We're very fortunate to have so many amazing museums and art galleries here in London, especially as many of them are free! Have you visited any of them yet? Which ones are your favourites? Last weekend I went to a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery which celebrates the work of David Bailey, a British photographer, who many people believe defined the "Swinging Sixties" in London, and he has been photographing celebrities ever since.
I adore the British Museum. I must have visited it dozens of times but there is always something new to see. Apart from marvelling at the artefacts on display, I also love the architecture - next time you are there, look up at the glass ceiling designed by Lord Norman Foster, who also designed the famous "Gherkin".
If you haven't had time to visit any of London's galleries or museums, which ones do you hope to visit while you are here?
Besides the most famous and big museums of London, as British and Tate, I also went to the small and very charismatic Museum of Cartoon. It is next to the British Museum and it has a very interesting collection of British cartoons from many decades and centuries.
ReplyDeleteAnother one, but non-related to art, is the beautifull Science Museum, in South Kensignton. Until the beginnig of May it will be hosting an incredible exhibition about the history of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. I really recommend it.
I've never been to the Museums of Cartoons and to be honest I didn't even know it was there! I'll find time soon to pop round there and check out the cartoons. Thanks for the recommendation, Ramon.
DeleteLast weekend I went to the National Portrait Gallery and bought a ticket to Bailey's Stardust exhibition. It was an interesting exhibition where you can see pictures of Rollngstons and much more. But some of the problem with the exhibition was that I had no knowledge of many of the person who was photographed and some of the pictures gave no sense to me. Maybe I should have borrowed an audio guied? I can really recommend this exhibition, but do not forget to barrow an audio guied.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, many of the celebrities in the exhibition are (or were) famous in the UK, but maybe not so famous overseas. If it makes you feel better, I didn't recognise everyone either! I've got some postcards which I can show you and explain who they are, but I think your idea of getting the audio guide is a good one, even if it means paying a bit more.
DeleteI took an opportunity yesterday to visit the British Museum. It was my very first musuem in London and i enjoyed my two and half hours walking and learning all the history around the world. I am pretty much interested in Ancient Egypt exhibition like most of the goers there. At the beginning, i was amazed by mummies but then i thought if all this ancient arts are here and does anything remains in there own country? However, this will not stop me from visit other musuems here and i will revisit this one again soon.
ReplyDeleteYou've raised a very topical issue - should artefacts such as the Egyptian mummies, the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures etc be returned to their "home" countries? I visited Luxor, in Egypt, a few years ago and I went to the Valley of the Kings and was really disappointed that all the treasures had been removed and taken to the museum in Cairo, but at least they were still in Egypt. Did you visit the Asian galleries at the British Museum? Were there any artefacts from Thailand there?
DeleteYes if I were in Egypt which I hope I will one day, I would expect some of the treasures are display where they were as well. Actually I felt a bit relieved to see a small number of the Buddhist images and artefacts in the British Museum when comparing with India part. Some of those pieces were donated by the local here which I am pretty much appreciated that they shared this priceless antiques to other.
ReplyDeleteNext time I go to the British Museum I will look for artefacts from Thailand. I wonder if they have anything from Cambodia? It's sad that statues (or sometimes just the heads of statues) are being stolen from Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples.
ReplyDelete