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iVisit... National Galley for Impressionist Decorations: The Birth of Modern Decor

IMPRESSIONIST DECORATIONS: THE BIRTH OF MODERN DÉCOR

11 September 2021 – 9 January 2022

Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1908, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation Incorporated; Edouard Manet, Jeanne (Spring), 1881 © The J Paul Getty Museum; Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program 

Three of Monet’s most spectacular large paintings of water lilies will be brought together at the National Gallery in September 2021 in the first-ever exhibition of decorative arts by the Impressionist painters.  

In addition to including paintings on canvas, Impressionist Decorations: The Birth of Modern Décor will show how the Impressionists were interested in painting as decoration throughout their careers and made decorative panels, painted doors, tapestries, ceramics, fans, and in one instance, even a mirror frame. 

These artworks will be brought together from around the world in the first exhibition to focus on the intimate and elegant objects and the painted interiors that the Impressionists thought should enhance modern life. It will reveal a little-known yet enthralling aspect of the Impressionists’ work through a selection of pictures and rarely seen objects, from Pissarro’s small, delicate faience tiles to Monet’s spectacular Water lilies linked to the artist’s late, colossal Water Lilies cycle which he called his ‘grandes décorations.’  

Organised by the National Gallery and the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris, the exhibition will cover five decades of Impressionism, starting in the 1860s, when these young, striving artists started to engage with ornamental projects, until the 1920s – a journey through which they completely renewed the genre of decorative painting, while revitalising their art. 

The exhibition will feature more than eighty paintings and objects by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Morisot, Degas, Cassatt, Cézanne, Manet and Caillebotte, borrowed from major collections including the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford – as well as important private collections on three different continents.

Visitors will be able to experience a largely unexplored facet of the Impressionists’ work; far less familiar than the bright, spontaneous plein-air (painted outdoors) canvases for which they are most celebrated today, but no less crucial for the development of their art. 

Late in life Degas confessed that ‘it had been [his] lifelong dream to paint walls.’ The exhibition shows how consistently the Impressionists produced ornamental paintings throughout their lives, often for specific interiors, sometimes on speculation: decorative schemes conceived to achieve visual harmony in intimate domestic spaces, whether for their own homes, or for those of their clients. 

Initially producing the works in the hope of earning a living, the Impressionists soon used them as a springboard for their careers, and through which they redefined the fundamental idea of decoration and the ‘decorative’. Experimenting with unusual formats and techniques, turning scenes from modern life and directly observed landscapes into décors - bringing nature indoors - they radically transformed decorative painting, while always striving for harmony and visual unity. Renoir’s conviction was that art is made, above all, to ‘brighten up the walls’. 

The exhibition will also be seen at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (13 April – 1 August 2021).  

It is curated by Anne Robbins, Associate Curator of Post 1800 Paintings at the National Gallery; and Sylvie Patry, Director of Conservation and Collections at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris; with Christopher Riopelle, The Neil Westreich Curator of Post 1800 Paintings at the National Gallery.  

Exhibition organised by the National Gallery, London, and the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris

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iVisit.... Top 5 Coolest Dances To Lose Weight Fast!

Are you thinking of dropping pounds this year? Nothing to motivate you? Well we are here with good news, you can lose weight and we will help you! During difficult times, it is challenging to maintain a healthy lifestyle due to various reasons such as stress and anxiety. Which is why we believe dance is your ultimate solution!

Coolest Dances

Below are some of the hottest dances that are trendy and popular - pick your favourite! Zumba: Zumba is a safe, fun, and effective workout for most people who want to enhance their cardiovascular fitness through dance. With Zumba, it varies from high to mid intensity workout routines, therefore you burn higher calories if it involves a high level of intense body movements. Zumba is popular because it is simple and easy to follow; the dance workouts are always repeated body movements that follow the same pace and routine throughout the entire workout.

Contemporary: Incorporates most dance styles; combines elements of multiple dance genres such as jazz, street and ballet. It is very popular amongst dancers and the viewers because of its vibrant and energetic movements. Usually contemporary dance helps tone your entire body. Ballet: Often referred to the ’backbone of dancing’ involves theatrical dance elements and mostly requires you to be experienced enough to execute the dance. This dance is heavily leg focused so you will need special training for flexibility and endurance to strengthen legs and thighs. Also, to be able to do simple Ballet dance routines, you will need to get your balance in check to avoid injuries which could occur when twirling or spinning. Belly dancing: Originated from the middle east, this dance focuses on torso and hip movements. It contributes to strengthening and toning the muscle specifically targeting the abdomen, arms and thigh areas of the body. This dance is usually assumed to be exclusive to females due to its high level of feminine body movements but, in this day and age, there are some men who do belly dancing their own ‘way’. The advantage of belly dancing is that it does not require experience, all you have to do is let your hips, arms sway and your whole body absorb the rhythm. Street: Inspired by urban and the streets itself, the dance is vibrant and usually freestyle. It requires a lot of flexibility and fluidity because of the bouncing, jumping and acrobatic elements involved.

Challenge Yourself

Have you come across those tiktok challenges and thought you can only dream of doing them? Well, those who are doing these challenges probably think they are not good enough at dancing yet they still dance, film and post it for the world to see. Perhaps challenge yourself into getting the habit of dancing and filming yourself and see how great you did.

Verdict

Dancing can help you through tough times but it can also transform you as a whole, this includes your lifestyle and overall health & well-being. Whilst dancing your body releases good hormones called Serotonin which is vital when you are feeling stressed or depressed. Also, although you are eager to lose weight, always remember to love yourself in the process - we are all beautiful in our own way despite how big or small we weigh. And most importantly, dancing is all about having fun so enjoy yourself.

Your Options (dance schools/dance venues)

There are a wide variety of dance styles to suit your needs and requirements. Below are a few dance studios for you to hire and begin your weight loss journey! Pineapple Studios First dance UK Arabesque School Of Dance City Academy K-arc Dance Studios London Dance Academy

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iVisit... New RHS awards celebrate blossoming community spirit

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) will celebrate community gardening across the UK through the RHS Community Awards this year.

The new virtual awards replace the RHS Britain in Boom UK Finals competition for 2021 – for the first time in the campaign’s 57-year history - and will see Britain in Bloom groups recognised for their efforts to transform their local areas.

Last year nine in every ten groups* carried on gardening, maintaining our all-important green spaces and harnessing their skills to help others, from growing food to lifting people’s spirits via imaginative planting displays.

Walthamstow Village, London, shared virtual tours of their area, Penrith volunteers grew crops for food parcels and in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, plants and gardening tools were delivered to care home residents.

A total of 63 groups will participate across five categories having been nominated by one of the 16 Britain in Bloom UK regions and nations.

Entrants range from Truro, Britain in Bloom winner in 2018, to groups such as Gosfield, Essex, that are first-timers on the national stage.

Kay Clark, RHS Community Development Manager said: “We’ve been truly inspired by the creativity and ingenuity that volunteers have shown throughout the pandemic, supporting their communities while observing the social distancing rules.

“While we’re not able to run the Britain in Bloom UK Finals competition this year, the RHS Community Awards will shine a light on groups’ fantastic efforts during a challenging time.”

The results of the RHS Community Awards, including the most outstanding entries in each category, will be announced at the end of September with all participants receiving certificates.

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iVisit... Live history tour of the Charterhouse from the Square

Charterhouse are delighted that they are once again able to invite you to join one of the Brothers (the residents of the Charterhouse almshouse) for a tour with a full history of the site, with social distancing, out in Charterhouse Square. The Brothers who are amongst our tour guides are very experienced and knowledgeable, and will take you through six centuries of fascinating and turbulent history with many of the perspectives you can see from outside the buildings. To ensure social distance restrictions, tour size is limited to 5 people. Every Thursday morning from 1st April - 27th May

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iVisit... Barbican announces reopening and new programme for the spring and summer 2021

The Barbican announces an exciting programme of new live events and digital content for spring and summer. In line with the latest government guidance, the Barbican is preparing to reopen its Art Gallery, Cinemas, Shop and Cafes, and welcome back live audiences in the Hall, in the week of 17 May 2021; followed by the Conservatory in late May; and The Curve and The Pit on 17 June. The Barbican Theatre will make its much-anticipated return this summer with a new production of one of the greatest musicals of all time.

Highlights from the spring and summer programme include:

Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty, the first major UK exhibition of the work of French artist Jean Dubuffet in over 50 years, will open at the Barbican Art Gallery on Monday 17 May and tickets will go on sale from tomorrow (Thursday 11 March).

Tickets go on sale from tomorrow (Thursday 11 March) for Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle, a major exhibition dedicated to the work and activism of Brazilian artist Claudia Andujar, in The Curve, The Pit and Barbican foyers, opening on Thursday 17 June.

Live music and audiences return to the Barbican over the spring and summer with a new Live from the Barbican concert series. This includes 15 livestreamed concerts in the Hall with a digital audience alongside a socially-distanced live audience when permitted. The line-up, announced today, includes Barbican Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, Paul Weller with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley, Moses Boyd, Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, the 12 Ensemble with Jonny Greenwood and Anna Meredith, George the Poet, and the world premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s new opera Dido’s Ghost.

Kathleen Marshall’s Tony Award-winning production of the musical Anything Goes comes to the Theatre this summer starring Megan Mullally, Robert Lindsay, Felicity Kendal and Gary Wilmot.

The Barbican’s co-presentation with the Bridge Theatre of Vox Motus’s highly acclaimed theatre installation Flight resumes at the Bridge from Monday 17 May for a limited three-week run, subject to government regulations at the time.

The Barbican’s cinemas, including newly refurbished Cinemas 2&3, will reopen from Monday 17 May with a programme of new releases, as well as the annual Chronic Youth 2021, and the curated film series Return to the City.

How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with the Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative, an ambitious installation, public programme and publication, will open on Monday 17 May as part of the Barbican’s Level G programme, exploring who are our buildings and shared spaces are designed for, and how they affect us.

Communities in Residence returns to the Barbican from April with a regular programme of small-scale and in-person creative workshops for local community organisations and charities.

Applications for Barbican Creative Learning’s second round of its Open Lab programme launches today, providing grants to commission a further four artists to produce new socially engaged work.

Barbican Box, the Barbican’s flagship schools programme, will be opening applications for secondary schools in Harlow, exploring theatre-making and visual art with students and teachers from May to July 2021.

For children aged five and under, a new Squish Space online group will be offering daily play prompts and activities for parents/carers and their children to enjoy at home.

Barbican Conservatory, home to more than 1,500 species of tropical plants and trees, will reopen to the public for free on select days of the week from late May.

Available now in the online Barbican Shop is a new sustainable living collection, with a range of eco-friendly and ethically sourced products to help lead a more sustainable life.

Full programme information for the above and more is detailed below.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director, Barbican said: ‘We’re delighted to finally welcome everyone back to the Barbican to experience the joy of culture and creativity again. When we reopened last year, 96% of our visitors felt safe in the Centre, and we look forward to creating the same level of welcome to ensure another safe return for our audiences, artists and staff.

‘Our reopening programme for the spring and summer is packed with great concerts, inspiring exhibitions, thrilling theatre performances, and thought-provoking film screenings. We’ll also continue running our innovative learning programmes and community work, designed to connect young people, children and local communities with their creativity and provide a supportive, nurturing environment for them to express themselves.

‘We have made great strides in recent times to provide a blended offer of live and digital programming. We’ll continue to develop this for the future to ensure everyone can enjoy our inspiring cross-arts programme while we gradually return to fuller audiences across our building.

‘None of this work would be possible without the continuing support of the City of London Corporation, our founder and principal funder, and the generosity of our individual, business, and trust and foundation supporters.’

The Barbican believes in creating space for people and ideas to connect through its international arts programme, community events and learning activity. To keep its programme accessible to everyone, and to keep investing in the artists it works with, the Barbican needs to raise more than 60% of its income through ticket sales, commercial activities and fundraising every year. Donations can be made here: barbican.org.uk/donate

Visual Arts

Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty

Mon 17 May – Sun 22 Aug 2021, Barbican Art Gallery

Media View: details to follow soon

Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty is the first major UK exhibition of the work of French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) in over 50 years. One of the most provocative voices in postwar modern art, Dubuffet rebelled against conventional ideas of beauty, hoping to capture the poetry of everyday life in a gritty, more authentic way. Drawn from international public and private collections, Brutal Beauty brings together more than 150 works: from early portraits, lithographs and fantastical statues to enamel paintings, butterfly assemblages and giant colourful canvases.

Spanning four decades in the studio, Brutal Beauty highlights Dubuffet’s endless experimentation with tools and materials, as he blended paint with shards of glass, coal dust, pebbles, slithers of string and gravel. Shown alongside his work are two dedicated rooms from Dubuffet’s collection of Art Brut, acquired throughout his life – shedding light on artists such as Aloïse Corbaz, Fleury-Joseph Crépin, Gaston Duf., and Laure Pigeon, who profoundly inspired his approach to the making and understanding of art.

Significant works by Dubuffet in the exhibition include the Little Statues of Precarious Life, 1954–59, figures made out of natural sponge, wood charcoal, grapevine and lava stone; and the Texturologies from the late 1950s, inspired by the rich natural surroundings of Vence, Southern France, which pivot between our micro and macro worlds, their delicate speckles having a spellbinding effect. While Paris Circus, 1961, is a series of works drawn from the frenzy of street life bursting with consumerism and featuring a somersault of dense imagery.

Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty is sponsored by Sotheby’s with additional support from Waddington Custot.

Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle

Thu 17 Jun – Sun 29 Aug 2021, The Curve / The Pit / Barbican Foyers

Media View: Wed 16 Jun 2021

Barbican Art Gallery presents Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle – an exhibition dedicated to the work and activism of Brazilian artist Claudia Andujar. For over five decades starting in the 1970s, Andujar devoted her life to photographing and defending the Yanomami, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous peoples. At a time when Yanomami territory is threatened more than ever by illegal gold mining, and as Covid-19 continues to sweep the globe, this major exhibition is especially relevant in the context of the humanitarian and environmental crises exacerbated by the pandemic.

Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle is curated by Thyago Nogueira, Head of Contemporary Photography at the Instituto Moreira Salles in Brazil. Based on years of research into Andujar’s archive, the exhibition explores her extraordinary contribution to the art of photography as well as her major role as a human rights activist defending the Yanomami’s rights. Over 200 photographs, an audio-visual installation, a film and a series of drawings by the Yanomami are brought together in The Curve, The Pit and the Barbican’s foyers. The exhibition will reflect the dual nature of Andujar’s career, committed to both art and activism, as she used photography as a tool for political change.

Tickets for Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle go on sale to Barbican Members on Thursday 11 March and to the general public on Friday 12 March.

Music

Barbican announces line-up details for Live from the Barbican from April 2021

Live music returns to the Barbican over the spring and summer this year with a new edition of its successful concert series Live from the Barbican, including 15 livestreamed concerts featuring the Centre’s resident and associate orchestras and ensembles as well as a hand-picked line-up of artists. The concerts will be performed in the Barbican Hall between 10 April and 18 July 2021 with a live streaming audience online, alongside a socially distanced in-person audience when permitted. The eclectic mix of musicians across many different genres all reflect the wide spectrum of the Barbican’s distinct music offer.

Highlights include:

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor returns to the Barbican Hall with a vibrant programme including works by Chopin, Ravel, Liszt and Ginastera (Sat 10 Apr).

British artist, composer & songwriter Moses Boyd performs material from his new Mercury nominated album Dark Matter (Sun 18 Apr).

Barbican Associate Orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Alpesh Chauhan with BBC New Generation Artist, viola player Timothy Ridout with music from across three centuries inspired by Scotland (Sun 25 Apr).

Barbican Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Sir Simon Rattle perform Mahler’s song symphony Das Lied von der Erde with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and tenor Andrew Staples (Sun 9 May).

Barbican Associate Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and its Creative Artist in Association Jules Buckley and guest artists will be joined by legendary singer-songwriter Paul Weller for a concert reimagining Weller’s work, including new material, in stunning orchestral settings in what will be Weller’s first live performance in two years (Sat 15 May).

British folk legend Shirley Collins returns to the Centre following the release of her latest album Heart’s Ease (Sun 23 May).

Kate Stables’s band This is The Kit present their new album Off Off On (Sun 30 May).

Errollyn Wallen’s new opera Dido's Ghost – framing Purcell’s original opera Dido and Aeneas within a haunting story from Ovid, with libretto by Wesley Stace – receives its World Premiere performance as part of Live from the Barbican this summer (Sun 6 Jun).

Barbican Associate Ensemble Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès present the UK Premiere of Adès’s Shanty to mark the composer’s 50th birthday (Thu 10 Jun).

12 Ensemble are joined on stage by Jonny Greenwood and Anna Meredith, performing in their own works (Sat 19 Jun).

Barbican Associate Ensemble Academy of Ancient Music and Music Director Richard Egarr perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with renowned baroque violinist Rachel Podger (Sun 27 Jun).

Spoken word performer George the Poet presents his innovative brand of musical poetry (Thu 1 Jul).

A duo recital from Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason featuring music by Bridge, Britten and Rachmaninov (Sun 4 Jul).

GoGo Penguin present material from their 2020 self-titled album, and back-catalogue (Sat 10 Jul).

English singer, songwriter and musician Nadine Shah and band perform material from her new, critically acclaimed album Kitchen Sink (Sun 18 Jul).

All concerts as part of Live from the Barbican in summer 2021 will be streamed live from the Barbican Hall on a pay-per-view basis, with live audiences in the Hall from Mon 17 May, if permitted by official government guidance.

Tickets to access the livestreams or to re-watch within a 48 hour-window, are £12.50 and will be on sale from Wed 10 March 2021. In-person tickets for events taking place after 17 May 2021 will go on sale in April 2021. Please find information about how to book tickets here.

Discounted tickets at £5 are available to 14 – 25-year-olds through Young Barbican and over 1000 free stream passes are being offered to schools and community groups in London, Manchester, Harlow and Norfolk, through Barbican Creative Learning.

The Barbican’s resident orchestra the London Symphony Orchestra continues to present weekly digital concerts on a range of platforms. All information can be found here.

Theatre and Dance

Anything Goes

Summer 2021, Barbican Theatre

One of the all-time great musicals Anything Goes makes a welcome return to the London stage this summer, starring Emmy & SAG Award Winner Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) making her West End musical debut as Reno Sweeney, and Tony, Olivier & BAFTA Award-Winner Robert Lindsay as Moonface Martin. Evening Standard Theatre Award Winner Felicity Kendal (The Good Life) will make her West End musical debut starring as Evangeline Harcourt, alongside leading West End actor Gary Wilmot (Chicago / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Elisha Whitney.

This joyous new production of Cole Porter & P.G. Wodehouse’s classic musical will be directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award-Winner Kathleen Marshall. Marshall’s Broadway production of Anything Goes was a major smash hit and received huge critical acclaim. The revival was nominated for nine Tony Awards and 10 Drama Desk Awards, winning Best Musical Revival and Best Choreography at both ceremonies. Now Marshall, in her West End directing debut, will reinvent this glorious musical for London audiences this summer.

Tickets for Anything Goes are on sale now.

Vox Motus – Flight Mon 17 May – Sun 6 Jun 2021, performance times TBC, Bridge Theatre

From a private booth, audiences are drawn into this tale of orphaned brothers and their desperate odyssey across Europe, the action unfolding in a ‘genuinely magical’ [The Stage] world of moving miniatures.

With their small inheritance stitched into their clothes, young Aryan and Kabir set off on an epic journey by foot from Kabul to London. Braving bustling train stations, hazardous sea crossings, menacing strangers and threats of violence, their heart-wrenching story speaks of terror, hope and survival. Based on Caroline Brothers’ novel Hinterland, Flight combines timely themes with engrossing images to honour the resilience of refugee children adrift in dangerous lands.

At the Bridge Theatre audiences are seated individually and given headphones for this intimate experience staged by Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison (magic and illusions designer, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Like a 3-D graphic novel brought to life, the revolving scenes contain detailed sets and figures, accompanied by binaural sound and narration.

Tickets for Flight go on sale in the spring. The on-sale date will be announced soon.

Diverse City – Mid Life: The Skin We’re In

Mon 22–Sun 28 Mar 2021, online

The team behind OFFIE-nominated play Mid Life, the last show to be performed in The Pit before the country went into lockdown a year ago, presents Mid Life: The Skin We're In. This vital, uplifting short film is available to stream for free for one week.

Mid Life: The Skin We’re In is a poetic look at how to celebrate, survive and thrive in your own skin. It explores the expectations that are placed on women’s bodies and suggests how we can rise to a deeper appreciation of ourselves. The short film was created by Jacqui Beckford, Claire Hodgson and Karen Spicer, and directed by Lucy Richardson. The cinematography is by Monika Davies and the original music by Kandaka Moore.

Cinema

Barbican Cinema will reopen on Monday 17 May, welcoming audiences back to enjoy the much-missed big screen experience. Highlights from the spring/summer programme include the annual Chronic Youth 2021, the Return to the City season and the best in new release titles. The Barbican is also pleased to announce that Cinemas 2&3 will reopen, having recently undergone a refurbishment, with new seating and an improved layout in the foyer. Barbican Cinema 1’s foyer has also been redesigned, creating a contemporary space for audiences to enjoy. Chronic Youth 2021 Barbican Cinema will present the sixth edition of the Chronic Youth, which is curated by the Barbican Young Film Programmers (aged 16-25). With one film programme a month – between April and May on Cinema On Demand and one screening in venue in June – this year’s cohort have chosen films that explore the themes of self-definition, community and chosen family, from filmmakers across the globe. From the gripping story of a dislocated Romanian family in Acasa, My Home (Dir Radu Ciorniciuc), to the heart-warming and rhythm-fuelled shorts programme, Chronic Youth offers moving stories of people uniting through a shared desire to choose their own path, and connect with the world around them. Return to the City After a year when travel has been denied for most people, leaving bustling urban centres deserted, Return to the City – screening throughout June 2021 – visits destinations around the globe, showing unique perspectives of major world cities.

This season re-discovers Paris, Lima, Las Vegas and Kaili City, with a diversity of storytellers as our guide. Some celebrate the majesty and excitement of the metropolis, while others consider the hardships faced by marginalised communities within them. Programme highlights include: Nationalité immigré (France 1976, Dir Sidney Sokhona), which explores the racism faced by immigrants in 1970s Paris; Lima Screams (Peru 2018, Dir Dana Bonilla), a modern day city symphony dedicated to Peru’s capital city; and Queen of Diamonds (USA 1991, Dir Nina Menkes), which shows the more mundane side of Las Vegas, away from the glitz and glamour, through the eyes of a casino croupier getting through yet another day’s work. Tickets for Return to the City are available to book from Thursday 22 April. From Monday 17 May, audiences will also be able to enjoy the best new release titles. Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of Covid-19. #HereForCulture.

Level G Programme

How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative

Mon 17 May – Thu 23 Dec 2021, Level G & online

Through an ambitious installation, public programme and publication, How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with the Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative invites the public to explore an important social question: who are our buildings and shared spaces designed for, and how do they affect us? After a sustained period of lockdown and increased time spent in domestic spaces, these questions feel more relevant than ever.

The jumping-off point for considering these questions is a previously unseen archive of work by the radical 1980s feminist architecture cooperative Matrix, who addressed the ways in which the design of the built environment excludes particular groups, particularly in relation to gender, race and disability.

The hybrid programme, co-curated with Matrix founding member Jos Boys, will consist of an installation on Level G of the Barbican Centre featuring rare films, drawings, photos and architectural models from the Matrix archive; as well as a series of online talks, workshops, film screenings and walking tours. The accompanying exhibition book, Revealing Objects, is an experimental publication that combines archival reproductions of Matrix materials with contemporary responses to the key themes of the project.

How We Live Now is made possible with Art Fund support.

Creative Learning

Young Visual Arts Group 2021 Online Exhibition

Available online from May 2021

In May 2021, the Barbican will launch a free online group exhibition featuring newly created works from 14 emerging visual artists between the age of 17-25 on Barbican Creative Learning’s Young Visual Arts Group programme.

Produced remotely and entirely online by the group and the Barbican, the exhibition will showcase a variety of artworks spanning media including painting, drawing, photography, film and performance. The exhibition will feature work from artists Gibril Adam, Fikayo Adebajo, Sally Barton, L U C I N E, J Frank, Ayodeji Akinlabi Fatimilehin Hayes, Nefeli Kentoni, Siavash Minoukadeh, Emariamhe Obemeata, Ioana Simion, Asako Ujita, Tegan Wilson, Zhilin Xu and Jiawen Zhao.

Barbican launches Open Lab call-out to commission four artists to produce new socially engaged work

Barbican Creative Learning’s Open Lab programme will open for a second round of applications from Wednesday 10 March.

The Barbican is supporting the work of eight early to mid-career artists in total. Four artists have been be selected from the first round of applications last year and are creating work between January and June 2021 and another four artists will be selected from this round of applications.

Open Lab supports artists to experiment in any artform with no expectation of delivering a final artistic product. It accepts proposals from artists who are at the beginning of a cross arts or participatory idea or question or would like to explore the creative process with new collaborators.

Interested applicants’ practice should be socially engaged. Work should explore how people’s mental, physical and social wellbeing is improved by participation in and enjoyment of the arts, be inclusive, rooted in community and respond to the uniquely challenging times we find ourselves in today.

Successful applicants will receive £2,000 to develop their idea, have access to bespoke guidance and advice by Barbican staff members and a selected mentor. Applicants should document their process and will have the opportunity to showcase their work on the Barbican’s website and social channels.

Disabled people, those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and people under 30 are under-represented in the arts sector, so the Barbican is particularly encouraging applications to Open Lab from people in these groups. More information about the programme and how to apply can be found here.

Barbican Box is coming to Harlow in 2021

Barbican Creative Learning and Harlow Playhouse are excited to bring Barbican Box, the Barbican's flagship schools programme, to schools in Harlow and the surrounding area from May to July 2021. The programme is open to secondary schools, as well as Year 6 primary groups.

Now in its tenth year, Barbican Box ignites and supports creative arts practice in schools and colleges through a guided process of making new artistic work.

This year’s Box is designed and curated by Coney, award-winning creators of interactive experiences, and explores themes of games, adventures and play. Recognising the importance of supporting wellbeing at this time, the Box will encourage students and teachers to celebrate kindness, empathy and connection, through engagement with theatre and visual art.

Designed to be accessible to all schools, including specialist providers, the programme introduces young people to imaginative and adventurous approaches to the arts and enriches the school curriculum by connecting schools to professional arts programmes and venues. The Barbican’s National Development Programme is supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Squish Space: Online Group

The Barbican has launched a new digital season of Squish Space, the Barbican’s multi-sensory adventure for children aged five and under. A series of play prompts will inspire creative activity and exploration of everyday objects by engaging with families in their own homes over the coming months. Designed by Squish Space creators India Harvey and Lisa Marie Bengtsson, new play prompts and activities will be shared via the new Barbican Families: Squish Space Activities Facebook Group. This Facebook group will bring together the families and carers digitally who usually get the chance to connect onsite.

Communities in Residence

Communities in Residence is a responsive programme that provides free space at the Barbican to local community partners including Accumulate, an ‘art school for the homeless’; Key Changes, a mental health recovery charity for musicians; and City of London Age UK which offers support and services to older people.

Communities in Residence offers a collaborative space for valuable face-to-face interaction and is helping to foster feelings of connection and creativity.

All three community groups will return to the Barbican from Easter this year with a regular programme of small-scale, socially distanced and in-person activities. These activities will be connected to the Barbican programme and involve creative workshops, film viewings and visits to the Barbican Art Gallery (once it reopens on Monday 17 May).

Barbican Conservatory

The Barbican Conservatory will reopen to the public on select days of the week from late May. A hidden oasis in the city, the Barbican Conservatory is home to more than 1,500 species of tropical plants and trees, as well as three indoor ponds for exotic fish and terrapins. Entry is free, but tickets must be booked in advance with available dates and times listed on the Barbican website.

Architecture Tours

Starting again on Monday 17 May, Barbican Architecture Tours are a 90-minute walking tour of the Barbican Centre and surrounding Brutalist estate led by an expert guide. The tour ventures through criss-crossing highwalks, leafy courts and sweeping crescents, and visits key points of architectural interest including the tranquil Lakeside Terrace, the striking form of the Sculpture Court and the trio of soaring residential towers. Tours will be available 7 days a week and will run at reduced capacity to allow for safe social distancing.

Barbican Business Events

From Monday 8 March, Barbican Business Events will start facilitating commercial filming and photoshoots, as well as essential business events up to 30 people, on a case by case basis in line with government guidance. Weddings up to 30 people, along with venue hire for larger groups of people, will resume no sooner than Monday 17 May.

Barbican Shop

The Barbican Shop will reopen its physical stores on Level G and at Barbican Art Gallery from Monday 17 May, featuring an exciting selection of design-led gifts. The Barbican Shop also continues to take orders through its online store at shop.barbican.org.uk

New additions to the Barbican Shop include the exhibition book for Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty, now available as an exclusive pre-order for delivery from the 1 April. This fully illustrated 288 page book published by Prestel and designed by the Bon Ton features an introductory text written by the exhibition curator, Eleanor Nairne, alongside rich and insightful thematic essays by Kent Mitchell Minturn, Rachel E. Perry, Sarah Wilson, Sarah Lombardi, Sophie Berrebi and Camille Houzé.

Also now available is the Barbican Shop’s Sustainable Living collection, with a range of eco-friendly and ethically sourced products to help lead a more sustainable life, including water bottles, reusable snack boxes, flower and vegetable seeds, and fashion accessories made using sustainable methods and materials.

Barbican Kitchen, Cinema Cafe and Bar

From Monday 17 May, the Barbican Kitchen, Cinema Cafe and Bar will reopen to the public offering a selection of light snacks, cakes, treats and hot and cold drinks to eat in and take out. Detailed visitor information will be available on the Barbican’s website.

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iVisit... Hayward Gallery to reopen and new events for Southbank Centre’s Inside Out series are announced

The Southbank Centre announces that the Hayward Gallery will reopen on 19 May, with two much-anticipated, solo exhibitions by Matthew Barney and Igshaan Adams.

The announcement comes as a new slate of events for Inside Out, an online season of music and literature are released. This next instalment of the popular digital series will see the Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, marking the first time the much-loved venue has been open since it closed last March due to Covid-19.

The orchestras are joined by a roster of leading international artists, including conductors Ben Gernon, Enrique Mazzola, Fabien Gabel, Robin Ticciati, Rory MacDonald, Ryan Bancroft and Sir Mark Elder and soloists Alexandra Dariescu, Denis Kozhukhin, Paul Lewis, Pavel Kolesnikov and Steven Isserlis.

A further series of Inside Out events will be announced in the coming weeks. The Southbank Centre’s reopening plans will then be announced in due course, subject to government guidance.

Gillian Moore CBE, Director of Music and Performing Arts, Southbank Centre, says: “We’re making a very warm welcome back to our orchestral partners this Spring for our ongoing Inside Out series. It’s going to be wonderful to see them back in the Southbank Centre doing what they do best, performing much-loved music with world-class conductors and soloists. We know these events will continue to bring a little bit of light into our homes as we look forward to reopening our shared spaces later this year.”

HAYWARD GALLERY:

Matthew Barney: Redoubt

19 May – 25 July 2021

From 19 May through 25 July 2021 the Hayward Gallery presents Matthew Barney: Redoubt, an exhibition of the renowned artist and filmmaker’s latest body of work. The exhibition, the artist’s first major museum show in the UK in over a decade, presents a group of monumental sculptures, and more than forty engravings and electroplated copper plates. Also included is the UK premiere of Barney’s new eponymous film, a ‘breathtakingly beautiful’ chronicle that explores the complex relationships between humans, and the natural world. Set in the sublime wintry landscape of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountain range, the feature-length film intertwines themes of artistic creation in a contemporary reworking of the classical myth of Diana and Actaeon.

Redoubt presents a major new direction in Barney’s practice, and advances his notable shift in materials over the past decade, from the plastic and petroleum jelly of his earlier works to the cast metals that figured prominently in River of Fundament, 2014. With Redoubt, Barney combines traditional casting methods and new digital technologies in an unprecedented way to create artworks of formal and material complexity as well as narrative density. The four large-scale sculptures in the exhibition derive from trees harvested from a burned forest in the Sawtooth Mountains. Formed out of molten copper and brass, the unique casts incorporate enlarged militarised elements, giving the sculptures a hybridised aesthetic that is both imposing and intricate.

Matthew Barney: Redoubt was originally organised by the Yale University Art Gallery.

Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust

19 May – 25 July 2021

In May 2021, the Hayward Gallery presents the first solo exhibition in the UK of South African artist Igshaan Adams (b. 1982). The 2018 winner of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award, Igshaan Adams lives and works in Cape Town. The artist’s cross-disciplinary practice combines aspects of weaving, sculpture and installation whilst exploring concerns related to race, religion and sexuality.

The exhibition consists largely of new work produced during an artist residency Adams undertook at the A4 Foundation in Cape Town and on the occasion of the show. Presented as a single immersive environment with suspended sculptures, large-scale floor based weavings and tapestries hung on the wall, the installation responds to Hayward’s iconic Brutalist gallery space. Each work, and the exhibition as a whole, is composed of multiple patterns that explore the potential of woven material to reflect not only the multiplicities of Adams’ own identity but of broader cultural interchange.

RESIDENT ORCHESTRAS:

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and London Sinfonietta return to the Southbank Centre in March and April for streamed concerts featuring world-renowned conductors and soloists, as well as programming for young people. The events announced today will run to 28 April, with subsequent digital programming from 28 April onwards to be announced in due course. Tickets will be available to the general public from 2pm on Friday 5 March.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra presents six concerts filmed by Intersection (formerly Silent Studios) which will be available for audiences to watch for free on Marquee.tv from 24 March. The concerts will be streamed every Wednesday at 8pm from 24 March and will feature conductors Enrique Mazzola, Robin Ticciati and Sir Mark Elder, as well as soloists Steven Isserlis, Denis Kozhukhin and Alexandra Dariescu. Programme details for later concerts will soon be revealed but will include two of the Orchestra’s titled conductors Karina Canellakis and Vladimir Jurowski, who conducts his final concerts at the Royal Festival Hall before stepping into the Conductor Emeritus role.

Tickets will be free for the first seven days after broadcast and concerts will be captured before their premiere date.

The Philharmonia Orchestra presents two global streams to be presented on the orchestra’s own dedicated channel. On Thursday 25 March, the Philharmonia will be joined by conductor Ryan Bancroft and pianist Paul Lewis for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. On Thursday 1 April, Rory MacDonald will then lead the orchestra for a programme of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, with Pavel Kolesnikov performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Tickets start at £10 and concerts will be captured before their premiere date.

The London Sinfonietta’s ‘Sound Out Online’ is the orchestra’s annual concert for children and young people and goes online for the first time to bring pupils closer to iconic contemporary music from the past century (22 March). As part of the orchestra’s Composition Challenges scheme, the concert features new works submitted by young people, as the London Sinfonietta continues to inspire a new generation of composers to get creative with classical music.

This event is free and will be streamed live on YouTube, exclusively for the Southbank Centre on Monday 22 March from 2 – 2.50pm. It is designed for Key Stage 2.

Previously announced online music and literature events as part of Inside Out include Skin (4 Mar), Black Country, New Road (6 Mar), London Contemporary Orchestra (19 Mar), Bell Orchestre (13 Mar), Hanif Abdurraquib (25 Mar), Out-Spoken (28 Mar), Kazuo and Naomi Ishiguro (5 Apr), Olivia Laing (30 Apr) and Jhumpa Lahiri (6 May). Tickets are onsale.

Elsewhere at the Southbank Centre:

WINTER LIGHT

Winter Light (extended until 28 March) is a free open-air exhibition that enlivens the site’s iconic buildings and the Riverside Walk with luminous, playful and thought-provoking artworks during the darkest months of the year. Featuring a range of leading international artists, Winter Light includes artworks, new commissions and a series of poems that make ingenious use of light, colour and animation whilst touching on diverse concerns.

At a time when we view so much of the world through digital screens, the artists in this exhibition celebrate how the medium of light can transform our physical spaces. Their artworks also explore ideas about nature, politics and society, gender, aesthetics and the act of looking. Winter Light includes artworks by artists including: Simeon Barclay, David Batchelor, James Clar, Shezad Dawood, Kota Ezawa, Navine G. Khan-Dossos, Suzie Larke, Tala Madani, Tatsuo Miyajima, Louiza Ntourou, Katie Paterson, Jini Reddy, Tavares Strachan, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Emma Talbot and Toby Ziegler.

IMAGINE A STORY

Coinciding with World Book Day, the Southbank Centre is inviting 40 primary schools to take part in this year’s creative writing project Imagine a Story, giving young children the chance to become published authors. Children’s author Zanib Mian and illustrator Selom Sunu are collaborating on the project, which is open to classes of Key Stage 2 children (years 3 – 6), with online applications closing Sunday 14 March.

In this project inspired by a ‘game of consequences’ each school group writes one segment of a creative story based on a framework devised by Zanib Mian (Planet Omar: Operation Kind – published for World Book Day 2021; Planet Omar: Incredible Rescue Mission; Planet Omar: Unexpected Super Spy), the author of brilliant and diverse children’s fiction, who will inspire them to develop their collaborative work in classrooms to support their development and personal wellbeing.

These chapters will then be combined into a collection of short stories and professionally published by the Southbank Centre, with illustrations by Selom Sunu (Ghost; Patina; Sunny; Lu; Look Both Ways) Zanib Mian and Selom Sunu will read the final stories which will be live-streamed to participating primary school classrooms in July and each child will receive a copy of the published book.

In addition, the Southbank Centre’s nationwide participation programme, Art by Post has been shortlisted for "Award for the Best Larger Social Prescribing Project" as part of the Social Prescribing Network Awards. The ceremony is on 4 March with winners to be announced from 3.30 – 5pm.

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iVisit... London sightseeing sails into a new era

London’s leading River Bus service, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, announces an exciting new partnership with The London Pass®, London’s market-leading digital multi-attraction pass. The five year partnership will allow sightseers with The London Pass the option of travelling through the city in comfort, taking in the most scenic views of famous landmarks from the River Thames.

From April 2021, The London Pass ticket holders can board Uber Boat by Thames Clippers services by heading to one of four piers – Westminster, Embankment, Tower or London Bridge City – where they present their The London Pass in exchange for a River Roamer ticket. The River Roamer ticket can then be used all day for hop-on, hop-off travel across the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers network of 23 piers, from east to west.

Sean Collins, CEO and co-founder of Uber Boat by Thames Clippers commented:

“We are excited to embark on this partnership voyage with The London Pass, offering visitors a journey through the city on one of the world’s most famous rivers, to see some of the most iconic views of the capital from the comfort and vantage point of our vessels. We are thrilled that this new partnership broadens our offering and will encourage more visitors to London the opportunity to experience the city from the river.”

London sightseers can join Londoners in travelling in style, with river views as well as easy transport access to nearby piers for Tower Bridge, The View from The Shard, Tower of London, Shakespeare’s Globe, St Paul’s Cathedral, Cutty Sark and The Old Royal Naval College, among many other attractions.

Leisure Pass Group (owner of The London Pass) CEO, Jon Owen, commented:

“We are excited to launch this new partnership with Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, giving The London Pass customers access to the leading River Boat service in the city. It is our mission to help sightseers to unlock the best things to see and do in London, and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers is a great new addition to our pass.”

The London Pass starts from £69 (adult), available in one to 10 day durations and gains entry to over 80 top London attractions with access to many of them via the River Bus.

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iVisit... Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules

Dennis and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, Bananaman and the rest of the Beano gang take over Somerset House this autumn in a contemporary celebration of the world’s longest-running comic

This autumn, Somerset House presents Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules, a major exhibition celebrating the world’s longest-running weekly comic and a British cultural icon: Beano.

First released in 1938 and still crafted weekly from its home in Dundee, Beano has entertained and inspired across the decades, forming a lasting impact on the contemporary cultural landscape and, crucially, on today’s artists themselves, by always applying one simple rule - rules should be broken. This landmark exhibition explores both Beano’s and contemporary art’s unruliness and irreverence, through the eyes of extraordinary artists who embody the Beano sensibility of rebellion.

In the 70th year of Beano’s top mischief-maker Dennis, Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules will feature original comic drawings, never previously seen in public, selected across its 4,000-plus editions (to date) and rare archive artefacts, alongside works from leading artists and designers, imbued with the same Beano spirit of breaking the rules. Contributors include artists Bedwyr Williams, Hardeep Pandhal, Fourth Plinth artist Heather Phillipson, Holly Hendry, Lindsey Mendick, Sarah Lucas, Simeon Barclay and editorial cartoonist Martin Rowson.

Rebellion has always been at the heart of pioneering artistic practice, and for the past 82 years Beano has been right there too, inspiring generations of young people to discover the possibilities and sense of freedom that come through creativity. The riotous comic has created a gateway for some readers into the world of art and culture, where they can find an outlet to challenge convention themselves, just like Beano’s beloved band of mayhem-makers.

Beano’s iconic cast – Dennis and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, Bananaman, Bash Street Kids, Billy Whizz and Roger the Dodger to name just a few – have mastered the art of rebellion, be it against convention, teachers or evil fruit supervillains. The characters are united in their ingenuity, endlessly hatching creative plans to bend or break the rules, even if they don’t always succeed in doing so. Across ten decades, Beano’s anti-heroes have encouraged young people to push and play with boundaries, an example that some of its readers have taken with them into their creative careers with unexpected results. Such is the starting point of this exhibition.

Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules opens with the Beanotown Museum, introducing the maverick creators behind Beano, charting how they came to create the original characters. The show then moves to uncover some of the comic’s recurring themes, which resonate with the exhibition’s cohort of contemporary artists and the comic’s many other fans. Tackling topics such as Class, Education, Feminism and Art head-on, Beano showed its stars doing it differently. It is only the adults depicted that ever make assumptions about what all children are supposed to do or be. Here, contemporary works – including new commissions especially for the show – will interact with the original strips, together providing fresh perspectives on the comic masterpiece. The exhibition further explores how Beano has powerfully penetrated alternative pop culture and closes with an interactive workshop space, inspiring all ages to encounter their own creative misdemeanours.

Audiences will be made to feel as if they are stepping inside a page of the comic, with ongoing gags, editor’s notes and larger-than-life recreations of the regular sights of Beanotown, from Bash Street School and Bunkerton Castle to the homes of Gasworks Road, providing the backdrops for the audacious contemporary creations on show.

Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules is curated by artist Andy Holden, a lifelong Beano fan. His artistic practice spans sculpture, large installations, painting, pop music, performance, and multi-screen videos, often using the allegory of the cartoon as a way to comprehend our contemporary landscape.

Holden said: “Both art and Beano are about being told to do one thing, then doing another: both require a creative solution. Beano was for me a gateway into comics and a love of drawing, and from there a springboard into a love of art. Beano’s irreverent sensibility is something that appeals to you as a child, but also, for some, never leaves you. To be able to present an immersive display of Beano’s history, and to examine its influence on art and culture is the curatorial equivalent of a ‘Beano feast’.

“The exhibition will bring Beanotown to life and populate it with a new set of resident maverick artists. In researching the show, almost every artist I’ve approached so far came back with yes, I loved the Beano and hopefully this exhibition will show how some of the themes that have run through Beano’s history are often the same ones that feed a creative, rebellious sensibility.”

Mike Stirling, Editorial Director, Beano Studios, said: "I warned Dennis that one of the pictures in his new show at Somerset House would make people laugh so hard, they risked fracturing their funny bones and he said, 'That's just a mirror!' Beano relishes making an exhibition of anyone who takes themselves too seriously and we can't wait for families to enjoy what we have planned. Because without Art, the Earth would be just...Eh?"

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iVisit... ZSL London and Whipsnade Zoos extend popular virtual bedtime story events in partnership with Simon & Schuster Children’s Books

Parents up and down the country can jump for joy, as London and Whipsnade Zoo announce more dates of their popular Tails from the Zoo virtual events – giving the country’s home-schooling heroes a night off as the zookeepers take charge of bedtime.

Exclusively partnering with Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, Tails from the Zoo is being extended throughout March, kicking off with a double whammy weekend on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February, then featuring a new story every Sunday until 28 March, shared live on the Zoos’ official Facebook pages.

Launching a series of six well-loved titles alongside brand-new releases, Tails from the Zoo will kick off with Whipsnade Zoo’s head elephant keeper Stefan Groeneveld reading How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth in the company of the Asian elephant herd, and then go on to feature Vicky Fyson reading Benji Davies’ much loved The Storm Whale at London’s Penguin Beach among other wild tales.

ZSL’s Director of Engagement and Fundraising, James Wren said: “We’ve been thrilled by the response to Tails from the Zoo, and to have been able to bring London and Whipsnade Zoos to our young supporters while our gates are closed to the public has been really special. Thanks to this exciting partnership with Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Books, we can share more of the life that goes on behind our closed doors through these delightful books and hopefully encourage more support for our global conservation work.”

Rachel Denwood, Managing Director of Simon & Schuster Children’s Books UK, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with ZSL on this very special initiative. During lockdown, we are all seeking new content to keep our children entertained and we hope families everywhere will enjoy the wealth of animal stories that we have lined up for them.”

Visitors to ZSL London and Whipsnade Zoo provide the core and vital income for international conservation charity, ZSL. Closed for the third time in a year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but with more than 20,000 animals to still care for, the charity is facing huge financial pressures and needs the public’s help to survive. Donate now at www.zsl.org/donate

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iVisit... Barbican brings back Concerts On Demand and announces new films on Cinema On Demand alongside more digital content

With England currently in lockdown, the Barbican announces a new programme of music and films On Demand, alongside fresh and existing digital content, inspired by the Barbican’s international arts programme. A curated mix of streams, podcasts, playlists, films, videos, talks and articles enables audiences to continue to enjoy the Centre’s rich and varied programme from home or on the go during its temporary closure and beyond.

Digital content is available via the Barbican’s website through Read, Watch & Listen, Cinema On Demand, Concerts On Demand, Live from the Barbican and its social media channels (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify). In addition, podcasts can also be accessed by subscribing to the Nothing Concrete podcast via Acast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Highlights of the Barbican’s current and upcoming digital content include:

Concerts as part of the acclaimed Live from the Barbican series in 2020 are available via Concerts On Demand from 9 Feb until 24 Mar 2021. Included are performances from celebrated artists who reflect the wide spectrum of the Barbican’s distinct music offer:

Nubya Garcia, The Divine Comedy, Emmy the Great, Richard Dawson, SEED Ensemble, Ian Bostridge and Dame Sarah Connolly, Shabaka Hutchings, Barbican’s Associate Orchestra and Ensembles BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia

Also available On Demand are two seminal performances by the Barbican’s Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra recorded at the Barbican in 2015 and 2017

An excerpt from the Olivier-Award nominated work, Blak Whyte Gray, performed by Barbican Artistic Associate Boy Blue and filmed at the Barbican Theatre, will feature in a three-part boxset Dancing Nation, available on BBC iPlayer and Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage until Fri 26 Feb 2021

Inspired – the Barbican’s Theatre and Dance in-conversation podcast series – returns, with the latest episode just released. This sees some of the amazing artists who work with us paired with Barbican young artists, sharing their personal stories about the influences that impact their work creatively

A full programme of exclusive films and ScreenTalks on Cinema On Demand including Martine Deyres’s 2019 documentary Our Lucky Hours in anticipation of the Barbican Art Gallery’s exhibition Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty

As part of the Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s programme Subject to Change: New Horizons, interdisciplinary artist Mandisa Apena and Tice Cin have released: "cos now im missing our touchhh", a new musical score and video exploring the loss of nightclubs and queer nightlife in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic

The annual literary festival New Suns returns entirely online from Fri 5 – Sun 7 Mar 2021 for a weekend of talks, workshops and a film centred around feminist storytelling

The Barbican believes in creating space for people and ideas to connect through its international arts programme, community events and learning activity. To keep its programme accessible to everyone, and to keep investing in the artists it works with, the Barbican needs to raise more than 60% of its income through ticket sales, commercial activities and fundraising every year. Donations can be made here: barbican.org.uk/support-us

Full details of digital content below.

MUSIC

Barbican Concerts On Demand available from Tue 9 Feb until Wed 24 Mar 2021

A range of concerts that have already taken place as part of the Barbican’s successful autumn 2020 concert series Live from the Barbican have just been made available to re-watch on Concerts On Demand until 24 Mar 2021.

Live from the Barbican was first devised during the summer of 2020 when it became apparent that, due to the pandemic, the Centre’s music season could not go ahead as planned in the autumn. A new series was born which, for the first time, made Barbican concerts accessible online for a global digital audience through a livestream and, also, for a reduced, socially distanced live audience in the Barbican Hall. This hybrid experience, developed and delivered entirely in-house, has enabled the Barbican to bring music to its audiences during a difficult year, and, to also support artists and partner organisations during the pandemic. The Barbican is now pleased to be able to bring back a range of these autumn performances as part of the On Demand offer at a time when it had to postpone its planned Spring 2021 series of concerts.

Tickets are £12.50 for new bookers and half price for those who booked tickets to watch the concerts originally. Discounted tickets at £5 are available to 14–25-year-olds through the Young Barbican scheme. Once tickets are bought, audiences have 48 hours to watch the concert.

Please find a list of Live from the Barbican – Concerts On Demand on offer in date order below

The Divine Comedy: Live from the Barbican

Original performance date: 14 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Produced by the Barbican

Emmy the Great: Live from the Barbican

Original performance date: 17 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Produced by the Barbican

Richard Dawson: Live from the Barbican

Original performance date: 25 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Produced by the Barbican

Nubya Garcia: Live from the Barbican

Original performance date: 29 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Produced by the Barbican

Ian Bostridge / Dame Sarah Connolly

Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, tenor Ian Bostridge, piano Julius Drake, Carducci Quartet

Original performance date: 1 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Produced by the Barbican

BBC SO/Oramo: Live from the Barbican

Soprano Anu Komsi, conductor Sakari Oramo, BBC Symphony Orchestra,

Original performance date: Fri 6 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms

Haydn: Symphony No 49 La Passione

Magnus Lindberg: Accused (world premiere of chamber orchestra version)

Co-produced by the Barbican and BBC SO

SEED Ensemble and Special Guests Celebrating the music of Pharoah Sanders: Live from the Barbican

Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2020

Original performance date: 14 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Co-produced by the Barbican and Serious in association with EFG London Jazz Festival

Shabaka Hutchings with Britten Sinfonia: Live from the Barbican

Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2020

Original performance date: 18 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Copland Clarinet Concerto

Stravinsky Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet

Copland Appalachian Spring

Co-produced by the Barbican and Britten Sinfonia

The Cosmos with Professor Brian Cox & BBC SO

presenter Professor Brian Cox, conductor Dalia Stasevska, BBC Symphony Orchestra

Original performance date: 13 Dec 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Sibelius arr. Iain Farrington: Symphony No. 5 Mov. 3

Ives: The Unanswered Question

Mahler arr. Michelle Castelletti: Symphony No.10 Mov. 1

Co-produced by the Barbican and BBC SO

Handel’s Messiah - Academy of Ancient Music / Egarr

Original performance date: 19 Dec 2020, Barbican Hall, 7pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Co-produced by the Barbican and the Academy of Ancient Music

London Symphony Orchestra

Barbican audiences get the chance to re-watch two great concerts by its Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, as part of its On Demand programme, which will be available till 24 March 2021.

Michael Tilson Thomas 70th Birthday Gala

pianist Yuja Wang, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, London Symphony Orchestra,

Original performance date: Thu 12 Mar 2015, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Colin Matthews: Hidden Variables

Gershwin: Concerto in F

Shostakovich: Symphony No 5

The LSO’s Conductor Laureate and former Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas celebrated his 70th birthday at the Barbican in 2015 with a pair of concerts focusing on British and Russian music, but with a nod to his native USA. In both concerts he was joined by the pianist Yuja Wang in Gershwin’s popular Concerto in F.

This is Rattle

conductor Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra

Original performance date: Thu 21 Sep 2017, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm

On Demand Tickets £12.50

Stravinsky: The Firebird (original ballet)

Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version)

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

An authority on Stravinsky, Sir Simon Rattle continued the 2017/18 season opening ‘This is Rattle’ celebrations with three of the composer’s revolutionary ballets. Stravinsky sent shockwaves through classical music in the 20th century. His first three ballets – The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, all composed between 1911 and 1913 – brought a new and frenzied sense of rhythm, so distressing to audiences that it caused uproar; The Rite of Spring even caused a riot.

From Barbican partners

British baritone James Newby’s song recital as part of the ECHO Rising Stars Festival is now available to watch again for free via Read, Watch & Listen on the Barbican’s website. James Newby is the Barbican’s ECHO (European Concert Halls Organisation) nominee. The recital took place at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on 28 January 2021.

The Guildhall School alumnus, ECHO Rising Star, BBC New Generation Artist, Kathleen Ferrier Award winner and member of the Hanover State Opera’s ensemble presents a selection of atmospheric Lieder by Clara and Robert Schumann. He is accompanied by pianist Marcelo Amaral. James Newby’s debut album with pianist Joseph Middleton I wonder as I wander came out in 2020.

James’s London ECHO recital was due to take place at Milton Court Concert Hall in January this year but had to be postponed due to the current lockdown restrictions.

CINEMA

In February Cinema On Demand brings together an exclusive programme of worldwide, bold, independent films for audiences to enjoy at home, while the venues remain closed.

Preceding the Barbican Art Gallery’s exhibition Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty, Barbican Cinema On Demand will host an exclusive presentation of Martine Deyres’s 2019 documentary Our Lucky Hours (19 Feb – 31 Mar), including a live ScreenTalk between art historian Sarah Lombardi, director of the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne and Ben Platts-Mills, who works with artists with disabilities in London and has supported the development of Hackney-based inclusive art studio, Submit To Love. The live ScreenTalk will take place on Thu 11 Mar at 7pm.

In this thought provoking documentary, photos, archival footage and sound recordings tell the story of a pioneering psychiatric institution in 1930s France. The asylum was radically re-thought, with doctors, patients and nurses working side by side to run the facility, with the support of the local community. Patients were respected and integrated and individually supported. They took up roles in the hospital kitchen and on local farms, they published a newspaper, and many pursued flourishing visual art practices.

During the Second World War, the asylum also sheltered refugees and Resistance fighters, among them such figures from the Parisian avant-garde as Paul Éluard, Tristan Tzara, Georges Sadoul and Georges Canguilhem. At the end of the war, another visitor was Jean Dubuffet, whose discovery there of the sculptures by patient and artist Auguste Forestier supported his elaboration of the notion of ‘Art Brut’.

Other exclusive highlights on Cinema On Demand during February include:

Cat in the Wall (Dirs Mina Mileva & Vesela Kazakova), set on a South London council estate – in which a Bulgarian family gets into conflict with their neighbours due to an abandoned cat – it’s a striking and provocative drama about the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Screening as part of the New East cinema programme, the film is followed by a recorded ScreenTalk with directors Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova.

Screening as part of Forbidden Colours – a Barbican Cinema strand celebrating queer films from places where LGBTQ+ people continue to face oppression – is Several Conversations about a Very Tall Girl (Dir Bogdan Theodor Olteanu), a sensitive Romanian romance in which two young women – one out and proud, the other less confident – begin a tentative affair.

Following on from its sold out screening in Cinema 1 in December, as part of Barbican

Cinema’s Emerging Film Curators’ programme, Reframing the Fat Body (Dirs various) makes its online debut. In this programme of shorts, writer and curator Grace Barber-Plentie celebrates the bigger body; here fat bodies are freed from the constraints put upon them by modern society and allowed to be fluid, free, sexy and radical. This programme features a recorded ScreenTalk with film curator Tara Brown and co-founder of The Fat Zine, Chloe Sheppard, hosted by Grace Barber-Plentie.

Also available are The Capote Tapes (Dir Ebs Burnough) which explores the social rise and fall of Truman Capote, the infamous American writer; Song Without a Name (Dir Melina Léon), which follows a woman’s journey to get her stolen baby back, taken from her just after child birth; and Shahrbanoo Sadat’s tender film The Orphanage, about a young boy in 1980s Afghanistan, who is sent to a Soviet orphanage and finds himself in a complex social hierarchy.

For families and younger audiences there’s Creepy Crawly Films for Families (Dirs various), a compilation of fun shorts celebrating all that’s creepy and crawly in the ground.

Cinema On Demand is available to audiences across the UK with a rolling four-week programme of titles and events that reflect the Barbican’s international cinema programme.

Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of COVID-19. #HereForCulture

THEATRE AND DANCE

Inspired Series 2

Inspired is the Barbican’s Theatre and Dance in-conversation podcast series in which some of the amazing artists who work with us share their personal stories about the influences that impact their work creatively. Part of the Barbican’s Nothing Concrete podcast, the first Inspired series was released weekly in September 2020. This new Inspired series, released weekly from the beginning of February, pairs Barbican young artists with those that inspire them.

In episode 1 interdisciplinary artist Riwa Saab talks to writer and director Kirsty Housley about her extensive career in theatre, the craft of dramaturgy and directing, and the political nature of her work.

In episode 2 Barbican Young Poet Amani Saeed talks to storyteller Amrou Al-Kadhi about gender identity and drag performance.

In episode 3 sound artist and composer Rebekah Alero talks to vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener about improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art.

In episode 4 author Rogan Graham talks to actress and writer Susan Wokoma about acting and activism.

In episode 5 multidisciplinary practitioner Gabriel Akamo, and writer and performer Jeremiah Brown talk to actor Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù about his career, heritage and legacy.

Blak Whyte Gray

Co-commissioned and co-produced by the Barbican, Blak Whyte Gray by Barbican Artistic Associate Boy Blue premiered at the Barbican in 2017 and was restaged here in 2018 due to demand. Created by co-artistic directors Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy and Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, an extract from the piece, Whyte, is available on BBC iPlayer and Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage until Fri 26 Feb 2021. This fierce, bold and galvanising dance work, set to a multilayered electronic score, reflects themes of identity, oppression and transcendence. The time is once again right to ask questions, to break free from a system that isn’t working, to emerge on the other side to an awakening – a return to roots, a celebration of culture.

CREATIVE LEARNING

Subject to Change: January 2021 commission

As part of Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s programme Subject to Change: New Horizons, interdisciplinary artists Mandisa Apena and Tice Cin have released: "cos now im missing our touchhh", a new musical score and video exploring the loss of nightclubs and queer nightlife in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The audio of Mandisa & Tice’s track uses ASMR sounds of their own breath and laughter to create the drumline, mixed together with a collage of video snippets of clubbing scenes and people dancing. The piece aims to illustrate how nightclubs can be a vital space for deep healing, the excitement of being openly queer and feeling united through digital spaces, mutual love and understanding. Through this work, Mandisa & Tice hope to show queer club culture during lockdown and chatroom bonding, celebrate togetherness through technology, as well as making note of the physical spaces that they miss so much, and the way lack of touch has affected them.

The Subject to Change: New Horizons programme commissions a different young creative, each month for a year, to produce new and powerful artistic work responding to the uncertain times in which we are living. Mandisa & Tice’s piece is the seventh in the series. New work will be shared every month on the Barbican’s website and social media channels until June 2021.

LEVEL G

Experience the 2021 programme of the New Suns Feminist Literature Festival from home

The annual literary festival New Suns returns for a weekend of talks, workshops and a film centred around feminist storytelling. The weekend will feature acclaimed writers, activists, artists, and academics including adrienne maree brown, Season Butler and Dorothea Lasky. This third edition of the festival, running from Friday 5 – Sunday 7 March 2021, will take place entirely online for the first time. New Suns is a co-production between the Barbican and independent publisher and curator Sarah Shin.

This year’s New Suns will look to the legacy of eminent science-fiction author Octavia Butler, to explore the power we have to both sustain and change the world around us, and how to commune with others. In particular, New Suns will reflect on Butler’s prophetic, unfinished Earthseed series, which imagines Earth in the 2020s ravaged by ecological disaster and violent divisions.

The festival will navigate the books’ central themes, such as the inevitability of change, community-building, examinations of race and gender, and humanity’s relationship to the cosmos. For the first time, there will be a limited edition New Suns anthology booklet to purchase which includes an extract from Octavia Butler’s book The Parable of the Sower; poetry by Dorothea Lasky and Daisy Lafarge; guides for self-reflection and meditation; as well as herbal recipes for strength and healing to enjoy this spring and beyond. The anthology is accompanied by thyme seeds and instructions on how to use the herb beyond the culinary.

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iVisit... Royal museums greenwich marks women’s history month with a series of online lectures

Throughout March 2021, Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) will celebrate Women’s History Month with a series of online events exploring the links that our collections and sites have to women’s histories and how these stories are told.

The flagship event will be a discussion on Women Writing Historical Fiction for Television with Joy C. Mitchell, one of the writers of Bridgerton. The Queen’s House was used as a filming location for the record-breaking Netflix historical drama, ideally positioning RMG to host an event celebrating women writers. Mitchell will be joined by award-winning historian Hallie Rubenhold, the author of works such as The Harlot’s Handbook and The Scandalous Lady W, which have inspired numerous recent historical television dramas.

As well as this one-off event, RMG will host a season of talks on the topic of ‘Rebel Women – Female Pirates’ to celebrate Women’s History Month. Over three talks, panellists will celebrate and discover more about piratical women who broke the rules. Drawing on the knowledge of writers, performers and academics involved, this series explores female piracy and looks at trailblazers who forged their own future and followed their desire for freedom in an incredibly male dominated society. From Grace O’Malley, the 16th century Mistress of the Western Waves, who led her crew into battle and captured an Algerian pirate ship an hour after giving birth, to the infamous Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who pushed gender and sexual boundaries before being convicted at the height of the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’, these free lectures and live performances will take a closer look at what made female pirates tick and how their stories have inspired modern writers and artists.

Throughout Women's History Month 2021, families will be able to discover the accomplished women whose stories sit within the Royal Museums Greenwich collection through online storytelling and craft workshops. Virtual visitors can explore these women’s’ journeys and create crafts at home that are inspired by their lives.

Activities will be released on www.rmg.co.uk/family-activities throughout March.

EVENTS

From Harlots to Bridgerton: Women Writing Historical Fiction for Television

With dynamic female-centred period dramas breaking streaming records, RMG is proud to host this conversation between a writer and author who have been integral to bringing historical women to screens. Historian Hallie Rubenhold is the author of three works of non-fiction and two novels which have inspired television dramas Harlots and The Scandalous Lady W. Her most recent book, The Five; The Untold Lives of The Women Killed by Jack the Ripper won the Baillie Gifford Prize and was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. It has been optioned as a drama series by Mainstreet Pictures. She will join Joy C. Mitchell, a TV writer and producer who worked on the hit Netflix drama Bridgerton which was partly filmed at The Queen’s House. Chardine Taylor-Stone will chair this conversation about finding the right balance between historical accuracy and feminist storytelling for television.

Date: 4 March 2021

Time: 19.00 – 20.00

Access: Book tickets at www.rmg.co.uk

Admission: Tickets available on a ‘Pay What You Can’ basis

Age: 17+

Rebel Women – Female Pirates

Week 1 - Bonny and Read

The first talk in this series will explore the fascinating lives and legacies of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, notorious pirates of the 18th century. With speakers Carina Rodney, award winning writer and Hell Cats author, designer and author Amanda Cotton, 3D Designer and Jo Cummins, Máiréad ní Chróinín and Grace Kiely from Moonfish Theatre company. This talk will include a live performance from Moonfish Theatre company’s play about Bonny and Read.

Date: 2 March 2021

Time: 19:00 – 20:00

Access: Book tickets at www.rmg.co.uk/rebelwomen

Admission: Free

Age: 12+

Week 2 - Pirate Queen/Breaking the Rules

The incredible achievements of Grace O’Malley and women in combat will be explored in the second week’s event. How were these women able to enter the culture of war and piracy in a male-dominated society? And what happens to their stories when told through a male filter throughout history? With Anne Chambers, the best-selling author ofGrace O’Malley: The Biography of Ireland’s Pirate Queen, 1530-1603 and Dr. Julie Wheelwright, author of Sisters in Arms: Women Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium, hear how this Pirate Queen led her crew to fight an ambush from Algerian pirates an hour after she gave birth and how she defeated her husband’s murderers to claim back his castle.

Date: 9 March 2021

Time: 19:00 – 20:00

Access: Book tickets at www.rmg.co.uk/rebelwomen

Admission: Free

Age: 12+

Week 3 - Women of Pirate Radio

Pirate radio stations in the UK began as 'off shore' broadcasters, with arguably the most famous being Radio Caroline. Pirate radio provided an alternative to mainstream radio and started the careers of many who went on to become legendary radio DJs. The rebel pirate spirit that began at sea later came inland. This talk features women who were central to the pirate radio scene of the 1980s and 90s. The panel will be chaired by DJ Debbie Golt, radio host and Broadcaster for Resonance FM. She will be joined by Angie Dee, a radio broadcaster and producer for Kiss FM, London and JWave, Tokyo, and Carmella Obinyan, who was one of very few female DJ’s working in London in the 1980s.

Date: 15 March 2021

Time: 18:00 – 19:00

Access: Book tickets at www.rmg.co.uk/rebelwomen

Admission: Free

Age: 12+

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iVisit... National Theatre announces Tony Kushner’s multi-award-winning Angels in America: Parts One and Two, is now available to stream worldwide

The National Theatre has announced three new filmed productions have been added to its streaming service National Theatre at Home, including Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika, Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, War Horse)’s multi-award-winning production of Tony Kushner’s two-part masterpiece, with a cast including Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Denise Gough (Paula), Nathan Lane (American Crime Story), James McArdle (Ammonite), Susan Brown (It’s A Sin) and Russell Tovey (Years and Years).

The two-part play is set in America in the mid-1980s in the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, as New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. Following a sold-out run in the Lyttelton theatre in 2017, the production transferred to Broadway for a sold-out 18 week run in 2018. The production won numerous awards including Best Revival at the Olivier and Tony Awards in 2018.

Also launching on the platform today is Polly Findlay’s 2012 thrilling contemporary staging of Antigone, with a cast including Christopher Eccleston (Thor, The A Word, Doctor Who) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), and National Theatre Director Rufus Norris’ 2014 production of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, written by David Hare and based on the book by Katherine Boo, with a cast including Meera Syal (The Split).

Rufus Norris, National Theatre Director, said: “Angels in America is one of those productions that stays with you always - a seminal piece of theatre that has a lasting impact. It’s a true honour to be able to bring Marianne Elliott’s remarkable, compelling production of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece to audiences around the world through National Theatre at Home. After sold-out runs at the NT and on Broadway, I’m delighted global audiences will finally get the chance to experience the astonishing performances of the original cast on the Lyttelton stage. I’m really pleased that this month also sees my 2014 production of David Hare’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers available on the platform, with the inimitable Meera Syal and a fantastic ensemble bringing to life Katherine Boo’s non-fiction story of a community in a Mumbai slum. And Jodie Whittaker and Christopher Eccleston in a modern-day Antigone – Polly Findlay’s electrifying 2012 production in the Olivier. In a continued period of isolation for so many people and while we’re unable to open our theatres, we hope National Theatre at Home can bring people together to collectively enjoy theatre from home.”

National Theatre at Home now has 16 productions to stream on the platform available at any time, including Medea with Helen McCrory and Michaela Coel, Mosquitoes with Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams, Phèdre with Helen Mirren and Dominic Cooper, the Young Vic’s Yerma with Billie Piper and Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear.

All productions on National Theatre at Home are available with captions. Angels in America Parts One and Two will also be available with audio-description to support blind and partially sighted audiences worldwide from later this month. Seven other National Theatre at Home titles are currently available with audio-description: Othello, Donmar Warehouse’s Coriolanus, The Cherry Orchard, Amadeus, Julie, Phèdre and the Young Vic’s Yerma.

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iVisit... Battersea Park Children's Zoo needs your help to get through the third lockdown

Battersea Park Children’s Zoo in London is seeking donations to their Crowdfunder page to help safeguard their animal’s welfare and husbandry at this extraordinary time - determined to overcome their third closure as a result of COVID lockdowns.

The site of Battersea Park Children’s Zoo has been a pillar of the local community for nearly 70 years and now, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and our third forced closure as a result of government restrictions, they are looking to their members, visitors and friends for support. They are funded entirely by the visitors and as a result of our closure, we can no longer rely on those funds to care for the 50 species that live at the zoo and cover our expensive daily running costs.

The past year has been an unprecedented challenge for everyone across the community. The zoo is currently closed, weathering the storm of a third national lockdown. With the support of the public and their hardworking team, they are determined to overcome this huge obstacle and welcome visitors back through the gates in the future. They strive to always be a place in the community where children of all ages and abilities can play, learn and discover.

The zoos daily food costs for the 100+ animals (50 species) living at the zoo is approximately £115 a day. This includes all fresh vegetables, fruits, pellet feeds, meat and fish. The weekly cost of insects for the monkeys, meerkats, lemurs, coatis and birds is nearly £80.00. £400 a month is needed for hay, straw and bedding materials. Just £75 would buy enough insects to feed all of their monkeys and lemurs for one week. £150 would feed all of the animals and provide fresh bedding for one day. £500 would be wonderful and ensure a few days peace of mind during this uncertain time.

Surviving this pandemic is vital as Battersea Zoo brings so much to their London Community. The zoo runs a creative education programme complying with the National Curriculum and teaches interactive workshops based on conservation, adaptations, the food chain and camouflage. The education programme attracts schools from all over London and is usually fully booked each year, with over 8,500 children learning at the zoo each year.

The zoo is now home to 50 species of mammals, birds and reptiles including a number of critically endangered species such as the cotton-top tamarin, Bali starlings, Scottish wildcats and lemur. The zoo actively participates in vital European breeding programmes with other zoos to conserve species and educate their visitors as to why many species are disappearing from the wild.

At the zoo, European hedgehogs and Eurasian harvest mice are bred regularly and released into the wild as part of reintroduction programmes across the UK.

To say thank you for the generous donations they receive, they are offering the chance to win a number of exciting prizes to look forward to when the zoo reopens again. If you would like to donate towards supporting the zoo, for every £10 donated to our Crowdfunder, they will enter your name into our support fund prize draw where you’ll have the chance to win one of 15 prizes! (£20 equals two entries).

Prizes include Keeper experiences, wallaby encounters, armadillo experiences and zoo tickets!

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iVisit... Royal Opera House announces an evening of music and song with Tony and the Young Artists and a new Friday Premiere stream

The Royal Opera House is proud to continue its #OurHouseToYourHouse programme with Tony and the Young Artists, a celebration of music and song on Friday 19 February at 7pm GMT and their next Friday Premiere, The Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty on Friday 26 February at 7pm GMT.

Tony and the Young Artists brings together Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, and rising stars of the opera world from the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme in an intimate and uplifting evening set against the atmospheric backdrop of the Crush Room in their Covent Garden home. The specially recorded film will see mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake-Edwards, soprano Alexandra Lowe and tenor Filipe Manu perform well-known arias and duets from operas such as Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Gluck’s Orfeo Ed Euridice and Verdi’s Falstaff as well as songs by Weill and Bernstein.

Director of Opera, Oliver Mears said: With restrictions continuing to impact our daily lives, we are delighted to be able to provide our audiences with a much-needed operatic escape. As The Royal Opera company, we are proud to invite audiences to experience this wonderful evening of uplifting music and song, reuniting Tony Pappano with our extraordinary and hugely talented roster of Jette Parker Young Artists.

Royal Opera House will continue their series of Friday Premiere streams, accessible to audiences around the world for just £3, with The Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty. Saturday 20 February marks 75 years since the Company reopened the Royal Opera House after World War II with this classic ballet. They are excited to celebrate this anniversary by streaming their 2020 recording of this landmark production, restored to its original staging by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton in 2006. The ballet features choreography by Marius Petipa, additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon and a masterful score by Tchaikovsky. Fumi Kaneko stars as Princess Aurora, with Federico Bonelli as Prince Florimund, Kristen McNally as Carabosse and Gina Storm-Jensen as the Lilac Fairy. Simon Hewett conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Titles currently available to purchase via stream.roh.org.uk include Marguerite and Armand (The Royal Ballet, 2017), Cendrillon (The Royal Opera, 2011), La Fille mal gardée (The Royal Ballet, 2015), Il trittico (The Royal Opera, 2011) and Raymonda Act III (The Royal Ballet, 2019).

As part of their ongoing partnership with the BBC, Royal Opera House content continues to be available via radio and BBC iPlayer. Over four evenings from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 February, Opera on 3 presents another chance to hear The Royal Opera’s 2018 performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Keith Warner’s acclaimed production. Presented by Tom Service, these performances feature Antonio Pappano conducting the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and a stellar cast including soprano Nina Stemme as Brünnhilde; baritone John Lundgren as Wotan; mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly as Fricka; and tenor Stefan Vinke as Siegfried, among others. In addition, Royal Ballet All-Star Gala, Royal Opera All-Star Gala and Tobias Kratzer’s 2020 production of Fidelio are currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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iVisit... Aldwych disused station goes virtual

Zoom in to Aldwych disused Tube station without even stepping outside your front door. New tour dates will be on general sale from 12 February on London Transport Museum’s website. Aldwych, originally known as the Strand, is one of London’s most secret places, holding memories of times gone by. Opened to the public in 1907, it was never as heavily used as originally intended and closed nearly 100 years later in 1994.

The station has had a varied history; from providing shelter to Londoners during the Blitz, to being used for film and TV shoots including The ABC Murders (2018), Darkest Hour (2017), Sherlock (2014), and Atonement (2007).

An expert guide – with the help of a gallery of rarely seen archival images, contemporary photos, videos and footage of the station – will lead guests through abandoned platforms and tunnels, lost-in-time ticket halls, original lifts and deserted walkways. Virtual visitors will find out why Aldwych station ceased to be a termini of the Piccadilly line.

Guests on the new virtual Aldwych tour will be permitted to see parts of the station that are no longer accessible on the in-person Aldwych tour, such as the upper ticket hall.

On the online tour visitors will be able to discover the original ticket office windows, the public telephone booths and the ladies’ toilets, which are just some of the features dating from the station’s opening in 1907. Public telephones were a prominent fixture of Underground stations at the start of the twentieth century, and Aldwych station sported no fewer than six.

The ladies’ toilets also contain some original features, such as decency screens and Edwardian wash hand basins. These items have long since disappeared at Underground stations that have remained open.

Chris Nix, Assistant Director of Collections and Engagement at London Transport Museum, said: “Our hugely popular Aldwych disused station tour has turned virtual, which means you can discover the secrets of its rich history from the comfort of your sofa.

“Our expert guides will talk you through how these hidden tunnels and frozen-in-time ticket offices and platforms once formed part of the Piccadilly line. Film fans will be intrigued to find out how the station has been used as a film location for recent blockbusters.

“Some parts of Aldwych are off limits to the public so the virtual tours are the perfect way to get as close as possible to the real thing.”

Holborn (Kingsway): three sites in one tour

In 1898 the London County Council (L.C.C) decided to completely redevelop the area in London we now know as Kingsway and Aldwych. The area, then known for its high crime rates, slum housing and establishments of ill repute, was to become a new business district for London with wide boulevards and grand office buildings. This required new public transport to bring people to and from work and in response the L.C.C. built a tram subway underneath Kingsway itself, to facilitate interchange between south and north London trams.

At the same time, the Piccadilly line was burrowing its way through London, with a station at Holborn to serve the newly constructed district, and a branch line down to Aldwych to serve the many theatres of Covent Garden. The Kingsway trio is a brilliant example of how public transport unlocked parts of London previously inaccessible at the turn of the 20th century, and how these spaces adapted and changed when they were no longer required to serve their original purpose, often in very unusual ways.

Brompton Road station

People can Zoom into Brompton Road station and discover, how, during the Second World War, the station was used as a top-secret control centre and bunker for Britain’s Anti-Aircraft Division.

Located between Knightsbridge and South Kensington stations on the Piccadilly line, Brompton Road station was closed in 1934 after the Piccadilly line was extended. It was closed along with stations such as Down Street and York Road as they were only lightly used.

King William Street station

Closed in 1900, King William Street was the first deep-level station to become ‘disused’ on the London Underground and guests can find out about its short life before it closed. The station was the original but short-lived northern terminus of the City and South London Railway (CSLR), which was the first deep-level underground railway in the world. The CSLR, which originally ran from King William Street to Stockwell now forms part of the Bank branch of the Northern line.

This special behind-the-scenes virtual tour lets viewers see what the disused station looks like today and how it is being used during the current Bank station extension project.

Hidden London Hangouts on YouTube – live new episodes each Saturday at 18:00

This Saturday the Hidden London Hangouts team will be joined by a special guest from across the pond, Polly Desjarlais, from the New York Transit Museum. Hidden London Hangouts give everyone a chance to learn more about the capital’s subterranean transport secrets, with a huge measure of wit and humour from four loveable Londoners and experts in their field. Each episode is hosted by self-confessed Tube geek and broadcaster Alex Grundon.

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iVisit... London Transport Museum’s After Dark events go digital with All the Stations special

London Transport Museum is taking its Museum After Dark events online for people to soak up some culture and help beat the lockdown boredom.

Three free events will take place on selected Thursdays throughout February and March at 19:30 to bring audiences a mix of transport trivia quizzes and opportunities to get crafty and creative at home.

The series will kick off on 11 February with an All the Stations Special hosted by the railway exploring extraordinaire duo Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe. Test your transport trivia knowledge – and theirs – in this special London Transport Museum themed edition of their All the Stations quiz. This is a free event and will be streamed on the All The Stations YouTube channel.

On 25 February, Sarah Hyndman, author of Why Fonts Matter and founder of Type Tasting will host a special London Transport Museum edition of her popular Fontastical Games quiz, inspired by cheesy 1970s gameshows. Before getting your game-face on, one of the Museum’s Senior Curators will be talking all things fonts, typefaces and signage from the Capital’s transport history. This is a free ticketed event hosted on Zoom.

On Thursday 11 March get creative making your own work of art using drawing and collage in an interactive workshop guided by expert art tutors from London Drawing. One of the Museum’s Senior Curators will be providing creative inspiration from its world-class collection of more than 2000 original poster designs by artists including Abram Games, Dora M Batty, Edward McKnight Kauffer and Man Ray. No artistic expertise or specialist equipment needed. Grab a pencil, some paper, scissors and glue and London Drawing will guide you through the rest. This is a free ticketed event hosted on Zoom.

The three new digital events are twist on the Museum’s popular weekly After Dark openings which launched in September 2020 following the first national lockdown to give adults the chance to explore the Museum and its collection after a day working from home.

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iVisit... The National Gallery's Top 20 Most Viewed Paintings Online

Throughout the current lockdown, the National Gallery has remained open online, continuing to bring the nation’s gallery into the nation’s homes. Through our digital initiatives, they are open 24/7, providing everyone with access to great art at anytime, anywhere in the world. These programmes explore the various ways people can look at and respond to art from their homes including exploring the collection online, creative workshops, art talks and films.

The National Gallery is delighted that visitors have been able to access the collection virtually. The most popular painting page, with the highest number of views, is van Eyck’s jewel-like The Arnolfini Portrait, followed by Holbein’s The Ambassadors and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Other visitor favourites include works by Turner, Leonardo, Velázquez, Titian, Constable, Botticelli, Monet, Caravaggio and Vermeer. The figures are based on the largest number of individual views of a page from 19 March 2020 when the Gallery first locked down, until today.

The selection takes audiences on a journey spanning over 450 years, from a merchant family’s home in 15th- century Bruges (The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434) to Monet’s garden in 19th century Giverny (The Water-Lily Pond, 1899). The 20 most viewed pictures are just a fraction of the masterpieces that form the Gallery’s collection of over 2,300 works.

There has been a rise in audience interaction with painting pages overall. These pages provide an in-depth look into the story behind each work with text descriptions and video content. They also allow the viewer to zoom in for a closer look – not unlike the experience of standing in front of a painting in the gallery, leaning in to focus on a particular section or inspecting a certain element in greater detail. Whether revisiting beloved favourites or discovering these masterpieces for the first time, the painting pages help guide the viewer and provide new layers of insight.

As institutions that engage with both the individual and the community, museums and galleries have an important role to play in times of crisis. Whether online visitors seek out the thrilling rush of Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed or the still, luminous interior of Vermeer’s A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, there is little doubt that art can provide solace and reassurance in a challenging historical moment.

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: ‘It is revealing that Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Holbein’s Ambassadors are the pictures most people have looked for online. Both are indoor scenes with very dressed up people and I am wondering whether they reflect our own experience of being enclosed in our homes during lockdown but yearning to go out and celebrate! Even with the Gallery doors closed all our masterpieces are available online for everyone to enjoy.’

The top 20 most viewed painting pages are:

The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 - Jan van Eyck

The Ambassadors, 1533 - Hans Holbein the Younger

Sunflowers, 1888 - Vincent van Gogh

The Fighting Temeraire, 1839 - Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Virgin of the Rocks, about 1491/2-9 and 1506-8 - Leonardo da Vinci

Rain, Steam, and Speed, 1844 - Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Rokeby Venus, 1647-51- Diego Velázquez

Surprised!, 1891 - Henri Rosseau

Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-3 - Titian

The Hay Wain, 1821 - John Constable

Venus and Mars, about 1485 - Sandro Botticelli

The Water-Lily Pond, 1899 - Claude Monet

Bathers at Asnières, 1884 - Georges Seurat

The Supper at Emmaus, 1601 - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Marriage A-la-Mode: 1, The Marriage Settlement, about 1743 - William Hogarth

A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, about 1670-72 - Johannes Vermeer

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, 1768 - Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’

Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano, probably about 1438-40 - Paolo Uccello

A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, 1889 - Vincent van Gogh

The Sultan Mehmet II, 1480 - Gentile Bellini