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: Monday, 1st January 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
£22.50
Christmas lights at Kenwood
The grounds of Kenwood House will this year become a magical wonderland with an incredible illuminated Christmas light trail. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Kenwood House
Explore the fascinating world of primates in this immersive family friendly exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Horniman Museum
In a new body of work created especially for Sir John Soane’s Museum, contemporary artist Pablo Bronstein presents his unique, seductive and deeply ironic vision of hell. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Sir John Soane's Museum
Tambourines shake, wine spills, and half-naked figures whirl across the canvas in these paintings of revelry, dance and drama that are brought together in this first exhibition dedicated to Poussin and dance. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
National Gallery
This exhibition explores the intimate relationship between fashion designer and royal client. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Kensington Palace
The annual "summer" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
Royal Academy of Arts
This exhibition celebrates and explores the iconic role the postcard has played in connecting people for more than a century and a half. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jan)
The Postal Museum
Visitors are invited to bring an old ball to swap with a new one from the numerous shelves that line the walls. (Ending Soon Sat, 8th Jan)
Stephen Friedman Gallery
£26.50
Christmas at Kew
The annual after-dark festivities with family and friends, as you discover sparkling tunnels of light, dancing waterside reflections, and trees drenched in jewel-like colour on your way to the panoramic Palm House light display. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Jan)
Kew Gardens
Come and explore this first of its kind exhibition, mapping the growth of theatre captioning through the work of deaf-led charity Stagetext. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Jan)
Barbican Centre
£14.70
The Gingerbread City 2021
The Gingerbread City invites leading architects, engineers, landscape architects and designers to create a futuristic city made entirely of gingerbread. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Jan)
Motcomb House
This exhibition presents large scale photographs taken less than two months after the attacks, as the gravity of the 9/11 terror attacks left a new world in their wake. (Ending Soon Sun, 9th Jan)
Imperial War Museum
£12
Bags: Inside Out
From designer handbags to despatch boxes, vanity cases to military rucksacks, this exhibition explores our longstanding fascination with the bag. (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Jan)
Victoria and Albert Museum
This exhibition explores and celebrates the incredible story of Muriel Gardiner’s life, through family photo albums, unpublished documents and Muriel’s own autobiography. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Jan)
Freud Museum
Rediscover the power and presence of architectural wonders by Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid RA and others through Hélène Binet’s photographic lens. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Jan)
Royal Academy of Arts
£18
Noguchi
An exhibition celebrating Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, one of the most experimental and pioneering artists of the 20th century. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Jan)
Barbican Centre
This exhibition celebrates the role of architectural models in shaping the spaces we live in. (Ending Soon Fri, 28th Jan)
The Building Centre
The exhibition invites audiences to consider one of ancient Korea’s most significant, but enigmatic, archaeological sites. (Ending Soon Sat, 29th Jan)
London Mithraeum
The exhibition brings together over a dozen of the artist’s best male portraits from collections across the world. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jan)
Wallace Collection
A selection of the finest prints from Lloyd's collection that reveal his admiration for the Alpine landscape and his interest in Swiss customs and mythology. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jan)
The British Museum
In a world-first, a group of rare drawings by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai will go on display at the British Museum. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jan)
The British Museum
The first major exhibition to explore the decorative arts and architecture of Young Poland. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jan)
The William Morris Gallery
£0
Shilpa Gupta
The first major London exhibition by Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta highlights the fragility of one’s right to expression whilst raising urgent questions of censorship, confinement and resistance. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th Feb)
Barbican Centre
Free
Our Future Planet
An exhibition that offers a first look at the technologies being developed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. (Ending Soon Thu, 10th Feb)
Science Museum
Photographic exhibition of Londoners and Berliners during the pandemic, documenting their reality. (Ending Soon Fri, 11th Feb)
99 Bishopsgate
£21
Late Constable
One of Britain’s best-loved artists had a radical side. In this exhibition, discover the free and expressive brushwork that came to define Constable’s late career. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Feb)
Royal Academy of Arts
£7.70
Soane Restored
Soane Restored reveals the fascinating story of how Pitzhanger – special as an almost intact example of Sir John Soane’s work – was returned to its original vision. (Ending Soon Fri, 18th Feb)
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Step back into a dangerous world of plots, espionage and treachery to explore the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots in their own words. (Ending Soon Sun, 20th Feb)
The British Library
Step into the vibrant world of Peru and discover how people have thrived for millennia in one of the most complex and challenging environments on the planet. (Ending Soon Sun, 20th Feb)
The British Museum
Discover how new design ideas are redefining our world and explore major new exhibits that capture the devasting impact of waste including a large-scale installation by Ibrahim Mahama. (Ending Soon Mon, 21st Feb)
The Design Museum
Free
Joy
Explore the diversity of euphoric experiences and the effect of positive emotion on the body. (Ending Soon Wed, 23rd Feb)
Wellcome Collection
Free
London Making Now
London is and always has been a city of makers. Explore their stories in this display. (Ending Soon Thu, 24th Feb)
Museum of London
An exhibition about the eighteenth-century foundling and sailor George King, whose first-hand account of the battle is being shown for the first time. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Feb)
Foundling Museum
The opening display will feature highlights from The Courtauld’s remarkable collection of British drawings and watercolours. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Feb)
Courtauld Institute of Art
£10
Amazônia
This exhibition offers an exclusive opportunity to get inside the mind of this great photographer and see nature and humanity in dialogue. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Feb)
Science Museum
A collection of work exploring artists’ responses to the Battle of Britain and the Blitz as they represented evolving machinery, communications, and urban landscapes, shaped by what was an unprecedented ‘war in the air’. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Feb)
RAF Museum
explores fabulous and rare examples from the mid-1960s era-defining stores and designers. (Ending Soon Sat, 12th Mar)
Fashion and Textile Museum
This exhibition explores the characters, events, places and personal tales of triumph and tragedy that inspired and shaped the novel that made Charles Dickens a household name across the world. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Mar)
Charles Dickens Museum
Showcasing previously unseen material from Paul McCartney’s personal archive, this display celebrates the life and art of one of the world’s most successful songwriters and performers. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Mar)
The British Library
An exhibition of new images by Himali Singh Soin with historian of science Alexis Rider inspired by the collection of Sir Richard Burton. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Mar)
Orleans House Gallery
How William Hogarth and artists across Europe captured the new modernity of the 18th century (Ending Soon Sun, 20th Mar)
Tate Britain
This exhibition follows the pioneering Russian scholar of Ismaili studies, Wladimir Ivanow (1886 – 1970) across the Muslim world. (Ending Soon Thu, 31st Mar)
The Aga Khan Centre
A landmark group exhibition spanning a whole ocean and half a century (Ending Soon Sun, 3rd Apr)
Tate Britain
A display exploring the central role food plays in Black enterprise and identity in South East London. (Ending Soon Sat, 9th Apr)
Museum of London Docklands
£14.50
Amy: Beyond the Stage
Celebrate the legacy and creativity of one of the greatest musicians of our time, Amy Winehouse. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Apr)
The Design Museum
Explore how windows take on cultural significance and surprisingly shape all our views on the world in an exhibition by the Tokyo-based Window Research Institute. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Apr)
Japan House
The exhibition features more than 70 European fans incorporating both handmade and machine lace leaves dating from the 18th century to present day. (Ending Soon Sat, 16th Apr)
Fan Museum
The first major UK exhibition of woodcuts by leading Abstract Expressionist, Helen Frankenthaler. (Ending Soon Sun, 17th Apr)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Free
Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley is an American artist best known for his portraits that render people of colour in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings. (Ending Soon Mon, 18th Apr)
National Gallery
£8
Beethoven
Against the backdrop of war and revolution raging in Europe and the United States, a young man grew up in Bonn inspired by the ideals of freedom, and went on to compose some of the greatest works of music ever written. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Apr)
The British Library
Discover the close-knit world of the Georgian music industry, where not what you knew, but who you knew, was of greatest importance. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st May)
Foundling Museum
Free
Brothers in Arms
Follow the story of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, an elite British tank regiment whose men fought their way across North-West Europe in the final stages of the Second World War. (Ending Soon Fri, 6th May)
National Army Museum
This exhibition explores master goldsmith, Carl Fabergé – who symbolised Russian craftsmanship, luxury and elegance – and the Anglo-Russian relationship which saw the opening of a London branch in 1903. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th May)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Featuring highlights from the museum's manuscripts collection, this exhibition explores the types of books illuminations came from and the 19th-century context in which they were cut up and collected. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th May)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Free
London: Port City
This exhibition will trace more than 200 years of extraordinary experiences and intense activity on a river that has always been essential to the city’s survival. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th May)
Museum of London Docklands
Sweet Harmony looks at a significant five-year period in UK dance music history and the previously undocumented contribution that young people living and working in the London Borough of Waltham Forest made to it. (Ending Soon Wed, 25th May)
Vestry House Museum
An exhibition of the most beautiful private press books ever published, illustrating Walker’s revolutionary book printing techniques and legacy in his former home in Hammersmith. (Ending Soon Sat, 28th May)
Emery Walker's House
Step back through millennia and discover how this ancient civilization questioned, contemplated, and debated the natural world. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Jun)
Science Museum
Gaze through the lens of some of the world's best wildlife photographers and marvel at the beauty of our planet. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Jun)
Natural History Museum
Free
Hair: Untold Stories
This exhibition puts the substance before the style and unlocks the untold stories of hair. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Jun)
Horniman Museum
£16
Lubaina Himid
Tate Modern presents Himid’s largest solo exhibition to date, incorporating new paintings and significant highlights from across her remarkable career. (Ending Soon Sun, 3rd Jul)
Tate Modern
Explore the 100-year history of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Aug)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Life in a cup presents a fascinating beverage story and explores the traditions that make coffee a way of life in parts of the Islamic world. (Ending Soon Sun, 18th Sep)
The British Museum
An immersive exhibition exploring the latest cancer research taking place at the Crick - Europe’s largest biomedical research institute under one roof. (Ending Soon Sat, 3rd Dec)
The Francis Crick Institute
Visit an 'abandoned' Tube station underworld and discover what secrets lurk beneath our busy streets in this Hidden London exhibition. (Ending Soon Mon, 31st Jul)
London Transport Museum