What's on in London this week: 13-19 February 2023
Discover our pick of things to do in London this week: 13 - 19 February 2023.
Explore London
Cowpuncher My Ass
Holly Blakey’s Wild West dance show Cowpuncher My Ass returns to the Southbank Centre with the London Contemporary Orchestra, featuring sound from composer Mica Levi and costumes by Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood.Date: Wed 15 February 2023, 7.30pm, Price: £22.50 – £40, Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Book now.
Image: Orchid Festival 2023, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Gardens, February 2023, © MTotoe
Kew Gardens Orchid Festival 2023
Inspired by the beauty and diversity of Cameroon, the Orchid Festival returns to Kew Gardens' Princess of Wales Conservatory. The festival includes impressive sculptures of some of Cameroon’s wildlife made from plants, and an exhibition of photography capturing everyday scenes and spectacular landscapes from Lolodorf, Cameroon. The festival is included in the admission to the Gardens so make the most of it and head to the Palm House also. Date: Saturday 4 February to Sunday 5 March 2023. Location: Kew Gardens, Kew, Richmond, London, TW9 3AE. Price: from £16.50. Concessions available. Book now.
Jawdance at Rich Mix
Jawdance returns to Rich Mix in Shoreditch with a programme of acclaimed featured acts and up-and-coming artists specially curated by hosts Yomi Ṣode and Kat Francois, plus their renowned open mic session. Date: 15 Feburary 2023, 7pm. Location: 35-47 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E1 6LA. Price: from £5. Book now.
Half-term
Imagine Children’s Festival at Southbank Centre
Imagine Children’s Festival returns, covering half-term with a vibrant and engaging cross-arts programme, 50% of which is free. Highlights include a band jam with CBeebies saxophonist YolanDa, a daytime rave, a free family activity trail inspired by Sam Winston’s book One & Everything, aimed at ages 2-11, and much more. Click here to browse the full programme. Date: 8-17 February 2023. Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
Image: The new Polacanthus model from Brick Dinos © Warren Elsmore
Brick Dinos exhibition at the Horniman Museum and Gardens
Young visitors to the exhibition will get to meet dinosaurs and other prehistoric giants face to face, each one masterfully built using LEGO® bricks. Young visitors can also enjoy building their own dinosaur, digging for fossils and dressing up as prehistoric creatures.Location: Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Rd, London SE23 3PQ. Date: 10 February – 29 October 2023. Price: from £5/10 Child/Adult. Book now.
Valentine’s Day
ROMEO + JULIET at the Barbican
The Barbican has teamed up with Backyard Cinema to showcase the Baz Luhrmann 1996 take on Romeo + Juliet. The iconic film will be screened under stained glass windows and accompanied by a live choir performing versions of the famous movie soundtrack. Date: 14 February 2023. Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £20-£42.50. Book now
Image: Natural History Museum, © MTotoe
Valentine’s Day at the Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum's Valentine's late-night opening offers a chance to visit the displays and exhibitions (including Wildlife Photographer of the Year) after hours, whilst enjoying a cocktail or two on 14 February 2023. They will also have their legendary Valentine's silent disco on 16 February 2023. Location: Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UK. Book now.
Lunchtime Concert at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel
Enjoy a beautiful Valentine's Day lunchtime performance by Trinity Laban students in the beautiful surroundings of the Old Royal Naval College Chapel. Date: 14 February 2023 Location: Old Royal Naval College, London SE10 9NN. Price: Free.
Romeo & Julie at the National Theatre
Celebrate the month of romance by visiting the National Theatre to see Romeo and Julie, a modern love story inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The story follows two Welsh teens who grew up a few streets apart, but from entirely different worlds, as they find love. Location: Dorfman Theatre,National Theatre, Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. Date: 14 February — 1 April 2023. Price: from £20 - £56. Book now.
Arts & Culture
Image: Kenny Scharf. Closet #42 Bestest Ever. Photo by Charles White of JW Pictures, 2022
Opening this week:
Alice Neel at the Barbican
Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle opening at the Barbican Art Gallery will be the largest exhibition to date in the UK of the work of American artist Alice Neel , whose vibrant portraits captured characters of New York's underground cultures across the turbulence of the 20th century. Location: Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre,Silk Street, London,EC2Y 8DS. Date: 16 February – 21 May 2023. Price: from £18. Concessions available. Book now.
Beyond the Street at the Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery's huge exhibition, Beyond The Streets London, will be the most comprehensive graffiti and street art exhibition ever to open in the UK, featuring work by more than 100 artists and taking over all five floors of the gallery! Location: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Rd, London SW3 4RY. Date: 17 February – 9 May 2023 Price: from £15. Concessions available. Book now.
#FLOFavourites this week:
Peter Doig exhibition at The Courtauld
A major exhibition of new and recent works by Peter Doig has opened at The Courtauld, featuring 12 paintings and 19 works on paper. The exhibition will include a group of major canvases created since the artist’s move from Trinidad to London in 2021. Location: The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN. Date: 10 February - 29 May 2023. Price: Weekday tickets from £14; Weekend tickets from £16. Other concessions available. Book now.
Image: Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, Victoria & Albert Museum, February 2023, MTotoe
Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance at the V&A
The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, is the first UK exhibition of the sculptor's works in bronze, wood, marble and terracotta. The exhibition offers an opportunity to learn about his life, and how he influenced subsequent generations of artists that followed. Location: Sainsbury Gallery, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Date: 11 February – 11 June 2023. Price: £20/ Concessions available. Book now.
Imi Knoebel at White Cube Bermondsey
Imi Knoebel’s exhibition Once Upon a Time includes examples from three new painting series as well as a major installation exhibited for the first time. Featuring a variety of painted shapes on their surfaces: areas of darker or lighter colour in the form of rough rectangles, ovals and semicircles. Location: 144-152, Bermondsey St, London SE1 3TQ, UK. Date: 8 February – 26 March 2023. Price: Free.
Poets in Vogue
The National Poetry Library explores the fashion and poetic work of seven female poets in its new exhibition, Poets in Vogue. The free exhibition during London Fashion Week highlights the relationship between the language of poets and the clothes they wear. Location: National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Date: 17 February – 25 June 2023. Price: Free.
Image: Salvador Dalí,Lobster Telephone, 1938. Photo West Dean College of Arts and Conservation. © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala. Salvador Dalí, DACS 2022
Last chance:
Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today at the Design Museum
The exhibition explores design from the birth of surrealism in 1924 to the current day. Including works by Surrealist pioneers such as Salvador Dalí, Dora Maar, Man Ray, Leonora Carrington and Lee Miller. Location: 224-238 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 6AG. Date: until 19 February 2023. Price: from £16.80/Concessions available. Book now.
A Horror Show! at Somerset House
The Horror Show! A Twisted Tale of Modern Britain explores how ideas rooted in horror have informed the last 50 years of creative rebellion. The show looks beyond horror as a genre, instead taking it as a reaction and provocation to our most troubling times. Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Date: until 19 February 2023. Price: from £16.50/Concessions available. Book now.
Image: © Artem Gavrysh
Pop-ups
No ordinary Love
One Hundred Shoreditch have teamed up with the Old Bank Vault once again to curate No Ordinary Love, a unique self-love pop-up shop in celebration of Valentine’s Day. All vendors within the pop-up are leading female entrepreneurs, reaffirming One Hundred Shoreditch’s pop-up shop space as a platform to support local talent. Date: 11 February - 8 March. Location: One Hundred Shoreditch Hotel, 100 Shoreditch High Street, Shoreditch, London E1 6JQ.
Grown and Thrown - Houseplants & Ceramics Market
Choose from a huge range of unique one-of-a-kind pots, planters and vases, and match them with a top-notch selection of houseplants! This pop-up brought to you by Independent Ceramics Market and Green Rooms Market, will bring together over 80 independent ceramics artists and plant sellers at Copeland Park & Bussey Building. Date: 19 February 2023, 11am – 5pm. Location: Unit 8, Copeland Park, Peckham. London. SE15 3SN. Price: £1 Entry (card payments taken).
Image: Battersea Power Station Light Festival
#FLOFavourites: Pick of the week
Free Activity of the Week
Light Festival at Battersea Power Station
Returning for its third year, the Light Festival at Battersea Power Station is brightening up the dark winter evenings with their largest collection of installations to date. Featuring eight spectacular pieces of artwork that are on display both inside and outside of the iconic Power Station. Date: until 5 March 2023. Location: Circus Rd W, Nine Elms, London SW11 8AL. Price: Free.
Food of the Week
The Teahouse at Petersham Nurseries
Image: The Teahouse at Petersham Nurseries, February 2023, MTotoe
The Teahouse offers wholesome seasonal food, complimented with fresh statement salads and homemade pasta throughout the day. The Teahouse is open for walk-ins Tuesday to Sunday (no reservation required).On Friday, Saturday and Sundays, in addition to their Teahouse service, they serve a tasty Garden Afternoon Tea. Click here to book now. Location: Church Lane,Off Petersham Rd,Richmond TW10 7AB. Opening hours: Monday: Closed (Except Bank Holidays), Tueday – Saturday: 10am – 4pm, Sunday: 11am – 4pm.
Interview of the Week
We had a chat with Ndubuisi Kejeh.
Image: Ndubuisi Kejeh. © Laurie Castelli-Gair.
Ndubuisi Kejeh is the founder of Mustard - an Africa-focused venture agency- founded in 2013. Mustard is on a mission to build better products, better brands and better perceptions for Africa, with founders and investors who believe. Click here to read the full interview.
cause of the week
Action Against Food Poverty organise a Saturday morning walk around central London giving food, supplies and conversation not only to the homeless but anyone struggling with daily life. Action Against Food Poverty are currently crowdfunding to continue their works. Click here to donate.
Click here to read our interview with Robert Straw, founder of Action Against Food Poverty. Discover more about their cause and how you can get involved!
