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: Friday, 27th December 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
A photography exhibition at City Hall showing off images from the Fire Brigade's archives. (Ending Soon Fri, 30th Dec)
City Hall
An exhibition of historic fans which depict the built environment. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Dec)
Fan Museum
A botanical wonderland awaits, with brightly coloured laser beams dancing over water, a Tunnel of Lights, scented Fire Garden and fairy-tale avenues of flora. (Ending Soon Mon, 2nd Jan)
Kew Gardens
Very odd art display in the Barbican's curve space. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Jan)
Barbican Centre
Step back through the centuries and discover the origins and meanings of some of the rich and vibrant traditions of Christmas past. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Jan)
This exhibition considers a fundamental yet little-examined aspect of life at the Foundling Hospital – food. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Jan)
A wide selection of Heath Robinson’s humorous drawings from both World Wars. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Jan)
Heath Robinson Museum
Go behind the scenes of some of the most iconic war films which have captured the imagination of cinema-going audiences for generations. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Jan)
Am exhibition of some of the souvenirs people could buy from the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. (Ending Soon Thu, 12th Jan)
The original diary of one of the 17th century's leading scientists is on display for the first time. (Ending Soon Thu, 12th Jan)
This exhibition shows off the winning photographs in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 competition. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
Horniman Museum
A glittering display of haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion from 1919 to 1929. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
The first ever exhibition devoted to the Dutch painter and draughtsman Adriaen van de Velde. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
Follow the rise and fall of the mental asylum and explore how it has shaped the complex landscape of mental health today. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
Explore the influence of one of art’s most infamous and revolutionary figures. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
National Gallery
Free
Gonks
Can you find the Gonks hiding around Southbank Centre? (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
Southbank Centre
Free
Punks
Punks tells the story of one of music's most explosive genres from the people who were there. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Jan)
Explore the impact of telegraphy on the artistic imagination and wider social consciousness in the 19th century. (Ending Soon Sun, 22nd Jan)
A hypnotic light display based on Islamic geometry in the main foyer of the Barbican. (Ending Soon Wed, 25th Jan)
Barbican Centre
The exhibition showcases the intricate handmade archives, indexes and scrapbooks painstakingly recorded by filmgoers and cinema obsessives, (Ending Soon Fri, 27th Jan)
The Peltz Gallery
Two outstanding masterpieces by Spanish painter Maíno, on display in the UK for the first time (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Jan)
National Gallery
A rare display of the British Museum’s collection of shadow theatre puppets from Southeast Asia. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Jan)
The British Museum
An exhibition that focuses on the wild variety of graphic art that emanated from an era of anti-establishment sentiment. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Jan)
Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
The artwork used for the print elements in the Harry Potter movies displayed by the original artists. (Ending Soon Sat, 4th Feb)
House of Minalima
This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see an outstanding range of surviving examples in one place. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Feb)
This major exhibition of over 80 works focuses on the artist’s portrayal of family, friends and lovers. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Feb)
National Portrait Gallery
The Vulgar is the first exhibition to explore the inherently challenging but utterly compelling territory of taste in fashion, (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Feb)
Barbican Centre
Free
Skating on Ice
This exhibition looks at the popular seasonal pastime of ice skating which, in London, dates back to at least the 12th century. (Ending Soon Wed, 8th Feb)
Museum of London
Free
Mise-en-abyme
An art and light installation made from materials recycled from a 2015 sculpture. (Ending Soon Fri, 10th Feb)
gallery@oxo
Celebrate some of the most popular entertainments of Victorian times (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Feb)
The British Library
This exhibition raises important questions about historical examples of forced migration and Britain’s response in the past. (Ending Soon Fri, 17th Feb)
Wiener Library
An opportunity to discover the work of 13 ceramicists in an exhibition spanning over 80 years of ceramic art. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
Jewish Museum London
See Quentin Blake's original drawings for Beatrix Potter's newly re-discovered story The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
House of Illustration
How have the finished and unfinished revolutions of the late 1960s changed the way we live today and think about the future? (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
This exhibition will look at the Bank of England's past, and explore the history of a medium that has come to dominate the world around us. (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
Bank of England Museum
This exhibition highlights the development of public health nursing and the roles nurses have played in improving public health. (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
Royal College of Nursing Library and Heritage Cent
This display steps inside the homes of 26 London teenagers to explore the meaning and significance of contemporary teenage bedrooms. (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
Material from the Laburnum Boat Club project has been redisplayed in this exhibition by London Canal Museum. (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
Canal Museum
An exhibition showing how maps changed how we look at the world, from Beck's tube map to spy maps. (Ending Soon Wed, 1st Mar)
Rembrant's Self-Portrait, Wearing a Feathered Bonnet is on display in London for the first time. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Mar)
Free
Robert Adam's London
An exhibition of some of Sir John Soane’s Museum’s most beautiful and influential designs for Adam’s projects in London. (Ending Soon Sat, 11th Mar)
Sir John Soane's Museum
The exhibition contains theatre posters, handwritten scripts, and film stills. (Ending Soon Sat, 11th Mar)
Bourne Hall Museum
A major exhibition celebrating the master hairstylist’s remarkable 40 year career, from the late 1970s to the current day. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Mar)
Somerset House
Discover the evolution of underwear design from the 18th-century to the present day. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Mar)
Isabelle Émilie de Tessier was a London actress, cartoonist and illustrator who worked under the pseudonym 'Marie Duval'. This exhibition at Guildhall Library is the first one dedicated solely to Duval's work as a nineteenth century pioneer of the art of comics. (Ending Soon Fri, 17th Mar)
Guildhall Library
This exhibition explores Impressionism in an Australian context – closely related to yet entirely distinct from its European counterparts. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Mar)
National Gallery
Free
Londinium AD 43
Photographer Eugenio Grosso takes you on a photographic journey through time from the foundation of London to the present. (Ending Soon Fri, 31st Mar)
Guildhall Library
See the world's longest Lego bridge, and a display about other bridges (Ending Soon Fri, 31st Mar)
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Library and Museum’s latest exhibition marks the centenary of the opening of the Royal Masonic Hospital. (Ending Soon Fri, 7th Apr)
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry
A special exhibition of original illustrations by John Kenney for the 1965 Ladybird life of Dickens. (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Apr)
Charles Dickens Museum
An exhibition about the woman in Admiral Horatio Nelson's life - Emma Hamilton. (Ending Soon Mon, 17th Apr)
£0
Fire! Fire!
An exhibition marking the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of 1666. (Ending Soon Mon, 17th Apr)
The first exhibition to focus on images of artists from within the Royal Collection. (Ending Soon Mon, 17th Apr)
£16.75
Adventures in Moominland
Explore the Moomins through the life of its author Tove Jansson (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Apr)
Southbank Centre
An exhibition of board games from modern classics to 18th century historical games. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Apr)
V&A Museum of Childhood
Explore Chamberlin, Powell and Bon's endeavour to combine spaciousness with high density development. (Ending Soon Wed, 26th Apr)
Barbican Centre
An exhibition that celebrates 250 years of the jigsaw puzzle, the largest of its kind ever shown. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Apr)
Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
This exhibition shows off coins and other objects that were defaced, usually to condemn the memory of deceased Roman Emperors. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th May)
The British Museum
Sir Quentin Blake has drawn special portraits of some of the most celebrated characters from Dahl’s stories. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st May)
British Library
The biggest international competition of its kind, annually showcasing spectacular images shot by astrophotographers worldwide. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
Free
The Price of a Mile
A display about the work of doctors who gave anaesthesia and pain relief to the wounded during the Battle of the Somme (Ending Soon Fri, 30th Jun)
Anaesthesia Heritage Centre
Free
Our Lives in Data
This exhibition investigates the rapidly evolving role of big data in all our lives and how it is being used to transform the world around us. (Ending Soon Fri, 1st Sep)
A substantial exhibition featuring around 200 original costumes, props, models, and pieces of artwork. (Ending Soon Sun, 3rd Sep)
O2 Arena / Millennium Dome
An exhibition that commemorates the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. (Ending Soon Mon, 15th Jan)
