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This Week in London – Peru’s orchids celebrated at Kew; Brazilian Modernism at the Royal Academy; and a tribute to The Clash’s Joe Strummer…

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From a previous Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens which celebrated the biodiversity of Madagascar. PICTURE: © RBG Kew

• Kew Garden’s iconic orchid festival returns this Saturday with a Peruvian twist. The gardens’ 29th orchid festival explores some of the 3,000 species of orchids found in Peru’s varied landscapes. Inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory will be a floral recreation of the scenery of Peru including a cornucopia sitting on a grass island in the central pond which was inspired by Lake Titicaca and, in a smaller pond, floral parihuanas (flamingoes) stand proud in front of the iconic Machu Picchu. The display also includes the world’s largest bromeliad – Puya raimondii (commonly known as the Queen of the Andes) – which will be shown alongside floral sculptures inspired by the plant. The country’s diverse wildlife, meanwhile, is celebrated with an orchid aviary that brings to life the diverse bird populations of Peru, and visitors are welcomed by an alpaca bedecked in orchids. Visitors can also wander under a starry night sky adorned with dazzling allium flower heads, which will be recycled from Kew’s outdoor garden displays. There is also large-scale photography taken by celebrated Peruvian photographer Mariano Vivanco and new artworks created for the exhibition of Lima-born artist Gisella Stapleton. Runs until 2nd March. Admission charge applies (advance booking required). For more, see www.kew.org.

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• The diversity of 20th century Brazilian art is being celebrated in a new exhibition which opened at the Royal Academy this week. Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism features more than 130 works by 10 important Brazilian artists and spans the period from the 1910s to the 1970s. The artists include pioneers of Brazilian modernism such as Anita Malfatti, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, Jewish Lithuanian emigré Lasar Segall, Candido Portinari and Tarsilo do Amaral as well as self-taught artists such as Alfredo Volpu, Djaniro da Motta e Silva, Rupert Valentim, Geraldo de Barros, and the artist and architect Flávio de Carvalho. The exhibition also features a section dedicated to the historic Exhibition of Modern Brazilian Paintings, which took place at the Royal Academy in 1944 and was the first exhibition of modern Brazilian art in the UK. Runs until 21st April. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

• A “legacy stone” commemorating the former residence of musician and former lead singer of The Clash, Joe Strummer, has been unveiled in North Paddington. The stone was installed in the newly refurbished Maida Hill Market on the corner of Walterton Road, a location where Strummer, who died in 2002, squatted during the 1970s ( in fact, his address of 101 Walterton Road inspired the name for the band the 101ers). The stone is inscribed with lyrics sung by Strummer in the song Clampdown from The Clash’s 1979 album London Calling including “the future is unwritten” and “No man born with a living soul can be working for the clampdown”. The stone was installed as part of Westminster City Council project to revitalise the market and Market Hill Area.

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This Week in London – Marking Turner’s 250th; ‘Helios’ at the Painted Hall; Churchill in cartoons; and, Royal Parks’ new Elizabeth II garden wins grant…

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JMW Turner, Self-Portrait, c.1799
Image courtesy of Tate

• Cultural institutions across the UK have announced a year long celebration of renowned painter JMW Turner in honour of the 250th anniversary of his birth. Turner 250 includes more than 30 events with Turner’s birthday on 23rd April a particular focus. Events on the day include the opening of an exhibition of Turner’s rarely-seen images of wildlife at Turner’s House in Twickenham, and the opening of a newly refreshed room in Tate Britain’s Clore Gallery which will be home to a permanent free display of 100 works by the artist. More information will be forthcoming.

• Luke Jerram’s newest and most ambitious large scale artwork, Helios, is making its London premiere at the Old Royal Naval College. Co-commissioned by the Old Royal Naval College, this new seven-metre celestial artwork depicts the Sun in all its glory at a scale of 1:200 million. The imagery for the artwork has been compiled using photographs of the Sun provided by astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green (taken between May, 2018, to June, 2024) and NASA observations of the Sun along with guidance from solar scientist, Professor Lucie Green of University College London (UCL). The sculptural work is accompanied by a specially created surround sound composition created by acclaimed artists Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson. Runs from Saturday until 25th March. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://ornc.org/whats-on/helios/

Helios by Luke Jerram in the Painted Hall. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Old Royal Naval College.

• On Now: Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman. The Imperial War Museum in Lambeth is marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill with this exhibition examining how Churchill is represented in political cartoons, both during his life and after. The display features 24 original artworks spanning the period from 1909 to 2003 and examines how these portrayals influenced public perception of the statesman, from his early career as an MP to the role he played in both World Wars, the “Wilderness Years” between and after he lost the 1945 General Election. Among the works are
a cartoon from Punch magazine in 1914 depicting Churchill supporting the Roman sea god Neptune with aircraft (representing the establishment of the Royal Naval Air Service), a 1941 David Low cartoon shows a cigar-smoking Churchill with US President Franklin D Roosevelt during their Atlantic Conference, and, a cartoon by US cartoonist Jim Berryman marking Churchill’s defeat in the 1945 election. The free exhibition closes on 23rd February. For more, see www.iwm.org.uk/events/churchill-in-cartoons-satirising-a-statesman.

• Royal Parks have been awarded a £450,000 grant to support the creation of a new, two-acre garden in The Regent’s Park. The garden, to be funded with the grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation, will commemorate the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II and will feature a circular pond enhancing wildlife habitats, a central promenade with an accessible platform over the pond, and a vibrant flower garden showcasing species which were significant to the late Queen, such as the specially bred Narcissus ‘Diamond Jubilee’ or Tulipa ‘Royal Celebration’. The new garden is set to open in 2026.

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This Week in London – New artworks on the Tube network; Boulle clocks at the Wallace Collection; and, see extinct-in-the-wild doves at London Zoo…

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• Transport for London has announced it will be unveiling four major new artworks on the Tube network this year as part of its Art on the Underground programme which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. The works include Saved by the Whale’s Tail, Saved by Art, a large-scale piece by artist Ahmet Öğüt in collaboration with New Contemporaries In Art which, to be unveiled at Stratford Underground station in March, explores the role art plays in everyday life. There’s also a new artwork by Hungarian-born American artist Agnes Denes which will be featured in a new pocket Tube map, a new audio work produced by artist and composer Rory Pilgrim with the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk (CCSaR) programme which will be heard at Waterloo Station in June and July, and, a new mural by Rudy Loewe which will be unveiled at Brixton Tube station in November. For more on Art on the Underground, see https://art.tfl.gov.uk.

Attributed to André-Charles Boulle, movement by Jean Jolly, Mantel clock (About 1715)/© The Trustees of the Wallace Collection 

• On Now: Keeping Time: Clocks by Boulle. This exhibition at the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square explores the art and science of timekeeping through a display of five pieces created by André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732). Boulle, the most famous cabinetmaker working for the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV (1638–1715), ended up giving his name to a style that featured elaborate veneer designs incorporating turtleshell, brass and other materials. The objects on show in the Housekeeper’s Room include a monumental wardrobe from 1715 that encloses a clock; two mantel clocks, one from around 1715 featuring Venus and Cupid, and another, from a decade later, with the figure of Father Time; as well as two pedestal clocks. A complementary display in the museum’s Billiard Room brings together two artworks as it explores the concept of time – The Dance to the Music of Time (about 1634-6) by Nicolas Poussin in which the Four Seasons dance to the song of Father Time, the composition of their rhythmic bodies echoing the workings of a clock movement, and The Borghese Dancers (1597–1656), where five female figures masquerade as the Hours, attendants to the goddesses of the Dawn and Moon. Runs until 2nd March. Free admission. For more, see www.wallacecollection.org.

Adult Socorro doves at London Zoo’s Blackburn Pavilion. PICTURE: © London Zoo

• London Zoo has welcomed three new Socorro doves as part of a global effort to breed and reintroduce them to the wild. The three doves, which moved from Portugal’s Lagos Zoo at the end of 2024, have joined six other Socorro doves at the zoo. The species, which is extinct in the wild, is endemic to the tiny Socorro Island off the coast of Mexico and the Socorro Dove Project, an international initiative, is working to reintroduce the species to the island by 2030. The Socorro doves can be seen in Blackburn Pavilion, London Zoo’s historic tropical birdhouse, which is also home to the endangered Sumatran laughingthrush, the critically endangered Bali starling and the critically endangered blue-crowned laughingthrush. For more, see www.londonzoo.org. 

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This Week in London – Natural History Museum scientists name new species; Ketna Patel at the Heath Robinson Museum; and, David Hoffman’s images of the East End…

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Interior of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. PICTURE: Michael D Beckwith/Unsplash

• A snake named after actor Leonardo DiCaprio, fossilised dung named after the author of Winnie the Pooh and a piranha named after Sauron, the evil Lord of the Rings figure, are among 190 new species named by London’s Natural History Museum scientists in 2024. The Anguiculus dicaprioi, or DiCaprio’s Himalayan snake, was named after DiCaprio while Alococopros milnei is a fossilised dung named after AA Milne in recognition of Winnie the Pooh (get it?) and a vegetarian piranha, or pacu, was named Myloplus sauron due to its resemblance to JRR Tolkien’s Eye of Sauron. Other newly named species included a new dinosaur from the Isle of Wight, now known as Comptonatus chasei, which was named for fossil hunter, Nick Chase, and a new species of pterosaur which was named Ceoptera evansae. For more on the museum, see www.nhm.ac.uk.

• The work of British-Indian artist Ketna Patel is the subject of a new exhibition at the Heath Robinson Museum. REMIXOLOGY: The Art of Cultural Storytelling by Ketna Patel invites audiences to
“reflect on how identity is shaped – by ourselves and by society” and celebrates what is described as her “signature approach” to her work which involves remixing diverse cultural influences into something new. The display can be seen at the Pinner museum until 8th February. Museum admission charge applies. For more, see www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org.

• Now on: Endurance & Joy in the East End: The photography of David Hoffman. This exhibition, hosted by the Museum of the Home, features the work of one of the leading “photographers of protest” in the UK and spans a 10 year period starting in 1973 when Hoffman lived in a squat in Fieldgate Mansions and documented issues seen in Whitechapel including homelessness, racism and the rise of protest. Running until 30th March, it can be seen in the Undercroft at 136 Kingsland Road. For more, see www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions-and-installations/endurance-and-joy-david-hoffman/

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LondonLife – London, wrapped for Christmas …

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Christmas bells in Covent Garden. PICTURE: Paul Arps (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Carolling in Trafalgar Square. PICTURE: steve_w (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Lights in Regent Street Saint James’s. PICTURE: JuliaC2006 (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Cutty Sark Christmas tree. PICTURE: sarflondondunc (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Leadenhall Market. PICTURE: Artem Manchenkov/Unsplash

Cartier with a cosmic display in New Bond Street. PICTURE: JuliaC2006 (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

This Week in London – London homes at Christmas; Christmas Eve at the Dickens’; and, ‘Women & Freud’…

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A Christmas Tree (not part of the Museum of the Home). PICTURE: Tj Holowaychuk/Unsplash

• The Museum of the Home in Shoreditch has once again redressed its ‘Rooms through Time’ display for the festive season. Located in the Grade I-listed Almshouses and adjoining Branson Coates Wing, the display spans the some 400 years and explores how seasonal festivals, culture and personal traditions” have shaped our lives at home during the winter months. This year the redressing also includes seven new period homes which reflecting the stories of East London. See everything from a Midwinter Celebration in 1630 to a Midnight Mass in 1956, a Christmas Party in 1978, and a futuristic New Year’s Eve in 2049. Runs until 12th January. Admission is free. For more, see www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/rooms-through-time/winter-past-2024-2025/.

• Join the Dickens family for Christmas. The Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury is holding a special Christmas Eve opening with the house decorated in a traditional Victorian style. Guests, who each receive a free mince pie and mulled wine or soft drink alternative, will be able to watch adaptations of A Christmas Carol, including The Muppet Christmas Carol, throughout the day in ‘The Smallest Theatre in the World.’ Admission charge applies. To book, head to https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-events/christmas-eve-at-the-charles-dickens-museum.

On Now: Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists. This display at the Freud Museum in South Hampstead draws on manuscripts, images, objects, visuals, and film footage to bring to life the many women who shaped Freud’s life including everyone from the early “hysterics”, who Freud called “his teachers” to later patients such as Princesse Marie Bonaparte (who went on to become an analyst) through to his daughter Anna Freud and her partner Dorothy Burlingham, to artists such as Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, Louise Bourgeois, Paula Rego, Alice Anderson and Tracey Emin. The exhibition also celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Sigmund Freud’s work by Hogarth Press, founded and owned by Virginia and Leonard Woolf and a key feature in Bloomsbury life. Admission charge applies. Runs until 5th May. For more, see www.freud.org.uk/exhibitions/freuds-women/

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This Week in London – One of the world’s most valuable watches at Science Museum; medieval silk bag (with a story) goes on show at Westminster Abbey; and, new electric bus display at London Transport Museum…

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The ‘Marie Antoinette’ perpetuelle, Breguet, No 160, Paris, 1783-1820
© The Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem

• One of the world’s most valuable watches – the No 160 watch which Abraham-Louis Breguet designed for Marie Antoinette but which wasn’t completed until the 1820s, well after her death – is the star of the show at the Science Museum’s new exhibition Versailles: Science and Splendour. Opening today, the exhibition, created in partnership with the Palace of Versailles, takes visitors on “a 120-year journey through the evolution of science at Versailles” and explores how Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI encouraged the pursuit of scientific knowledge and harnessed that knowledge as a tool of power. More than 100 objects are on display and, along with Breguet’s watch, they include Louis XV’s rhinoceros, a detailed map of the moon by Jean-Dominique Cassini, and Claude-Siméon Passemant’s Clock of the Creation of the World (1754). The watch, meanwhile, has its own fascinating history, including two decades in which its whereabouts were unknown after it was stolen in 1983 (in fact, its display in this exhibition marks the first time the timepiece has travelled abroad since its safe return to the LA Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in 2008). Runs until 21st April. Admission charge applies. For more, see sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/versailles.

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• A medieval silk seal bag, which dates from the reign of King Henry III, has gone on public display for the first time in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey. The display follows the discovery by scholars that the bag’s material is a perfect match to the silk cloth used to wrap the remains of the Emperor Charlemagne when he was buried in Germany’s Aachen Cathedral (Charlemagne, seen as the first Holy Roman Emperor, died in 814 but was re-buried in the karlsschrein (Charles’s shrine) at Aachen in 1215). The bag at the abbey contains a wax seal, the Great Seal of King Henry III, which was attached to an inventory of the jewels and precious items on Edward the Confessor’s shrine located in the heart of the abbey. It was drawn up in 1267 when Henry III was in financial difficulties and forced to pawn items from the shrine to Italian merchants to raise funds (it is believed the items were all returned within 18 months). The silk used for Charlemagne’s shroud is believed to have been spun in the 12th century in Spain or the eastern Mediterranean and, while the small piece at the Abbey originates from a separate silk, it is understood that it would have been produced by the same weavers on the same loom. The bag can been seen until Easter next year. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/plan-your-visit/the-queens-diamond-jubilee-galleries/.

• A new interactive electric bus display has opened at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. The Wrightbus Electroliner display – which has been provided by Transport UK London Bus – is based on an electric vehicle bus type which has been part of the fleet of buses operating in London since 2023. The new display features the front of the bus and includes an interactive driver cab and passenger space. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.ltmuseum.co.uk.

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This Week in London – Queen Victoria’s Christmas childhood; Parmagianino’s Madonna and Child with Saints; and, Buckingham Palace winter tours…

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• Step back in time at Kensington Palace this Christmas with an experience inspired by Queen’s Victoria’s childhood at the palace. Victoria’s Childhood Christmas features intricately designed installations – everything from trees hung with sugar ornaments and handmade paper decorations to bespoke illustrations and period-style gifts – as well as an exploration of how some of the traditions still celebrated today – such as arranging numerous Christmas trees on table tops and displaying unwrapped presents around them – can be traced back to the 1830s at Kensington Palace. There’s also a pop-up theatre set which captures the magic of Victoria’s winter trips to London opera houses and a festive-themed afternoon tea inspired by Princess Victoria’s Christmas traditions served in The Orangery. The experience, which is included in general admission, can be seen until 5th January. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/

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Parmigianino (1503–1540), ‘Studies of Saints John the Baptist and Jerome, a Crucifix and Various Heads’ (recto), about 1525–7; Red chalk on paper, 13.5 × 22.1 cm; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (87.GB.9); PICTURE: Courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program

• Parmigianino’s Madonna and Child with Saints (1526‒7) returns to display in The National Gallery for the first time in a decade in honour of the gallery’s 200th anniversary. The work, which is also known as The Vision of Saint Jerome, was presented to the gallery in 1826 and is being displayed with a selection of some of the most important preparatory drawings providing a rare opportunity to follow the artist’s creative process. The painting can be seen in Room 46 until 9th March. Entry is free. For more, see nationalgallery.org.uk.

• The Buckingham Palace State Rooms are open for one hour tours on select dates throughout winter. Led by an expert guide, the tours, which have a maximum of 30 people, include a complimentary guide. For more, see https://www.rct.uk/whatson

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LondonLife – Christmas comes to 10 Downing Street…

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PICTURE: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer turned on lights on the Christmas tree outside 10 Downing Street on 2nd December. The couple were joined by NHS workers, military personnel and members of the police. The Christmas tree is the winner of a competition run by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, chosen for showcasing “the finest dedication, craftsmanship and commitment of British Christmas tree growers”. This year’s Nordmann Fir was grown by Evergreen Christmas Trees – a family run business based on the Welsh border who have been growing Christmas trees since 1992. The runner-up in the Christmas tree competition – Cadeby Tree Trust from Warwickshire – have supplied two Christmas trees for inside Downing Street. The wreath for the famous door at Number 10, meanwhile, was provided by Santa Trees, a Christmas tree farm from Cornwall. Lights on London’s most famous Christmas tree – that in Trafalgar Square – are being turned on this Thursday (5th December).

This Week in London – ‘Electric Dreams’ at Tate Modern; The Reflection Room; and, last chance to get NYE tickets…

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Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss, Liquid Views (1992). Liquid People at
“Arte Virtual”, Metro Opera, Madrid, Spain, 1994 (detail). ZKM Karlsruhe. © Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss

• Early innovators of optical, kinetic, programmed and digital art are being celebrated in a new exhibition which opens today at Tate Modern. Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet features the work of more than 70 artists who worked between the 1950s and the dawn of the internet age and “who took inspiration from science to create art that expands and tests the senses”. Works on show include Electric Dress (1957) by Japanese artist Atsuko Tanaka of the Gutai group which is being shown alongside her circuit-like drawings, German artist Otto Piene’s Light Room (Jena) which surrounds viewers in a continuous light ‘ballet’, British-Canadian Brion Gysin’s homemade mechanical device, Dreamachine no.9 (1960-76) which creates kaleidoscopic patterns, and Tatsuo Miyajima’s eight-metre-long wall installation of flashing LED lights, Lattice B (1990), which is a meditation on time. A series of rooms, meanwhile, explores the art shows which played a key role in the development of digital art including London’s groundbreaking ‘Cybernetic Serendipity’ exhibition held at the ICA in 1968, and the exhibition also features the work of early adopters including US artist Rebecca Allen and Palestinian Samia Halaby as well as some of the earliest artistic experiments in virtual reality such as Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss’ interactive installation Liquid Views (1992). Runs until 1st June. Admission charge applies. For more, see tate.org.uk.

• The Museum of London Docklands is launching The Reflection Room, a new display space for artists on Friday. The new space, which the museum says will offer “room to explore a range of ideas and perspectives that foreground emotions and human experiences connected to London’s history”, will open with British-Caribbean artist Zak Ové’s mixed media installation Exodus. The installation, which is said to suggest a “reflection on today’s discourse around migration” will be accompanied by a wall of historic maps that present a visual sense of data on international migration, agricultural trade, and tourism between 1500 and 2005. Exodus can be seen until May. Admission is free. For more, see www.londonmuseum.org.uk/docklands/.

• The final tranche of tickets for London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display go on sale on Monday, 2nd December, at noon. Tickets must be bought in advance to attend and cost between £20 and £50 depending on the viewing area while Londoners will pay £15 less on each ticket booked than those living outside of the capital. Tickets will be available at www.ticketmaster.co.uk. For more on the event, see www.london.gov.uk/nye.

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This Week in London – Photographing the 80s; Tirzah Garwood at Dulwich; and, Mars comes to Greenwich…

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Paul Trevor, ‘Outside police station, Bethnal Green Road, London E2′ 17 July 1978. Sit down protest against police racism’, 1978 © Paul Trevor

• The largest survey of the development of photography in Britain across the 1980s to date goes on show at the Tate Britain today. The 80s: Photographing Britain draws on almost 350 images and archive materials from the period to explore how photographers responded to the “seismic social, political, and economic shifts around them” during the decade. It features the work of more than 70 lens-based artists and collectives and features images taken from across the UK – from John Davies’ post-industrial Welsh landscape to Tish Murtha’s portraits of youth unemployment in Newcastle and Don McCullin’s portraits of London’s disappearing East End. Along with documentary photography capturing key political events such as John Harris and Brenda Prince’s images of the miners’ strikes and
Syd Shelton and Paul Trevor’s images of anti-racism demonstrations, the exhibition also includes
a series of thematic displays, featuring works such as Roy Mehta and Vanley Burke images of their multicultural communities, which explore how photography became a compelling tool for representation. Other subjects covered include countercultural movements that took place in the 80s and the presence and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community during the period of the AIDS epidemic. Runs until 5th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

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Tirzah Garwood, ‘Etna’, 1944, oil on canvas. PICTURE: Courtesy of Fleece Press/Simon Lawrence

• The first major exhibition devoted to the British artist and designer Tirzah Garwood has opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious comes 10 years after the critically acclaimed show celebrating the work of Eric Ravilious, husband of Garwood who was a celebrated artist and printmaker in her own right. More than 80 of Garwood’s work are on show including most of her existing oil paintings. Along with Garwood’s works – which include everything from woodgravings to a series of experimental marbled papers and collaged paper portraits – are 10 watercolours by her husband which draw out the couple’s “thematic similarities, shared interests and distinct artistic personalities”. Runs until 26th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.

• Luke Jerram’s massive travelling installation Mars is unveiled at the Painted Hall in Greenwich this Saturday. Measuring seven metres in diameter and internally lit, the work features detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface, recreated to scale (but about a million times smaller than the actual planet). The installation, which follows on from Jerram’s earlier artworks Gaia and Museum of the Moon, features a surround sound composition by BAFTA-winning composer Dan Jones which includes clips from NASA missions to Mars. Can be seen until 28th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://ornc.org/whats-on/mars/.

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This Week in London – Christmas at Kew; Picasso’s prints; and, the T rex dons its Christmas jumper…

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• World premiere installations Ombre by TILT – which takes the “form of a series of giant plants in bloom springing up from the landscape in a spectrum of vibrant shades” – and Threshold by Studio Vertigo – an “illuminated helix-like shape, bathed in golden yellow light to evoke the warmth and joy of the festive season” are at the centre of this year’s Christmas light trail at Kew Gardens. Other highlights at this year’s festive showing include Camellia Walk, which has been transformed into a snowy lane which showcases the spectacular tree canopy and evoking a wintery wonderland, Fish are Jumping by Dutch artists TOER and Mist Arches by Culture Creative which create “an atmospheric ambience across Kew’s Lake Crossing”. Annual favourites such as the light show on the Temperate House, the Fire Garden and Christmas Cathedral have also returned along with the Palm House finale. The trail can be visited on selected dates until 5th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see
www.kew.org/christmas.

The frugal meal, 1904 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024

• Around 100 prints by Pablo Picasso – including some from his 347 Suite which have never been displayed before – are on show in a new exhibition at the British Museum. Picasso: Printmaker charts the artist’s engagement with printmaking (he produced around 2,400 in total) and centres on some of the more than 500 now in the British Museum’s collection (the largest in the UK). Highlights include his first professional print – The Frugal Meal (1904 – pictured) – as well as prints from the Vollard Suite (1930-1937) such as the aquatint Faun Uncovering a Woman (1936), and, the 347 Suite‘s Tree in the Storm, with Flight Towards a Church (1968). The exhibition can be seen in Room 90 until 30th March. Admission charges apply. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org/picasso.

• The T rex’s new Christmas jumper has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum. This year’s design – which can be seen modelled by the T rex – features festive colours of red, blue, green and white and an image of the museum’s latest prehistoric resident, Fern the Diplodocus, who took up residence in the redesigned gardens earlier this year. The jumper can be seen in the Dinosaur’s Gallery until January. Human-sizxed versions can be bought in the museum shop (www.nhmshop.co.uk). For more, see nhm.ac.uk.

The Natural History Museum unveils its 2024 Christmas jumper on its famous animatronic T rex in annual festive display. PICTURE: © Trustees of the Natural History Museu

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LondonLife – Remembrance Sunday…

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Some 10,000 people lined Whitehall to watch the The Royal British Legion’s Veterans Parade and take part in the annual two-minute silence at the Cenotaph on Sunday…

Chelsea Pensioners march past the Cenotaph during the National Service of Remembrance. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
King Charles III leads the Royal Party during the National Service of Remembrance. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
King Charles III salutes after laying a wreath at the Cenotaph during the National Service of Remembrance. PICTURE: Sgt Jimmy Wise//UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a Minute Gun from Horse Guards Parade at 11am to begin the Two Minute Silence. They then fired a second gun to mark its conclusion. PICTURE: Cpl Tim Hammond/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
Wreaths at the foot of the Cenotaph after the National Service of Remembrance. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

This Week in London – Lord Mayor’s Show; ‘Poppy Fields at the Tower’; and, ‘The Great Mughals’ at the V&A…

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• The Lord Mayor’s Show – featuring the 696th Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King – will be held this Saturday. The three-mile long procession – in which the Lord Mayor will ride in the Gold State Coach – features some 7,000 people, 250 horses, and 150 floats. It will set off from Mansion House at 11am and travel down Poultry and Cheapside to St Paul’s Cathedral before moving on down Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street to the Royal Courts of Justice. The return journey will set off again at 1:10pm from Temple Place and travel via Queen Victoria Street back to Mansion House where he will take the salute from the Pikemen and Musketeers at 2:40pm. For more information, including where to watch the show, head to https://lordmayorsshow.london.

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 Poppy Field at the Tower. PICTURE: © Luxmuralis / Historic Royal Palaces.

• An immersive sound and light show commemorating World War I and II opens at the Tower of London tomorrow ahead of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. Historic Royal Palaces has partnered with Luxmuralis to present Poppy Fields at the Tower with visitors invited to go inside the Tower where – recalling the 2014 display Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red in the Tower of London moat to mark the centenary of World War I – the walls will not only be illuminated with tumbling poppies but also historic photographs, documents and plans. The display is being accompanied by music composed by David Harper, and poetry recordings. Visitors will also be granted special access to see the Crown Jewels after-hours to learn more about their removal from the Tower during both World Wars. Runs until 16th November and should be pre-booked. Admission charges apply. For more, see https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/poppy-fields-at-the-tower/.

Akbar handing the imperial crown to Shah Jahan in the presence of Jahangir, Bichitr. Dated regnal year 3 (18th January 1630–7 January 1631), the borders c1630–1640. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper. Folio
from the Minto Album. © CC BY – 4.0. Chester Beatty, Dublin

• An exhibition celebrating the golden age of the Mughal Court opens at the V&A in South Kensington on Saturday. The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence examines the “creative output and internationalist culture” of Mughal Hindustan during the age of its greatest emperors, a period spanning c1560 to 1660. More than 200 objects are on display arranged in three sections corresponding to the reigns of the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605), Jahangir (1605 to 1627) and Shah Jahan (1628 to 1658). The objects include paintings, illustrated manuscripts, vessels made from mother of pearl, rock crystal, jade and precious metals. Highlights include four folios from the Book of Hamza, commissioned by Akbar in 1570, and the Ames carpet which was made in the imperial workshops between c1590 and 1600 and is on display for the first time in the UK. There’s also a unique wine cup made from white nephrite jade in the shape of a ram’s head for Shah Jahan in 1657, two paintings depicting a North American Turkey Cock and an African zebra created by Jahangir’s artists, and a gold dagger and scabbard set with over 2,000 rubies, emeralds and diamonds. Runs in Galleries 38 and 39 until 5th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.

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LondonLife – John Keats at Moorgate…

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The new sculpture of John Keats with Lord Mayor of the City of London, Michael Mainelli.. PICTURE: Courtesy of the City of London Corporation.

A new sculpture of Romantic poet John Keats has been unveiled near his birthplace in Moorgate to mark the 229th anniversary of his birth.

The work of British artist Martin Jennings, the sculpture is a bronze cast of an enlarged life mask of Keats which was made when he was 21 (he died just four years later of consumption in 1821).

A plaster cast of the life mask is owned by Keats House, in Hampstead, and it was scanned and digitally enlarged as the basis for the sculpture which is mounted on a stone plinth. The plinth in turn is set in a circular slate base inscribed with some words from the Keat’s Ode on Idolence.

The new statue, which was unveiled last Thursday, was funded by former City of London Corporation Alderman, Bob Hall, who has donated it to the City of London Corporation. Hall has previously funded a statue of poet John Donne – the work of Nigel Boonham – which sits outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

Keats was son of an ostler at an inn and livery stable called The Swan and Hoop, which stood not far from the modern-day Moorgate station.

This Week in London – Medieval women at the British Library; Renaissance drawings at The King’s Gallery; and, ‘Duo’ in the Painted Hall…

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Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (Add Harley MS 4431, f. 290r). © British Library

• The lives of medieval women are the subject of a new exhibition at the British Library. Medieval Women: In Their Own Words features more than 140 objects with highlights including a letter bearing the earliest known signature of Joan of Arc which has never before been displayed outside France, a manuscript made in the early 15th century under the personal supervision of Christine de Pizan – the first professional women author in Europe, a 12th   century ivory carving which belonged to Sybilla of Flanders, and, the oldest surviving Valentine’s Day letter, sent by Margery Brews in 1477. There’s also the book Behinat Olam Mantua, published between 1476 and 1480 by Estellina Conat who was the first recorded woman to print a book in Hebrew, the only surviving copy of the earliest known autobiography in English, The Book of Margery Kempe, which was probably written around 1438, a 15th century birthing girdle and the largest hoard of medieval gold coins ever discovered in Britain which was probably gathered as a result of Margaret of Anjou’s fundraising efforts in support of the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses. The display is a multi-sensory experience which, as well as the objects on show, features scent installations, films, music and interactive digital technologies. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a programme of events, can be seen until 2nd March. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.bl.uk.

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Annibale Carracci, ‘A landscape with a lobster’, c1590. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

• An exhibition of the widest range of drawings from the Italian Renaissance ever to be shown in the UK opens at The King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace on Friday. Drawing the Italian Renaissance features more than 160 works by more than 80 artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. The works are all drawn from the Royal Collection and more than 30 are on display for the first time while a further 12 have never been shown in the UK. Highlights include Raphael’s The Three Graces in red chalk (c1517-18), Fra Angelico’s The bust of a cleric (c1447-50), a chalk study of an ostrich attributed to Titian (c1550), Leonardo da Vinci’s A costume study for a masque (c1517-18), Michelangelo’s The Virgin and Child with the young Baptist (c1532), and works by lesser-known artists such as Paolo Farinati’s 1590 study of three mythological figures under an arch. Admission charge applies. Can be seen until 9th March. For more, head to www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/drawing-the-italian-renaissance/the-kings-gallery-buckingham-palace

• Melek Zeynep Bulut’s postponed installation Duo can be seen in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich – but only until Sunday. Presented in partnership with the London Design Festival, Duo is a suspended installation which explores the concepts of duality and interaction. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://ornc.org/whats-on/ldf/.

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This Week in London – ‘The World of Tim Burton’; Halloween at Hampton Court, the Tower, and Kew Gardens; and, Diwali celebrations…

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Tim Burton and curator Maria McLintock visit ‘The World of Tim Burton’ , on 23rd October. PICTURE: Matt Crossick/PA Media A (courtesy of the Design Museum)
Tim Burton, Untitled (Edward Scissorhands), 1990. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS ©1990. 20th Century Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

• The fantastical world of celebrated film-maker Tim Burton is on display in a touring exhibition opening at the Design Museum on Friday. The World of Tim Burton, making its final stop after a decade-long world tour, showcases his 50 years of creative output and looks at not only his role as film-maker but as illustrator, painter, photographer and author. Drawn from Tim Burton’s personal archive as well as film studio collections and other private holdings, the more than 600 objects include film props, drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, moving-image works, sculptural installations, set and costume design. Highlights include the Catwoman suit from 1992’s Batman Returns, Wednesday Addams’ viral Rave’N dance dress from the recent Netflix series and the Edward Scissorhands costume worn by actor Johnny Depp in the 1990 film. There’s also early drawings of the Martians from Mars Attacks! (1996), the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Emily in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005) and a specially created cinema experience which gives voice to some of Burton’s key collaborators and is being shown in a bespoke art-deco space reminiscent of the theatres Burton frequented as a child growing up in Hollywood. Runs until 21st April. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-world-of-tim-burton.

• Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London are marking Halloween with a series of spine-tingling events which delve into the mysterious past of the royal residences. From Saturday, visitors to Hampton Court Palace can, among other things, discover the ‘Alchemist’s Apothecary’ and meet the ghost of a long-departed alchemist, venture into the ‘Spider’s Lair’ in the depths of the palace’s wine cellar, catch a glimpse the frantic ghost of Catherine Howard in the Haunted Gallery, and encounter the spirit of Sybil Penn, a former nurse to Henry VIII’s son Edward, who has haunted the palace hallways ever since her tomb was disturbed. At the the Tower of London, meanwhile, the grounds have been transformed, hosting everything from a haunted chess game on the South Lawn to a glimpse into the tower’s astronomical past, complete with celestial maps and scientific instruments. Events take place until 3rd November. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/ or www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/.

• The first Halloween-themed light trail has opened at Kew Gardens with eerie illuminated trees, ghoulish installations and fire performers. Visitors can wander through an illuminated spiders web or discover a neon Carnivorous Tree feeding on unsuspecting skeletons by choosing one of three sessions to attend (daylight, twilight and moonlight) with things getting scarier as the evening progresses. Runs until 3rd November. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/halloween-at-kew.

• Diwali is being celebrated on Trafalgar Square this Sunday in a free, family-friendly festival. Delivered in partnership with the volunteer-led Diwali in London committee, the event – which showcases the culture of London’s Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities – features a programme of dance, music, activities and food. Highlights include dance workshops, sari and turban tying and the new Bhajan singing space where groups will perform throughout the day. The day runs from 1pm to 7pm. For more, see www.london.gov.uk/events/diwali-square-2024.

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This Week in London – Constable and ‘The Hay Wain’; Hew Locke at the British Museum; and, first NYE tickets on sale…

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NG1207, John Constable, ‘The Hay Wain’, 1821, Oil on canvas 130.2 × 185.4 cm © The National Gallery, London

• John Constable’s iconic work The Hay Wain is the focus of a new free exhibition opening at The National Gallery. Discover Constable and The Hay Wain, which is being held as part of the gallery’s 200th anniversary celebrations, will look at the innovative nature of the painting when it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821 and show how Constable came to be established as a master in the history of British art. It will also examine the subsequent ownership of the painting, its acquisition by the National Gallery in 1886, and the rise in popularity of both Constable and The Hay Wain in the years since. The free exhibition in the Sunley Room opens today. Runs until 2nd February. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/discover-constable-and-the-hay-wain.

• A new exhibition examining how the British Museum’s collection reflects the legacies of British imperial power opens today. A collaboration with renowned Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke, Hew Locke: what have we here? is Locke’s “personal and emotive exploration” of the collection and features well-known objects from across the museum’s collection alongside specially commissioned new works by Locke. Can be seen until 9th February in the The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery (Room 35). For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

• The first tickets for London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration go on sale at noon tomorrow (Friday 18th October). The tickets, which cost between £20 and £50 depending on the viewing area (London residents pay £15 less on each ticket), represent the first of two batches of tickets to go on sale. Tickets must be purchased to watch the fireworks in person and only tickets bought from the authorised outlet Ticketmaster will be accepted. For those who can’t get tickets, the fireworks show is being broadcast live on the BBC. www.london.gov.uk/nye.

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This Week in London – Dick Whittington explored at the Guildhall Library; Francis Bacon’s portraits; and, the 60th Photographer of the Year competition…

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PICTURE: Courtesy of the City of London Corporation

• A new exhibition exploring the life of one of the City of London’s most famous Lord Mayors has opened at the City of London’s Guildhall Library. Marking the library’s 600th anniversary, Whittington, the Man, the Myth and the Cat uses chapbooks (small printed booklets used for street literature in early modern Europe), children’s books, and works relating to pantomimes, to investigate Whittington’s story (including the question of whether or not he owned a cat). The exhibition details Whittington’s “rags to riches” tale and the many myths that later grew up around him, revealing information about his many loans to to kings (Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V), how he was three times Lord Mayor of London (1397, 1406 and 1419) and how he paid for the building of public lavatories at St Martin Vintry and a refuge for unmarried mothers at St Thomas’ Hospital as well as the rebuilding of Newgate Prison, and the establishment of the first library at Guildhall. Addressing the myth of the Whittington’s cat, it explains how it may have come about as a result of a play on words – ‘cat’ (or cattes) being a word used to describe a fleet of boats used for importing and exporting which was a mistranslation of the French word, ‘achat’, for trade. The exhibition, which runs until April next year, is free to visit. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries/guildhall-library.

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• The first exhibition in almost 20 years to focus on Francis Bacon’s portraits opened at the National Portrait Gallery, off Trafalgar Square, this week. Francis Bacon: Human Presence charts the artist’s career through 50 of his works arranged in five sections – ‘Portraits Emerge’, ‘Beyond Appearance’, ‘Painting from the Masters’, ‘Self Portraits’, and ‘Friends and Lovers’. Works on show include self-portraits as well as Head VI (1949), Study for a Pope I (1961), Three Studies for a Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne (1965) and Portrait of a Man Walking Down Steps (1972). The exhibition also includes photographic portraits and film of Bacon by some of the century’s leading photographers, including Cecil Beaton, Arnold Newman, and Bill Brandt. Can be seen until 19th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.npg.org.uk.

‘The Swarm of Life’ by Shane Gross, Canada, winner of the 60th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

• A Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, Shane Gross, has won this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for an image capturing the magical underwater world of western toad tadpoles. The Swarm of Life is among 100 prize-winning images which are going on show at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington from tomorrow as it celebrates the 60th year of its Photographer of the Year competition. This year’s contest attracted a record-breaking 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories. Among the other images on display are German Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas’ Life Under Dead Wood  depicting the fruiting bodies of slime mould with a tiny springtail (Tinker-Tsavalas won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year). Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The exhibition runs until 29th June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy.

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LondonLife – ‘CONGREGATION’ at St Mary Le Strand…

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