include Self-portrait at the Age of Twenty (1885), The Sick Girl (1892), The Visit (1899), Gabrielle Vallotton (1905), Nude Holding her Gown (1904),  This is War! (1916), Red Peppers (1915), and Sandbanks on the Loire (1923). On show until 29th September after which the exhibition will travel to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

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

LondonLife – Pete the plant prepares to take a selfie at ZSL London Zoo…

by exploringlondon


Pete, a maidenhair fern who lives at ZSL London Zoo, is preparing to take the world’s first plant selfie. Under the pioneering project taking place in the zoo’s Rainforest Life exhibit, microbial fuel cells – which harness the energy of naturally occurring bacteria in soil to generate electricity – will be used to power the plant to take its own picture. The fuel cells were designed by green energy specialists Plant E in the Netherlands and were created after ZSL’s Conservation Tech Unit, in partnership with Open Plant, Cambridge University and the Arribada Initiative, last year launched a competition to design a fuel cell that could be powered by plants. The new technology, which works around the clock, has the potential to allow researchers to monitor inhospitable and remote rainforest locations and record key data such as temperature, humidity, plant growth – all of which are crucial to the understanding of threats such as climate change and habitat loss. Zoo staff are asking people and come and cheer Pete on as he prepares to take his selfie with the actual event not expected for a few weeks. For more, see zsl.org. PICTURES: © ZSL London Zoo.

This Week in London – British printmaking; the Taste of London; and, Dickens abroad…

by exploringlondon

• British printmaking between World War I and II is under the spotlight in a new exhibition which opened at Dulwich Picture Gallery this week. Cutting Edge: Modernist British Printmaking, which marks 90 years since the inaugural exhibition on British linocuts was held at the Redfern Gallery, features 120 prints, drawings and posters and spotlights the work of artists of the Grosvenor School including those of teacher Claude Flight and nine of his leading students – Cyril Power, Sybil Andrews, Lill Tschudi, William Greengrass and Leonard Beaumont among them. A number of the works are being displayed publicly for the first tome and several international loans – including prints by the Australian students Dorrit Black, Ethel Spowers and Eveline Syme – are making their debut as part of a major UK showing. The display can be seen until 8th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk. PICTURE: Claude Flight, Speed, 1922, © The Estate of Claude Flight. All Rights Reserved, [2019] / Bridgeman Images/ photo Photo © Elijah Taylor (Brick City Projects)

• Food festival, the Taste of London, is on again in The Regent’s Park across this weekend. Opened last night, the festival features the chance to sample food from London’s best restaurants as well as learn from world-class chefs, and visit gourmet food and artisan producer markets. For more, including tickets, see https://london.tastefestivals.com.

• On Now: Global Dickens: For Every Nation Upon Earth. This exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury paints a global picture of one of London’s favourite sons, starting with his trips to Europe and North America and going on to consider how his influence spread across the world. On display is his leather travelling bag, a Manga edition of A Christmas Carol,  and a copy of David Copperfield that went to the Antarctic on the 1910 Scott expedition. Can be seen until 3rd November. Included in admission charge. For more, see www.dickensmuseum.com.

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

This Week in London – Self-driving vehicles; Sir Thomas Gresham explored; and, Spanish artist Bartolomé Bermejo…

by exploringlondon

• Self-driving vehicles of all descriptions are under scrutiny in a new exhibition which opened at the Science Museum in South Kensington this week. Driverless: Who is in control? looks at the rise of self-driving cars alongside autonomous flying drones and underwater vehicles like the Natural Environment Research Council’s Autosub Long Range fleet (which includes the delightfully named Boaty McBoatface). There are three specific zones in the display – Land, Air and Water, with each section exploring the different technology solutions already available, the motivations of their developers, and their potential to transform a range of activities and industries. Among highlights are a 1960 Citroen DS19 which was modified in an early experiment in self-driving, autonomous flying drones being developed to clear minefields by the Mine Kafon project and prototype vessels designed to monitor ocean plankton and map the sea floor. The free display can be seen until October next year. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.ac.uk. PICTURE: Autosub Long Range (ALR) Boaty McBoatface © National Oceanography Centre (NOC).

• Described as “one of the most over-looked 16th century merchants and financiers”, Sir Thomas Gresham is the subject of a new exhibition at the Guildhall Library. Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579): Tudor, Trader, Shipper, Spy, which marks the quincentenary of his birth and coincides with the release of a major new biography by Tudor historian Dr John Guy – Gresham’s Law: The Life And World Of Elizabeth I’s Banker. Gresham was a financial advisor to four Tudor monarchs, founder of the Royal Exchange, and, through a bequest left after his death, the founder of Gresham College. The free exhibition can be seen until mid-September. For more, head here.

• Selected works of Spanish artist Bartolomé Bermejo (c1440–c1501) have gone on show at The National Gallery as part of its Spanish season. Bartolomé Bermejo, commonly known as Bermejo (which means ‘reddish’ in Spanish), was likely a converso (a Jew who converted to Christianity) and led an itinerant life, partnering with local artists to access painters’ guilds and obtain religious commissions as he visited cities in Aragon including Tous, Valencia, Daroca, Zaragoza, and Barcelona. The display includes six works never before seen outside of Spain including the masterpieces Triptych of the Virgin of Montserrat (probably 1470–75), and the recently restored Desplà Pietà (1490), as well as four panels depicting scenes from Christ the Redeemer – Descent of Christ into Limbo, Resurrection, Christ entering Paradise and Ascension. At the centre of exhibition is the National Gallery’s Saint Michael Triumphant over the Devil with the Donor Antoni Joan (1468) which is being displayed for the first time since a year long conservation. The free display can be seen in Room 1 until 29th September. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk.

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

LondonLife – Trooping the Colour marks the Queen’s birthday…

by exploringlondon

The Queen’s birthday was marked on Saturday with the annual Trooping the Colour in central London. More than 400 soldiers, close to 300 horses and 400 musicians took part in the event, believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II. As well as Queen Elizabeth II, other members of the Royal Family in attendance included Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (see image below). ALL PICTURES: US Department of Defence photo by US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A Pineiro (Via Flickr account of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/licensed under CC BY 2.0).

 

 

 

 

 

This Week in London – Leonardo’s notebooks; London’s “lost” rivers; Africa celebrated; and, Natalia Goncharova…

by exploringlondon

• Three of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are being displayed together in the UK for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the British Library marking 500 years since the artist’s death. Leonardo da Vinci: A Mind in Motion, which opens Friday and is being held in partnership with Automobili Pininfarina, will feature a selection of notes and drawings from the Codex Arundel, owned by the British Library, the Codex Forster, owned by the V&A, and the Codex Leicester, owned by US billionaire Bill Gates (and being displayed in the UK for the first time since Gates purchased it in 1994). They reveal Da Vinci’s close observations of natural phenomena and how these explorations of nature and motion directly informed his work as an inventor and artist. The exhibition, which runs to the 8th September, is being accompanied by a series of events and until Sunday, Automobili Pininfarina will be exhibiting a 1,900 hp, zero-emissions Battista hypercar on the British Library Piazza. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.bl.uk/events/leonardo-da-vinci-a-mind-in-motion. PICTURE: Part of the exhibition/courtesy British Library.

• The mysteries of London’s hidden rivers are revealed in an exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. Secret Rivers brings together art and archaeology along with photography, film, and mudlarking finds to show how the city has been shaped by the Thames and its tributaries – and how they in turn have been shaped by Londoners. It explores how rivers including the Effra, Fleet, Neckinger, Lea, Tyburn, Walbrook, Wandle and Westbourne have all been “exploited for transport and industry, enjoyed and revered, and have influenced artists and writers”. Among items on display are rare surviving fragments of the 13th century Blackfriars Monastery which were used to line a well, a medieval fish trap, and drawings and prints depicting rivers – including James Lawson Stewart’s watercolour Jacob’s Island (1887) which depicts an artificial island located in the Neckinger at Bermondsey. The free exhibition runs until 27th October. A series of talks is accompanying the display. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands.

• All things African will be celebrated at the Open the Gate Festival in Shoreditch this weekend. The festival, one of a number of monthly key partner events being held in conjunction with the city’s new Africa in London festival – a summer long celebration of African culture and creativity, will be held at Rich Mix on Saturday and features live music, an African Market, family workshops and African street food. For more on the event and the Africa in London initiative, head to www.london.gov.uk/AfricaLDN.

• The UK’s first ever retrospective of Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova has opened in the Tate Modern’s Eyal Ofer Galleries this week. The exhibition brings together more than 160 international loans – including from Russia’s State Tretyakov Gallery, home of the largest collection of Goncharova works in the world – and features, at its heart, a room designed to evoke Goncharova’s remarkable 1913 retrospective at the Mikhailova Art Salon in Moscow which featured more than 800 works. Highlights of this show include Peasants Gathering Apples (1911), the monumental seven-part work The Harvest (1911) and nude paintings which led to her trial for obscenity as well as the four panel religious work Evangelists (1911), examples of her forays into fashion and interior design including Spring (1928) and Bathers (1922), a reunion of her ground-breaking works Linen, Loom + Woman (The Weaver) and The Forest (1911), and her collaborations with Ballets Russes including her costume designs for Le Coq d’or (The Golden Cockerel) and Les Noces (The Wedding) – performed on London stages in the 1920s and 1930s. Runs until 8th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

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

LondonLife – Museum of London announces hopes to acquire ‘Trump Baby Blimp’…

by exploringlondon

Against a backdrop of testy exchanges with London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, denials that he called the Duchess of Sussex “nasty”, comments in praise of Boris Johnson and criticism of the UK’s handling of Brexit, US President Donald Trump arrived in London on Monday for a controversial three day State Visit. The visit, during which he has attended a State Banquet with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace and is meeting with various political leaders, has already sparked protests and seen the reappearance of the famous ‘Trump Baby Blimp’ which first appeared over London’s Parliament Square during his non-State Visit last year. Now, the Museum of London has announced that it’s hoping to acquire the giant balloon along with one of Sadiq Khan which was created in protest at some of the mayor’s policies. In a statement released on Monday, the museum said it hoped to acquire both balloons and will be reaching out to their creators shortly. “London has played host to many historic protests,” the museum said in a statement. “From the Suffragettes of the early twentieth century to the anti-austerity marches, free speech and climate change rallies – the capital has always been the place to have your say.” It said that if acquired, the balloons will join the museum’s “protest collection” which comprises objects relating to the Suffrage movement 100 years ago, banners, flags, and tents that belonged to Brian Haw who used to actively protest outside the Houses of Parliament, as well as recent placards used by protestors against public spending cuts. For more on the museum, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk.

PICTURE: The Trump Baby Blimp seen over Parliament Square during last year’s presidential visit (Michael Reeve/licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

This Week in London – London’s architecture on show; D-Day commemorations at Duxford; and, Frank Bowling at the Tate…

by exploringlondon

• An exhibition charting the changing architecture of London opens at the Guildhall Art Gallery on Friday. Architecture of London features more than 80 works by more than 60 artists and spans the period from the 17th century to the present day. The display is arranged thematically and starts with views of London before exploring the city’s continuous transformation – including its rebuilding after World War II, moving on to portrayals of everyday London and finishing with a focus on architectural details that help form the rich tapestry of the city’s built form. Highlights include a rare Jacobean view of London – Old St Paul’s Diptych (1616), Canaletto’s London Seen Through an Arch of Westminster Bridge (1747), David Ghilchik’s Out of the Ruins at Cripplegate (1962), Richard IB Walker’s London from Cromwell Tower, Barbican (1977), and works by Spencer Gore, Lucian Freud, and Frank Auerbach as well as Brendan Neiland’s Broadgate Reflections (1989) and Simon Ling’s paintings of East London. The exhibition, runs until 1st December, is being accompanied by a series of talks as well as a ‘Late View’ on 27th September. Admission charge applies.

The display forms part of the City of London Corporation’s outdoor public events programme, Fantastic Feats: the building of London, which celebrates London’s long-standing history of architectural and engineering firsts and looks at how these innovations have contributed to improving the lives of Londoners over the centuries. Another of the projects taking place under the Fantastic Feats umbrella is Illuminated River, an unprecedented light artwork by American architect Leo Villarreal and London-based Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands that will be installed on up to 15 of London’s bridges with the first four bridges – London, Cannon, Southwark, and Millennium – to be lit up this summer. Architectural drawings and visualisations of the project will be on show at Guildhall from Friday until 1st September sitting alongside paintings of the Thames from the gallery’s collection which have been selected by Villareal. Admission is free applies. For more on either exhibition and Fantastic Feats, follow this link. PICTURED: One of the panels from the Old St Paul’s Diptych by John Gypkin (1616) –  Society of Antiquaries of London.

• A mass flight display will take place over the historic Duxford airfield in Cambridge next week as part of commemorations surrounding the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. On 4th and 5th June, IWM Duxford will host the Daks over Duxford event, featuring the greatest number of Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft – also known as Dakotas – in one location since World War II as well as mass parachute jumps and flight displays. The event will also feature a mass flight display over Duxford as aircraft head off for Normandy where parachute landings will take place on 6th June in a recreation of the original D-Day landings. Duxford is located less than 50 miles from central London. Admission charges apply. For more see www.iwm.org.uk/daks-over-duxford.

• The first major retrospective of the work of British painter Frank Bowling opens at the Tate Britain on Friday. Frank Bowling will span the artist’s entire six decade career and will feature early works like Cover Girl (1966) – seen for the first time in the UK since it was painted, 10 of his celebrated ‘Map Paintings’ including Who’s Afraid of Barney Newman (1968) and Polish Rebecca (1971), examples of his ‘Poured Paintings’, sculptural works like his Great Thames paintings, and Sacha Jason Guyana Dreams (1989), a work inspired by the artist’s first visit to his birth country of Guyana with his son Sacha. Runs until 26th August. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

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

LondonLife – Queen Victoria turns 200…

by exploringlondon

Queen Victoria was born on 24th May, 1819, at Kensington Palace and to celebrate the bicentenary, the palace, as well as holding two new exhibitions inside – Victoria: A Royal Childhood and Victoria: Woman and Crown, also features a new floral display in the surrounding gardens. A new display in the Sunken Garden which features plant species connected to the Victorian period – including heliotrope, canna, pelargonium and begonia – was planted this month for visitors to enjoy over the summer months. In addition, the palace’s gardens and estates team are showcasing a selection of new plant species discovered during the Queen’s reign around the formal gardens – everything from the Chilean lantern tree identified in 1848 to the Chinese fringe tree identified in 1845 – while the decorative pond which surrounds the statue of the Queen outside the East Front of the palace is being planted with aquatic plants and marginals that highlight and complement the iconic sculpture. There is also a special floral illustration using Victorian-style carpet bedding formed of Sempervivum ‘Mahogany’ to spell out ‘200 years’ in front of the statue (see picture). For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/Victoria2019. PICTURE: © Historic Royal Palaces/Richard Lea-Hair.

This Week in London – Kensington Palace celebrates Victoria; unseen Leonardo; and, William Hogarth and sound…

by exploringlondon


• Queen Victoria’s childhood and later life are being re-examined in two new displays which open this week at Kensington Palace to mark the 200th anniversary of her birth. Victoria: A Royal Childhood features objects related to her early years – such as a scrapbook of mementos created by her German governess, Baroness Lehzen (on public display for the first time) – shown along a newly presented route through the rooms she once occupied in the palace. Visitors will experience how her childhood was governed by the strict rules of the ‘Kensington System’ and see how she escaped isolation and family feuding into a fantasy world of story writing, doll making and drawing inspired by her love of opera and ballet. Her education, family life, closest friendships and bitter struggles are explored with interactive displays helping visitors bring to life the rooms in which she lived. Meanwhile, the palace is also hosting another new exhibition – Victoria: Woman and Crown – which looks at the private woman behind the public monarch and examines her later life, including her response to the death of Prince Albert, her role in shaping royal dynasties and politics across Europe and her complex love affair with India. Among objects on show here are rare survivals from the Queen’s private wardrobe including a simple cotton petticoat dated to around the time of her marriage, and a fashionable pair of silver boots, both of which were recently acquired by Historic Royal Palaces with support from Art Fund. Entry to the two exhibitions is included in the standard admission charge. The palace gardens, meanwhile, are being planted with a special floral display in celebration of the anniversary centred on plant species connected to the Victorian period  including heliotrope, canna, pelargonium and begonia. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/Victoria2019. PICTURES: Top  – The Birth Room in ‘Victoria: A Royal Childhood’; Right – Queen Victoria’s Highland dress in the ‘Victoria: Woman and Crown’ exhibition (Both images © Historic Royal Palaces/Richard Lea-Hair)

• A newly identified sketch of the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci goes on public view for the first time at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from tomorrow. Marking 500 years since the artist’s death, Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing also features the only other surviving portrait of Leonardo made during his lifetime as well as 200 of his drawings in which is a comprehensive survey of his life. The newly identified sketch was discovered by Martin Clayton, head of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection Trust, while he was undertaking research for the exhibition and has been identified as a study of Leonardo made by an assistant shortly before da Vinci’s death in 1519. The other contemporary image of Leonardo, by his pupil Francesco Melzi, was produced at about the same time. Other highlights of the exhibition include Leonardo’s Studies of hands for the Adoration of the Magi (c1481) – also on public display for the first time, studies for The Last Supper and many of the artist’s ground-breaking anatomical studies, such as The Fetus in the Womb (c1511). The drawings in the Royal Collection have been together since Leonardo’s death and are believed to have been acquired in the reign of King Charles II. Runs until 13th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.rct.uk/leonardo500/london.

• The use of sound in the art of William Hogarth is being explored in a new exhibition opening in The Foundling Museum on Friday. Hogarth & the Art of Noise focuses on the work The March of the Guards to Finchley and unpacks the social, cultural and political context in which it was created including the Jacobite uprising, the plight of chimney boys and the origins of God Save the King. It uses sound, wall-based interpretation, engravings and a specially commissioned immersive soundscape by musician and producer Martin Ware to reveal how Hogarth orchestrated the natural and man-made sounds of London. Complementing the exhibition is a display of works from contemporary British artist Nicola Bealing which takes as its starting point subjects and narratives found in 18th century broadside ballads. Runs until 1st September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk.

Send items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.

LondonLife – RHS Chelsea Flower Show in bloom…

by exploringlondon

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens today and once again features a series of cutting edge ‘show gardens’ boasting the best of international garden design as well as a series of smaller ‘artisan gardens’ offering thought-provoking designs that tell a story, ‘space to grow’ gardens which pack a lot into a small space and  dazzling displays in the Great Pavilion. This year’s offerings also include a special ‘RHS Back to Nature Garden’ designed by the Duchess of Cambridge with the help of Andrée Davies and Adam White of Davies White Landscape Architects, and a D-Day 75 Garden which, positioned in front of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, shows soldiers landing on a beach overlooked by a stone statue of veteran Bill Pendell. The show runs until Saturday with public entry from Thursday. For more, see rhs.org.uk/shows. PICTURES: Above – Florella’s Future, Discovery Zone, in the Great Pavilion; Below – Queen Elizabeth II smiles as views flower displays in the Great Pavilion (RHS/Luke MacGregor); The National Chrysanthemum Society’s exhibit, which is based on popular children’s television programmes of the 60’s and 70’s during prebuild (RHS/ Luke MacGregor); Paddleboarder Jo Mosely poses in ‘The Welcome to Yorkshire’ show garden (RHS/Suzanne Plunkett); The Queen and Prince William are given a tour by the Duchess of Cambridge of her ‘RHS Back to Nature Garden’ (RHS/Luke MacGregor); and, Normandy veterans pause in the ‘D-Day Revisited Garden’ designed by John Everiss Design (RHS/Suzanne Plunkett).

 

 

 

 

This Week in London – The Moon up close; a new Children’s Garden for Kew; and, FOOD at the V&A…

by exploringlondon

• Artist Luke Jerram’s installation Museum of the Moon goes on show at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington from tomorrow. Marking the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the six metre spherical sculpture can be found in the museum’s Jerwood Gallery where visitors are invited to watch – or join in – a performance piece called COMPANION: MOON by interactive theatre makers Coney. The sculpture, which depicts the far side the Moon, is accompanied by a surround-sound composition by BAFTA-winning composer Dan Jones. The sculpture is part of a season marking the 1969 Moon landing including lunar-inspired yoga classes for kids, a series of expert space-related talks and museum late openings. The installation can be seen until 8th September. Entry is free. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/moon. PICTURE: Image credit for all: Trustees of the Natural History Museum 2019 (Dare & Hier Media).

• A giant new ‘Children’s Garden’ featuring more than 100 mature trees and a four metre high canopy walk wrapped around a 200-year-old oak opens at Kew in London’s west this weekend. The 10,000 square metre garden – the size of almost 40 tennis courts – has been designed around the four elements plants need to grow: earth, air, sun and water. The Earth Garden features a giant sandpit and play hut village with tunnel slides; the Air Garden has winding paths, giant windmill flowers, pollen spheres, hammocks and trampolines and a mini amphitheatre; the Sun Garden features a large open space with cherry trees and pink candy floss grass as well as pergolas with edible fruits; and the Water Garden has water pumps and water lily stepping stones. Aimed at children aged between two and 12 years.  Entry included in admission. For more, see www.kew.org.

• A “sensory journey through the food cycle”, FOOD: Bigger than the Plate opens at the V&A on Saturday. The exhibition explores how the way we grow, distribute and experience food is being reinvented and, split into four sections, features more than 70 contemporary projects, new commissions and creative collaborations by artists and designers who have been working with chefs, farmers, scientists and local communities. Highlights include GroCycle’s Urban Mushroom Farm installation, a pedal-powered Bicitractor developed by Farming Soul to support small-scale farming, a working version of MIT’s Food Computer, and Christina Agapakis and Sissel Tolaas’ Selfmade project which cultures cheese from human bacteria. Admission charge applies. Runs to 20th October. For more see vam.ac.uk/food.

Send all items to exploringlondon@gmail for inclusion.

This Week in London – The written word at the British Library; London below ground; and, women artists at Tate Britain…

by exploringlondon

• Carved stone inscriptions, medieval manuscripts and early printed works are among items on display in a new exhibition looking at the act of writing and its impact on human civilisation at the British Library. Writing: Making Your Mark spans five millennia and five continents and includes writing examples from more than 30 writing systems including Greek, Chinese and Arabic. Highlights include an 1,800-year-old ancient wax tablet, early 19th century Burmese tattooing instruments, the final diary entry of Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, James Joyce’s notes for Ulysses, Caxton’s 1476-7 printing of The Canterbury Tales – the first book printed in England, and the personal notebooks of Elizabethan explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (pictured). There’s also a 60,000 signature petition from 1905 protesting the first partition of Bengal, Mozart’s catalogue of his complete works from 1784-1791 featuring his handwriting and musical notation, and Alexander Fleming’s notebook in which he recorded his discovery of penicillin in 1928. A programme of events accompanies the exhibition which runs until 27th August. Admission charge applies. For more see www.bl.uk. PICTURE: © British Library.

• London’s forgotten rivers, tunnels, sewers, deep shelters, and the world’s first subterranean railway are all explored in a new free exhibition at the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell. Under Ground London in part celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette – who designed the scheme to overhaul the city’s sewers in the 19th century. As well as Bazalgette’s landmark work, the exhibition explores the legend of a cobbled street buried beneath today’s Oxford Street and tells the story of the Thames Tunnel which, when it opened in 1843, was the world’s first tunnel under a river. There’s also information on London’s ‘ghost stations’, including Strand and King William Street; and the Metropolitan Railway – the world’s first underground railway as well as images of the River Fleet, displayed for the first time. The display can be seen until 31st October. For more, follow this link.

• Women artists working in Britain in the past 60 years are being celebrated in a new display at the Tate Britain in Millbank. Sixty Years features about 60 works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, drawing and film and includes many recent acquisitions. Artists whose works are on show include Mona Hatoum, Sarah Lucas, Bridget Riley, Mary Martin and Anthea Hamilton. Highlights include Gillian Wearing’s film Sacha and Mum (1996), Susan Hiller’s large scale multimedia installation Belshazzar’s Feast, the Writing on Your Wall (1983-84), and two new mixed media works by Monster Chetwynd – Crazy Bat Lady (2018) and Jesus and Barabbas (Odd Man Out 2011) (2018). For more, see www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain.

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

LondonLife – Night lights…

by exploringlondon

London illuminated. PICTURE: Christopher Burns/Unsplash

This Week in London – Easter in London; Chihuly at Kew; Sean Scully and JMW Turner; and, Mary Quant…

by exploringlondon

Wishing all of our readers a very happy Easter!

• Easter is being celebrated in London through a range of events over the long weekend. They include an ‘Easter Extravaganza’ treasure hunt for children at The Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, and a special Easter-themed trail at the Russia: Royalty & the Romanovs exhibition in the Queen’s Gallery, Lindt Gold Bunny Hunts at royal palaces including Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace, and, of course, all the pageantry of Easter services at the city’s many churches.

• A major new exhibition of the work of contemporary glass artist Dale Chihuly has opened at Kew Gardens in London’s west. Chihuly at Kew features 32 works by the Seattle-based artist at 13 locations across the gardens. Highlights include Sapphire Star – located at the Victoria Gate, Drawings, the Rotolo series and Seaforms – all located in the Shirley Gallery of Botanical Art and a new, specially-designed sculpture as well as nine other installations in the Temperate House. An interactive trail designed for families takes visitors around the installations and there will be special night-time viewings from 15th August. Kew is also running family activities during Easter. Chihuly runs until 27th October. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org.

• New works by Irish-born but American-based artist Sean Scully have gone on show at the National Gallery. Sea Star: Sean Scully at the National Gallery was inspired by the artist’s love for JMW Turner’s painting The Evening Star and features new and recent large scale multi-panel works that include his celebrated Landline paintings as well as Robe Blue Blue Durrow (2018), which suggests the seventh-century Book of Durrow from his native Ireland, and Human 3 (2018), inspired by the New York subway. Admission is free. Runs until 11th August. For more, see www.national gallery.org.uk.

• On Now: Mary Quant. This exhibition at the V&A focuses on the 20 years between 1955 and 1975 and reveals how Dame Mary Quant democratised fashion for a new generation as she popularised the miniskirt, colourful tights, and tailored trousers. The display brings together more 120 garments as well as accessories, cosmetics, sketches and photographs, most of which have never been on display. Highlights include 35 objects from 30 people received after a public call-out to track down rare Quant items from wardrobes across the nation and 50 photographs of women wearing their Quant clothes. Runs until 8th March, 2020. Admission charge applies. For more, see vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/mary-quant.

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

LondonLife – Shakespeare at home?

by exploringlondon

A theatre historian believes he has discovered where William Shakespeare lived while he was writing some of his most famous works including Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While it has long been known the playwright lived close to the site of Liverpool Street station in the late 1590s, Geoffrey Marsh says an examination of official records has pinpointed the location as being on the site of what is now an office block at 35 Great St Helen’s, only a stone’s throw from The Gherkin. The BBC reports that Marsh, who is also the director of the V&A’s department of theatre and performance, found Shakespeare was a tenant of the Company of Leatherworkers and most likely lived among dwellings overlooking the churchyard of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, pictured above. PICTURE: Via Google maps

This Week in London – Victoria’s coronet in new display; Edvard Munch at the British Museum; and Abram Games wartime posters…

by exploringlondon

• A sapphire and diamond coronet made for Queen Victoria goes on permanent display in the V&A’s William and Judith Bollinger Gallery from today. The new display is being unveiled as part of the V&A’s commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the births of the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert. The coronet was designed for the Queen by Prince Albert in 1840, the year they were married. Albert based the design on the Saxon Rautenkranz (circlet of rue) which runs diagonally across the coat of arms of Saxony. Victoria wore the coronet in a famous portrait by Franz Xavier Winterhalter completed in 1842 and again in 1866 when she wore it instead of her crown at the opening of Parliament. Entrance to the gallery is free. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.

• A major new exhibition of the work of Edvard Munch (1863-1944) opens at the British Museum in Bloomsbury today. Edvard Munch: love and angst, a collaboration with Norway’s Munch Museum, features 83 artworks taken from the museum’s collection as well as loans from across the UK and Europe. Highlights include a black-and-white lithograph of The Scream – the first time any version of the work has been on show in the UK for a decade, Vampire II – considered to be one of his most elaborate and technically accomplished prints, the controversial erotic image Madonna, and, Head by Head, a print representing the complex relationship between human beings. All of the latter three latter prints are being displayed alongside their original matrix (the physical objects Munch used to transfer ink onto paper). Runs until 21st July in the Sir Joseph Hotung Exhibition Gallery. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org. (PICTURE: The Scream (1895), Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Private Collection, Norway. Photo: Thomas Widerberg)

• A retrospective of the work of Abram Games (1914-1996), a poster artist for the War Office during World War II, has opened at the National Army Museum in Chelsea. The Art of Persuasion: Wartime Posters By Abram Games features more than 100 posters he designed while working in the War Office’s Public Relations Department between 1941 and 1945. It explores how his Jewish refugee heritage, his experiences while a soldier and the turbulent politics of the time shaped his career and how his work – Games is described as a “master of reductive design” – still influences design professionals today. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition last week, Games has been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former home in Golders Green. Runs until 24th November. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nam.ac.uk/artofpersuasion.

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

This Week in London – ‘Beasts of London’; the Cold War remembered; Prince Albert and the V&A; and, ‘Power UP’ returns..

by exploringlondon

• A state-of-the-art, multi-sensory experience focusing on the beasts, large and small, that have helped shaped London opens at the Museum of London tomorrow. Beasts of London, being run in conjunction with the Guildhall School and Music & Drama, tells the story of the capital from before London existed through to the city today, all through the perspective of animals. Inspired by objects in the museum’s collection, the nine “episodes” of the experience encompass subjects including the arrival of the Romans, the creation of the first menageries during the medieval period, the plague years of the 1600s, the first circuses in the late 1700s, the end of the animal-baiting period in the Victorian era and the role of animals in today’s contemporary city. There’s also a special episode on the contribution horses have made to the city. Well-known identities including Kate Moss, Brian Blessed, Pam Ferris, Nish Kumar, Stephen Mangan, Angellica Bell and Joe Pasquale provide voices for the animals alongside actors from the Guildhall School. The family-friendly experience can be enjoyed until 5th January, 2020. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/beastsoflondon. PICTURE: Lion sculpture; courtesy Museum of London.

• A new exhibition about Britain’s role in the Cold War opens at the National Archives in Kew today – exactly 70 years since the formation of NATO. Protect and Survive: Britain’s Cold War Revealed features original documents including political memos, spy confessions, civil defence posters and even a letter from Winston Churchill to the Queen as it explores the complexities of government operations during a time of paranoia, secrets and infiltration. Other highlights include George Orwell’s infamous list of suspected communist sympathisers, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin’s ‘percentages agreement’, a plan of Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb’s fateful spy mission, ‘Atom spy’ Klaus Fuchs’ confession and Civil Defence posters. There’s also a recreated government bunker and a 1980s living room showing the impact of the Cold War on both government and ordinary lives as well as digital screens on which Dame Stella Rimington, the first female Director General of MI5, shares her experiences along with insights from historian Dominic Sandbrook and curator Mark Dunton. The display is being accompanied by a series of events including night openings, film screening and talks. Runs until 9th November (30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Admission charge applies. For more, see nationalarchives.gov.uk/coldwar.

• Prince Albert’s personal contributions to the V&A’s Library collection are the subject of a new exhibition which opened this week as part of the South Kensington Institute’s celebration of the 200th anniversaries of the births of both the Prince and Queen Victoria. Prince Albert: Science & the Arts on the Page features books and photographs include one volume containing a letter written by the Prince’s librarian Ernst Becker highlighting Albert’s wish to promote knowledge and learning in science and the arts. There’s also a volume of songs written and set to music by Albert and his brother, featuring amendments in Albert’s own hand, as well as his signed season ticket to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Runs until 1st September on the Library Landing. Admission is free. Head here for more.

• Forty years of computer game history is once again on show at the Science Museum from Saturday. Returning for its fourth year, Power UP features 160 consoles and hundreds of games, from retro classics like Space Invaders to the latest in VR technology. Special events include two adults-only evening sessions on 10th and 17th April. Runs until 22nd April. For more, see sciencemuseum.org.uk/power-up.

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