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: Saturday, 1st June 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
British artist Antony Cairns continues his exploration of the global metropolis in a new exhibition; his first UK solo exhibition for over four years. (Ending Soon Fri, 4th Jun)
Webber Gallery
Back in the future of 1995, the teen techno-thriller Hackers burst onto cinema screens with its cyber phreak aesthetics, video game visuals and mind-bending techno soundtrack. (Ending Soon Sat, 5th Jun)
The Horse Hospital
In this exhibition, a suggestion of haunting, or ghostliness, is manifested in a different way. (Ending Soon Sat, 5th Jun)
Gagosian Gallery
Free
Rana Begum
This new collection of work reveals how Begum’s practice has diverged and evolved, setting her precise minimalism against a new exploration into the amorphous and uncontained. (Ending Soon Sat, 5th Jun)
Kate MacGarry
£12
Shara Hughes
The exhibition brings together a group of new site specific paintings and works on paper by the New York-based artist (Ending Soon Sat, 5th Jun)
Garden Museum
The Royal Society of Sculptors is showcasing the work of Naomi Blake FRBS with an outdoor exhibition on the sculpture terrace. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th Jun)
Royal Society of Sculptors
A herd of 50 handcrafted life-size elephants are roaming around Chelsea. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th Jun)
Duke of York Square
Paul Catherall comes back to the gallery for this major exhibition celebrating the postwar architecture of Coventry and London. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th Jun)
Eames Fine Art Gallery
The winning images from the 2020 Travel Photographer of the Year awards are on display in an outdoor exhibition. (Ending Soon Thu, 10th Jun)
Coal Drops Yard
The exhibition presents a select sampling of Koraïchi’s works in different media created during this past year of global crisis. (Ending Soon Sat, 12th Jun)
October Gallery
This is an opportunity to not only stand in front of the painting but immerse yourself in its world and the artistry that built it. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Jun)
National Gallery
An outdoor photo exhibition of historical photographs, prints and maps from football in London. (Ending Soon Tue, 15th Jun)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
An open-air exhibition documenting the overland journey photographer Christopher Wilton-Steer undertook in 2019 following the historic trade route. (Ending Soon Wed, 16th Jun)
Granary Square
An exhibition around the roof garden above the Elizabeth line station of large geometric coloured shapes. (Ending Soon Sat, 19th Jun)
Crossrail Place Roof Garden
Suspect Objects Suspect Subjects is a collection of works which questions, highlights and responds to the victimising of Muslim communities in the UK and around the world. (Ending Soon Sat, 19th Jun)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS
Explore the legacy of this amazing building and learn about the impact it had on the science we use today. (Ending Soon Sat, 19th Jun)
Museum of Richmond
Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China retells one of the largely forgotten histories between Britain and China in the 19th Century. (Ending Soon Sat, 26th Jun)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS
Global gathering of designers with installations and presentations across Somerset House. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Jun)
Somerset House
Zoe Zenghelis’ paintings are inspired by metropolitan structure, landform, and abstract tectonics. (Ending Soon Wed, 30th Jun)
Architectural Association
This exhibition follows the lives of soldiers in Germany over the past 75 years. (Ending Soon Thu, 1st Jul)
National Army Museum
This monumental sculpture by Luke Jerram amazes audiences as it rotates slowly while suspended in mid-air, an exact scale replica of Earth made using NASA imagery. (Ending Soon Thu, 1st Jul)
Old Royal Naval College
This exhibition showcases the innovative work of Japanese textile designer Sudō Reiko, who is renowned for pushing boundaries of textile production and championing new methods of sustainable manufacturing. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jul)
Japan House
A new outdoor exhibition, Gunnersbury Park Museum celebrates the life and work of Ealing Studios stills photographer Roy Gough. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jul)
Gunnersbury Park Museum
Works from the period of the two artists’ friendship will be shown side by side for the first time, along with unseen materials from Beard’s archives including letters and photographs. (Ending Soon Fri, 16th Jul)
Ordovas
Taking inspiration from Bloomberg’s location in the City of London, Dant’s epic sepia ink drawing encapsulates 2,000 years of the everyday life and times of Budge Row, the famous once-lost thoroughfare now reinstated as Bloomberg Arcade. (Ending Soon Sat, 17th Jul)
London Mithraeum
A collection of limited edition prints and original drawings including maps that salute London’s Theatres, Lost Rivers and bustling London Squares. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Jul)
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Free
Hackney in the 1980s
This exhibition brings 1980s Hackney to life through photographs found in the basement of the Rio Cinema, Dalston. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Jul)
Hackney Museum
The richly decorated Victorian Leadenhall Market has been filled with neon lighting from Gods Own Junkyard. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Jul)
Leadenhall Market
Free
Tom Sachs - Ritual
An exhibition of new works by Tom Sachs, never previously seen in the UK, including four new sculptures conceived for the exhibition. (Ending Soon Sat, 31st Jul)
Thaddaeus Ropac
In this landmark exhibition, Tracey Emin selects masterpieces by Edvard Munch to show alongside her most recent paintings. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Aug)
Royal Academy of Arts
The fifty-sixth Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will immerse you in the breathtaking diversity of the natural world. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Aug)
Natural History Museum
An annual exhibition showcasing the world's greatest space photography. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Aug)
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Speaking to architects, public sector workers and young people, artist and filmmaker Ayo Akingbade creates moving image work that forges conversations on urbanism, gentrification, power and resilience. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Aug)
Whitechapel Gallery
Calero’s display invites us to think about the act of collecting, about what we choose to surround ourselves with in our homes and the importance and presence of the natural world. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Aug)
Whitechapel Gallery
This display weaves together a rich tapestry of artistic expression from artists born in, or connected to, countries from Iran to Morocco. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Aug)
The British Museum
This display marks the launch of Network Rail’s new customised typeface, Rail Alphabet 2, designed by her in close collaboration with Henrik Kubel. (Ending Soon Tue, 17th Aug)
The Design Museum
This exhibition marks only the second time each work has been on view and the first time these important works have been shown together. (Ending Soon Fri, 20th Aug)
Michael Werner Gallery
An exhibition celebrating French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), one of the most singular and provocative voices in postwar modern art. (Ending Soon Sun, 22nd Aug)
Barbican Centre
Discover the murder that shook the Middle Ages in this dramatic exhibition about the life, death and legacy of Thomas Becket. (Ending Soon Sun, 22nd Aug)
The British Museum
This exhibition uncovers how forensic and other evidence about the death marches has been gathered since the end of the Holocaust. (Ending Soon Fri, 27th Aug)
Wiener Library
This definitive retrospective charts her ground-breaking career from the 1920s to the 1990s. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Aug)
Whitechapel Gallery
This is a rare opportunity to see one of Poland’s most loved works of art. (Ending Soon Mon, 30th Aug)
National Gallery
The first exhibition in 20 years to explore the pioneering aesthetics and lasting legacy of this influential association of artists, designers and craftspeople. (Ending Soon Tue, 31st Aug)
William Morris Gallery
Outdoor art exhibition by Malwawi-born artist Samson Kambalu, who has been creating flags throughout lockdown that explore ideas of national and individual sovereignty and links to emancipatory movements such as Pan-Africanism. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Sep)
Southbank Centre
A collection of work exploring artists’ responses to the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Sep)
RAF Museum
This landmark exhibition brings together major works by Turner from Tate and other collections, including The Fighting Temeraire 1839 and Rail, Steam and Speed 1844. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Sep)
Tate Britain
Embrace the wonderfully weird world of plant biodiversity through newly commissioned interactive art installations using music, sound and colour. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Sep)
Kew Gardens
An exhibition about the 20th century’s most influential floral decorator, Constance Spry. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Sep)
Garden Museum
Made in the spring of 2020, during a period of intense activity at his home in Normandy, this exhibition charts the unfolding of spring, from beginning to end, and is a joyous celebration of the seasons. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Sep)
Royal Academy of Arts
£17.50
Naturally Brilliant Colour
Experience colour like never before in an exhibition that celebrates the spectacular shades of the natural world. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Sep)
Kew Gardens
Discover the story of Ai-Da, the world’s first convincing humanoid robot capable of creating artworks. (Ending Soon Wed, 29th Sep)
The Design Museum
Original artworks and illustrations from his booklets, inspired by the art in the Painted Hall, will be on display. (Ending Soon Thu, 30th Sep)
Old Royal Naval College
Free
Making Paradise
An exhibition exploring the concept of Eden through Art & Islamic Garden Design (Ending Soon Thu, 30th Sep)
The Aga Khan Centre
Free
Falling Birds
A series of X-ray photographs and poetic texts highlighting extinction and the alarming decline in bird species around the world. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Oct)
Horniman Museum
This exhibition explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time, challenging the biased historical accounts written after Nero’s death that have shaped his legacy. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Oct)
The British Museum
Step up and discover the footwear phenomenon that has challenged performance design, inspired subcultures and shaken the world of fashion. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Oct)
The Design Museum
Come face-to-face with the kings and queens who have shaped British history for over 500 years (Ending Soon Sun, 31st Oct)
National Maritime Museum
A new photographic art display exploring contemporary relationships with spiritualism, reality and surrealism, through a Black British lens. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Nov)
Horniman Museum
Free
Beuys’ Acorns
In response to the climate emergency, artists Ackroyd & Harvey have installed Beuys’ Acorns, a group of 100 oak trees, on Tate Modern’s South Terrace (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Nov)
Tate Modern
Free
Remember the Future
This group exhibition and artist led research project unearths and interrogates our connection with our habitats and ecosystems, both global and local. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Nov)
Orleans House Gallery
£24.50
The Art of Banksy
The Art of Banksy holds the world’s largest collection of privately owned Banksy art. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Nov)
Belgo
Discover where the real world and the Wizarding World intertwine. (Ending Soon Thu, 25th Nov)
Natural History Museum
This display reflects on the role of humour in debates around identity, empire and power over the past two hundred years. (Ending Soon Thu, 25th Nov)
Victoria and Albert Museum
This display of artworks and manuscripts explores the life and interests of Joseph Banks (1743-1820) through some of his extraordinary collections. (Ending Soon Thu, 25th Nov)
Natural History Museum
This exhibition examines the pivotal role of women as both artists and as behind-the-scenes organisers within the Surrealist movement in Britain in the 1930s. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Dec)
Whitechapel Gallery
An installation exploring two important social questions: who are our buildings and shared spaces for and how do they affect us? (Ending Soon Thu, 23rd Dec)
Barbican Centre
An exhibition about a dentist and Freemason noted for his philanthropy. (Ending Soon Fri, 24th Dec)
Museum of Freemasonry
An outdoor exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the seat of Poland’s diplomatic post in London at 47 Portland Place. (Ending Soon Fri, 31st Dec)
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
Explore the fascinating world of primates in this immersive family friendly exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Horniman Museum