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, 23rd September 2024?
Displayed in date order by how soon they close.
This exhibition highlights the beauty of Japanese recycling, showcasing objects made of cotton, hemp, bast fibres, washi (handmade paper) and pottery. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd Sep)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS
An exhibition capturing the history of Queen through Sir Brian May's own Stereoscopic (3-D) camera lenses. (Ending Soon Sat, 23rd Sep)
Proud Galleries
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
Absorb Arts Studio is packed full of painters, sculptors, printmakers, graphic designers and more. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Absorb Arts Studio
£0
BLACK VENUS
An exhibition examining the historical representation and shifting legacy of Black women in visual culture. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Somerset House
An exhibition of works by Brian Clarke, who is widely regarded to be the most important artist working in stained glass today. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Newport Street Gallery
A free display of new design research responding to the climate crisis. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
The Design Museum
An immersive installation and experience (VR) following Maya, an ordinary 21st Century girl, as she transforms into a uniquely female superhero whose powers derive from menstruation. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Victoria and Albert Museum
An exhibition reflecting on the loss of people and culture through the lens of human trafficking and unsafe migration. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
British Museum
Free
Play - Art Practice
An exhibition of design ideas from the studio behind the recently launched Channel 4 idents. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Art Practice
This showcase unveils an entire series of mesmerizing maps crafted from ordinary items. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Islington Square
This summer, the magnificent outfits worn by King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their Coronation will be on show in Buckingham Palace as part of the annual summer opening. (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Buckingham Palace
£22
The Rossettis
A major exhibition devoted to the radical Rossetti generation (Ending Soon Sun, 24th Sep)
Tate Britain
This exhibition chronicles the evolution of music photography over the last 70 years. It showcases iconic rock and roll images and the photographers who shot them. (Ending Soon Mon, 25th Sep)
Barbican Centre
£10.24
Colours festival
This exhibition will present artworks from 40 established and emerging artists from all over the world. (Ending Soon Sat, 30th Sep)
Camden market Hawley Wharf
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
Featuring angels, saints, biblical figures and mythological deities, these drawings celebrate those who are in some way superhuman, or close to godly. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Oct)
Leighton House Museum
An unprecedented exhibition, revealing – for the first time – extraordinary photographs taken by Paul McCartney. (Ending Soon Sun, 1st Oct)
National Portrait Gallery
This display showcases drawings, paintings, sculpture and decorative arts that are not what they seem. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Oct)
Courtauld Institute of Art
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
Free
ENO: Under the Skin
An exhibition of 20 newly commissioned artworks celebrating diversity of creatives in opera: “both a celebration of and a manifesto for the future.” (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Oct)
Borough Yards
This exhibition explores what the Georgians wore, from the practical dress of laundry maids to the glittering gowns worn at court. (Ending Soon Sun, 8th Oct)
The Queen's Gallery
The narratives featured in the exhibition will prompt visitors to consider what new possibilities emerge when they are invited as readers to become a part of the story themselves. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
British Library
Curated in close collaboration with the architects, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to see the inner workings of what The New York Times dubbed “one of the most admired architecture firms in the world.” (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
Royal Academy of Arts
This exhibition explores our devotion to four-legged friends across the centuries. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
Wallace Collection
Free
Treasures Revealed
An exhibition that documents both the building’s inspiring story, as well as the remarkable work of the church architect Nugent Cachemaille-Day. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
St James' Church
Visit this re-creation of Wren’s St Paul’s working ‘office’ and experience the intensity of a significant moment in the Capital’s history, the rebuilding of London and the new St Paul’s cathedral after the 1666 fire. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheater
An exploration of the life and career of Yevonde, the pioneering London photographer who spearheaded the use of colour photography in the 1930s. (Ending Soon Sun, 15th Oct)
National Portrait Gallery
This exhibition peers through the London fog to explore the circumstances that created this problem and how Dickens was inspired by the phenomenon. (Ending Soon Sun, 22nd Oct)
Charles Dickens Museum
Explore the vibrant diversity of Japanese graphic arts in this bold exhibition which bridges the worlds of fine art, commercial illustration and counterculture. (Ending Soon Sun, 22nd Oct)
Japan House London
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
£28
Crown to Couture
Crown to Couture sees contemporary couture worn by high profile celebrities including Lizzo and Lady Gaga, displayed alongside historic costumes. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Oct)
Kensington Palace
This exhibition tells the story of the Mall Studios, an artists’ enclave in Hampstead where Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Herbert Read changed the face of 20th Century British Art. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Oct)
Isokon Gallery
This exhibition explores the relationship of Rego’s work titled Crivelli’s Garden to the 15th-century altarpiece that inspired it. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Oct)
National Gallery
Seeing the Light represents an opportunity for the public to see some of Italy’s most well known and loved sites – Venice, Rome, Naples - through Turner’s eyes, in the unique setting of his then rural retreat in Twickenham. (Ending Soon Sun, 29th Oct)
Turners House
£9
Christy
Christy, the near 175-year-old British heritage brand credited with creating towelling as we know it today, is the centre of a two-month exhibition at London’s Museum of Brands. (Ending Soon Tue, 31st Oct)
Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
This temporary display highlights the contribution of the Indian Army across the globe during the First World War. (Ending Soon Sun, 5th Nov)
National Army Museum
This exhibition brings together a substantial body of ceramic sculptures made by artist Keith Clapson between 2017 and 2023. (Ending Soon Sat, 18th Nov)
Bethlem Museum of the Mind
A display exploring the underrepresented history of Indian indenture in the British Caribbean. (Ending Soon Sun, 19th Nov)
Museum of London Docklands
Free
The Polar Silk Road
Gregor Sailer's photography exhibition explores the new Arctic trade routes opening due to melting ice cap. (Ending Soon Fri, 24th Nov)
Natural History 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
Cut + Paste
If you could, would you edit your DNA? To treat disease, or to enhance your body? Which diseases should we try to cure, and who decides? Where would you draw the line? (Ending Soon Sat, 2nd Dec)
The Francis Crick Institute
The first museum show in the UK of work by ground-breaking Italian photographer Lisetta Carmi, whose imagery is currently receiving renewed attention. (Ending Soon Sun, 17th Dec)
Estorick Collection
An exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Chilean military coup. (Ending Soon Wed, 20th Dec)
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
"Hidden in Plain Sight" is UCL Library Services' free public exhibition highlighting underrepresented voices in our historic and modern library collections. (Ending Soon Thu, 21st Dec)
UCL Main Library
Free
Inventing the Future
This exhibition celebrates the Tercentenary of the Constitutions of the Freemasons. (Ending Soon Thu, 21st Dec)
Museum of Freemasonry
Explore thread as a method and metaphor for connection, collaboration and conversation in this exhibition by ten students. (Ending Soon Sun, 31st Dec)
Whitechapel Gallery
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
This exhibition will invite visitors to further their understanding of the Troubles through the multiple perspectives of individuals affected by the conflict. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Imperial War Museum
The Art of Banksy is the world’s largest collection of original and authenticated Banksy artworks showcasing more than 110 pieces including prints, canvases, unique works and ephemera, many of which are on display for the very first time. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
The Art of Banksy exhibition
£12.50
The Missing Thread
Spanning from the 1970s to the present day, this exhibition charts the shifting landscape of Black British culture and the unique contribution it has made to Britain’s rich fashion design history. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Somerset House
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
This exhibition investigates the unexpected journey which fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of Sigmund Freud, but which left him perplexed. (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Jan)
Freud Museum
Bringing together 36 artists from different generations and geographies, this exhibition explores how photography and video have allowed artists to examine legacies of the past while imagining more hopeful futures. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Jan)
Tate Modern
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
An exhibition that takes a questioning, surprising and playful look at the ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already shaping so many areas of our lives (Ending Soon Sat, 20th Jan)
Science Gallery London
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
This exhibition explores the dynamic relationship between contemporary painting and photography. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
Tate Modern
This display of prints by American artist Ed Ruscha focuses on his prevailing interest in the physical world around him. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
British Museum
Revel in the beauty of nature at this display of works by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues – one of the most gifted botanical artists of his age. (Ending Soon Sun, 28th Jan)
British Museum
Free
Genetic Automata
This is an ongoing body of video works by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, exploring race and identity in an age of avatars, videogames and DNA ancestry. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Feb)
Wellcome Collection
This exhibition will be one of the most wide-ranging surveys of contemporary fashion culture ever staged in the UK. (Ending Soon Sun, 11th Feb)
The Design Museum
£16.50
Sara Shamma
Dulwich Picture Gallery presents a new body of work by the renowned artist Sara Shamma. (Ending Soon Sun, 25th Feb)
Dulwich Picture Gallery
A special exhibition about a little-known local scientific invention with a huge global impact: the development of artificial silk. (Ending Soon Thu, 29th Feb)
Museum of Richmond
How can we design our homes to respond to the climate emergency? Discover how architects are reimagining wood, stone and straw to design homes fit for the future. (Ending Soon Thu, 29th Feb)
The Design Museum
The forgotten story of the Indian Army camps at Hampton Court Palace (Ending Soon Sun, 3rd Mar)
Hampton Court Palace
The first UK exhibition dedicated to the work of French couturière, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, charting the establishment of the House of CHANEL and the evolution of her iconic design style. (Ending Soon Sun, 10th Mar)
Victoria and Albert Museum
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
£20
DIVA
Expect an explosion of over the top fashions at the V&A Museum this summer, as it brings together a collection of outfits worn by celebrities under the title of "divas". (Ending Soon Sun, 7th Apr)
Victoria and Albert Museum
An exhibition to mark the film's 30th anniversary. (Ending Soon Sun, 14th Apr)
Cartoon Museum
This free display brings together ten works by the two artists: with four views of Yorkshire by Turner and five scenes of Normandy and Venice by Bonington. (Ending Soon Sun, 21st Apr)
Wallace Collection
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
