Welcome to the IanVisits alternative guide to London.
Lectures, talks, heritage events, organised walks and other random geeky miscellany.
This is quite an old listings page, did you want: Sunday, 21st January 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
Free
(Un) Common Currency
Display exploring alternative currencies past and present – from 17th century trade tokens to today’s Brixton Pound. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Jan)
Museum of London
The first major exhibition of production designs by celebrated political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Jan)
House of Illustration
An exhibition of portraits of service staff from the fashionable hotels and restaurants of Paris in the 1920s (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Jan)
The Courtauld Gallery
An exhibition of light installations and interactive art throughout Canary Wharf. (Ending Soon Sat, 27th Jan)
Canary Wharf Station
The first large-scale exhibition in the UK of the work of American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
Barbican Centre
The annual Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition returns, providing a snapshot of the very best in innovative design from the past year. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
The Design Museum
£15.50
Tove Jansson (1914-2001)
An exhibition showing off the wide range of works by an artist more famous for inventing the Moomins. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Fifty new drawings of contemporary buildings – constructed during the second half of the 20th century but in an ostensibly 'Georgian' style - will be on display for the first time. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Feb)
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
The major exhibition brings together over 50 of Cézanne’s portraits from collections across the world, many visiting the UK for the first time. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Feb)
National Portrait Gallery
The Charles Dickens Museum explores the creation of the story that may just be the most loved of the author’s tales. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
Charles Dickens Museum
Discover Jon Snow's unique and colourful collection of ties crafted by the UK's last silk-weaving factory. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
The Design Museum
Explore the secrets behind Michael’s storytelling through his original drafts, adaptations, scripts and unpublished manuscripts. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
V&A Museum of Childhood
The exhibition explores Starley’s developments, still reflected in bicycles today, and celebrates his legacy. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
Vestry House Museum
Together the V&A and the Royal Opera House present a landmark exhibition exploring the vivid story of opera from its origins in late-Renaissance Italy to the present day (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
Victoria and Albert Museum
The exhibition showcases a display of wizarding books, manuscripts and magical objects. (Ending Soon Wed, 28th Feb)
The British Library
An exhibition dedicated to Cornwall’s most magical Museum. (Ending Soon Wed, 28th Feb)
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities
£11.50
Whales: Beneath the surface
More than 100 specimens from the Museum's collection will be on display together for the first time, (Ending Soon Wed, 28th Feb)
Natural History Museum
The nursing workforce is diverse, with healthcare workers representing a huge variety of backgrounds and experiences. This exhibition celebrates the contributions of some of the people whose work and lives have too often been overlooked. (Ending Soon Sat, 10th Mar)
Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre
A display of rarely-seen records, players and recorders, exploring how technology has transformed our listening experience. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Mar)
The British Library
Free
The People's Forest
A major new contemporary visual art project which explores the history, politics, and people of London’s ancient woodland, Epping Forest. (Ending Soon Sun, 18th Mar)
Barbican Centre
This display looks at the changing roles of currency and exchange in communist states in the century since the 1917 Russian Revolution. (Ending Soon Sun, 18th Mar)
The British Museum
Explore the history behind the creation of the open spaces, gardens, and conservatory that are found across the Barbican Estate and Arts Centre. (Ending Soon Tue, 20th Mar)
Barbican Centre
Take a journey through the remarkable history of Indian innovation and discovery. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Mar)
Science Museum
An ambitious survey of the technological and artistic development of photography in India. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Mar)
Science Museum
Dive into the unknown story of London’s lost canals created from the 1680s to the 1830s. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Mar)
Canal Museum
£8
Nature Morte
Explore the transience of time and the problem of mortality as the 16th-century tradition of still life meets modern art. (Ending Soon Mon, 2nd Apr)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
Discover how van Eyck’s 'Arnolfini Portrait' was one of the beacons by which the Pre-Raphaelites forged a radical new style of painting (Ending Soon Mon, 2nd Apr)
The National Gallery
This exhibition showcases an exquisite range of material, including Sanskrit, Persian and Tibetan manuscripts. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Apr)
Wellcome Collection
This exhibition includes objects of belief from societies around the world and through time. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Apr)
The British Museum
Original drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh have gone on display for the first time in nearly 40 years. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Apr)
Victoria and Albert Museum
An exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge report, which laid the foundation for the modern welfare state. (Ending Soon Fri, 13th Apr)
LSE Library
£8.50
Designs On Britain
Discover how much of the most iconic British design was produced by immigrants to this country. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
Jewish Museum London
An exhibition revealing the story behind the Museum’s most treasured possession. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
Sir John Soane's Museum
A major exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of Ferrari, celebrating one of the great adventures of the industrial age.A major exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of Ferrari, celebrating one of the great adventures of the industrial age. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
The Design Museum
A new exhibition surveying the variety of postcards from all periods relating to Fulham Palace and exploring what they reveal about its history. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
Fulham Palace
Free
Imagined Futures
Consider speculative London futures as depicted in fiction past and present. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
Museum of London
Free
London Visions
Fantastical realities seen through the eyes of artists, architects and designers. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Apr)
Museum of London
A large exhibition devoted to the music sensation. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Apr)
Southbank Centre
£15.50
David Milne: Modern Painting
This exhibition brings together more than ninety works in oil and watercolour, never-before-exhibited photographs and drawings by the artist. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th May)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
£11
The Lost Words
The relationship between language and the living world is celebrated in this exhibition of poetry and illustration (Ending Soon Sun, 6th May)
Foundling Museum
A rare opportunity to see stunning paintings, pastels, and drawings by leading French Impressionist Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas. (Ending Soon Mon, 7th May)
The National Gallery
£19.70
Impressionists in London
This exhibition presents captivating works by Monet, Tissot, Pissarro and their compatriots. (Ending Soon Mon, 7th May)
Tate Britain
This display examines the background to the first soldier of African descent to be awarded the Victoria Cross. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th May)
Museum of London Docklands
Enter the realm of venomous creatures in this eye-opening exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th May)
Natural History Museum
The UK’s first major exhibition of artists’ responses to war and conflict since the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. (Ending Soon Mon, 28th May)
Imperial War Museum
A display of more than 200 original illustrations of the nature of the British Isles. (Ending Soon Fri, 2nd Nov)
Natural History Museum