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: Tuesday, 23rd January 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
A celebration of the huge contribution made to music and culture by Black British musical families, curated by the Black Music Coalition. (Ending Soon Wed, 25th Jan)
Barbican Library
A selection of works by George Westren that represent twenty years of dedicated practice from humble beginnings, through the challenges of homelessness & addiction, to eventual salvation through art. (Ending Soon Wed, 25th Jan)
Saatchi Gallery
Winter Lights festival is the largest of its kind in London, transforming Canary Wharf with over 20 stunning installations, leaving the dark winter evenings aglow. (Ending Soon Sat, 28th Jan)
Canada Square Park
This exhibition celebrates the essence of Japanese craftsmanship through the story of an enduring woodworking heritage cultivated in the densely forested Hida region of Gifu Prefecture. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Jan)
Japan House London
To mark the anniversary of Tutankhamun's discovery, the British Museum has commissioned a work by Egyptian graffiti artist Nofal O. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Jan)
British Museum
This outdoor photographic exhibition celebrates how Marble Hill has been enjoyed by the local community since becoming a public park. (Ending Soon Tue, 31st Jan)
Marble Hill House
A video projection each evening showing the moment in 1814 when an elephant walked across the frozen Thames. (Ending Soon Tue, 31st Jan)
Dirty Lane Gate
This exhibition uses the unique collections of Tower Hamlets Archives as a lens through which to explore the borough’s history of producing food. (Ending Soon Sat, 4th Feb)
Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
£12.50
Museum of the Moon
Luke Jerram returns to the Old Royal Naval College with his incredible artwork Museum of the Moon. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Feb)
Old Royal Naval College
Visit the Woven Cities display to see the brand-new London Woven Crest alongside the crests from Amsterdam and Rome. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Feb)
Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
He built an empire that stretched across the world. Rode across the sky on a flying chariot. And descended to the bottom of the sea in a glass bell. Or did he? (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Feb)
The British Library
A major exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Feb)
The British Museum
Delve into the dreamlike relationship between Surrealism and design in this century-spanning celebration of surrealist objects of desire. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Feb)
The Design Museum
Free
This is England
See portraits of the full England football squad and manager by artist Matt Small. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Feb)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
Free
Turner on Tour
For the first time in a century, two ground-breaking paintings by Turner are coming home for a special exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Feb)
National Gallery
The Church’s gold apse and white-flowered, coffered, ceiling, will be flooded with exploratory light and reverberate to the sublime sound of George Frederic Handel. (Ending Soon Thu, 23rd Feb)
St Mary Le Strand
From Lucian Freud to Kiki Smith, life drawing to minimalism and etching to collage, this exhibition spans an intriguing range of styles and techniques used in art on paper from 1960 to today. (Ending Soon Sat, 25th Feb)
British Museum
Tate Britain celebrates the return of Yiadom-Boakye's 2020 major survey which was sadly cut short by lockdown (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
Tate Britain
The exhibition includes rare pieces of porcelain and lacquer, samurai armour, embroidered screens and diplomatic gifts from the reigns of James I to Her Majesty The Queen. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
The Queen's Gallery
Rebel Rebel, the first major UK commission by Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari, celebrates and commemorates feminist icons from pre-revolutionary Iran. (Ending Soon Sun, 26th Feb)
Barbican Centre
Free
The Lost Rhino
This virtual rhino will be roaming in a digital world within the Museum’s Jerwood Gallery as part of a new art exhibition from artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
Natural History Museum
An installation of six large-scale clay columns inspired by traditional architectural practices in Chile, by Swedish-Chilean artist Anton Alvarez (Ending Soon Tue, 28th Feb)
100 Bishopsgate
Eight pieces of artwork, curated in partnership with Light Art Collection, will be on display both outdoors and inside the Power Station. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Mar)
Battersea Power Station
At the heart of Ilford Limited is analogue photography and this display shows the beauty of Ilford film as a tool to experiment, make portraits and capture people’s stories. (Ending Soon Sat, 11th Mar)
Redbridge Museum
£22
Cezanne
Tate Modern presents a once-in-a-generation exhibition of paintings, watercolours and drawings by Paul Cezanne. (Ending Soon Sun, 12th Mar)
Tate Modern
The life and work of renowned 19th-century naval surgeon and physician, Sir William Beatty, is explored in all its fascinating – and often grisly. (Ending Soon Sat, 25th Mar)
Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre
The historical map collections at London Metropolitan Archives show the development of the city in incredible detail, from the late sixteenth century to the present day. (Ending Soon Wed, 29th Mar)
London Metropolitan Archives
Letters, books and documents are displayed to show some of the links between the Church of England and transatlantic chattel slavery. (Ending Soon Fri, 31st Mar)
Lambeth Palace Library
From tradeswomen, to community organisers, faith leaders, artists, and shopkeepers; this exhibition showcases and celebrates the many women who contribute to life in Bethnal Green (Ending Soon Fri, 31st Mar)
Oxford House
£24.50
Spain and the Hispanic World
This landmark exhibition, with over 150 dazzling and fascinating pieces, explores the art and culture of the Hispanic world. (Ending Soon Mon, 10th Apr)
Royal Academy of Arts
This exhibition explores the relationship between materials and supply chains, and addresses the opportunity and potential of locally grown, plant-based construction materials that are cultivated across the UK. (Ending Soon Sat, 15th Apr)
Building Centre
£16
Maria Bartuszová
Delicate, evocative plaster sculptures inspired by the natural world (Ending Soon Sun, 16th Apr)
Tate Modern
Free
Chinese and British
An exhibition about the history and impact of the Chinese community in the UK, and to understand what it really means to be Chinese and British. (Ending Soon Sun, 23rd Apr)
British Library
Thamesmead Codex celebrates the voices and local community of Thamesmead, London (Ending Soon Sun, 7th May)
Tate Modern
A new series of fresco paintings by Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings (Ending Soon Sun, 7th May)
Tate Britain
Explore a forest of towering woven sculptures (Ending Soon Sun, 21st May)
Tate Modern
Focusing on Jacopo de' Barbari and his celebrated 'View of Venice', this display showcases the innovation and variety of printmaking on the lagoon during the High Renaissance. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st May)
British Museum
Free
War Games
The UK’s first exhibition to explore what video games can tell us about conflict. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th May)
Imperial War Museum
The V&A's first exhibition to celebrate the colourful and dynamic popular culture of South Korea, following its early origins to its place on the global stage today. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Free
Yinka Ilori
Dive into the colourful world of artist/designer Yinka Ilori through installations, patterns and graphics that aim to shape and inspire a joyful and playful experience. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
The Design Museum
Discover the natural world in all its wonder and diversity at the newly redesigned Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jul)
Natural History Museum
Free
Unfamiliar
Photographs will be displayed alongside objects ranging from stethoscopes to snuff boxes, bringing together the worlds of medicine and art. (Ending Soon Fri, 28th Jul)
Royal College of Physicians Museum
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
Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual competition featuring the world’s greatest space photography. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Aug)
National Maritime Museum
This display celebrates the glittering world of musical theatre, exploring the evolution and craftmanship of iconic musicals (Ending Soon Mon, 27th Nov)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Free
Inventing the Future
This exhibition celebrates the Tercentenary of the Constitutions of the Freemasons. (Ending Soon Thu, 21st Dec)
Museum of Freemasonry
This exhibition explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Science Museum
Free
Slavery & the Bank
This exhibition explores the history of transatlantic slavery through its connections with the Bank of England and the wider City of London. (Ending Soon Fri, 26th Jan)
Bank of England Museum
How do you develop a vaccine quickly and effectively to combat a global pandemic? (Ends on Sun, 12th May)
Science Museum
