Discover South Kensington - Discover South Kensington

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Discover South Kensington is an initiative of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group

South Kensington, London's home of arts and science, has a vital role to play in enriching lives, particularly against the present challenges as a result of Covid-19.

top picks

Google Arts & Culture: The Natural History Museum

Explore a story of natural history discovery in an interactive experience, Making Natural History, Dive into the museum's 80 million specimens, encounter a prehistoric marine reptile in virtual reality, discover pioneering Museum research, navigate the galleries in 360 degrees & take a tour of exhibits tackling natural history themes,

Natural History Museum

Be Kind to your Parks

The Royal Parks' 5,000 acres of historic green spaces have been a haven during these extraordinary times, a place to hang out with family and friends, exercise or simply unwind. But their popularity has produced an astonishing 258 tonnes of trash equivalent to 20 London buses! This summer the Royal Parks are asking everyone to spread some kindness and help look after our precious green spaces. Spread the word!

The Royal Parks

Royal Albert Hall Proms 2020

BBC Proms 2020 but not as we know them or the Proms as we need them. This year marks 125 years since the first Proms season. To reflect the times, the season will take on a unique format, with a compelling multi-platform offer. A unique First Night commission by Iain Farrington for a BBC Grand Virtual Orchestra to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, with live performances later in the season, culminating in the Last Night of the Proms to bring the nation together.

Royal Albert Hall

17 July - 12 September 2020

Recovery of London’s Home of Arts and Science

South Kensington is London’s home of arts and science, with a vital role to play in enriching lives. Our arts and science institutions face unprecedented challenges as a result of Covid-19. Ensuring the survival and recovery of these institutions, and the local businesses they support, will require imagination, innovation, the ability to act quickly and strong local support. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster City Council and the members of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group (ERCG) are working closely together towards this goal. And it is essential that the safety of our visitors, residents, students and staff is always the top priority for our organisations.

Exhibition Road Cultural Group

Click & Collect

The Institut français has launched a great Click & Collect service for borrowing and returning items. Simple, safe and free to use, all you have to do is order on line, wait for confirmation and go along and pick-up.

Institut français

Google Arts & Culture: The Science Museum

Striving to be the best place in the world for people to enjoy science, the Science Museum's world-class collection forms an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical achievements from across the globe. Explore the museum's exhibitions and online collections.

Goethe on Demand

The online streaming programme Goethe on Demand has been extended until 31 July 2020 - free of charge! Browse and enjoy a fantastic selection of films by Angela Schanelec, Christoph Schlingensief, Roland Klick and many more.

Goethe-Institut

A History of Royal Fashion

Learn how royalty used fashion to entertain, control and impress. A History of Royal Fashion takes you into the wardrobes of British kings and queens across five royal dynasties from the Tudors, Stuarts and Georgians to the Victorians and Windsors.

Kensington Palace

Have fun learning German

Want to learn German while social distancing? The Goethe-Institut London's next online group course gets underway on 30 April, providing you with a flexible way to learn #GermanforReal with like-minded people, from the comfort of your home!

Goethe-Institut

Royal College of Music Online

Royal College of Music brings you performances from their extraordinary student's on their YouTube channel.

Royal College of Music

Create and Make At Home

Enjoy a family Create and Make workshop at home. Colour, cut and build to create your own Design Museum exhibition. Colour, cut and build to create your own Design Museum exhibition. Bring the Design Museum to you by building your own furniture exhibition.

Design Museum Kensington

Lets Make Wednesdays - Redesign Everyday Objects!

Every Wednesday, the V&A team challenges you to use design to think cretively abour your world. What can you fix, improve and iterate? Don’t forget to share your design remixes with them. Let’s make Wednesdays more creative!

RCA2020

Like artists, creators, designers and curators around the world, the 2020 graduates of the Royal College of Art have adapted, innovated and reimagined during these most unprecedented of times. For the first time in its history, the RCA's renowned graduate show will this year take place online as a digital discovery platform – RCA2020.

Royal College of Art

16-31 July 2020

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Online Events and Resources

Whilst the cultural and educational venues in South Kensington physically close their doors in the face of the Coronavirus, there are plenty of online events and resources that are available meantime. Here is a sample of some of them.

Tours & Talks online

Hop online for a personal tour or join a live talk - and all within the reach of your fingertips.

A Night In!

Staying in is the new going out and there won't be enough hours in the night to watch all the things we have for you!

South Kensington for Schools online

A huge variety of information online for educators from the cultural and educational organisations in South Kensington's, including events, workshops and resources, allowing you to plan the best school trip ever or bring a bit of the magic into your own classroom!

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Humanities@70 at Imperial College London

2020 marks the 70th anniversary of humanities at Imperial. Throughout the year Imperial will be celebrating with a year-long programme of events that will explore the rich and diverse history of humanities at the College, and showcase the wide variety of activities taking place today.

Secrets of the Museum - a new BBC series

In this new, unique arts series Secrets of the Museum on BBC Two, viewers will be invited into a hidden world: behind the scenes at the world famous museum of art, design and performance, the V&A. Starts 6th Feb, 8pm.

Creative Quarter 2019 - inspiring students into creative careers

On 22nd November students from around the UK attended our annual Creative Quarter day which aimed to inspire students to explore creative industries and find out about creative careers through a series of talks, workshops and tours in the cultural and educational venues of South Kensington.

Innovative new arts space, Cromwell Place, to open autumn 2020

Cromwell Place, South Kensington’s highly anticipated flexible arts space, has recently announced that it will officially open its doors in autumn 2020 following five years in development.

Our Story

About Us

Discover South Kensington is an initiative of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group which brings together the leading cultural and educational organisations to promote innovation and learning. South Kensington is the home of science, arts and inspiration.

South Kensington Timeline

South Kensington has a rich history associated with royalty, arts and sciences. Sometimes known as Albertopolis, London's original cultural quarter is a legacy of the Great Exhibition of 1851 organised by Prince Albert. Find out more about our history through our timeline.

Working Together

We work together to promote and develop innovation and learning in arts and science and make this a great place to visit, work, live and study today and for generations to come.

find your way

Take a tour

One of the best ways to see South Kensington is to explore some of the amazing cultural venues within walking distance from each other. We have put together some suggested itineraries for you to explore – themed around art, science, royal connections, great days out with the kids, exploring the museums and so much more.

Our members

Natural History Museum

Royal Albert Hall

Imperial College London

Royal College of Music

Goethe-Institut

Institut français

Kensington Palace

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Serpentine Galleries

The Ismaili Centre

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Royal Commission for the Exhibition 1851

South Kensington Estates

The Royal Society of Sculptors

Leighton House Museum

Royal College of Art

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