1. Art

What To See And Do In The Capital

As London begins to open up, here’s some physical (and a few digital) things to see, do and experience across the city.

Visit The Langham, London: After celebrating their 155th birthday during lockdown, the five-star London hotel, The Langham, London is reopening in stages. In the first of many stages, the hotel will consciously evolve back into a fully operating ‘Resort in the City’ for its guests. There’s various complimentary activities including English sparkling wine tasting and biscuit decorating for children, and new measures have been put in place to safeguard the wellbeing of all visitors and staff.

Guests are now able to enjoy a menu carefully created by Executive Chef, Chris King and overseen by Michel Roux Jr. from the comfort of their hotel room or drink and dine at The Wigmore, the renowned British tavern which is now operating on a reservations basis (tables of six people maximum) so you can try their famous cheese toastie.

“The Langham, London has been welcoming guests for over 155 years and during our long history we have overcome two World Wars, The Great Depression and we are now embarking on this exciting journey towards a ‘new normal’. The safety of our guests and colleagues is what is most important to us and whilst you will notice some subtle differences to ensure your safety during your stay, one thing that hasn’t changed is our iconic Langham service. The team have been working hard to prepare everything for our reopening and we really can’t wait to start welcoming guests back!” Bob van den Oord, Managing Director

The Langham, 1C Portland Pl, Marylebone, London W1B 1JA

Take in an art exhibition: Running until Wednesday 8 July is the exhibition, Isolation Mastered. Here, 25 artists have been selected as it aims to give aspiring creatives of all ages and backgrounds, an opportunity to showcase and sell their artwork.

Artists include Edward Povey, Josef O’Connor, Mauro Perucchetti, Petros Chrisostomou, Judy Clarkson, Richard Mensah, Graceland London, Mustafa Boga, Minjoo Kim, Andrew Litten, Ian Rayer-Smith, Lauren Carter-Bridges, Catherine Hyland, Rory Kee, Marcus Dove, Niki Usagi, Mohamed Mohamed, Samantha Parfitt, Marina Gonzalez, Isabel Bonafé, Kojo Marfo, Soimadou Ali Ibrahim, Harriet White, Wesley George, John Ayscough.

JD Malat Gallery, 30 Davies St, Mayfair, London W1K 4NB

Learn about Andy Warhol at the Tate Modern: The Tate has announced that they are opening all their outposts, Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London as well as Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, yippee. Be sure to see the Andy Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern, Bankside.

Expect the iconic pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup cans that we love, as well as works that have never been seen before in the U.K.

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Take in some art: An online exhibition hosted by White Cube, see Another’s Tongue by Kenyan-British artist, Michael Armitage. It digitally displays his works on paper, including Kenyan landscapes and its wildlife (he spends a few months there every year to replenish) and urban East Africa.

 “As with Walter Sickert’s quote, ‘a page torn from the book of life’, I would like all of the works to be different, but also unified. Different in the sense that every day is different, different in that experiences are always different, I’d like the work to reflect that sort of change and the way a mind changes, the way an attitude shifts”. Michael Armitage

Visit White Cube online.

Eat some chocolate to mark International Chocolate Week: What a great excuse to indulge in some chocolate.

Various chocolatiers are open across the city including Rococo Chocolates (they’re hosting private virtual tasting sessions too), Pierre Marcolini and Hotel Chocolat. Enjoy!

Rococo Chocolates Covent Garden, 38 Earlham St, West End, London WC2H 9LH

Make electronic music with live coding sequencer Orca with Nsdos: Somerset House runs a series of events (normally physical at their Strand location) but they’ve gone digital and this event is brought to you by electro musician and dance artist NSDOS.

He will be hosting an introductory workshop focused on making electronic music with Orca, a flexible live coding environment which has been specially designed to create music sequencers. Even better – this workshop is open to all levels, so there’s no need for prior skills in programming. What you do need is a laptop with Orca installed on it, headphones and an audio software of choice installed i.e. Ableton, Renoise, VCV Rack or SuperCollider.

See more information on the Somerset House website.

Visit Whitechapel Gallery: This gallery is opening with a bang, in the form of a group exhibition of figurative paintings entitled, Radical Figures. There’s a whole host of artists from Daniel Richter and Tschabalala Self to Dana Schutz, Michael Armitage, Cecily Brown and others. All visitors must book online beforehand.

Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, Shadwell, London E1 7QX

Parable takeover at the BFI to celebrate Black British talent: Brought to you by WE ARE PARABLE and the BFI is WHO WE ARE, a week-long series of online events designed to celebrate and spark debate around Black British film, past, present and future.

Tune into the BFI YouTube channel from 13 July to get involved in events with black filmmaking creatives including Sitting in Limbo producer Fiona Lamptey and emerging directors Nosa Eke, Tomisin Adepeju, Anthony Vander and Stephan Pierre Mitchell.

Bookmark the BFI YouTube channel.

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught: Right in time for Bastille Day celebrations on 14 July, distinguished French chef Hélène Darroze has reopened her eponymous two Michelin star restaurant at The Connaught, Mayfair and she’s introducing a new ‘Taste of Summer’ menu.

“I am so looking forward to returning to London on 14th July to welcome back our guests, and hopefully reunite families and friends as they celebrate some of the special occasions they have missed during lockdown. Our team will be sure to make the dining experience even more special after months of cooking at home…it will be our pleasure to look after and spoil them.” Hélène Darroze

The Connaught Hotel, Carlos Pl, Mayfair, London W1K 2AL

Get your Picasso hit at the Royal Academy of Arts: Opening on the 9 July for friends (a.k.a members) and 16 July for the public, its your last chance to see their popular exhibition (in real), Picasso and Paper. The exhibition showcases the artist’s 80-year career and there’s over 300 works on show, including studies for ‘Guernica’ and a 4.8m wide collage.

Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BD

Go to the cinema: Remember when we could catch a film at the cinema? Whilst many smaller, independant cinemas will be shut some of the larger chains such as Cineworld and its Picturehouse, as well as Vue and Odeon plan to open some of their cinemas this month.

As you’d expect there are new safety and social-distancing measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.

See more information on the Cineworld website.

Sit back and drink some rum: Enjoy a tipple of rum, courtesy of World Rum Day, which is on Saturday 11 July. There are a few to try; FAIR.Rum is made using a traditional fermentation and distillation process, used in the Caribbean for hundreds of years. The sugar cane is grown using sustainable farming methods on small farm plots, and then aged in American Bourbon barrels.

CUT RUM has three variations in the form of smoked, spiced and the overproof to suit all penchants. Then there’s Rumbullion! which is made by blending Madagascan vanilla, orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to get all the senses going.

See more online.

Celebrate the NHS: The NHS is marking it’s 72nd birthday, and this year has been tremendously demanding. To show your appreciation, buy this collaboration HH X Fat Tony NHS Charity Tee. Inspired by ‘80s band Indeep, the tee aptly features ‘LAST NIGHT A DJ SAVED MY LIFE’ on the front. 100% of all profits from this T-shirt will be donated to the NHS .

Shop the t-shirts online.

Masculinities: Liberation through Photography at the Barbican: Via the mediums of film and photography there’s a depiction of masculinity from the 1960s right through to the present day with the exhibition entitled, Masculinities. Showing works from over 50 international artists including the likes of Laurie Anderson, Sunil Gupta, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Isaac Julien and Catherine Opie.

“In the wake of #MeToo the image of masculinity has come into sharper focus, with ideas of toxic and fragile masculinity permeating today’s society. This exhibition charts the often complex and sometimes contradictory representations of masculinities, and how they have developed and evolved over time.” Barbican

Barbican Center, Silk St, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS

Mark ice cream month: There are so many delicious days in July it seems, and it’s also a month-long celebration of ice cream. It’s been loved ever since 618-97AD when it’s thought to be first enjoyed by King Tang of Shang. To bring it right up to date, and in London, the place to visit is certainly Gelupo (or they deliver to some London areas). Try all the flavors but be sure to taste bonet, you won’t regret it.

Gelupo, 7 Archer St, Soho, London W1D 7AU

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