What’s on in London this week: 16 - 22 June 2025
Discover our pick of events in London this week:16 - 22 June 2025.
Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition
The 257th Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition opens to the public this week, bringing a celebration of contemporary art and architecture under the theme of ‘Dialogues’. Curated by internationally renowned architect Farshid Moussavi RA, the exhibition explores how art can spark conversations around pressing issues such as ecology, survival, and how we live together. For the first time, architectural works are fully integrated throughout the galleries, fostering interaction between disciplines. Alongside hundreds of public submissions are works by Royal Academicians such as Grayson Perry, Lubaina Himid, and Jenny Holzer, who exhibits at the Summer Exhibition for the first time, as well as Honorary RAs like Marina Abramović and El Anatsui. Most works are available for purchase, with proceeds supporting the artists and the Royal Academy’s educational and charitable programmes.
Date: 17 June - 17 August 2025. Location: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: from £23.50–£25.50. Book now
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025. Image credit David Parry/Royal Academy of Arts.
London Road at the National Theatre
This week is your final opportunity to see London Road, the trailblazing piece of documentary theatre that first captivated audiences in 2011. Returning to the National Theatre for a limited revival, the production by Alecky Blythe (book and lyrics) and Adam Cork (music) uses verbatim interviews with residents of London Road in Ipswich, recorded in the wake of the 2006 serial murders. The score mirrors the natural rhythms and speech patterns of real people, creating a haunting yet unexpectedly uplifting portrait of a community grappling with trauma. Revisiting a still-controversial moment in British social history, London Road remains strikingly relevant in today’s media-saturated world.
Date: 6 — 21 June 2025. Location: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. Price: from £25 - £99. Book now
ATP 500 HSBC Championships
Following the thrill of the women’s WTA 500 event that returned to Queen’s Club after 52 years, the men’s ATP 500 HSBC Championships kicks off this week at The Queen’s Club in West Kensington. Running from 16–22 June 2025, the tournament features a stellar line-up, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper, Taylor Fritz, and defending champion Tommy Paul, battling for a prize pool of roughly €2.52 million (€471,755 singles). With Centre Court now renamed the “Andy Murray Arena” in honour of the five-time champion, the competition builds as a crucial warm-up to Wimbledon, offering intense grass-court action throughout the week
Date: 16 – 22 June 2025. Location: Queen’s Club, Palliser Road, West Kensington, London, W14 9EQ. Price: from £20. Book now
Museum Lates at Dr Johnson’s House
Museum Lates at Dr Johnson’s House
Step into the 17th-century home of Dr Samuel Johnson, the famed lexicographer behind A Dictionary of the English Language, for a special after-hours event with a glass of prosecco in hand. This exclusive evening offers the chance to explore the only original townhouse remaining in Gough Square—complete with period features, a quirky anti-burglary device, and literary curiosities like “hotcockles” and “twittletwattle.” Once home to one of the greatest literary figures of the 18th century, the evening is an opportunity to wander freely through its historic rooms, soak up the atmosphere, and toast the man who famously declared, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
Date: Thursday 19 June 2025. Time: 5.30–7pm. Location: Dr Johnson’s House, 17 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE. Price: £15 (includes prosecco; booking fee applies). Book now
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is currently on stage at the Royal Opera House until 28 June 2025. This full-length ballet, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon with music by Joby Talbot, follows Alice as she tumbles into a fantastical world filled with curious creatures and eccentric characters, including the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts and Cheshire Cat. The production brings the classic story to life through bold choreography, imaginative set designs, colourful costumes, puppetry and projections, creating a magical journey through the whimsical and unpredictable world of Wonderland.
Date: 13 - 28 June 2025. Location: Royal Opera House is Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD. Price: £34–£190. Book now
Viola Pantuso in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Credit: Alice Pennefather 2024
Lola Young + Connie Constance
As part of Little Simz’ Meltdown festival, this electrifying double bill brings together two bold voices in British alternative pop. South London’s Lola Young delivers raw, witty and unfiltered songs that speak to the realities of Gen Z—touching on mental health, infidelity, and life in the digital age. A Brits Rising Star and BBC Sound of 2022 nominee, Young’s debut album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway is fiercely honest and rooted in her Croydon upbringing. She’s joined by Connie Constance, a British-Nigerian indie-pop powerhouse known for her genre-blending sound, high-energy performances, and surreal visual style. With roots in the London punk scene and collaborations with acts like Swedish House Mafia and Casisdead, Constance brings a defiant edge to the stage.
Date: 17 June 2025. Location: Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Price: from £27 + £3.50 booking fee. Book now
Lola Young. Image credit Sophie Turner.
Elijah & Geeneus In Conversation: 30 Years of Rinse FM and the Future of Radio
Join influential music figures Elijah and Geeneus for a special conversation reflecting on 30 years of Rinse FM, the groundbreaking radio station that helped shape UK underground music. The event explores the station’s legacy, its impact on culture, and where radio is headed next in an ever-changing digital world.
Date: 18 June 2025. Time: 7.30pm. Location: Frobisher Auditorium 1, Barbican Centre, Level 4, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Prices: Standard: £10/ Young Barbican (under 26): £6. Book now
Meltdown Festival
The 20th edition of Meltdown Festival continues at the Southbank Centre this week, curated by the acclaimed artist Little Simz. Alongside Lola Young, this week’s line-up features powerful performances from Ghetts, James Blake, and celebrated saxophonist Nubya Garcia. A major highlight will be a one-off concert with Little Simz and the Chineke! Orchestra, promising an unforgettable fusion of orchestral music and hip-hop. The festival also includes the Meltdown Terrace DJ Takeover, bringing late-night energy to the riverfront.
Click here for more of the programme.
Influential music figures Elijah and Geeneus will have a special conversation at the Barbican Centre, reflecting on 30 years of Rinse FM
The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall
The Mozartists present an evening of Classical music as part of their acclaimed MOZART 250 series, now focusing on the year 1775. Conducted by Ian Page and featuring internationally renowned violinist Rachel Podger, the programme includes Haydn’s lively Symphony No. 66 in B-flat and three works by the 19-year-old Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D, Symphony in D K121/207a, and the much-loved Violin Concerto No. 5 in A K219. This special concert brings together sparkling orchestral energy and virtuosic solo performance in celebration of two of the Classical era’s greatest composers.
Date: 18 June 2025. Time: 7.30 pm. Location: Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP. Price: £18 - £50. Book now
The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall at 18 June 2025.
Cinema
Lollipop
Lollipop (15) is a heartfelt drama by Daisy-May Hudson, following young mother Molly (Posy Sterling) as she tries to reunite with her children after a short prison sentence. Expecting a swift return to normality, Molly instead finds herself caught in a vicious cycle, unable to get housing without her children, and unable to get her children back without a home. Reconnecting with her estranged childhood friend Amina (Idil Ahmed), a fellow single mum, the two women join forces to challenge the broken system. Drawing on Hudson’s documentary roots, Lollipop is a moving story of resilience, friendship, and fighting for family.
Date: Until 19 June 2025. Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS.Price: from £13 + BF. Book now
Posy Sterling stars in Lollipop, a heartfelt drama by Daisy‑May Hudson, showing at the Barbican until 19 June 2025.
Arts & Culture
Opening this week
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting is the UK’s largest museum exhibition dedicated to renowned contemporary painter Jenny Saville. Spanning her career from early charcoal drawings to recent large-scale oil paintings, the show explores her evolution and impact on figurative painting. Featuring 45 works, including new pieces shown for the first time, the exhibition highlights Saville’s engagement with the human form, challenges to traditional ideals of beauty, and her deep connection to art history. Organised in close collaboration with the artist, it includes works from collections around the world.
Date: 20 June 2025 – 28 September 2025. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: £21 / 23.50 with donation. Book now
Abstract Erotic: Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Alice Adams
This groundbreaking exhibition revisits 1960s New York sculpture through the radical, sensual work of Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, and Alice Adams. Using unconventional materials like latex, foam, and string, the artists explored the body, identity, and sexuality in what critic Lucy Lippard called “abstract erotic.” Featuring rarely seen works, including Adams’ UK museum debut, the show is accompanied by Louise Bourgeois: Drawings from the 1960s, revealing links between her sketches and sculpture.
Date: 20 June – 14 September 2025. Location: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN. Price: from £14. Concessions available. Ticket Includes access to the permanent collection and Louise Bourgeois: Drawings from the 1960s. Book now
Drift by Jenny Saville, 2020-2022 © Jenny Saville, Courtesy Gagosian.
#FLOFavourites: This week
Augustas Serapinas: Potatoes and Chamomile
Potatoes and Chamomile at Emalin features new works by Augustas Serapinas using salvaged materials from abandoned Lithuanian homes. Burned wooden beams are transformed into planters growing traditional crops, while kiln-fired windows and photographs highlight themes of loss, care, and renewal. The exhibition reflects on cycles of destruction and regeneration in post-socialist rural life.
Date: 22 May – 26 July 2025. Location: Emalin, 1 Holywell Lane, London EC2A 3ET. Price: Free.
Mark Manders: Three Related Works
A continuation of Manders’ long-running “Self‑Portrait as a Building” project (started in 1986), this exhibition includes new sculptures, paintings, and mixed-media installations, featuring his signature bronze figures, hypostatized objects, and conceptual newspapers.
Date: 6 June – 12 July 2025. Location: Modern Art, 7 Bury Street, London SW1Y 6AL. Price: Free.
Installation view: Potatoes and Chamomile, Emalin, London, UK, 22 May – 26 July 2025
Sing Siren by Francis Upritchard
The exhibition features new figurative sculptures, ceramics, and fabric masks by Francis Upritchard. Originally made for Any Noise Annoys an Oyster at Kunsthall Charlottenborg, the works draw on mythology, antiquity, and the natural world through subtle references and connections.
Date: Until 12 July 2025. Location: Kate MacGarry, 27 Old Nichol St, London E2 7HR.Price: Free.
Roman Meal by Kathleen Ryan
Roman Meal at Gagosian, Davies Street, London, features two new large-scale sculptures by Kathleen Ryan that reflect her interest in the surreal and the everyday. Fender Bender and Sliced Bread (Golden Hour) transform discarded food items into glittering, oversized forms, combining semiprecious stones with industrial materials. Drawing on her ongoing Bad Fruit series, the works highlight contrasts between luxury and decay, humour and melancholy, and the overlooked beauty in objects marked by consumption and neglect.
Date: Until 15 August 2025. Location: Gagosian, Davies Street, London W1K 4BL.Price: Free.
Kathleen Ryan, Sliced Bread (Golden Hour), 2025. Agate, labradorite, aventurine, argonite, jamesite, copper malachite, citrine, calcite, zeolite, magnesite, amazonite, celestite, prehnite, turquoise, quartz, rhyolite, carnelian, garnet, jasper, serpentine, pink opal, ruby in zoisite, amethyst, quartz, amber, marble, acrylic, steel pins, polyurethane foam, aluminum, and king-size mattress 80 x 80 x 35 inches (203.2 x 203.2 x 88.9 cm) © Kathleen Ryan. Photo: Maris Hutchinson. Courtesy Gagosian
Freudian Typo: Artist Panel
Join artists Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi for an in-depth conversation about their collaborative exhibition Freudian Typo, in dialogue with artist and writer Dave Beech, and moderated by Thomas Sutton, Assistant Curator at the Hayward Gallery. This panel explores the themes of language, power, and urban transformation at the heart of the exhibition, which critiques the socio-political forces shaping London and beyond. Together, the speakers reflect on artistic strategies that interrogate capitalism, empire, and institutional narratives in contemporary culture.
Date: 21 June 2025. Time: 2pm. Location: Dan Graham Waterloo Sunset Pavilion, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Price: Free, no ticket required. southbankcentre.co.uk
Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi. Image courtesy of the artists.
Huma Bhabha: Artist Talk
Contemporary artist Huma Bhabha discusses her work in connection with the Barbican’s exhibition Encounters: Giacometti x Huma Bhabha, which places her striking, post-apocalyptic sculptures in dialogue with works by 20th-century master Alberto Giacometti. She will explore her creative process, recurring themes in her practice, and the ways in which Giacometti’s legacy has informed her art. Entry to the exhibition, held in the Barbican’s new intimate gallery space, is included in the ticket price.
Date: 16 June 2025. Time: 6:30pm. Location: Frobisher Auditorium 1, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: £15 + BF. Book now
#FLOFavourites: Pick of the Week
Free event of the week
Free Friday Lunchtime Concert – LSO Discovery
Free Friday Lunchtime Concert at Barbican Conservatory.
Enjoy a midday escape with this free concert showcasing new music by emerging composers from LSO Discovery’s schemes. Set in the beautiful Barbican Conservatory, the event features fresh works by Omri Kochavi, Nico de Benito, and Luke Mombrea, specially composed for this unique space. Hosted by presenter Rachel Leach, the performance begins on the Conservatory Terrace and moves through different areas, offering a musical journey in a tropical oasis. Note: this is primarily a standing event.
Date: 20 June 2025. Time: 12:30pm. Location: Conservatory, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: Free, booking required. Book now
Interview of the week
In conversation with Oskar Zięta
Oskar Zięta.
Oskar Zięta is an architect, artist, and designer whose work brings together design, engineering, art, and bionics to explore the possibilities of metal. Using his FiDU technique, where thin steel sheets are inflated with air, he creates durable, lightweight structures with a striking sculptural presence. From the PLOPP stool to large-scale installations, his pieces interact with their surroundings and transform space.
His latest installation, Whispers, is on view outside One New Ludgate as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2025.
Click here for the full interview.
Food of the week
Noisy Oyster
© Firebird
Noisy Oyster is a bold new seafood bistro opening soon in Shoreditch, bringing a fresh take on coastal dining to a beautifully restored 1927 industrial building. Founded by Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina—the duo behind Soho’s Firebird—the restaurant combines edgy, industrial-glam interiors with inventive dishes. We went to check out their buzzing launch party last week, where local icons like Sandra Esqulant mixed with the sounds of the London Gay Choir and DJs. We tried seriously good Irish Cooley oysters, caviar-filled maritozzi, crab orecchiette, Guinness bread with red caviar, and a gooseberry pavlova that will haunt our dreams—a strong hint of big things to come.
Date: Opening 25 June 2025. Location: Noisy Oyster, 2 Nicholls and Clarke Yard E1 6SH. Website: noisyoysterlondon.co.uk; Instagram: @noisyoyster.london
Cause of the week
Re-engage
Lorna May Wadsworth, How you doin?
Re-engage is a UK charity dedicated to tackling loneliness and social isolation among older people, particularly those aged 75 and over who live alone. The charity creates meaningful social connections through regular phone calls, group tea parties, and community engagement, helping older adults stay connected and valued.
Volunteer opportunities include becoming a Call Companion, making regular friendly phone calls to an older person; a Tea Party Host, offering your home or community space for small monthly gatherings; a Driver, helping transport guests to and from events; or an Impact Volunteer, supporting the charity’s evaluation efforts through phone interviews and surveys. Each role includes training and flexible time commitments.
Click here to discover more about volunteer opportunities. Instagram: @reengageuk
