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, 24th January 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
The Art of Innovation explores the relationship between science and art over the past 250 years, and how it has helped to interpret, study and explore the world around us. (Ending Soon Fri, 24th Jan)
Science Museum
This display of selected clothes, accessories and memorabilia demonstrates Hartnell’s innovation and lasting effect on British design and craftsmanship. (Ending Soon Sat, 25th Jan)
Fashion and Textile Museum
Free
Winter Lights
Canary Wharf will be transformed by over 25 spectacular installations, leaving the dark winter evenings aglow. (Ending Soon Sat, 25th Jan)
Canada Square Park
This comprehensive exhibition will explore five decades of the distinguished career of a British design legend. (Ending Soon Sat, 25th Jan)
Fashion and Textile Museum
£18
Bridget Riley
Spanning 70 years of Riley’s work, this exhibition offers visitors an unparalleled opportunity to experience powerful and engaging works by one of the most important artists of our time. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
Hayward Gallery
This exhibition features a large-scale installation and paintings that draw on the scientific concept known as string theory. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
White Cube Bermondsey
The first-ever exhibition devoted to the portraits of Paul Gauguin. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
The National Gallery
Charting the history of cultural and artistic interactions between East and West, this exhibition explores the impact the Islamic world has had on Western art for centuries. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
The British Museum
The Gallery becomes a painting studio, an imagined chapel and a room-sized experiment in this immersive exhibition that leads you through the mind of Leonardo da Vinci to explore his masterpiece, ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
The National Gallery
See more than 50 paintings, prints and drawings in which this modern master of British art turns his unflinching eye firmly on himself. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
Royal Academy of Arts
The first exhibition in the UK to fully explore the relationship between the English Arts and Crafts movement and the Bauhaus, the ground-breaking German art school. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
William Morris Gallery
This major exhibition is the first-ever to focus on the untold story of the women of Pre-Raphaelite art. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
National Portrait Gallery
Artists Anna Alcock, Hannah Ford, Miyuki Kasahara, Alke Schmidt and Sandie Sutton respond to this crisis with new work that draws on research into the causes of the decline of pollinators. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Jan)
Vestry House Museum
An exhibition of paintings by Alison Chaplin of the ever-changing landscape of Epping Forest. (Ending Soon Wed, 29th Jan)
Barbican Arts Centre
On the centenary of the Bauhaus school, one of the most famous and influential design schools in modern history, this exhibition looks afresh at the birth of Modernism in Britain. (Ending Soon Sat, 1st Feb)
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Free
Forged by Fire
This exhibition tells the hidden story of fire hazards, how they have changed, and the efforts that have been invested in preventing and treating injuries. (Ending Soon Sat, 1st Feb)
Museum of the Order of St John
£16.50
Rembrandt's Light
A major exhibition exploring the artist’s mastery of light through 35 of his greatest paintings, etchings and drawings. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Feb)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
£18
William Blake
Experience Blake’s visionary art in his largest show in a generation. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Feb)
Tate Britain
Industrial design studio PriestmanGoode explores the issue of waste in travel. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Feb)
The Design Museum
This exhibition uses paintings, drawings, photographs and memorabilia to illustrate the surprising histories of London’s Royal Parks. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Feb)
Garden Museum
These photographs, often taken by monks and housed within monasteries, depict day-to-day life for both the monastic and lay communities. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Feb)
The British Library
This display of winning entries from the latest Army Film and Photographic Competition gives a unique insight into life in the British Army. (Ending Soon Thu, 13th Feb)
National Army Museum
In a cold room, specially created for the exhibition, slices taken from Antarctic ice cores appear to float on a solid ice floor. (Ending Soon Fri, 14th Feb)
Arup Phase 2 gallery
Explore the underbelly of our digital world in this exhibition revealing the powerful, and often hidden, forces at play in artificial intelligence. (Ending Soon Sat, 15th Feb)
Barbican Centre
Free
Unite and Resist
This exhibition showcases original archives from the collections which illustrate the prolific activism of the people of Tower Hamlets in the latter decades of the twentieth century. (Ending Soon Sat, 15th Feb)
Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
The little known story of one of the capital’s most intriguing cemeteries is revealed for the first time in this exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Feb)
Brent Museum
The winning and commended entries of the third Architecture Drawing Prize will be exhibited at Sir John Soane’s Museum. (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Feb)
Sir John Soane's Museum
An exhibition about the making of Chinatown - find out about the construction and history of the iconic Leicester Square neighbourhood. (Ending Soon Sat, 22nd Feb)
Westminster City Archives Centre
£14
24/7
An exhibition exploring the non-stop nature of modern lives.
(Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
Somerset House
This small display considers the historical creation of single-use and repurposed objects and presents an artistic response to plastic waste washing up in Pacific islands. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
The British Museum
Discover how architects, artists and designers are responding today to some of the most urgent ecological issues of our times. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
Royal Academy of Arts
See how fairies and elves have been imagined from the early Victorian period to the 1970s. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
Heath Robinson Museum
£18
Moving to Mars
The exhibition features immersive environments, about 200 objects about a future live on Mars. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
The Design Museum
This exhibition showcases often unseen and recently acquired items to tell the history of the Child family of bankers and their rise to fame and fortune. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Feb)
Osterley Park and House
£14
Buddhism
Explore the origins, philosophy and contemporary relevance of Buddhism, from its beginnings in India in the 6th century BC to having 1 billion followers worldwide today (Ending Soon Tue, 25th Feb)
The British Library
Free
Data Dating
An exhibition about the modern model of dating -- online and smartphones. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Mar)
Watermans Art Centre
A family-friendly exhibition bringing together young rebels from children’s literature (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Mar)
The British Library
£20
Lightopia
A lit up garden display in Chiswick. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Mar)
Chiswick House and Gardens
The infographics created by sociologist and activist W.E.B. Du Bois in 1900 were a remarkable development in data visualisation and a direct challenge to institutional racism. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Mar)
House of Illustration
From Botticelli to Michelangelo, the exhibition reveals how Bomberg’s rebellious, youthful works drew inspiration from the paintings he most admired in the Gallery. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Mar)
The National Gallery
From Helen of Troy’s abduction to the deception of the Trojan Horse and the fall of the city, tread the line between myth and reality in this exhibition. (Ending Soon Thu, 5th Mar)
The British Museum
This free exhibition connects the specimens in the Grant Museum to a wider history of science and Empire, by asking one simple question: “How did all these things come to be here in the first place?” (Ending Soon Sat, 7th Mar)
Grant Museum of Zoology
Free
Play Well
Why do we play? How important is it for all of us, young or old? What does it mean to play well? (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Mar)
Wellcome Collection
Free
Hot Moment
An exhibition of photographic representations that emerge from the threshold of dyke intimacy and public life in the 1980s and 90s. (Ending Soon Sat, 14th Mar)
Auto Italia
An exhibition telling the story of the Old Lady through items selected from the vast collections amassed since the Bank was
founded in 1694. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Bank of England Museum
An exhibition about the man, the Christmas he created, and how he fell out of love with the season he helped to create. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Charles Dickens Museum
As we approach another major turning point in automotive design, this exhibition looks at the role of the car in shaping the world we live in today. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Victoria and Albert Museum
This exhibition visits each stage of the production process; from design to construction, sourcing and alterations, to dressing, repairs and laundering. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
The National Theatre
Intrinsically bound to German identity and the upheaval that followed the First World War, Notgeld is a fascinating microcosm of public feeling in post-war Germany. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
The British Museum
This exhibition shines a spotlight on the subject we’d all rather avoid, from ancient societies to modern day medicine. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
The Octagon Gallery
This is the first UK exhibition of works by Indian master painters commissioned by East India Company officials in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Wallace Collection
£13.50
George IV: Art & Spectacle
This exhibition presents George IV's life through the art that enriched his world. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
The Queen's Gallery
Free
Heritage display
A small heritage gallery in the basement of the Guildhall currently has three documents on display. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
Hidden London - The Exhibition takes people on an immersive journey of some of London’s most secret spaces belonging to the oldest subterranean railway in the world (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
London Transport Museum
Free
Kara Walker
The Tate Modern hall is filled with a 13-metre tall working fountain inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Tate Modern
This exhibition tells the story of the print industry across the 20th century, focussing on the east London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Nunnery Gallery
A selection from a gift of nine ‘manner posters’ displayed across Tokyo’s Seibu Railway network between 2016 and 2019. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Victoria and Albert Museum
This display brings together a wide range of palaeoart, from nearly 200 years ago to the present day. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Natural History Museum
An exhibition exploring representations of the pregnant female body through portraits, over 500 years. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Foundling Museum
This exhibition marks 50 years since the beginnings of two significant social movements in the UK: the first women’s liberation conference in Oxford and the first UK meeting of the Gay Liberation Front at LSE. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
LSE Library
Free
Space Frames
Glowing arches fill Granary Square at Kings Cross during the winter months. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Granary Square
Discover the creative process behind designing for performance, from costume to set design (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Tangerine Dream, the German band widely credited as laying the foundations for the Ambient and Trance music styles, will be celebrated by this exhibition. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Barbican Arts Centre
A display celebrating The Clash’s iconic London Calling – an album that rocked the music scene, serving as an anthem for London, Londoners and music lovers globally. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Museum of London
This exhibition highlights a diversity of artistic observations on the lived experiences of women from childhood to old age, including but by no means restricted to experiences of mental distress. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Bethlem Museum of the Mind
Explore one of the most audacious crimes of the 20th Century and the subsequent investigation, alongside other stories of crime through the post. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
The Postal Museum
A display exploring the unique and largely untold history, heritage and culture of the Krio people of Sierra Leone. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Museum of London Docklands
This exhibition, in the Weston Room at the Maughan Library, marks the 75th anniversary of VE day and the liberation of the Nazi death and concentration camps. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Maughan Library
This exhibition reveals the architectural setting of swimming and bathing from Roman springs and Victorian bathhouses to contemporary swimming spaces. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Peeling back the surface of existence to reveal what lies under the skin. An exhibition exploring the unsettling beauty of the human body from the medieval age to the contemporary world. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Royal College of Physicians Museum
Explore the contrasting worlds of Japan’s urban future and rural traditions in WOW’s new digital art installation. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Japan House
Japan House presents two installations by WOW looking at both the urban future and timelessness of rural Japan. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Japan House London
The fifty-fifth Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will immerse you in the breathtaking diversity of the natural world. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Natural History Museum
This exhibition commemorates 100 years of nursing registration in the UK by delving into the heated arguments that characterised the registration debate. (Ending Soon Wed, 18th Mar)
Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre
To coincide with JMW Turner featuring on the new £20 note, find out about the variety of stock purchases made by Turner in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. (Ending Soon Fri, 22nd May)
Bank of England Museum
This immersive experience charts their music, lyrics, creative process and influence as one of the most iconic pop bands of the modern age. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd May)
O2 Arena / Millennium Dome
From ‘honey dew’ drinking parties to Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, discover Beatrix Potter’s response to the world of fairies and fairytales. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd May)
Victoria and Albert Museum
The exhibition explores Victorian London from the 1830s until the turn of the twentieth century, focusing on Dickens’s child characters. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd May)
Senate House Library
Free
William Wordsworth
See original drafts of Wordsworth’s verse, his notebooks, correspondence and more. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd May)
The British Library