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: Thursday, 23rd May 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
This display, marking the 200th anniversary of the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, celebrates the female UCL teachers and students who were core to ancient language teaching in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Ending Soon Sat, 27th May)
Fifty years on from the release of David Bowie’s album, this exhibition delves into the creation of its iconic ‘lightning bolt’ cover portrait by Brian Duffy. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th May)
Southbank Centre
Free
Chelsea in Bloom
The streets of Chelsea will be transformed with floral creations adorning the frontages of over 80 businesses, shops and restaurants. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th May)
Various locations
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
Learn about the story of Highgrove's transformation through newly-uncovered archival photographs and early design plans. (Ending Soon Mon, 29th May)
The Garrison Chapel
£16
Peter Doig
A major exhibition of new and recent works by Peter Doig – including paintings and works on paper created since the artist’s move from Trinidad to London in 2021. (Ending Soon Mon, 29th May)
Courtauld Institute of Art
In this exhibition Baharier is also showcasing a number of portraits of disabled people who have changed society. (Ending Soon Wed, 31st May)
The Foundry
This exhibition will take visitors back in time to a more magical period of retro-futuristic glitz, glamour and adventure, showcasing classic comic artwork based on the worlds of Gerry Anderson. (Ending Soon Sun, 4th Jun)
Cartoon Museum
This exhibition brings together intimate depictions of gardens and greenhouses, public parks and favoured plant specimens by artists of the interwar years. (Ending Soon Sun, 4th Jun)
Garden Museum
A free outdoor exhibition of photography, art and history from the archives and collections of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, held by Barts Health NHS Trust Archives. (Ending Soon Tue, 6th Jun)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
The first major UK exhibition to explore the exceptional talents of the Renaissance master Donatello, arguably the greatest sculptor of all time. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jun)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Discover the past, present and possible futures of kumihimo, an intricate, decorative braided cord from Japan, in the first major UK exhibition exploring this ancient yet contemporary Japanese art. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jun)
Japan House London
Artist Nalini Malani, our first National Gallery contemporary fellow, presents new ways of seeing well-known works of art. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jun)
National Gallery
This exhibition looks again at one of the best-known faces in the National Gallery: Quinten Massys’s 16th-century depiction of an old woman, a painting known as ‘The Ugly Duchess’. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Jun)
National Gallery
Discover the Black artists from America’s South who created some of the most spectacular and ingenious works of the last century. (Ending Soon Sun, 18th Jun)
Royal Academy of Arts
Visit the EES London Office to learn how the artists of the Society for the Preservation of the Monuments of Ancient Egypt (SPMAE) have preserved an imagined past of ancient Egypt, which still inspires a sense of wonder in viewers today. (Ending Soon Wed, 21st Jun)
The Egypt Exploration Society
Free
Decorated Papers
The exhibition includes over 200 papers from the early 18th century to the present day from Germany, Italy, France and Britain. (Ending Soon Sat, 24th Jun)
St Bride Foundation
This exhibition aims to acquaint a wider public with some unique aspects of Jaina traditions. (Ending Soon Sat, 24th Jun)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS
The exhibition explores how Jews arrived in Britain, and fought for the right to acquire land and the political rights and social status that came with it (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
Gunnersbury Park Museum
The Front Door Photography Exhibition is part of the Disability and the Home project exploring the idea of the home in relation to the lived experience of disabled people. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
The Museum of the Home
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
A special one-room display celebrates through photographs the unique connection The Queen had with her corgis. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Jun)
Wallace Collection
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
Taking over The Curve, you’re invited to become a part of the art, built on site using objects foraged from some of the UK’s cultural institutions and exhibitions. (Ending Soon Mon, 26th Jun)
Barbican Centre
This exhibition highlights the very best of Korean aesthetics through the concept of ‘Weaving’. (Ending Soon Fri, 30th Jun)
Korean Cultural Centre UK
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
A display of a beautifully crafted model of a festival float, set on a wheeled carriage, that was donated to the British Museum in 1908. (Ending Soon Sun, 2nd Jul)
British Museum
Free
No Place Like Home
The collaborative exhibition features a group of Vietnamese diasporic artists presenting works about the theme of home through the Vietnamese cultural lens. (Ending Soon Tue, 11th Jul)
The Museum of the Home
An exhibition of materials relating to previous coronations from that of Henry I in 1100 to that of our new sovereign. (Ending Soon Tue, 11th Jul)
Lambeth Palace Library
A small temporary exhibition looks at Hackney Health Emergency, a successful people-led campaign to save St Leonard’s Hospital in Shoreditch from closure in 1983-84. (Ending Soon Sat, 15th Jul)
Hackney Museum
This exhibition shines a spotlight on the aristocratic habit of collecting valuable objects to create what were known as Cabinets of Curiosities, which developed in the courts of Northern and Southern Europe during the Renaissance. (Ending Soon Wed, 19th Jul)
Strawberry Hill
Free
Hackney 300,000 BC
Hackney Museum is inviting residents to step back in time with its new temporary exhibition. (Ending Soon Sat, 22nd Jul)
Hackney 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
£16.50
Ai Weiwei: Making Sense
Ai Weiwei's exhibition focuses on design with a mix recent works and commissioned pieces, inviting us into a meditation on value and humanity, art and activism. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jul)
The Design Museum
Come face-to-face with one of history’s most inspirational and revered figures in the first major UK art exhibition to explore Saint Francis of Assisi’s life and legacy. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jul)
National Gallery
The display celebrates monumental painters of the capital and showcases some of the largest paintings in the Gallery’s collection. (Ending Soon Sun, 30th Jul)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
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
This exhibition looks at the origins of the war and the work of the British Army to assist Ukraine since 2014. (Ending Soon Tue, 1st Aug)
National Army Museum
This one-room display celebrates through photographs the unique connection The Queen had with corgis throughout her life. (Ending Soon Sun, 6th Aug)
Wallace Collection
What do we find in the LSE Library and Women’s Library archives and special collections if we look for the earth? (Ending Soon Tue, 8th Aug)
LSE Library
Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual competition featuring the world’s greatest space photography. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Aug)
National Maritime Museum
Luxury and power: Persia to Greece moves beyond ancient Greek spin to delve into a more complex story of luxury and power in ancient Iran, Athens, and the world of Alexander. (Ending Soon Sun, 13th Aug)
British Museum
The first major UK exhibition by one of today's most compelling artists and filmmakers. (Ending Soon Sun, 20th Aug)
Tate Britain
In this immersive genre-defying exhibition you will embark on a once in a lifetime adventure through the cosmos to explore visions of the future through the science of today. (Ending Soon Sun, 20th Aug)
Science Museum
£9.50
Finding Family
Explore new perspectives on what family is and can be, through this exhibition that showcases the ongoing power of art to challenge and question the world around us. (Ending Soon Sun, 27th Aug)
Foundling Museum
See how documenting the animal world has resulted in some of humankind’s most awe-inspiring art, science and sound recordings. (Ending Soon Mon, 28th Aug)
British Library
Free
Road to Recovery
This exhibition follows the challenging journeys of rehabilitation and recovery taken by soldiers who have suffered a life-changing physical or mental injury. (Ending Soon Mon, 28th Aug)
National Army Museum
Explore the powerful work of two groundbreaking modern artists. (Ending Soon Sun, 3rd Sep)
Tate Modern
£12.65
Andy Warhol: The Textiles
An exhibition exploring the beautiful and fascinating textile designs by the influential pop artist and icon Andy Warhol. (Ending Soon Sat, 9th Sep)
Fashion and Textile Museum
This new exhibition develops a fertile dialogue between Caro’s sculpture and the unique character of Soane’s building. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Sep)
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
This exhibition brings together around 30 of Morisot’s masterpieces from international collections to reveal the artist as a trailblazer of the movement. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Sep)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Free
Milk
This exhibition explores our relationship with milk and its place in politics, society and culture. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Sep)
Wellcome Collection
£12.60
The Offbeat Sari
A major exhibition celebrating the contemporary sari. (Ending Soon Sun, 17th Sep)
The Design Museum
See an edition of Shakespeare's First Folio on display at the National Maritime Museum, celebrating 400 years since its publication. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
National Maritime Museum
£22
The Rossettis
A major exhibition devoted to the radical Rossetti generation (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Tate Britain
This exhibition in the Chapter House will reveal the key elements of the royal ceremony which has taken place at the Abbey for nearly a thousand years. (Ending Soon Sat, 30th Sep)
Westminster Abbey
In a global first, the resilience and innovation of 19th-century China is revealed in a major new exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Oct)
British Museum
This exhibition explores our devotion to four-legged friends across the centuries. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
Wallace Collection
Photographer Philip Cunningham's exhibition of people, places and community activism in 1970s East London. (Ending Soon Fri, 27th Oct)
Oxford House
£9
Brick Dinos
A 1.5 metre long model of a Polacanthus, an armoured 125-million-year-old dinosaur found in the UK, will be on show for the first time as part of the Brick Dinos exhibition. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Oct)
Horniman Museum
A display exploring the underrepresented history of Indian indenture in the British Caribbean. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Nov)
Museum of London Docklands
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 brings together a group of new and existing sculptures to explore Black women’s labour across histories and geographies. (Ending Soon Mon, 1st Jan)
Tate Britain
This exhibition explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Science Museum
Four times heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus, 12 metres longer than Hope the blue whale and making its European debut, prepare to meet titanosaur and learn all about life as the biggest dinosaur. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Natural History Museum
From across the sea, an art revolution is coming. Discover the art of the Van de Veldes at the Queen's House (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Jan)
Queen's House
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
Free
Unforgotten Lives
This exhibition presents the stories of Londoners of African, Caribbean, Asian and Indigenous heritage who lived and worked in the city between 1560 and 1860 and are recorded in London’s archives. (Ending Soon Wed, 27th Mar)
London Metropolitan Archives
This free installation invites visitors to orient themselves in the buildings and their complex, fascinating histories in an exciting new display at the heart of the Barbican’s Foyers. (Ending Soon Fri, 5th Apr)
Barbican Centre
How do you develop a vaccine quickly and effectively to combat a global pandemic? (Ends on Sun, 12th May)
Science Museum
This exhibition follows the lives of British soldiers in Germany over the past 75 years. (Ends on Wed, 21st Aug)
National Army Museum
