Summer of culture

All art inspires and affects, but nothing so instantly touches our emotions as a portrait – the National Portrait Gallery collection gets you up close, warts and all, to hundreds of fascinating personalities. The new exhibition ‘Exposed’ looks at our complex reaction to naked portraits. Does undressing the subject reveal more? Or does it distract from what we might learn from the sitter’s eyes and expression? Setting contemporary paintings and photography alongside famous portraits, from Nell Gwyn to Linford Christie, this free exhibition looks at how art depicts the real and the idealised, and how we want or expect to view other human beings.

Caught by the River was originally an online outlet for those who wanted to discuss distinctly non-digital subjects like fishing, beer, philosophy and poetry. Expanding to books and events, it has found a big following with lovers of modern culture and the timeless pleasure of enjoying art at your own pace. This two-day festival might appear to be just another music bash with a great line-up (Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, Temples, Sun Ra Arkestra) but it’s also a festival of nature, with guests Chris Packham and the Urban Forager, and a literary fest, with Iain Sinclair, Will Self and Kate Tempest. Be entertained and challenged.

Fulham Palace. August 6-7.

We love Rooftop Film Club, Secret Cinema and Floating Cinema, but Luna Cinema’s outdoor screenings really nail matching what’s happening on the screen with the perfect setting. A south London lido gives ‘Jaws’ a little added bite, and there are fewer more romantic spots than the grounds of Hampton Court Palace for treating your date to ‘Notting Hill’ under the stars. Luna also add top-notch street food served from the back of vintage cars. After all, if you’re going to watch a modern epic like ‘Star Wars – The Force Awakens’ in the scented glory of Kew Gardens, you deserve a five-star feast.

August 24-25, September 7-8.

Ottavio and Rosita Missoni were immersed in and inspired by modern art, and the fashion house they founded in 1953 became part of the story of postwar Italian visual culture. This exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum sets Missoni’s fashions alongside works by twentieth-century European artists from the Museo MAGA and private collections in Italy, many never shown here before. There are also paintings and previously unseen textile studies by Ottavio Missoni, which reveal the essence of the label’s graphic style.

Fashion and Textile Museum. Until September 4.

While the big-name catwalk shows fill the front pages in Fashion Week, the Designer Showrooms at Brewer Street Car Park are the focus for fresh visions and talents emerging in ready-to-wear, footwear and accessories. Names to watch include 2014 Central Saint Martins graduate Angel Chen, footwear artisan Havva, the Heavy London collective and the art deco-inspired Jessie VE, launched less than a year ago by Jessie Evans and already celebrated for her Constellation rings. Check the website for news of public shows happening during the week.

September 16-20.

London gets a little more beautiful for a week, with installations, exhibitions and events focused on future urban living. London studio dRMM’s ‘Baboushka Boxes’ explores housing solutions for a growing world, and an exhibition in the Brompton Design District showcases new materials like ‘liquid marble’. Paul Smith has commissioned nine artists and designers to create a free crazy golf course in Trafalgar Square, and stunning constructions are popping up across London. Look out for ‘The Smile’ outside Chelsea College of Art and Design, a curvaceous cantilevered hardwood structure that you can walk inside, with openings that emit light at night.

September 17-25.

Subtitled ‘Records and Rebels 1966-70’, this V&A exhibition reflects on how era-defining music and performances are woven into the political and social upheavals of the late 1960s. Looking at fashion, film, design and political activism, the exhibition considers the goals – realised and aspired to – of the ’60s revolutionary movement and how that energy and creativity affected how we live and think about the future today.

Victoria & Albert Museum. September 10-February 26 2017.

Centred around Westbourne Studios, under the Westway, entry to the festival is free, because it’s about sharing ideas, not making money. Celebrating its twenty-first birthday, the UK’s biggest independent film festival gives exposure to new directors working in every format who have yet to find mainstream recognition. The submissions only closed on June 1, so you’re guaranteed something fresh and new, and you could be seeing the next Guy Ritchie or Shane Meadows, two of the many former contributors who’ve gone on to greater things.

Westbourne Studios and local venues. September 1-16.

Through a series of talks, interviews and discussions, Platforms is a chance to explore the ideas behind the current productions at the NT and wider issues around the performing arts. Tickets are just £6 and the atmosphere is always warm and intimate. September’s guests include Vicky Featherstone, artistic director of the Royal Court, playwright Lee Hall discussing the NT’s new musical ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’, and Helen McCrory, currently starring in the NT’s acclaimed production of Terence Rattigan’s ‘The Deep Blue Sea’. 

National Theatre. September 2, 9, 14, 15, 29.