• The most complete Roman pottery kiln found in Greater London is going on public display in Highgate Wood in what is the first public showing since its discovery in 1968. The kiln has been restored thanks to a £243,550 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and will be unveiled at 11am on Sunday as part of the annual Highgate Wood Community Heritage Day. The day, which runs until 4pm, will see the firing of a replica kiln and there will also be guided walks, a children’s Roman-themed woodland adventure workshop, arts, crafts, and other activities. The kiln will be on show in the Information Hut. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/highgate-wood-community-heritage-day.
Concept image of Khaled Brooks’ ‘The Wake’. Courtesy of Mayor of London
• Khaleb Brooks’ sculpture The Wake has been selected as the new Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery to be located at West India Quay. The design, which features a seven metre tall cowrie shell in recognition of the shell’s role as symbol of slavery. A number of smaller shells will also be installed at other locations in London that have connections to the trade of enslaved people. Khaleb’s work was selected from a shortlist of six proposals by an artistic advisory panel of experts following a public consultation period. The memorial will be unveiled in 2026.
• Members of the public are invited to view a shortlist of ideas for the proposed Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery to be located in West India Quay. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged £500,000 to fund the memorial which will be the first of its kind in the UK. Short-listed works include Alberta Whittle”s Echoes from beneath the deep and in between the canes (a Caribbean-style pavilion alongside a sugarcane field and cowrie shells which are synonymous with the trade in enslaved people); Zak Ové’s Nana Buluku (an 11 metre tall and richly decorated representation of an African Queen, Nana Buluku); Grada Kilomba’sArchaeology of Contemplation (this uses the image of a boat as a metaphor of remembrance, remembering those who were transported as cargo by the British and other nations); Helen Cammock’sRipple (a large-scale, circular stone structure with six discoverable engraved texts in West African wood); Hew Locke’sMemorial for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade (bronze sculptures of boys and girls carrying buildings which were built in London from money earned by the trade in enslaved people); and, Khaleb Brooks – The Wake(a large scale cowrie shell which represents the perseverance, prosperity and beauty rooted in African and African diasporic heritage). An online exhibition of the shortlisted work is available to view on https://www.london.gov.uk/transatlantic-slavery-memorial and the public is invited to give their feedback.
• Winning entries from the Royal Parks’ photographic competition Creating Spaces for Life can be seen online. Take a gander, which features four goslings under the protective wing of a parent, won the competition which invited visitors to photograph the new life emerging in the eight Royal Parks during the springtime. Other entries among the winners included a swan taking flight, a silhouetted coot appearing to walk on water and a common blue butterfly pictured in the spring sunshine. To see the winning images, head to www.royalparks.org.uk/photography-competition-creating-spaces-for-life.
• An iconic red coat worn by Princess Diana when she announced she was pregnant with Prince William is going on show in a new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands at West India Quay. Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners shaped global style – the first major exhibition in two decades centred on the museum’s extensive dress and textile collection – tells the story of Jewish designers, makers and retailers responsible for some of the most recognisable looks of the 20th century. As well as the David Sassoon-designed coat,it also features a newly acquired Alexon tweed coat worn by EastEnders character Dot Cotton, hats relating to the ‘milliner millionaire’, Otto Lucas, who changed the global reputation of British fashion in the mid-20th century, and garments designed by Mr Fish, a leading figure of the Peacock Revolution whose flamboyant menswear was worn by stars including Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Muhammad Ali. The fashion items are joined by personal items from some of the 200,000 Jewish people who arrived in Britain between the late 19th and mid 20th century, such as a small travelling case used by a child arriving in London as part of the Kindertransport (the rescue effort of children from Nazi-controlled territory in 1938-1939), and a leather bag owned by a woman who fled from Vienna in 1938. Opens on Friday and runs until 14th April next year. Admission charges apply. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whats-on/exhibitions/fashion-city
• Drawing on everything from Hokusai to Pokémon and Studio Ghibli, the influence of Japanese folklore on Japan’s art and design is the subject of the first exhibition at the new Young V&A. Japan: Myths to Manga is divided into four sections – Sky, Sea, Forest, and City – and features more than 150 historic and contemporary objects along with hands-on activities for visitors of all ages ranging from manga-making to Taiko drumming and yōkai interactive. Highlights in the display include works by celebrated 19th century Japanese artists, such as Hokusai’s Great Wave (1831), Sylvanian families matched with historic netsuke (small sculptures), a stage model for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of My Neighbour Totoro, and a Hello Kitty rice cooker from 2014. An installation of 1,000 paper cranes, a symbol of remembrance from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan, will also be present. The display, which opens at the Bethnal Green premises on Saturday, runs until 11th August next year. Admission charges apply. A series of events linked to the exhibition are also being run. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/japan-myths-to-manga.
• Anti-racism activist and a ‘founding spirit’ of the Notting Hill Carnival, Claudia Jones, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque in Vauxhall. The plaque marks the mid-19th century terraced house that was her home for almost four years during which she founded the West Indian Gazette and came up with the idea of bringing Caribbean carnival to London (the first carnival took place in It was during her time living in this shared dwelling that Jones founded the West Indian Gazette and came up with the idea of bringing Caribbean carnival to London (the first carnival took place in St Pancras Town Hall on 30th January, 1959; the Notting Hill Carnival, an outdoor event, came later). For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.
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• The archive of writer, teacher and ethno-psychotherapist Beryl Gilroy has been acquired by the British Library. Highlights from the archive, which includes working drafts for published and unpublished novels, letters with publishers and literary agents and ‘born-digital’ material, is at the centre of the free Celebrating Beryl Gilroy display which opened in the Treasures Gallery earlier this month. Gilroy, who was born in Guyana (then British Guiana) and who immigrated to Britain in 1952, became the first black head teacher in London in 1969 and wrote a number of acclaimed children’s books to better reflect the lives of her pupils. Her works – which explore the lives of families, particularly of women and children, the impact of 20th century migration and societal change that came as a result – also included number of novels, a collection of poems, non-fiction writing and a 1976 memoir, Black Teacher. The free display can be seen until 26th June. For more, see www.bl.uk.
• A controversial bronze statue of merchant and slave trader Robert Milligan which formerly stood on West India Quay outside the Museum of London Docklands is joining the museum’s collection. The statue was removed in June, 2020, following a petition signed by over 4,000 people called for it to be removed from public view. Its acquisition by the museum follows a public consultation conducted in partnership with the Tower Hamlets Council and landowners Canal & River Trust, which concluded that the statue should be housed in a museum where it can be fully contextualised. “Over the last 15 years, the museum has been working with academics, community leaders and activists to tell the story of London’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and give voice to its legacy,” said a museum spokesman. “The West India Docks, championed by Milligan using wealth from the slave trade, are a visible reminder of how this history has shaped our city. It is right and important that we acknowledge this in the statue’s story. We will now take time to consult with the local community to decide how best to take this forward as part of our collection.” The statue will be held in storage whilst the museum consults further with local communities about how best to present it.
• The impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on children’s play is the subject of an online exhibition launched by Young V&A and its partners UCL and the University of Sheffield this week.Play In The Pandemic features some of the 100 submissions sent in from around the globe in answer to a call-out from The Play Observatory research project for people to submit their experiences of play – everything from music videos to children’s artworks and films made by parents showing their children splashing in puddles – alongside objects from the Young V&A’s collection. The exhibition, which takes the form of an unfolding origami house, also features a series of activities – ranging from how to make your own origami house to creating dens and window boxes for people to get involved. Head to the Play Observatory website.
• Expect people to be out and about around London at all hours this weekend with the kick-off tonight of Museums At Night, Culture24’s annual festival of after hours visits. This year’s packed program features everything from ‘Arts on Ice’ – a look at the Victorian ice trade – at the London Canal Museum to art nights at the Government Art Collection building, nocturnal tours of Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College, and, for the first time, the chance for adults to sleep over at Hampton Court Palace and kids at Kensington Palace. Other London organisations taking part include the Handel House Museum, the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Benjamin Franklin House, the National Gallery and Somerset House (and that’s just a few off the list!). For more information on the night – including a full program of events – check out the Culture24 Museums at Night website.
• Government spin comes under the spotlight in a major new exhibition which opens tomorrow at the British Library in King’s Cross.Propaganda: Power and Persuasion examines how state have used propaganda in the 20th and 21st centuries and features more than 200 exhibits including Nazi propaganda and everyday objects such as banknotes and badges. Admission charge applies. There’s a series of events running to coincide with the exhibition which runs until 17th September. For more, see www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/propaganda/index.html.
• It’s 10 years since the Museum of London Docklands opened in a converted Georgian warehouse on West India Quay and to celebrate they’re holding an exhibition celebrating the Thames estuary. Titled (appropriately enough), Estuary, the exhibition features the work of 12 artists in a variety of mediums – from film and photography to painting. Entry is free. The exhibition, which opens tomorrow, runs until 27 October. The museum is also holding a special day of family activities to celebrate its creation this Saturday. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Docklands/.
• On Now: STEADman@77. This exhibition at The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury looks at the work of graphic artist Ralph Steadman (who is celebrating his 77th birthday) and features more than 100 original works published in magazines ranging from Private Eye to Rolling Stone, Punch and the New Statesmen as well as his illustrated books (these include Sigmund Freud, Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking-Glass, I, Leonardo, The Bid I Am, and Animal Farm). Runs until 8th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.cartoonmuseum.org.
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