Freud Museum London

This Week in London – Freud’s antiquities; how design can help the aging; and, new home for the Migration Museum…

by exploringlondon

• Sigmund Freud’s collection of ancient antiquities and books inspired by them are the subject of a new exhibition at the Freud Museum London in Hampstead. Freud’s Antiquity: Object, Idea, Desire, which opens Saturday, explores the crucial role the collection played Freud’s development of the concepts and methods of psychoanalysis. The display, which is co-curated by Professor Miriam Leonard of UCL, Professor Daniel Orrells of Kings College London, and Professor Richard Armstrong, of the University of Houston, discusses six separate aspects of Freudian theory alongside representative objects from the collection and spans his entire psychoanalytic career from 1896 to 1939. Alongside the physical objects is a comprehensive digital multimedia resource, containing video recordings, podcasts, photographs of rarely seen objects from the collection, and a list of suggested reading. A series of events accompanies the exhibition. Runs until 16th July. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.freud.org.uk/exhibitions/freuds-antiquity-object-idea-desire/.

PICTURE: Ardfern (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0/image cropped)

• A new display at the Design Museum will showcase how cutting-edge design can help people live “more independently, sustainably and healthily but also with joy and fulfilment” as they age. Designing for our Future Selves, which opens on Friday, follows on from last Future of Ageing exhibition and will feature 10 design initiatives currently being developed by Design Age Institute and its partners which aim to positively impact the way we live and work as we grow older. The exhibition is free to visit. Runs until 26th March. For more, head here.

• A permanent home for the Migration Museum, currently based in Lewisham, will be built in the Square Mile following planning approval this week. The new facility at 65 Crutched Friars will be located in a 21-storey building and will consist of three floors featuring space for exhibitions and events, a cafe and a shop. The City of London Corporation said the developer had agreed to provide the museum space rent-free for 60 years and to cover its operating costs for three years, and has also donated £500,000 to support its fund-raising campaign.

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This Week in London – Celebrating Antarctica through dance and science; and, the Freuds in exile…

by exploringlondon

• A free dance and science festival celebrating Antarctica opens at the Science Museum in South Kensington on Tuesday. Antarctica Live features daily dance performances – including a newly devised performance by award-winning choreographer Corey Baker, workshops and hands-on experiences with real survival equipment to shed light on how the frozen continent is responding to increasing human activity and how its fate can affect us all. Visitors will also be able to see a scale model of the recently launched polar research vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough. A special “lates” event on 29th August in the museum’s IMAX Theatre will premiere the documentary film Dancing on Icebergs, which charts the two year making of the short film, Antarctica: The First Dance, featuring Madeleine Graham, star of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (pictured). The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Corey Baker. Antarctica Live runs until 30th August. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/antarctica-live. PICTURE: Madeleine Graham in Antarctica The First Dance © Jacob Bryant.

• On Now: Leaving Today – the Freuds in Exile 1938. This exhibition at the Freud Museum London in Hampstead focuses on the flight and exile of Sigmund Freud, his wife Marta and daughter Anna as, following Hitler’s annexation of Austria, they left Vienna on 4th June, 1938, heading to a new life in London. It features original documents, letters and objects, many of which have never been on public display before. Highlights included the documents Freud and his family required to exit Austria and enter Britain, Freud’s personal correspondence with figures like Albert Einstein and HG Wells, and the first public display of Marie-Louise von Motesiczky’s painting The Psychoanalyst. The exhibition also features a series of works created by young people attending the Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile in collaboration with Barnaby Barford. Runs until 30th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.freud.org.uk.

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