Man Ray Portraits is the first significant retrospective to focus on the inventive artist's portraits. The exhibition features over 120 vintage prints and works in colour, from international private and museum collections, and sitters include Lee Miller, Pablo Picasso and Virginia Woolf.

 

Born in America in 1890, Man Ray moved to Paris in 1921. It was here that, as semi-official photographer to the Dadaists and later the Surrealists, Man Ray captured leading figures of the avant-garde and cultural elite of the time as well as experimenting with intimate, sometimes scandalous, images of his friends, lovers and contemporaries.

Find out more

Males that give birth, females who perform romantic dances, and couples that form life-long relationships are just some of the fascinating behaviours visitors will see at ZSL London Zoo's brand-new Seahorses exhibit.

 

Opening on 16 February, Seahorses will be home to 172 long and short-snouted seahorses, both of which are the focus of ZSL London Zoo conservation breeding programmes.

 

With eight bespoke tanks, Seahorses will show visitors the various stages of the seahorse lifecycle, with special curved tanks for the fry (seahorse babies…), different tanks for juveniles and separate tanks for each of the mating pairs, who like a bit of privacy.

 

ZSL's team of presenters will be revealing Seahorse Secrets every day during half term, with a daily talk about these remarkable creatures, including what seahorses have in common with monkeys and chameleons!  

Experience the majesty of the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to Ivan the Terrible and the early Romanovs in a major exhibition at the V&A. From royal portraits, costume and jewellery to armour and heraldry, Treasures of the Royal Courts tells the story of diplomacy between the British Monarchy and the Russian Tsars through more than 150 magnificent objects.

Carnaby Street is a stunning new musical, set against the backdrop of London's West End in the Sixties, its famous clubs, trendy fashions and eccentric characters, at a time full of hope and freedom, when the world is changing and anything seems possible.

8-13 April, London Hackney Empire - Adult £27.50

15-20 April, High Wycombe Swan Theatre - Adult £31

22-27 April, Rhyl Pavilion Theatre - Adult £26

29 April - 4 May, Hastings White Rock Theatre - Adult £27

7-11 May, Windsor Royal Theatre - Adult £31.50

14-18 May, Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall Theatre - Adult £27.50

20-25 May, Manchester Opera House - Adult £24

27 May - 1 June, Lowestoft Marina Theatre - Adult £29.50

3-8 June, Birmingham Alexandra Theatre - Adult £35

10-15 June, St Albans Alban Arena - Adult £26

25-29 June, Bournemouth Pavilion - Adult £27

 

Tate Modern presents the first exhibition in the UK of Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair. Born in Beirut in 1916, Choucair is a pioneer of abstract art in the Middle East and is now becoming recognised as an important figure in the history of global modernism.

 

Ellen Gallagher (born 1965 Providence, Rhode Island) is one of the most acclaimed contemporary painters to have emerged from North America.

In 2013, Tate Modern will present the UK's first substantial solo exhibition of her work, providing a unique opportunity to survey her career over the past 20 years.

Gallagher's varied practice draws from an eclectic range of sources, including literature, music, myth, black popular culture, science fiction and advertising.

She obscures and abstracts this imagery, leaving behind traces that give rise to unnerving stories.

 

Walk the streets of London through the eyes of Charles Dickens and his characters. See the places where the Victorian novelist lived and worked, and where he conjured up scenes for his books. Listen to readings and his unfolding biography, as you take in some of the most evocative parts of the city, parts of which are largely unchanged from Dickens' time.

The walk will even pause at Dickens's favourite pub!

Note: Places on the walk are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. If the group has grown too large by the time you arrive you may not be allowed to take part. This will be at the discretion of the guide. A ticket for the Dickensian Walk does not include admission to the Museum.

Wednesdays: 11am and 5:15pm.

No pre-booking

Charles Dickens Museum
48 Doughty Street
London WC1N 2LX

Please arrive at the entrance to the Museum to meet your guide

 Tickets for the walk are £7 and do not include admission to the Museum.

Find out more.

The life and work of actor Sir Michael Caine celebrated in a new photography exhibition at the Museum of London

The exhibition traces Sir Michael's life from Cockney rebel, through to Hollywood legend and inspirational Londoner through a selection of never-before-exhibited photographs, iconic portraits by David Bailey and Terry O'Neill, and a selection of film and audio footage from some of his best-loved movies including Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter and Educating Rita.

'I'm every bourgeois nightmare - a Cockney with intelligence and a million dollars.'

Find out more

London Wonderground returns to the Southbank for a second year of cabaret, music, circus and strange curiosities.

Taking place in the coach park between the Royal Festival Hall and the London Eye, the festival is centred around the Speigeltent, in which you can watch a diverse range of performances from top contemporary talent. Visitors can also enjoy bars, outdoor performances and fringe shows in the London Wonderground event space.

The headline performance this year is the thrilling Limbo, created by the team behind last year's acclaimed show Cantina. Limbo is a mix of illusion, circus, magic and dance that promises to mesmerise audiences this summer.

Other acts to look forward to include an entertaining mix of music and stand-up comedy, and Al Murray the Pub Landlord's Southbank Saloon.

https://www.londonwonderground.co.uk/

What have the Olympics, Chairman Mao and matchboxes got in common? Who portrayed Margaret Thatcher as Napoleon, and why? Is propaganda public information or misinformation, and do we need it?

From safe sex to dictatorships, from the iconic to the everyday, Propaganda: Power and Persuasion is the first exhibition to explore how different states have used propaganda during the 20th and 21st centuries, in peace-time and in war.

 

Estuary brings together the work of 12 artists who have been inspired by the outer limits of the Thames where the river becomes the sea. The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of the Museum of London Docklands, a converted Georgian warehouse on West India Quay. 

With its dramatic landscape - desolate mudflats and saltmarshes, vast open skies, container ports, power stations and seaside resorts - the Estuary has long been a rich source of inspiration for artists and writers. Through film, photography, painting and printmaking, the contemporary artists featured in this exhibition offer new insight into this often overlooked, yet utterly compelling, environment and the people that live and work there.

FREE entry

Find out more

The free four-day football celebration, featuring a series of family-friendly activities, will be the first major event to come to the home of the 2012 London Olympics since last summer. It will be held at The International Quarter close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

UEFA is inviting fans and families to visit the festival and take part in a series of free activities, including the opportunity to have photos taken with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League trophies.

 

Find out more

Meet the weird, wonderful and wild relatives of the cultivated plants you eat every day. Take part in the banquet of offerings that make up this fantastically foody festival.  Be part of a giant fruit salad installation by hiring a fruit-shaped boat, stroll around a floating pineapple on the Palm House pond, travel the globe in our gastronomic garden or join a tea party with a twist.

 

www.visitsouthport.com

 

CALLING ALL FOODIES - THE 8th SOUTHPORT FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL IS ON ITS WAY. 

 

One of the UK's favourite seaside towns is all set for its annual Food and Drink Festival , which will take place 31^st May to 2^nd June 2013.

A feast of food, a festival of drink, a celebration of Southport and the North West, this year sees the Love Food Hate Waste sponsored festival move to a new home of Victoria Park, a site used for many years to host the town's famous annual Flower Show.

Southport has an abundance of fresh food from local producers right on the doorstep, mixed with creative and talented chefs, fine dining restaurants and well known chains, not forgetting the most perfect seaside grub. The Southport Food and Drink Festival is a taste sensation in the heart of the Town!

The annual Bat Festival weekend is back with more batty treats for all the family in the Wildlife Garden

Highlights 

- Follow the bat trail in the Wildlife Garden 
- Bat bed and breakfast: plants, insects and bats 
- Learn about the work of a bat hospital and the bats they look after 
- Build a home for bats 
- Batty crafts including finger puppets, bat masks and wire bats 
- Face painting 
- Explore the bat food chain with some pond dipping 
- Teas and refreshments on sale 

Find out more

Tate Britain presents two exhibitions running in parallel by the painters Patrick Caulfield (1936-2005), and Gary Hume (b1962).

Both known for their vibrant colourful paintings and bold techniques. Patrick Caulfield is perhaps best known for reinvigorating traditional artistic genres such as the still life as well as his mastery of colour, graphic elegance and wit.

This exhibition will offer the chance to reassess his influences and the legacy of his approach to painting.

Gary Hume is one of the celebrated group of 'Young British Artists' (YBAs) first received critical acclaim in the early 1990s with his bold, large-scale paintings which used high gloss paint to create planes of industrial colour.

This exhibition explores the breadth and vitality of his work, highlighting Hume's innovative use of colour, line and surface in his distinctive compositions. See both exhibitions with one ticket. 

 

From ethereal images of deep space to close-up views of our planetary neighbours, Visions of the Universe features photographs from NASA, the Russian space programme and some of the greatest telescopes in the world, as well as highlights from the last four years of the Royal Observatory's highly successful Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

 

Fly Folkestone ... 7th - 9th of June 2013

See the RAF Red Arrows aerobatics team, Battle of Britain memorial flight, Typhoon and other aircraft at the Folkestone AirShow on Saturday 8th June, miles of Free vantage points ,plus ground events, activities and entertainment.

 

http://www.folkestoneairshow.com/

 

The Courtauld holds the UK's most important collection of works by the Post-Impressionist master Paul Gauguin.

 

This was assembled by pioneering collector Samuel Courtauld and in this special display his collection of Gauguin's paintings, works on paper and sculpture is brought together for the first time. 

 

A ten-day event of outdoor theatre, dance and art, running from 21-29 June.

Featuring free outdoor performing arts (theatre, dance, and street arts), it's an annual 9-day celebration of extraordinary outdoor events and venues include Greenwich Park, the National Maritime Museum and Island Gardens, the riverside park at Tower Hamlets. 

Find out more

 

Come to the Square Mile and enjoy an outdoor programme more than 100 free events and many other unique paid-for events, many reflecting the theme of trees and the City's natural environment.

Events include three concerts staging Britten's 'Church Parables' at St Paul's Cathedral, a two-day conference of talks at Mansion House, free lunchtime recitals from the Guildhall School's finest emerging musicians, open air ballet, and a Honey Feast on the final day of the Festival, in Paternoster Square.

Find out more

This summer, Tate Britain presents a major exhibition of landscapes by the much loved British painter L S Lowry (1887-1976). This is the first show held by a public institution in London since the artist's death.

Bringing together around eighty works, including Tate's Coming Out of School 1927 and The Pond 1950, this show aims to re-assess Lowry's contribution as part of a wider art history and to argue for his achievement as Britain's pre-eminent painter of the industrial city.

 

Tate Modern presents the UK's first major exhibition of Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi (born 1930).

Bringing together 100 works from across more than five decades of his international career, this retrospective highlights one of the most significant figures in African and Arab Modernism, revealing his place in the context of a broader, global art history.

The exhibition traces the artist's personal journey, beginning in Sudan in the 1950s where the artist originally trained and practiced as an art teacher, as well as his time at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.

Experience the beauty and allure of pearls which across centuries and cultures have long been associated with wealth, royalty and glamour.

This autumn the V&A and the Qatar Museums Authority explore the history of natural pearls from the early Roman Empire through to the present day.

Highlights include rare natural specimens, Mary Queen of Scots' necklace, a group of magnificent tiaras worn by European royalty, delicate art nouveau and striking art deco pieces and a pair of pearl drop earrings owned by Elizabeth Taylor.

 

Mira Schendel was one ofLatin America's most important and prolific post-war artists. Tate Modern will stage the first ever international full-scale survey of her work revealing Schendel's dialogues with a diverse range of artists, philosophers and critics, as well as her engagement with universal ideas of faith, self-understanding and existence.