21 June 2008

Explore Sites and Sounds – A Midsummer Festival of Architecture and Music

London Festival of Architecture joined forces with Music Day to make this annual event bigger and better than past years. Visitors to the Exhibition Road had free reign for the whole of Exhibition Road was closed off to traffic, allowing people to see new plans for the redevelopment of the Road.

Music performances brought the street to life, and installations and activities showed how architects experiment and create new ideas and structures. Performances, exhibitions, workshops and events around the whole area will provided something for everyone.

Architectural highlights included a representation of the Dixon Jones scheme along the road, temporary structures by Foster and Partners, who designed the Imperial College entrance; Tonkin Liu, responsible for the Festival pavilion and the China Design Now exhibition design; 6A Architects and Brompton Estates, who are creating ‘pop-up’ architecture; Paticas Architecture, showing an innovative idea for developing countries; and Yung Ho Chang, eminent Chinese architect. Penoyre and Prasad are interpreting the greatest Victorian ‘prefab’, the Crystal Palace, using helium weather balloons. Installations by Virginia Tech, the Royal College of Art, Central St Martins College and London Metropolitan show new talent, and workshops and opportunities to participate will give ‘hands-on’ fun for all ages. 

Music Day is London’s annual contribution to the international festival of music Fete de la Musique which takes place in 250 cities worldwide. Highlights included British Sea Power, Late of the Pier, Florence and the Machine, Mariam and Amidou and Majestic Brass.

Link to www.exhibitionroadmusicday.org for the music programme

Link to www.lfa2008.org for architectural activity information

Link to www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr for the international festival programme

25 September - 31 December 2007

Engage 2007

Engage 2007 is a season of events and activities that provide an opportunity to commemorate the bicentenary of the act to abolish the transatlantic slave trade and to celebrate Black Heritage and multiculturalism. The season is organised by the organisations of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group in London’s international cultural quarter.

Participants of all ages and backgrounds are welcome to take part in talks, debates, theatre, parades, discussion, tours, performance, music, film, practical creative workshops and fashion shows or visit displays and exhibitions. Why not try something new and visit one of the venues on Exhibition Road that you haven’t been to before?

For more information on Engage 2007 events in Exhibition Road click on the venues below:

The Natural History Museum: Slavery and the Natural World

Royal Geographical Society: Bombay Africans 1850 - 1910

Science Museum: Toy Box

V&A: Truth & Rights - Black Heritage Season / Festival of Light

9 November 2007

Creative Quarter 2007

An Insight into the Creative Industries for Young People

Following last year's successful event, the V&A, Royal College of Art, Imperial College London and the Science Museum bring you Creative Quarter 2007.

Come along to Exhibition Road in South Kensington to take part in drop-in activities, workshops, talks and demonstrations. The day is targeted at 13 - 19-year-olds and will introduce your students to a broad range of professions in the creative industries. This is a unique opportunity for them to meet professional artists, designers, scientists and post-graduate students to find out about different education and career pathways.

Admission to the event is free - see each venue's website for full programmes and booking details:

Imperial College - www.imperial.ac.uk/outreach

Science Museum - www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators

V&A - www.vam.ac.uk/schools

Booking is essential for workshops as places are limited.

21 June 2007

Exhibition Road Music Day 2007

The whole of Exhibition Road comes alive with sound on 21st June every year. All the museums, galleries and other cultural organisations in this unique neighbourhood join together to present a day and night filled with free music performances and workshops.

In 2007 there was a huge range of sounds and styles, from classical to fusion, devotional to electronic, world music to modern rock. With something for everyone and opportunities to get involved it was a perfect way to celebrate the longest day of the year.

Link to www.exhibitionroadmusicday. org

Link to www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr to view international festival programme

17 June 2007

Family Party Day

The organisations on and around Exhibition Road joined together for an action-packed day of animal-themed family events and birthday celebrations.

There were loads of things to do in the many different venues:  mask making, workshops to find out about bugs and fossils, dance sessions ballet dancers, animal-inspired music and birthday badge designing. Plus performances and other fantastic special events.

Some organisations were also celebrating special anniversaries summer 2007; the V&A and Royal College of Art were 150 years old, Royal College of Music was 125, and Imperial College London was 100. This event is part of these celebrations.

10 November 2006

Creative Quarter

An insight into the creative industries for young people. A one day event for schools and colleges. Bring your students to Exhibition Road and take part in workshops, talks and demonstrations about the new creative industries, and find out how we can support your student’s learning and future careers. The V&A, Imperial College and the Goethe-Institut will give 14 – 19 year olds an insight into the industries such as product design, fashion design, technology and science. For more information download PDF of the Creative Quarter programme.

1 April - 31 October 2006

Living for the Future

How much influence do we have over our environment? Discover some of the answers to this question and much more by visiting us on Exhibition Road. Events and exhibitions organised by the Royal Geographical Society with IBG, the Science Museum and the V&A pose questions and provide different perspectives on current global and local environmental issues that affect us all today. For more information download PDF of the Living for the Future programme.

1 - 31 October 2006

Black History Month 2006 and beyond on Exhibition Road

Black History Month is held in October each year to raise awareness of the history, the struggles and the positive contributions made to society by Black people. An engaging and diverse range of events are planned; many are free and suitable for people of all ages. For more information download PDF of the Black History Month 2006 programme.

7 - 27 August 2006

Priceless

A project created by international arts organisation Motiroti which showcased objects of great importance chosen by the diverse cultural and educational institutions on and around Exhibition Road. The aim was to inspire an imaginative journey for participants and members of the public alike. Hundreds of people contributed their own unique stories, memories and objects which were shown through audio visual portraits, exhibitions, installations and large scale projections. For more information download PDF of the Priceless programme.

21 June 2006

Exhibition Road Music Day

More than 14,500 people from all over London attended the 2006 Exhibition Road Music Day, enjoying 65 free concerts on outdoor and indoor stages. There was something to appeal to all possible musical tastes, from Lo'Jo (described by The Independent as 'probably one of the best live bands in the world right now') and Sonar Kollektiv's electronica artist Sirius Mo, to the award-winning Zone One Brass Band, The Upraw (catapulted to fame through Channel 4's Rock School), Dominique A (a figurehead for the nouvelle chanson scene), and the Kakehashi Koto Ensemble.

Audiences also took part themselves in the music-making. There were 25 workshops during the day including sessions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Sheehy, Julian Lloyd Webber and a variety of other artists and ensembles were all fully-booked. School children had the chance to sing, drum, learn French and German and even how to DJ! They also followed a fun activity trail designed especially for them by the participating institutions.

Visit the Exhibition Road Music Day website

1 - 31 October 2005

Black History Month and beyond in South Kensington

Black History Month is held in October each year to raise awareness of the history, the struggles and the positive contributions made to society by Black people. An engaging and diverse range of events are planned; many are free and suitable for people of all ages. Events range from Nigerian Head Wrapping workshops to an African Bazaar at the V&A; African Drumming workshops at the Natural History Museum; an exhibition of images of the Caribbean islands at the Royal Geographical Society with IBG; lectures, talks, performances and much more.

2 October 2005

Drawing Together: The Big Draw meets Carnival

The Big Draw, takes place throughout October each year. It celebrates the pleasures and rewards of drawing in a series of events across the UK. In 2005, nine organisations in and around Exhibition Road came together with well known artists, cartoonists and illustrators to support the national launch which took place in Exhibition Road and within the public spaces of the partner organisations.

The Big Draw organisers, Campaign For Drawing, linked with diverse carnival organisations to make the day a truly exceptional day. From novices to experts the drawings were incorporated into diverse colourful and wonderful outputs as top cartoonists, aerial performers, Chinese acrobats and Gandini jugglers helped to make up the exciting programme of demonstrations and workshops. Costume design and festive decoration, along with over 300 performers, contributed to a spectacular Carnival Parade along the length of Exhibition Road.

21 June 2005

Exhibition Road Music Day

Eleven institutions worked together to provide fourteen hours of free musical performances and workshops took place in and around Exhibition Road as the UK’s first participation in the world wide festival Fete de la Musique.  All concerts were live and free, and the programme presented a huge range of styles and sounds.

1 - 31 October 2004

Black History Month and beyond in South Kensington

Black History Month is held in October each year to raise awareness of the history, the struggles and the positive contributions made to society by Black people. An engaging and diverse range of events are planned; many are free and suitable for people of all ages.

Events range from explorations of Afro-Caribbean and world cuisine at the Natural History Museum; a photographic exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society with IBG; break dancing workshops and an exhibition of Black British Style at the V&A; workshops for school children at the Science Museum, lectures, talks, performances and much more.