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Hidden Treasures

Whether you're visiting South Kensington for the first time, or you've visited a hundred times, here's a list of some of the best, but least well-known, exhibits, galleries, and places.

Design Your Way to Net Zero

17th Oct
9:30am-4:30pm
Design Museum Kensington
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In this one-day decarbonisation workshop for businesses, learn about innovative design-led net zero solutions and discover methods and practical tools to measure and reduce carbon emissions in the workplace.

Down to Earth

17th June
2pm, 3:30pm and 5pm
Institut français
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Explore the notion of concrete, and the numerous forms it can take with Architecture studio Cookies, in partnership with Imperial College London and Institut français. The workshops is open to a wide audience, from children to adults.

Design Researchers in Residence: Islands

23rd June-24th Sept
10am-6pm
Design Museum Kensington
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This display brings together the 2022/23 cohort of Design Researchers in Residence, four emerging researchers working on projects which respond to the climate crisis. It gives visitors an opportunity to understand how design research takes place and experience new proposals for the future.

Imagination Unbound: An Evening of Persian Poetry

22nd June
7pm-8:30pm
Leighton House and Sambourne House Museum
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Join Narguess Farzad, as she discusses how Persian poetry remains the unrivalled means of encapsulating experiences and emotions, memories, traumas, and delights. The evening will include a selection of classical and contemporary poetry, recited in Persian and in English translation.

Tatreez: Introduction to Palestinian Embroidery

10th June
2pm-4:15pm
Leighton House and Sambourne House Museum
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Participants will learn how to cross-stitch a tree of life, a traditional motif in Palestinian embroidery, in this calm and creative workshop. Participants will also learn more about the history and significance of Palestinian embroidery.

Make Beaut and Mend, with Aya Haider

19th June
10am-12pm
Leighton House and Sambourne House Museum
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Parents and carers are invited to join artist Aya Haidar in this free, two hour drop-in session to Make Beaut and Mend sentimental textiles from either their child's or their own childhoods. Do bring an item (or more than one!) that needs mending and embellishing, with guidance and support from Aya.

Energy: Sparks from the Collection

25th May-20th April 2024
10am-6pm
V&A
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This display shines a light on the diverse kinds of energy in photography, from the hidden processes intrinsic to creating a picture, to the subjects in front of the camera.

Windrush 75 at the V&A

12 May- 31st December
10am-6pm
V&A
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A season of events and displays marking the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush. Find out more about the Windrush generation, their legacies and the impact of the Caribbean on art, design and culture in Britain.

Between Two Worlds: Vanley Burke and Francis Williams

12th June- 31st December
10am-6pm
V&A
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Explore portraits of two Jamaican gentlemen scholars. Burke's photography and archives, alongside historical artefacts and scientific images shedding new light on the Williams painting, invite reflections on quests for identity and colonial legacies.

Guided Visits to the The Ismaili Centre London's Roof Garden

11th June
10am-4pm (Last entry 3pm)
Ismaili Centre
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The Ismaili Centre Roof Garden is one of London’s hidden gems. The serene setting draws from the traditions of Islamic faith that have inspired outstanding buildings for many centuries. It will be open for guided visits on London Open Gardens weekend. Entry is free, no booking required.

Pollinator Parade Family Walk

3rd July-22nd August
Times vary
The Royal Parks
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The buzzing of bees is the sound of summer! Did you know that it’s not just bees that love visiting flowers? The blooms in the parks are also visited by butterflies, hoverflies, moths and beetles! Join the Parks and = explore and learn about our pollinator pals in the parks.

Feathery Frolic Family Walk

6th June- 24th Aug
Times vary
Kensington Gardens
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Providing shelter, food and water for wildlife, the Parks are the perfect space for many of the UK’s most beloved birds. This ‘Feathery Frolic’ will be a gentle stroll for families (aimed at 5+) to explore the world of birds in the diverse habitats of the Royal Parks.

Growing Together: Garden Assembly

11th June
2pm-5pm
Design Museum Kensington
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Join the Design Museum for an afternoon of green bliss at The Dame Sylvia Crowe garden located next to the museum. The open day will feature short talks, guided tours, and horticultural activities for all ages.

Tomás Saraceno In Collaboration: Web(s) of Life

1 June- 10 September
Times vary
Serpentine
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This living, collaborative and multi-species exhibition that delves into how different life forms, technologies and energy systems are connected in the climate emergency.

How Not to Photograph a Bulldog

25th May- 20th April 2024
10am-5:30pm
V&A
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This book display reveals how dogs have been used to teach photography, and how dog photography has developed as a discipline in its own right.

Image credit: Holidaze, 2020, Norblack Norwhite; photo Bikramjit Bose

The Offbeat Sari

19th May- 17th September
10am-6pm
Design Museum Kensington
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Today, the sari in urban India manifests as a site for design innovation, an expression of identity, and a crafted object carrying layers of cultural meanings. The exhibition will unravel the sari as a metaphor for the complex definitions of India today.

Image credit: Naoya Hatakeyama, ‘Blast #5707’, 1998. © Naoya Hatakeyama

Photography Centre

Opens 25th May
V&A
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The Photography Centre is the UK’s largest space dedicated to a permanent photography collection. The newly reopened galleries will showcase the museum’s world-leading holdings and enable visitors to experience photography and its diverse histories in new ways.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 by Lina Ghotmeh

June- October 2023
Serpentine
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Serpentine Pavilion 2023: À table, designed by architect Lina Ghotmeh, derives from the aspiration to create a sustainable kinship with the land through food and our primal relationship to the Earth.

WAVE: Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts

6th July- 22nd October
10am-8pm
Japan House London
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Explore the vibrant diversity of Japanese graphic arts in this bold exhibition which bridges the worlds of fine art, commercial illustration and counterculture.

Engineers

From 23rd June
10am-6pm
Science Museum
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Engineers shape the world that we live in, creating bold, ground-breaking innovations that respond to global challenges and improve billions of lives. But how much do we know about the people behind these innovations?

Turn it Up: The Power of Music

16th Oct-6th May 2024
10am-6pm
Science Museum
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Explore how music shapes our lives in this landmark interactive exhibition.

New Directions– 20 Years of Young Cinema From Germany

Online
Goethe-Institut
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Perspektive Deutsches Kino, a section of the Berlinale dedicated to young German filmmaking, celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Goethe-Institut took this as an opportunity to look back at the last 20 years of exciting, innovative and daring works by young German filmmakers.

The Zizi Show

25th May- 20th April 2024
10am-5:45pm
V&A
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The Zizi Show is a deepfake drag cabaret that explores the ethical problems which exist in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The display explores what AI can teach us about drag, and what drag can teach us about A.I.

Workshop: Terrazzo Casting

9th July
2:00-4:30pm
Design Museum Kensington
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Learn how to cast terrazzo using Eco Resin into silicone moulds to make your own coasters in this creative workshop led by RubinoWilson studio.