AboutLondon Laura – February 2024 Newsletter
So, how did you get on with my January recommendations? I’ve spent most of the month hibernating and wishing for warmer days but I did go to the Horniman Museum. I primarily wanted to see their Tea exhibition which I thought was good and worth the visit. The venue is right as The Horniman is named after Frederick Horniman, who inherited and ran his father’s business, Horniman’s Tea (read more history here). The exhibition doesn’t focus on this but there is an ‘apologist’ info board at the end to remind us we live in different times with different values.
It is a really good time to visit The Horniman as the Natural History Gallery is preparing to close for refurbishment on 3 March 2024. That means you only have a few weeks to see everyone’s favourite over-stuffed walrus. He is truly magnificent and a testament to the Victorian taxidermist who had never seen a walrus so kept stuffing and stuffing and stuffing.
St Albans
I spent a couple of hours in St Albans this month and would highly recommend it. I’ve got lots of reasons to return so will do that soon.
Right now, there’s a Rana Begum installation at the St Albans Museum & Gallery that I enjoyed (see below), and St Albans Cathedral has Peace Doves – a paper birds installation – until 13 February. Back at the Museum, do have a cuppa in the Courthouse Cafe as you can sit in the Judge’s chair and stand in the docks! (See more in my Insta Highlight.)
What’s Happening This Month?
I’ve mentioned before that the British Museum has a Roman Legion exhibition opening on 1 February.
From 30 January to 3 February, St Martins-in-the-Fields has an impressive-looking sound and light experience called Life. It’s designed as a walking journey through earth, sea and sky during a single 24-hour period. There are projections outside, inside and even in the crypt. It does sound good.
Another one you need to be quick to see is The Crown Auction exhibition at Bonhams. The free exhibition is on until 5 February and includes sets, costumes and props from series 1 - 6.
It’s Charles Dickens’s 212th birthday on 7 February so why not celebrate with a visit to the Charles Dickens Museum this month? Or consider The Cult of Beauty at the Wellcome Collection.
Opening on 28 February, the Bank of England Museum has a new exhibition called ‘The Future of Money’. It will be the first opportunity to see the new King Charles banknotes before they officially enter circulation later this year.
Politics and art come together for a few new openings this month. Unravel at the Barbican is textile art from 50 international artists who challenge power structures and reimagine the world. The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure at the National Portrait Gallery is a showcase of work by 22 leading African diasporic artists exploring the depiction of the Black form within portraiture. And Entangled Past at the Royal Academy brings together over 100 major contemporary and historic works as part of a conversation about art and its role in shaping narratives around empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition and colonialism.
Another great reason to visit the Royal Academy is because one of my favourite paintings is going on display. From 17 February 2024 to 12 January 2025, Frederic, Lord Leighton PRA’s iconic painting, Flaming June, c.1895, is on free display in the RA’s Collection Gallery. It’s a rare opportunity to see one of the most recognisable and celebrated works from the Victorian period. (The painting is on loan from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico which is partially closed during a major repair project due to damage caused by earthquakes in January 2020.)
Something I’ve not seen promoted yet is the Notre Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition at Westminster Abbey. On from 7 February to 1 June 2024, it’s an immersive and interactive journey through Notre Dame’s past including the lavish wedding of King Henri IV, the glittering coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte and the 19th-century construction of Notre Dame’s iconic spire of Viollet-le-Duc, which was tragically destroyed by the fire. Visitors will use a touchscreen tablet in the Abbey’s Chapter House. Exhibition entry is included in the price of admission with timed booking slots.
Other than all that (and there is a lot more going on than just these recommendations), I’m looking forward to seeing Yoko Ono at Tate Modern and Sargent & Fashion at Tate Britain. And it’s my birthday this month so some cake would be good too.