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: Wednesday, 1st May 2024?

 

 


Displayed in date order by how soon they close.

Explore this surreal lost property office where you will uncover stories in the most unlikely places. (Ending Soon Fri, 3rd May)

Barbican Centre
EC2Y 8DS
2019-05-01
Unclaimed - The Liminal Space
Ara Güler, who passed away last year, was known by many as one of the greatest photojournalists of his time (Ending Soon Sun, 5th May)

Saatchi Gallery
SW3 4RY
2019-05-01
Ara Güler Exhibition
A photographic exhibition documenting the living conditions of London’s most disadvantaged children. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th May)

Foundling Museum
WC1N 1AZ
2019-05-01
Bedrooms of London
Admire the gardens as they are brightened by the impressive 20,000 tulips planted throughout the gardens. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th May)

Eltham Palace
SE9 5QE
2019-05-01
Eltham Palace's Tulip Festival
With more than 800 images on display, this global photography exhibition presents all winning and shortlisted entries, including the Photographer of the Year, from this year’s Awards (Ending Soon Mon, 6th May)

Somerset House
WC2R 1LA
2019-05-01
2019 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition
This exhibition is the story of humanity’s ever-changing relationship with our nearest star. (Ending Soon Mon, 6th May)

Science Museum
SW7 2DD
2019-05-01
An exhibition of DANAD Design's trailblazing work from 1958–62, featuring their original furniture and surface designs. (Ending Soon Fri, 10th May)

Paul Smith
W1S 4BL
2019-05-01
DANAD Design 60th Anniversary exhibition
Explore the Library’s collection of pocket-sized friendship albums – made between the 16th and 19th centuries. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th May)

The British Library
NW1 2DB
2019-05-01
Friendship Before Facebook: Social Networks in a Pre-Digital Age
This exhibition explores the art, science, ethics and technology that enables human repair and alteration. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th May)

Science Gallery London
SE1 9SU
2019-05-01
Spare Parts - Rethinking human repair
Photography display exploring past and present Thamesmead through archival images from the RIBA Collections and contemporary photographs by artist Nina Manandhar.  (Ending Soon Thu, 16th May)

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
W1B 1AD
2019-05-01
Thamesmead: A Town for the 21st Century
The exhibition features twenty-four critically acclaimed projects that have pushed design boundaries through their exploration of the opportunities and challenges of timber structures.  (Ending Soon Fri, 17th May)

The Building Centre
WC1E 7BT
2019-05-01
Forest of Fabrication
Rembrandt’s legendary painting will be the centerpiece of an exhibition of self-portraits that will also include works by Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud, and Pablo Picasso (Ending Soon Sat, 18th May)

Gagosian Gallery
W1K 3QD
2019-05-01
Visions of the Self: Rembrandt and Now
The first major exhibition on Tudor and Jacobean portrait miniatures in the UK for over 35 years. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th May)

National Portrait Gallery
WC2H 0HE
2019-05-01
Elizabethan Treasures: Miniatures by Hilliard and Oliver
This display presents six innovative projects from the collections of the RIBA and the V&A, each demonstrating a unique experiment in social housing design. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th May)

Victoria and Albert Museum
SW7 2RL
2019-05-01
A Home for All: Six Experiments in Social Housing
This exhibition displays a selection of Cultural Revolution propaganda posters, revolutionary landscapes, images of the leader and intricate papercuts all of which were collected in China during the 1970s. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th May)

William Morris Gallery
E17 4PP
2019-05-01
Cultural Revolution - State graphics in China from the 1960s to the 1970s
A major exhibition exploring the role of drawing in contemporary architectural practice through the work of one of Britain’s leading architects and architectural draughtsmen​. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th May)

Sir John Soane's Museum
WC2A 3BP
2019-05-01
Eric Parry: Drawing
Spanning thousands of years, this takes a closer look at five objects that explore the relationship between food, power and control. (Ending Soon Mon, 27th May)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
Feeding history: the politics of food
A major exhibition of works by Martin Parr, one of Britain’s best-known and most widely celebrated photographers. (Ending Soon Mon, 27th May)

National Portrait Gallery
WC2H 0HE
2019-05-01
Only Human: Photographs by Martin Parr
The exhibition highlights selected maps illustrating the topographical history of Islington from 16th-century rural village to an urban Victorian district. (Ending Soon Fri, 31st May)

Islington Museum
EC1V 4NB
2019-05-01
Historic maps and plans of Islington (1553-1894)
Key pieces include rare and early examples of designs by Conran and Quant on display spaning the period from 1952 – 1977 (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jun)

Fashion and Textile Museum
SE1 3XF
2019-05-01
 Swinging London: A Lifestyle Revolution / Terence Conran – Mary Quant
The first ever exhibition outside of Norway of Harald Sohlberg, one of the greatest masters of landscape painting in the history of Norwegian art. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jun)

Dulwich Picture Gallery
SE21 7AD
2019-05-01
Harald Sohlberg: Painting Norway
The first solo UK exhibition by Myfanwy MacLeod, in partnership with the Contemporary Art Gallery (CAG, Vancouver). (Ending Soon Sat, 8th Jun)

Canada House Gallery
SW1Y 5BJ
2019-05-01
Canada Gallery Myfanwy MacLeod – Neighbours
This exhibition explores the objects people used to make music, what they sounded like, and how instruments were used in Romano-Egyptian rituals, homes, and childhood. (Ending Soon Sat, 8th Jun)

Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
WC1E 6BT
2019-05-01
Sounds of Roman Egypt
From flamboyant uniforms to fast horses, this exhibition looks at the shared heritage between the Hungarian and British hussars. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Jun)

National Army Museum
SW3 4HT
2019-05-01
Call in the Cavalry
An exhibition that covers a long period in the history of magic, from the 16th to the early 20th century. (Ending Soon Sat, 15th Jun)

Senate House Library
WC1E 7HU
2019-05-01
Staging Magic – The Story Behind The Illusion
Women were inspired to serve their country by Florence Nightingale's work. But in 1918, as WW1 approached its end, nothing could have prepared them for what was to come - the deadly Spanish Flu. (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Jun)

Florence Nightingale Museum
SE1 7EW
2019-05-01
The first major exhibition to explore the great twentieth-century British sculptor’s fascination with armour. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Jun)

Wallace Collection
W1U 3BN
2019-05-01
Henry Moore: The Helmet Heads
Free  
Drector and photographer James Morgan set out to capture the lives of the Bajau Laut, the world’s last true marine nomads. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Jun)

Horniman Museum
SE23 3PQ
2019-05-01
Sea Nomads
An exhibition of drawings made by artist Feliks Topolski of the Bank of England's new Debden bank note printing factory. (Ending Soon Fri, 28th Jun)

Bank of England Museum
EC2R 8AH
2019-05-01
Feliks Topolski: Drawing Debden
Explore the world's best nature photography, exhibited on 100 exquisite light panels. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jun)

Natural History Museum
SW7 5BD
2019-05-01
 Exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Journey from Hell, through Purgatory, to Paradise with artist Barrie Tullett in an exhibition of works responding to Dante’s Divine Comedy. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jun)

Southbank Centre
SE1 8XX
2019-05-01
The Typographic Dante
This exhibit takes you behind the scenes at Aardman revealing the creative process of making a special set of Christmas stamps for Royal Mail. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jun)

The Postal Museum
WC1X 0DA
2019-05-01
Wallace & Gromit Christmas Stamps Exhibit
Jews, Money, Myth explores the role of money in Jewish life and its often vexed place in relations between Jews and non-Jews, from the time of Jesus to the 21st century. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jul)

Jewish Museum London
NW1 7NB
2019-05-01
From 1947 to the present day, this exhibition traces the history and impact of one of the 20th century’s most influential couturiers, and the six directors who have succeeded him, to explore the enduring influence of the fashion house. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Jul)

Victoria and Albert Museum
SW7 2RL
2019-05-01
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams
Explore how our increasingly digital world could change the future of collections. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Jul)

The British Library
NW1 2DB
2019-05-01
Imaginary Cities
An exhibition featuring 100 illustrations and celebrates one of the world’s greatest cities – London – revealing some of the fascinating tales of London life past and present. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Jul)

London Transport Museum
WC2E 7BB
2019-05-01
The Poster Prize for Illustration 2019: London Stories
From the languid morphine addicts depicted by Albert Besnard to the disturbing smiling spider in the lithograph by Odilon Redon, all of the prints on display come from the British Museum’s rich collection of graphic work. (Ending Soon Thu, 18th Jul)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
Symbolist prints
Discover this pioneering, subversive artist as the British Museum lifts the veil on his life and works in the largest show of his prints in the UK for 45 years. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Jul)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
Edvard Munch: love and angst
This exhibition tells the story of how Robert and Ellen Paul really created cinema here in Haringey. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jul)

Bruce Castle Museum
N17 8NU
2019-05-01
A selection of Turner’s illustrations for Sir Walter Scott’s poetry and prose, part of the house’s permanent collection. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jul)

Turners House
TW1 2LR
2019-05-01
Showcasing the most spectacular space photography of its kind, the exhibition celebrates ten years of awe-inspiring images shot by astrophotographers worldwide. (Ending Soon Sun, 4th Aug)

Royal Observatory Greenwich
SE10 8XJ
2019-05-01
Astronomy Photographer of the Year Exhibition
Comprising 65 prints and drawings, this exhibition highlights Rembrandt’s technical and creative ingenuity on paper. (Ending Soon Sun, 4th Aug)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
Rembrandt: Thinking on paper
In this, the first major museum display of artists’ postcards, discover both the politics and playfulness of this unique collection of 300 postcards. (Ending Soon Sun, 4th Aug)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
The World Exists To Be Put On A Postcard
This display focuses on the rarely seen archives of queer venues and social networks collated by University College London’s Urban Laboratory. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Aug)

Whitechapel Gallery
E1 7QX
2019-05-01
Queer Spaces: London, 1980s – Today
More than 50 Lego models will be on show, from individual pieces, to awe-inspiring dioramas and mosaics. (Ending Soon Tue, 27th Aug)

Horniman Museum
SE23 3PQ
2019-05-01
Lego Brick Wonders
Discover the extraordinary history behind one of humankind’s greatest achievements: how we write (Ending Soon Tue, 27th Aug)

The British Library
NW1 2DB
2019-05-01
Writing: Making Your Mark
This display showcases examples of her childhood sketches and domestic projects alongside her famous illustrations that came later.  (Ending Soon Thu, 29th Aug)

Victoria and Albert Museum
SW7 2RL
2019-05-01
Beatrix Potter's Art: 'drawn with design'
Brilliant Visions presents drawings and paintings by Surrealist artists who took part in the Guttman-Maclay mescaline experiments of the 1930s. (Ending Soon Fri, 30th Aug)

Bethlem Museum of the Mind
BR3 3BX
2019-05-01
See an epic 20 feet panorama depicting the lost Houses of Parliament on display. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Sep)

Museum of London
EC2Y 5HN
2019-05-01
Panorama: London's lost view
This exhibition brings together the worlds of psychology and entertainment in search of the truth about deception. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Sep)

Wellcome Collection
NW1 2BE
2019-05-01
Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic
Step inside the world of Stanley Kubrick, one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Sep)

The Design Museum
W8 6AG
2019-05-01
This exhibition looks at how modern board games, educational toys, gambling and role-playing games reflect, inform and shape our understanding of economics and money. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Sep)

The British Museum
WC1B 3DG
2019-05-01
Playing with Money: currency and games
See remarkable never-before-displayed original illustrations and photographs. (Ending Soon Tue, 1st Oct)

Natural History Museum
SW7 5BD
2019-05-01
Expeditions and Endeavours
This major exhibition explores the life and legacy of the iconic designer Abram Games, focusing on his time as 'Official War Poster Artist' during the Second World War. (Ending Soon Tue, 15th Oct)

National Army Museum
SW3 4HT
2019-05-01
The art of persuasion: Wartime posters by Abram Games
The world's most celebrated contemporary glass artist is back, showcasing his work against the stunning backdrop of Kew Gardens.  (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Oct)

Kew Gardens
TW9 3AE
2019-05-01
Chihuly at Kew: Reflections on nature
Under Ground London explores our relationship with the subterranean capital, exploring hundreds of years of documents, images and plans to tell the story of the underground city (Ending Soon Thu, 31st Oct)

London Metropolitan Archives
EC1R 0HB
2019-05-01
Under Ground London