London events in September
The best events, things to do, cultural happenings, festivals and other great stuff in London in September 2019
September in London isn't just the damp end of summer. The sun is still out so there's still time to enjoy London's great outdoors, have a peep in the city's secret green spaces, feast in London's best restaurants and enjoy the last days of London's rooftop bars. September in London is also the month of the Totally Thames festival, the annual London Design Festival, Open House London weekend when over 800 London buildings are opened to the public, the Pearly Kings and Queen's Harvest Festival, London Fashion Week Festival and plenty of live music from OnBlackheath.
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Our September 2019 highlights
Natalia Goncharova
In her lifetime, Russian artist Natalia Goncharova helped found avant garde modern art movements and worked with Sergei Diaghilev at the Ballet Russes. This exhibition should help to resurrect her reputation as a major artist you should know about.
Emerge Festival
A two-day festival of after-hours parties and performances in London's museums. Go see how many ‘lates’ you can make in one night.
‘Dog Show’
Contem-paw-ary art chosen by cultured canines. Hounds down, this show is the shih-tzu and it’ll make you want to raise a glass to the world’s best bitches.
William Blake: ‘The Artist’
A major retrospective of Blake's idiosyncratic artworks. The man who wrote 'The Tyger' truly was one of a kind and his art is filled with beauty, mystery and fear. See it whilst you can.
London Design Festival
The London Design Festival spans dozens of locations, features tons of events, includes hundreds of exhibits. It has one clear mission: to prove that our city is the capital of design.
Chihuly Nights
The stunning glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly (the man behind the giant chandelier in the V&A’s entrance hall) have been exploding out of Kew Gardens’ glorious foliage since April. Now see them sparkle as they’re lit-up after dark at these special lates.
Félix Vallotton
A show dedicated to Swiss-French artist Félix Vallotton‘s paintings and woodcuts (he was very into those). Heavily inspired by Japanese artworks, Vallotton's pictures look a lot more modern than their date stamps suggest.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Exhibition
Enter the world of Thra at this special exhibition. See set pieces from the series (like the Skeksis banquet) and meet the puppets modelled on Jim Hensons’s original creations.
The Spitalfields Journey
An evening tour of east London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue and Denis Severs’ House. To snoop around a Huguenot home by candlelight.
The Barking Stink: A Scented Heritage Exhibition
Small ya later Barking! Get to know east London’s industrial past through the power of small. Sewage, fish and the scent of a fizzy pop factory will all be on display for you to take a whiff at.
‘New Order: Art, Product, Image 1976 – 1995’
British art for British times: it’s all about culture in the era of New Order. You’ve seen most of it before, but hits are still hits.
‘Evita’
This is ‘Evita’ 2.0, a swaggering reboot of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic. It’s got a confetti cannon that brings plenty of fun and it’s not afraid to use it.
Olafur Eliasson: ‘In Real Life’
Awe-inspiring installations based on nature, light and the elements. It’ll scare you, elate you and make you recycle. It’s epic environmentalism at its finest and it is sublime.
Helene Schjerfbeck
A crash course intro to one of Finland's most famous painters. The gloriously ghoulish late self-portraits prove that the best can come last.
Totally Thames
The Totally Thames festival is an annual celebration of the River Thames, which graces the banks of our much-loved waterway in September. Dive into a month-long party full of arts festivals, community events, regattas, river races, foreshore archaeology and environmental activities.
Cindy Sherman
Self-portraits through the ages by a serious contemporary giant. This is angry, cynical art, and it's pretty damn great.
‘Magic Mike Live’
This spin-off from the beloved stripper comedy that made Channing Tatum a household name is co-directed by the man himself (alongside choreographer Alison Faulk). It’s billed as ‘a 360-degree dance and acrobatic spectacular’, which we're guessing means ‘stripping’.
Helene Schjerfbeck
Helene Schjerbeck might not be that well known outside her native Finland, but her paintings cry out for greater recognition.
Schjerbeck skipped lightly between different artistic trends and traditions, creating stunning self-portraits and many intimate images of her female friends and relatives.
Mark Leckey
New art from the Turner Prize winner. We know a sum total of zilch about this latest work, but his previous output has been about everything from dance subcultures to semi-invented memories.
Jamian Juliano-Villani
Ludicrous stupid, over-the-top paintings of weird stuff. Oh, and a dildo machine. It's as good as it is dumb, and it's seriously dumb.
Wong Ping: ‘Heart Digger’
Violent, crude, but brilliantly written animated videos. It's a nasty, nasty show, but that's why it's so good.
‘The Moon’
Room after gorgeous room looking at the big ball of cheese in the sky. Space is endlessly fascinating, and this makes the moon feel tantalisingly close.
Jeff Wall
Perfectly staged photographs with all the complexity of a movie. There are countless stories to get lost in here.
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