Best Free Exhibitions in London

Best Free Exhibitions in London

You can still get cultured whilst saving some cash in London. Whether it’s wandering through art galleries, getting snap happy at photography exhibitions or admiring a quirky installation, here are our pick of the best free exhibitions in London. There are so many great museums and galleries in London, which means there are some incredible shows to see, from interactive exhibitions and art installations, to photography collections and immersive experiences

London is blessed with world-class galleries and museums, with free entry to many of them, including Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the V&A, the Design Museum, the Science Museum, the British Museum, the Wellcome Collection, and the Natural History Museum, being totally free. That means you can check out incredible permanent collections, covering everything from fossils to Old Masters, without paying a penny. And if you’ve done all the big hitters, many smaller, independent art galleries in London also operate free entry, so you might just stumble across the next big thing at one of these free art exhibitions.

Keep your eyes peeled as you wander around the city’s different neighbourhoods too as there’s also of lot of public art to explore for free across London. Canary Wharf boasts an impressive collection of artworks, which is actually the largest free to visit public art exhibition in the UK with pieces by Camille Walala, Henry Moore, Ottotto and Helaine Blumenfeld.

Each year City of London works with artists and partners to curate a new trail of artworks that forms the annual sculpture park, Sculpture in the City.  And you can’t miss Frieze Sculpture, where Regent’s Park is filled with installations each autumn to coincide with the annual Frieze London art fair. Current free faves include an exhibition dedicated to the music and musicians of Croydon and a display that showcases the history of communities led by the Abbess and nuns from c.666AD to the early 16th Century near Barking Abbey at the area’s brand new Women’s Museum.

So whether you’re looking for exhibitions today, exhibitions this weekend or you want to stay on top of all upcoming art exhibitions, we’ve got you covered.

Look Back at Picasso's Printmaking Career at the British Museum

7th November 2024 – 30th March 2025
British Museum, Great Russell Street, London

Picasso may be best known for his paintings but he also produced thousands of prints throughout his career and the British Museum is showcasing them at the Picasso Printmaker exhibition. Around 100 prints will be on show, including some never displayed pieces from his ‘347 Suite’, produced at age 86, exploring his episodic engagement with printmaking over his life, his development of new printing methods, his partnerships with printers and publishers, and his relationships with his wives and lovers.

The Gingerbread City Is Back for 2024

30th November - 29th December 2024
The Gaumont, 196-222 King's Rd, London SW3 5XP

Forget gingerbread houses, there’s an actual gingerbread city coming to Chelsea this Christmas. Created by the Museum of Architecture, this is the eighth year of the project and this time, the theme for the exhibition is ‘Recycled City’. The aim is to explore how buildings and places can be “recycled” into something new, preserving heritage whilst addressing challenges around housing, healthcare, transport, culture and climate, only doing it through the mediums of biscuits, sweets, cakes, and icing. Not only is this a sweet way to help get the public excited about architecture and innovative, sustainable design, but a little holiday cheer never hurt anybody.

Kim Jones Is Curating an Exhibition at Sotheby's on the Bloomsbury Group

9th - 26th November 2024
Sothebys Bookshop, 34-35 New Bond Street, London

Sotheby’s is celebrating the influence of the Bloomsbury Group (the set of writers, artists and intellectuals that included Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Roger Fry and Henry Lamb known for their progressive ways of life) with a loan exhibition and a display of pieces before they go up for auction. Dior designer and Vice President of Charleston, the Sussex home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Kim Jones is curating the Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury to Charleston exhibition, which features pieces on loan from the house and from his own collection, with paintings and portraits by Bell and Grant among the highlights. Ceramics and garments will also feature in the selling exhibition.

Tate Modern Is Exploring the Relationship Between Art and Technology Before the Internet

28th November 2024 – 1st June 2025
Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Remember the world pre-internet? That’s what Tate Modern is taking us back in time with its blockbuster exhibition Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet. The show will showcase how artists used machines and algorithms to make art between the 1950s and the early 1990s, engaging with mathematical principles, early digital tech and new computing systems to produce optical, kinetic and sensory artworks. By displaying pieces made with vintage technology, the exhibition also provides a look back at how artists imagined the visual language of the future.

Jeremy Deller and John Costi Are Curating an Exhibition of Art by People in the Criminal Justice System

1st November – 15th December 2024
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London

Prison arts charity Koestler Arts is back at the Southbank Centre with its annual UK exhibition featuring work created by people in the criminal justice system, including prisoners, immigration detainees, and secure mental health patients. This year’s exhibition, titled No Comment, is being co-curated by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and former prisoner-turned-artist John Costi, with the pair also invited Abbas Zahedi, Andrea Emelife, Jonny Banger , Larry Achiampong, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE and Zakia Sewell to help make the selections. The show is giving people in secure settings the opportunity to share their voice, so you can expect pieces that touch on a variety of topics and themes.

See the Widest Range of Renaissance Drawings Ever Shown in the UK

1st November 2024 - 9th March 2025
The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London

Drawing was a central part of the artistic transformation happening during the Renaissance and you can see how it evolved from workshop practice into an art form in its own right at The King’s Gallery. The Drawing the Italian Renaissance exhibition features the widest range of drawings from this period ever shown in the UK, with around 160 works produced in Italy between 1450 to 1600 from more than 80 artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, on display.

The V&A Is Hosting the First Major Exhibition on the ‘Golden Age’ of the Mughal Court

9th November 2024 - 5th May 2025
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London

The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence at the V&A is the first major exhibition focused on the artistic achievements of the ‘Golden Age’ (c.1560 – 1660) of the Mughal court. The display will span the reign of three emperors – Akbar (r.1556-1605) Jahangir (r.1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658) – and will feature over 200 objects (including many rarely seen pieces from the V&A collection), like paintings, illustrated manuscripts, carpets, textiles, vessels and precious metals. All of the items will showcase the quality of the work being produced by Iranian and Hindustani craftsmen in the imperial workshops of the Persian-speaking court, with the exhibition also exploring the impact that European art, introduced by Christian missionaries and merchants, had on the workshops.

Check Out Chrissie Hynde's Latest Paintings at Cromwell Place

21st November - 14th December 2024
4 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JE

Chrissie Hynde may be best known as the lead singer of The Pretenders but she’s also an accomplished artist (she’s exhibited in galleries both sides of the Atlantic, her work as featured as one of her album covers, and appeared as motifs on clothes in a Vivienne Westwood collection) and you can see her latest work at Cromwell Place this winter. Hynde Sight will feature over 60 of her recent works, including still life, self-portraits and paintings of friends like Brian Eno and Paul Weller.

Luke Jerram Is Bringing Mars to the Painted Hall

23rd November 2024 – 28th January 2025
Painted Hall, College Way, London

He’s already hung the Moon (with Museum of the Moon) and the Earth (with Gaia) inside the stunning Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, and soon Luke Jerram will be completing his astronomical trilogy by displaying Mars inside the space. The seven-metre model of the Red Planet features incredibly detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface, including every crater, valley and mountain, at a scale of 1: 1 million. The model will be accompanied by a soundtrack, including clips from NASA missions to Mars, created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones. Speaking about the installation, Jerram said, “Mars follows on from my other astronomical artworks Museum of the Moon and Gaia presented in the awe-inspiring Painted Hall and allows a close encounter with the Martian planet. I hope that visitors will feel transported to its inhospitable desert wasteland and in comparison, really value our life on Earth.”

See the Work of Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael at The RA

9th November 2024 - 16th February 2025
Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London

The Royal Academy is bringing together three giants of the Renaissance for the Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael exhibition. The artists briefly crossed paths in Florence at the start of the 16th century, with some of the city’s most prominent artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, meeting in January 1504 to advise in a location for Michelangelo’s David. This show, featuring works from all three artists and some of the best examples of Italian Renaissance drawing, will explore the rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo and the impact that both artists had on Raphael.

A Noel Gallagher Exhibition Is on at the Gibson Garage

Until 10th April 2025
The Gibson Garage London, Eastcastle Street, London

The Gibson Garage, the iconic instrument brand’s biggest shop outside the USA, is hosting a new exhibition featuring never-before-seen images of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. A New World Blazing will showcase the work of renowned photographer Sharon Latham including footage from live performances and rare looks behind the scenes.

Japan House London Is Showcasing Japan's Food Replica Culture

2nd October 2024 – 16th February 2025
101-111 Kensington High St, London W8 5SA

Food replicas or sampuru (samples), hyper realistic 3-D recreations of dishes, are commonly displayed outside restaurants in Japan, and now the craft is coming to London with the Looks Delicious! exhibition at Japan House London. The practice of producing food replicas started in the 20th century as a way of introducing Japanese people to new kinds of food, like yōshoku (Western food) and unfamiliar dishes. For this exhibition, food replica manufacturer Iwasaki has made 47 new pieces, one for every prefecture of Japan, including bitter melon stir fry from Okinawa to seafood from Hokkaido. You’ll also be able to learn about the history of food replica culture and the techniques used in the production process, as well as having a go at building your own bento box using a selection of replicas.

See Iconic and Unseen Images of Oasis at This Exhibition

25th October 2024 - 25th January 2025
Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, Patriot Square, London

If you didn’t manage to bag tickets for the reunion tour, you can still get your Oasis fix by heading to the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green. The hotel is hosting the Definitely Maybe: A View from Within exhibition, featuring work by photographer Michael Spencer Jones in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band’s seminal album. Spencer Jones worked with the band for several years after first meeting them in 1993 and many pieces from that collaboration will be on show, including the iconic cover for Definitely Maybe and some previously unseen images of Oasis.

This Exhibition Is Spotlighting Palestinian Artists

Until 21st December 2024
P21 Gallery, Chalton Street, London

London’s P21 Gallery, whose mission is to promote visibility for Arab artists, is hosting an exhibition that celebrates Palestinian artists. Art of Palestine | from the river to the sea features the work of 25 creatives (including some who are currently living in Gaza, or were recently evacuated), spanning various disciplines, such as painting, sculpting, photography and textile making. As well as addressing the severe challenges faced by the Palestinian people, the show explores the entirety of the rich Palestinian cultural tapestry.

Step Inside Legendary Nightclub Taboo at the Fashion & Textile Museum

Until 9 March 2025
83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF

Tate Modern is opening a Leigh Bowery exhibition next year and clearly he’s a hot topic as the Fashion & Textile Museum is doing a show on Taboo, the legendary Leicester Square nightclub that he opened in 1985. Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London showcases the creative scene that converged around the nightclub, which had a ‘dress as though your life depends on it, or don’t bother’ dress code and was known for hedonistic excess. Garments and accessories from Bowery, Boy George, Pam Hogg, John Galliano, Michael Clark, Stephen Linard, BodyMap and more will be on display alongside photography, film and artworks.

Revisit Your Emo Years at This Exhibition

Until 15th January 2025
Barbican Library, Silk Street, London

The Museum of Youth Culture is turning the clock back to the mid to late noughties with its latest London exhibition all about the Emo scene at the time. I’m Not Okay, which is showing at the Barbican Music Library, features personal photos that were taken between 2004 and 2009 on early digital and phone cameras, capturing the ethos of an era led by bands like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Finch. Expect to see an exploration of how this subculture addressed issues of sexuality, mental health, gender, identity, and belonging, as well as how it was defined by its style (see skinny jeans and black dyed hair) and punctuated with internet drama.

See How the Tube Map Has Evolved Over the Years at The Map House

25th October - 30th November 2024
54 Beauchamp Place, London

The Tube map is one of the world’s most iconic pieces of transport design and The Map House is exploring how it came to be and how the city’s Tube system has evolved over the last 160 years. Mapping the Tube: 1863-2023 will feature hand-drawn and annotated manuscripts by Tube map designer Harry Beck, including a rare 1st edition 1933 Underground poster and an unfinished sketch from 1950 proposing a new layout for the District Line branch to Richmond, as well as designs and posters by the likes of Cecil Walter Bacon and Macdonald Gill that were created to help encourage Londoners to use the Tube.

See Some of the World's Most Threatened Plants at Kew Gardens

19th October – 17th November 2024
Temperate House, Kew Road, Richmond

Kew Gardens is putting some of its rarest and most-endangered plants on show, some of which are never publicly displayed, with the Rare and Extinct exhibition in Temperate House. In the ‘Room of Rarity’ and the ‘Room of Extinction’, around twenty plants that are either rare (classified as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable) or Extinct in the Wild will be on view, alongside the stories of each plant and the dedicated horticulturalists that care for them. The exhibition will show how these skills are being used to halt biodiversity loss and conserve the world’s most precious species.

The Barbican Is Showcasing Indian Art from 1975 - 1998

5th October 2024 - 5th January 2025
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London

With The Imaginary Institution of India exhibition, the Barbican is showcasing work from over 30 Indian artists produced during a pivotal time in the country’s history. Bookended by two significant events, Indira Gandhi’s declaration of a state of emergency in 1975 and the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, the exhibition covers a turbulent period of social change, rapid urbanisation and economic collapse. The pieces on display show how artists lived through and interpreted these major episodes, covering topics like religion, caste, love, desire, family, community and protest.

Vogue Is Opening an Immersive Fashion Exhibition in London

13th November 2024 - 26th April 2025
12 Lewis Cubitt Walk, London N1C 4DY

The next immersive exhibition to take up residence inside Lightroom will be Vogue: Inventing the Runway, which’ll explore the history of the fashion runway show, from the couture salon presentations of the early 20th century to the large-scale spectacles of today. Blending original animation, immersive sound design, popular and classical music, Vogue’s extensive archive, rare materials from fashion houses, and testimonies from editors, models and designers, the exhibition will take you backstage and front row to showcase how runways revolutionised the way we experience fashion, evolving from an opportunity to see clothes in motion to global cultural events. The likes of Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Burberry, Chanel, Chloé, Christian Dior, Comme des Garçons, Coperni, Courrèges, Dolce & Gabbana, Dries Van Noten, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, Jacquemus, Jean Paul Gaultier, Junya Watanabe, JW Anderson, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Moschino, Prada, Rick Owens, Schiaparelli, Stella McCartney, Thierry Mugler, Thom Browne, Versace, Vivienne Westwood, and Yohji Yamamoto will all be featured, giving you the chance to get up close to these designers, their identities and their visions in an unprecedented way.

Serpentine South Is Presenting the First UK Exhibition on Lauren Halsey

4th October 2024 – 2nd March 2025
Serpentine Gallery, London

LA-based Lauren Halsey is taking over Serpentine South in what will be her first solo exhibition in the UK. Halsey is known for her maximalist work blends influences like funk, architecture and iconography of ancient African cultures and acts as creative resistance to the gentrification of South Central LA. With emajendat she’ll be transforming the Serpentine South galleries into an immersive maximalist ‘funk garden’ with a live water feature, found objects, sculpture, plants and wallpaper, alongside her first moving image work.

Somerset House Is Showcasing Black LGBTQIA+ Creativity

11th October 2024 - 19th January 2025
Somerset House, Strand, London

The Making a rukus! Black Queer Histories through Love and Resistance exhibition at Somerset House explores the radical world of the rukus! Federation, an art project and living archive dedicated to contemporary Black LGBTQIA+ cultural and political history.  Artist and rukus! Federation co-founder Topher Campbell is curating the show, which features over 200 objects that celebrate the work of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans artists and activists, highlighting how they created space for their community, celebrated friendship and joy, documented their experiences and continue to do so.

An Exhibition on Marilyn Monroe Is Coming to London

Until 23rd February 2025
8 Bermondsey St, London SE1 2ER

More than six decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains one of the influential figures in film, fashion and pop culture – numerous movies have been made about her life, her actual dresses have been worn on the red carpet, and now an exhibition dedicated to her is coming to London. MARILYN – The Exhibition will be the first of its kind in the UK and will feature 250 objects from Ted Stampfer’s collection (he’s the world’s largest collector of Marilyn Monroe’s historical objects of this kind), including love letters, movie props, scripts, childhood drawings, robes, family photos, shoes, outfits, accessories, make-up, memorabilia from her film production ventures in London in 1956 and her meeting with the Queen, and more. The show is promising unprecedented insight into the world of Marilyn Monroe, from her beginnings as Norma Jean Baker to her transformation into a cultural icon

A Major Tim Burton Exhibition is Coming to London

25th October 2024 - 21st April 2025
224, 238 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 6AG

The World of Tim Burton at the Design Museum will not only explore the filmmaker and animator’s legendary on-screen career, but also his work as an illustrator, painter, photographer and author. Organised by Jenny He (who recently curated the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to ‘Pope of Trash’ John Waters at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles), the show comprises pieces from Burton’s personal archive that span the artist’s creative journey from childhood to the present day. Expect to see over 600 items, including drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, props, sculptural installations, storyboards, set designs, costumes (including 1992’s Catwoman suit and the first ever public display of the Rave’N dance dress worn by Jenna Ortega in Wednesday) and more that encapsulate Burton’s distinct style.

This Is the World's First Sculpture Garden Dedicated to the Work of Women Artists

3rd October 2024 – September 2025
The Artist's Garden, The Artist's Garden, Roof Terrace, London

MARY MARY presented with theCOLAB at the Artist’s Garden, on a roof terrace on top of Temple tube station, is the world’s first sculpture garden featuring the work of women artists. Pieces by Rong Bao, Candida Powell–Williams, Alice Wilson, Lucy Gregory, L R Vandy, Olivia Bax, Frances Richardson, Holly Stevenson and Virginia Overton. The show represents a reclamation of space by women artists, both physically and conceptually, whose representation in galleries and collections is below 30%.

The RA Is Hosting a Major Retrospective on Michael-Craig Martin

21st September - 10th December 2024
Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London

The Royal Academy is hosting the largest exhibition on Michael Craig-Martin ever held in the UK. Craig-Martin is one of the most influential figures in British art, known for his pop and conceptual pieces, and this show features sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, prints and digital works from across his 60-year career. Expect plenty of his large-scale colourful paintings of everyday objects, his landmark conceptual work An Oak Tree, a site-specific installation, new immersive digital work and more.

Step Inside NONOTAK's Light and Sound Installations in Bermondsey

Until 8th December 2024
47 Tanner Street, London SE1 3PL

Duo NONOTAK – visual artist Noemi Schipfer and light and sound artist Takami Nakamoto – whose work explores the interplay between light and darkness, sound and silence, have their first solo London exhibition running in Bermondsey. ECLIPSE features three light and sound installations, titled ‘HIGHWAY’, ‘DUAL’, and ‘HIDDEN SHADOWS’, which use of kinetic visuals, projection mapping and choreographed sound to immerse viewers in dynamic audiovisual landscapes.

Look Back at 25 Years of Isle of Wight Festival at This Exhibition

19th September - 13th November 2024
The O2, Peninsula Square, London

This year marks the 25th edition of Isle of Wight Festival (if you count the first three original events held in 1968, ’69 and ’70 plus the modern run from 2002 onwards) and the Experience 25 exhibition is looking back over the event’s history. You’ll be able to step inside the office of Ray Foulk, the curator of the first three IOW events, to see how those massive events were put together, with original images and footage of performances by The Doors, The Who, Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix playing to 500,000 people. The exhibition will also feature an archive documenting the major moments of the festival’s modern era, following its revival by John Giddings in 2002, including David Bowie’s 2004 headline set, Amy Winehouse’s duet with Mick Jagger in 2007 and Jay-Z’s performance in 2010.

The Turner Prize Is Back in London for 2024

25th September 2024 – 16th February 2025
Tate Britain, Millbank, London

Each year the Turner Prize is given to a British artist who has created an outstanding exhibition or presentation of their work, and for 2024 the shortlisted artists are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas. You can see their work, which includes everything from figurative portraits of Black men and women to immersive environments filled with fabric and sculpture, at Tate Britain, with the winner being announced on 3rd December.

Learn About Our Shared History of Migration at the Migration Museum

12th September 2024 - 21st December 2025
Migration Museum, London

London’s Migration Museum is combining its work from over the past decade with new stories and artwork with the exhibition All Our Stories: Migration and the Making of Britain. The show explores the reasons why people migrate while sharing experiences of arriving and addressing questions of identity and belonging. Since 2011, the Migration Museum has been sharing stories and examining how the movement of people shapes our culture; given the recent eruption of violence targeting migrant communities and ethnic minorities, it’s especially crucial to learn about how central migration is to our lives.

Monet's Paintings of the Thames Are Being Shown in the UK for the First Time

27th September 2024 – 19th January 2025
The Courtauld Gallery, Strand, London

Claude Monet’s Water Lilies often get all the plaudits but some of the artist’s finest Impressionist paintings are depictions of views of the River Thames, including Charing Cross Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Created in London between 1889 and 1901, they were shown in Paris in 1904 but have never been exhibited in the UK (despite Monet’s desire to do so) until now. With the Monet and London. Views of the Thames exhibition, The Courtauld Gallery is presenting the paintings together 120 years after they were displayed across the Channel (not far from the Savoy Hotel where many of them were painted), giving people the chance to see his interpretation of some of London’s most iconic views as he’d intended.

A Massive Batman Exhibition Is Coming to London

Until 30th December 2024
45 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7BN

Batman is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year and DC and Warner Bros aren’t letting a big milestone like that pass by quietly. Batman Unmasked, an exhibition featuring an epic collection of Batman memorabilia, is coming to London. The exhibition will take you on a journey through Batman’s film history, with original props and costumes from Batman (1989), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017), Joker (2019) and The Batman (2022). You’ll be able to see Batsuits worn by Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson and check out the Tumbler and Batpod from The Dark Knight and the Batmobile and Batcycle from The Batman. But it’s not just about the Caped Crusader at Batman Unmasked. Gotham City’s more nefarious residents also get a look in at The Rogues Gallery, with Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy ensemble, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn costume, Jim Carrey’s Riddler outfit, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze suit, Heath Ledger’s Joker’s nurse uniform, and the red suit worn by Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, which you can see ahead of Joker: Folie à Deux hitting the big screen.

The Wellcome Collection Is Exploring the Relationship Between Work and Health

19th September 2024 - 27th April 2025
Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, London

The Wellcome Collection is exploring the experiences of physical work and the impact it has on people’s health in the major free exhibition Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights. Focusing on three areas of work – the Plantation, the Street and the Domestic Space – the show will draw connections between undervalued labour, the people who undertake it and the places where it happens, and examine the way that stigmatised work practices like sex work, prison labour and street vending continue to reinforce health and other societal inequalities. Over 100 objects from around the world will be on display, including artefacts from the Wellcome’s collection as well as contemporary artworks from the likes of Lubaina Himid, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Charmaine Watkiss, Forensic Architecture, Adelita Husni-Bey and Louise Bourgeois, plus new commissions from Moi Tran and Lindsey Mendick.

See How Silk Roads Shaped Cultures at the British Museum

26th September 2024 – 23rd February 2025
British Museum, Great Russell Street, London

The British Museum is hosting a major exhibition that will expand the concept of the Silk Road beyond a trade route between East and West. Silk Roads will show how there were multiple overlapping networks linking different communities across Asia, Africa and Europe, including from Japan to Britain and Scandinavia to Madagascar. The exhibition, split into five different geographical zones, will feature over 300 objects, like Indian garnets found in Suffolk, wall paintings from Uzbekistan, and the oldest group of chess pieces ever found, and will explore how the movement of people and objects along these routes shaped cultures and histories.

An Exhibition About Serial Killers Is Coming to London

21st September 2024 - 5th January 2025
The Vaults London, Leake St, London SE1 7NN

We’ve already got countless true crime podcasts and docs available to us, and now the genre is taking on a new format. Serial Killer: The Exhibition at The Vaults seeks to explore the motivation behind some of history’s most notorious killers and also showcase how investigative techniques and criminal profiling have evolved over the years. Over 1000 artefacts, including a letter by Ted Bundy and a glasses worn by Jeffery Dahmer, along with crime scene recreations and audio clips are featured in the exhibition, which also promises to honour the memory of the victims of said killers. Can an exhibition centred around the killers really do that? The jury is still out.

See the Natural World in a New Way at Outernet

Until summer 2025
Outernet London, Charing Cross Rd, London

LA-based artist Maggie West is showcasing her style of time-lapse photography and colouration effects at Outernet, presenting a series of works showing the detail of the natural world across The Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade. The first section, Terra, covers a night on Earth across different climates, from an arid desert to a tropical rainforest. Pools moves from giant landscapes to grains of sand, and the final section, Ultraviolet, illuminates the way plants absorb water by using ultraviolet light and fluorescent ink. The show is accompanied by a dreamlike score by LA-based composer Matt Nordstrom.

A Massive Formula 1 Exhibition Is Driving Into London

23rd August - 31st December 2024
ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London E16 1XL

You’re locked in every Grand Prix weekend, you’ve binged Drive to Survive and now you need a new way to feed your F1 obsession – we’ve got just the thing, the Formula 1 Exhibition. Set across six rooms and created with contributions from drivers, teams and F1 experts, the exhibition will immerse you in the past, present and future of Formula 1. Cars and artefacts, like Lewis Hamilton’s kart and the burnt-out chassis of Romain Grosjean’s HAAS following his Bahrain crash in 2020, will be on show alongside designs, imagery, films and more. You’ll be able to explore the role of the British Grand Prix in the history of racing, go inside a Formula 1 factory, see the innovations that have been made in the sport, get insights into cutting-edge tech from Pirelli, learn the stories of iconic drivers and relive some of of the greatest moments in F1 history at the Pit Wall. You’ll even be able to feel what it’s like driving an F1 car around Silverstone thanks to state-of-the-art racing simulators.

The Design Museum Is Hosting an Exhibition All About Barbie

5th July 2024 - 25th February 2025
224, 238 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 6AG

After the cultural phenomenon that was the Barbie movie – a release that had the whole world talking – the Design Museum is hosting a major retrospective on everyone’s favourite doll. Three years in the making, the exhibition will retrace nearly seven decades of history to tell the story of the iconic brand, with a particular focus on its design, in celebration of its 65th birthday. The show is being presented in collaboration with Mattel Inc. which has granted the Museum special access to extensive Barbie archives, meaning that there’ll be a lot of rare and unique items on display. These will appear alongside other key loans and acquisitions, all of which will come together to explore the story of Barbie, as well as fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design. A rare first edition Barbie from 1959 will feature among the dolls on display, as well as a one-of-a-kind Talking Barbie prototype and the best-selling Totally Hair Barbie

See Some of the Most Iconic Resistance Images at This Peter Kennard Exhibition

23rd July 2024 - 19th January 2025
Whitechapel Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, London

Whitechapel Gallery is putting on one of the most extensive displays of Peter Kennard’s work with the Archive of Dissent exhibition. Pieces from across the artist’s five-decade career, including some of the most iconic resistance and anti-war imagery ever produced, are on display in the galleries within the former Whitechapel Library space. The exhibition is presented as an active and evolving archive, with printed material displayed on walls, placards, on lecterns and in vitrines, as well as showcasing Kennard’s imagery, it dives into his process of making the photomontages that have become his signature.

The V&A Is Hosting an Exhibition That Explores the Career of Naomi Campbell

22nd June 2024 - 6th April 2025
Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL

Naomi Campbell has had an unrivalled career that’s spanned almost four decades and now the V&A is honouring that with an entire exhibition dedicated to the supermodel. The show, titled NAOMI In Fashion, has been produced in collaboration with Campbell and will focus on foregrounding her voice and perspective. Campbell has granted the V&A access to her extensive collection of haute couture and leading ready-to-wear ensembles. These will be displayed alongside loans from designer archives as well as objects from the V&A’s own collection. In total, there’ll be around 100 looks from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Azzedine Alaïa, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianni and Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Ize, Valentino, Virgil Abloh, Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent and many others. The exhibition will also feature a fashion photography installation curated by Edward Enninful OBE and recognise Campbell’s mentors who inspired her to fight social injustice, champion diversity and support emerging creatives.

Step Inside Anthony McCall's Sculptures of Light at Tate Modern

27th June 2024 - 27th April 2025
Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Tate Modern is hosting an exhibition on Anthony McCall where you’ll be able to step inside his immersive light sculptures. McCall is known for his work that blurs the boundaries between film, sculpture and performance, and the Solid Light exhibition gives you a chance to experience his light installations. Beams of light are projected through a thin mist, which shift and move as people pass through the space, creating new perspectives for the viewer.

The Zanele Muholi Exhibition is Back at Tate Modern

6th June 2024 – 26th January 2025
Tate Modern, Bankside, London

After the pandemic forced this exhibition on visual activist Zanele Muholi – the first major one in the UK – to close early, Tate Modern is staging it once again. The non-binary photographer has been documenting the lives of the Black LGBTQ+ communities in South Africa for twenty years, capturing their love, empowerment and strength alongside the trauma they have often endured. The exhibition includes over 260 of Muholi’s photographs from across their career, including the self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama that explores themes of labour, sexual politics and racism. Works featured in the original 2020-2021 exhibition have been joined by new pieces produced by Muholi since then.

Dive Into a World of Birds at the Natural History Museum

24th May 2024 - 5th January 2025
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London

With Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre, the Natural History Museum is presenting an in-depth look into the long history and, often quite odd, character of the feathery vertebrates. The multi-sensory exhibition will have you fully immersed in the bird world – whether through touching a prehistoric egg or braving a whiff of stinky seabird eggs – as it was hundreds of millions of years ago, as it is today and how it’s projected to be decades from now.

Elton John's Photography Collection Is Being Displayed at the V&A

18th May 2024 – 5th January 2025
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL

Sir Elton John is obviously best known for being a musician but he’s also a keen collector of photography and he’s showcasing just some of the works he owns with husband David Furnish. The V&A is hosting the Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection exhibition, featuring over 300 prints from more than 140 photographers, many of which will be going on public display for the first time. The show covers the 1950s to the present day and feature images from the Civil Rights movement, AIDS activism and September 11th, as well portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Miles Davies and Chet Baker, with works from the likes of Horst. P Horst, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Zanele Muholi, Ai Weiwei, Carrie Mae Weems and more.

 

Check Out the Inaugural Exhibition at the Museum of Homelessness

24th May - 30th November 2024
Manor House Lodge, Seven Sisters Road, London

The Museum of Homelessness has officially moved into its new space in Finsbury Park and is launching its inaugural show, How to Survive the Apocalypse: Wisdoms from our Community. The immersive exhibition will be open every Friday and Saturday until the end of November and will draw upon the Museum’s experience of fighting at the front lines against issues such as record levels of homelessness, widening inequality, Brexit, a climate emergency, a pandemic, and a series of ongoing social and political crises. Vistors are told to expect and unconventional museum tour, in a conversational atmosphere, that’ll include performance, poetry, object handling and more.

Check Out the World's Largest Collection of Bansky Works from 1998 - 2008

11th April 2024 - January 2025
100 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JG

The Art of Banksy first landed in London in the spring of 2021 after touring the world, popping up in cities from Melbourne to Miami, and following another international jaunt, it returned to the capital in 2023. After closing at the start of this year, the exhibition is on its way back for a third run, this time opening in a new space in Soho. The show is not authorised by the artist and therefore not curated in collaboration with him (not really Banksy’s style is it?) so all the pieces on show are loans from private collectors. In fact, the exhibition will display the world’s largest collection of official Banksy works from 1997 – 2008. This time around, over 150 pieces will be on show, including the iconic ‘Girl and Balloon’ ‘Flower Thrower’ and ‘Rude Copper’ as well as artworks from Dismaland, ones that reference the war in Ukraine and some going on public display for the first time.

Explore the History of the Barking Abbey Community at the Women's Museum

9th March - 21st December 2024
Women's Museum, Barking Wharf Square, Barking

Female artists Meera Shakti Osborne, Lesley Asare, and Sarina Mantle are featured in An Idea of a Life exhibit at the Women’s Museum. The exhibit showcases the history of communities led by the Abbess and nuns from c.666AD to the early 16th Century near Barking Abbey and will show their everyday history. It will also include objects excavated from the area that demonstrated how women were connected to significant historic places.

The London Transport Museum is Showcasing the History of Poster Art and Design

20th October 2023 - 2025
London Transport Museum, London

The London Transport Museum is opening its Global Poster Gallery, its first permanent gallery dedicated to the history of poster art and design, with the How to Make a Poster exhibition. The inaugural display will explore poster commissioning and creativity in the pre-digital age, with more than 110 pieces on show. The Underground’s first ever pictorial poster, John Hassall’s 1908 work ‘No need to ask a p’liceman’ by John Hassall alongside posters by designers and artists like Edward McKnight Kauffer, Man Ray, Hans Unger, Abram Games, Tom Eckersley, Paul Catherall, and Dora M Batty. The various techniques used in poster production will also be showcased in the exhibition as well as the way the posters were displayed and the reception they received from both London travellers and the art world.

Soak Up Vincent Van Gogh's Masterpieces From All Angles

Until 30th November 2024
Commercial Street, London E1 6LZ

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience has been a hit in the States and in Europe and now it has come to Spitalfields. The exhibition sees more than 300 of Van Gogh’s works projected across a floor-to-ceiling two-storey space so you’ll be able to soak up the art from all angles. There’s also a drawing studio and a VR experience that takes you through a day in the life of the artist and explores the inspiration behind some of his most iconic paintings. 

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