Free things to do in London this weekend

Got a passion for pre-loved fashion? You’ll love this free festival popping up at both London branches of Westfield this month. The world-renowned shopping centre has teamed up with pre-loved fashion marketplace Depop, swap shop Loanhood, door-to-door clothing repair business Sojo and fancy skincare brand Kiehl’s to stage a series of free workshops, masterclasses and eco-conscious experiences designed to inspire visitors to embrace sustainable shopping habits.  Shoppers can learn how to turn their unwanted clobber into cold hard cash at the ‘Style to Sell Studio’, where thrift-loving celebrity stylist Bay Garnett will be on hand to offer her expert advice, with Depop and Loanhood also hosting daily sessions on everything from upcycling, scrunchie making and denim repair to turning your love for vintage fashion into a business. Visitors will also be able to shop for new threads at the pop-up Depop Marketplace featuring a curated edit of some of the platform’s top sellers. The first in-person event the re-selling platform has hosted in London in a good while, its featured sellers include Shop Henri, Brownbreadldn, Studio Rchdson, Blank Seams, Limia Vintage and Robs Racks. Alongside this, Kiehl’s will be offering free skincare consultations, and gifts in exchange for empty beauty containers, while the first 30 visitors each day can also enjoy up to £40 worth of free clothing alterations to help refresh and extend the life of their wardrobe, courtesy of Sojo. You’ll be looking...

Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo has had a meteoric rise in the art world over the past couple of years – thanks, in part, to his eyebrow-raising commission of three portraits which were sent into space on Jeff Bezos’s rocket ship in 2021. Tech bros aside, Boafo is interested in subverting Western views of Africa and the diaspora through his brightly coloured oil and paper transfer paintings, and is becoming recognised for his portraits and figurative works. In some pieces, the figures elegantly recline, in others, they sit contemplatively, always with their eyes transfixed on the viewer. Inspired by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s novel, I Do Not Come to You by Chance, this exhibition at Gagosian will be Boafo’s first solo show in the UK.