A list of free exhibitions in London open now, and opening in London soon.
Displayed by how soon they close.
Exhibitions open now
This free display brings together ten works by the two artists: with four views of Yorkshire by Turner and five scenes of Normandy and Venice by Bonington.
Open from Wed 20th Sep 2023 to Sun 21st Apr
Ends this month
Experience Ainu culture as it exists today in this exploration of the contemporary lives of this indigenous people of northern Japan.
Open from Tue 2nd Jan to Sun 21st Apr
Ends this month
This bold new exploration of glass in the UK brings together for the very first time rarely seen works from key UK collections, celebrating this remarkable material.
Open from Sat 27th Jan to Sun 21st Apr
Ends this month
An exhibition of tea towels that have been overlaid with a statement to create a different perspective in a gently humorous and sometimes wicked way.
Open from Mon 4th Mar to Sun 21st Apr
Ends this month
Oxford House hosts Falmouth University's annual photography exhibition, revealing the hidden life of Bethnal Green over the course of a single 24-hour period.
Open from Mon 25th Mar to Fri 26th Apr
Ends this month
An exhibition marking the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France.
Open from Thu 28th Mar to Sat 27th Apr
Ends this month
This exhibition explores notions of beauty across time and cultures.
Open from Thu 26th Oct 2023 to Sun 28th Apr
Ends this month
A large scale new commission from Hong-Kong based artist Zheng Bo, transforming Somerset House’s courtyard into a bamboo garden.
Open from Thu 22nd Feb to Sun 28th Apr
Ends this month
Street photographer Steve Hollingshead celebrates this vibrant metropolis with a gallery-filling installation of 1001 individual photographs.
Open from Thu 18th Apr to Sun 28th Apr
Ends this month
Around 120 examples of the fusion between sportswear and fashion from the Westminster Menswear Archive.
Open from Fri 12th Apr to Sun 28th Apr
Ends this month
This exhibition finds conversations between various forms of abstraction, symbolism and figuration that were circulating and interacting in the visual culture of Brazil in the mid-20th century.
Open from Mon 26th Feb to Sun 5th May
The Pillars of Our Latex House: A thanks to the gutta-percha tree and to those who keep it.
Open from Sat 23rd Mar to Thu 9th May
Bethlem Museum of the Mind showcases Alison Lapper’s (b.1965) work that explores her journey of grief since the untimely death of her son Parys.
Open from Wed 7th Feb to Sat 11th May
For his first show at the gallery in London since 2016, Oehlen continues to explore the rich possibilities and the future of painting.
Open from Thu 21st Mar to Sat 11th May
At the heart of the exhibition is a vast stained glass window that doubles as a chicken shop menu.
Open from Fri 22nd Mar to Sat 11th May
This survey presents an extensive collection of Frost's most compelling paintings from 1966-2003.
Open from Wed 10th Apr to Sat 11th May
How do you develop a vaccine quickly and effectively to combat a global pandemic?
Open from Wed 30th Nov 2022 to Sun 12th May
This exhibition about Sir Neville Marriner features record sleeves and boxes, photographs, awards, tributes from friends and colleagues and memorabilia from a life of great achievement and personal enjoyment.
Open from Mon 15th Apr to Sun 12th May
A small display of documents about Billingsgate Market in the Guildhall Art Gallery's Heritage room (lower basement).
Open from Sat 27th Jan to Thu 16th May
Hissing snakes look on as men holding flaming torches set about burning numerous different human heads, masks, and shields.
Open from Wed 10th Apr to Sat 18th May
A display exploring the body of literature about London by European writers from across the centuries.
Open from Fri 10th Nov 2023 to Mon 20th May
Through photographs, possessions, interviews, maps and more, this exhibition explores the lives and stories of generations of UCL students.
Open from Fri 10th Nov 2023 to Mon 20th May
The museum exhibition features first-hand accounts of the horrors and moments of hope faced by doctors tackling the impact of the virus.
Open from Mon 25th Sep 2023 to Fri 24th May
This exhibition features personal stories, photographs and objects from from the 1950s to the present day.
Open from Sat 10th Feb to Sat 1st Jun
An exhibition about the west London hive of workshops and design studios that fed into some of the country’s most iconic Sci-Fi films and TV shows.
Open from Fri 20th Oct 2023 to Sun 2nd Jun
anciful Figures turns visitors’ attention to ‘staffage’, the small human and animal figures in architectural drawings, which became increasingly popular during the eighteenth century.
Open from Fri 22nd Mar to Sun 9th Jun
A display of gems collected in classical times -- including some recently recovered by the British Museum from an alleged theft.
Open from Thu 15th Feb to Sat 15th Jun
From 1970s activism to the current party scene, the exhibition displays five decades of Hackney life through a camera lens.
Open from Tue 13th Feb to Sat 15th Jun
An exhibition of costumes inspired by Englands's many folk traditions.
Open from Tue 9th Apr to Sat 22nd Jun
This exhibition presents the emergence of Indian modern art as a quest for cultural independence.
Open from Thu 11th Apr to Sat 22nd Jun
An exhibition of delicate and intimate paintings and drawings from Kenyan-born, London-based artist Zeinab Saleh.
Open from Fri 19th Jan to Sun 23rd Jun
Robinson explores the ancient myth of Mithras through an immersive space, evocative of the initiation ceremonies thought to have been held in the Temple.
Open from Thu 1st Feb to Sat 29th Jun
An exhibition for the fans by the fans going some way to explain not just what 2Tone is but why and how we got there.
Open from Fri 12th Jan to Mon 1st Jul
This exhibition highlights far-right nationalist rhetoric from the 1970 – 90s and the anti-fascist, anti-racist responses that followed.
Open from Mon 29th Jan to Mon 1st Jul
The exhibition explores tea’s complex history and myriad of meanings – from its popularisation and globalisation connected to stories of imperialism and colonial violence.
Open from Sat 7th Oct 2023 to Sun 7th Jul
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, 1610, lent by the Intesa Sanpaolo Collection, will be displayed alongside another late work by the Italian artist from the National Gallery Collection, Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist, about 1609–10.
Open from Thu 18th Apr to Sun 21st Jul
This exhibition follows the lives of British soldiers in Germany over the past 75 years.
Open from Sun 22nd May 2022 to Wed 21st Aug
An exhibition of photos and artwork inspired by the brutalist appearance of the National Theatre.
Open from Fri 26th Jan to Sat 31st Aug
This exhibition explores some of the ways in which Shakespeare has shaped how we think about soldiers and the Army, and how we imagine war and its consequences today.
Open from Fri 6th Oct 2023 to Sun 1st Sep
The 14 works on display provide a snapshot of digital art practices from the 1960s to early 2000s.
Open from Sat 30th Dec 2023 to Sun 15th Sep
This exhibition explores networks of solidarity between groups campaigning on peace, nuclear weapons and national self-determination.
Open from Mon 4th Mar to Sun 15th Sep
Loaned from Brighton Museum, this display showcases more than 300 years of popular British history.
Open from Sat 30th Dec 2023 to Sun 29th Sep
An exhibition of diaries collected by the artist Dylan Jonas Stone.
Open from Wed 17th Apr to Sun 29th Sep
Women of the RNLI at the National Maritime Museum celebrates the work of women in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Open from Sat 2nd Mar to Sun 1st Dec
An exhibition about the brain – the most complex and least understood part of the body – and the journey to map its intricate connections.
Open from Sat 2nd Mar to Sat 7th Dec
The exhibition is a joyful exploration of the body, drawing on the artist’s experience of becoming disabled as a child.
Open from Thu 21st Mar to Sun 12th Jan 2025
Money and the way we use it has changed. This free exhibition responds directly to questions asked by the public about the future of money.
Open from Wed 28th Feb to Fri 29th Aug 2025
Exhibitions opening soon
Set within the ornate Painters’ Hall, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the activities of the guild and the variety of work being produced by the freemen and liverymen of the fifth oldest of the 111 livery companies in the City of London.
Open from Tue 14th May to Wed 15th May
On display in the chapel will be a special new quilt dedicated to Terry Higgins, commissioned by the trust to mark their 40th Anniversary year.
Open from Wed 8th May to Wed 15th May
See Chihuly’s glass sculptures in the public spaces dotted around Chelsea Barracks.
Open from Mon 13th May to Sun 19th May
An exhibition showcasing traditional Chinese crafts alongside innovative modern designs.
Open from Mon 13th May to Sun 19th May
An exhibition in the Austrian Embassy of practices ranging from mouth-blown glass to traditional porcelain, hats, jewellery and more.
Open from Tue 14th May to Sun 19th May
This exhibition presents a rare & unique opportunity to see original prints by Deakin once owned by Francis Bacon.
Open from Fri 26th Apr to Fri 24th May
The church will be cleared of pews and filled with spectacular flower displays alongside an exhibition of historic floral-themed vestments, which are worn by the clergy throughout the religious year.
Open from Tue 21st May to Sat 25th May
During the week of the Chelsea Flower Show, loads of shops and streets around Chelsea and Belgravia become a free floral show all of their own.
Open from Wed 22nd May to Tue 28th May
Coming to the market for the first time in more than 145 years, Titian’s early masterpiece "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" will be on display at Christie's auction house prior to being sold.
Open from Fri 28th Jun to Tue 2nd Jul
This exhibition examines a collection of works on paper made by British colonialists in nineteenth-century India.
Open from Thu 25th Apr to Fri 12th Jul
Mary Beale (1633-1699) was one of Britain’s first professional woman artists and is subject of this exhibition featuring 25 of her works from public and private collections, including some never seen before in public.
Open from Thu 25th Apr to Fri 19th Jul
This exhibition showcases four award-winning photographers and filmmakers undertaking ground-breaking work in their practices of eco-conscious photography and film.
Open from Sun 26th May to Sun 28th Jul
Degas’s Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando takes centre stage in this exhibition that sheds light on this work with newly discovered information about the painting and its sitter.
Open from Thu 6th Jun to Sun 1st Sep
Degas’s 'Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando' takes centre stage in this exhibition that sheds light on this work with newly discovered information about the painting and its sitter.
Open from Thu 6th Jun to Sun 1st Sep
Japan’s leading creators share inspirational design that spans disciplines, regions and eras.
Open from Wed 15th May to Sun 8th Sep
Take a deeper look into the human experience of conflict with Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington at IWM London.
Open from Sat 20th Apr to Sun 29th Sep
The National Gallery celebrates the first public display in a decade, following conservation, of a masterpiece of Italian Mannerism, Parmigianino’s Madonna and Child with Saints
Open from Thu 5th Dec to Sun 9th Mar 2025
