#365DaysofLondonBaby- Day 25- a weekend stroll through Shoreditch / Hackney

The sun has finally decided to make an appearance this weekend and I used the opportunity to spend a lazy Saturday in Shoreditch / Hackney with some friends. Even though my picture-taking activity was on the low side, it was so much fun that I thought I share our route with you nevertheless. So here it comes…

Your lazy weekend tour through Shoreditch / Hackney

Note: for the “market” part of the stroll, the market will depend on whether you go on Saturday (then you’ll experience Broadway market, left picture) or Sunday (Columbia Road Flower market, right picture). Both streets are also great without the market, as there are nice shops and good food opportunities anyway!

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#365DaysofLondonBaby- Day 24-Yayoi Kusama@Victoria Miro

Good Morning Art Lovers! If you do only one thing this week….get in line at the Victoria Miro Gallery in Wharf Road (at the  Old Street Basin of the Regent’s Canal) – to see what might be the most popular Gallery Exhibition of the summer, if not the year.

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Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important Japanese Artists of the 20th Century and even though she is 87 years already, this is all new work on display. Kusama is most famous for her Polka Dots and has become known to the London public through her exhibition at Tate Modern in 2012 and her collaboration with Louis Vuitton, transforming Selfridges Windows in 2013.

In this exhibition, there are a few of her sculptures and paintings, but the true draw are the large installations, one in the garden (see above) as well as 3 “infinity rooms” – mirrored rooms where one feels like Alice in Wonderland. They are absolutely stunning in their visual effects reflecting pumpkins and chandeliers millionfold (the pictures below don’t do it any justice).

Last but not least, the gallery space as such is also stunning to experience, a transformed wharf house at the canal basin, making the most of its large spaces and the canal-side garden.

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If you want to know more about Yayoi Kusama, check out her Website or Wikipedia. If you want to really know more and see her art in a new context, her autobiography, titled “Infinity Net” is an impressive and touching read.

If you want to visit, the exhibition is open until 30th of July on Tuesdays- Saturdays 10am-6pm. On Saturdays, it can get very busy and there will be a “one in-one out” policy, meaning you’ll have to stand in line (could be up to 1 hour) to get in. Inside, there is more waiting, as the infinity rooms can be viewed only by a handful people at once (but its absolutely worth  the wait).

More information on exhibition and gallery can be found at the Gallery Website.

Free Walks This Weekend – That’s London Baby’s recommendations!

If you are still wondering what to do this weekend, or if you finally wanted to go on a guided walk and you have put it off for whatever reason, this weekend offers a great opportunity to get walking!

Walk London is having their annual winter weekend of free walks (there are further weekends in Spring and Fall). That’s more than 40 guided walks through all areas of London, all funded and paid for by TfL. Many of those are normally paid walks. They come in all sizes and interests – short walks, touristy walks, special topics (e.g. literary or spy walks), central location, outside, long walks….there is even one section of the Capital Ring covered!

They even created a map, showing the starting points of all walks:

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Free Walks this Weekend! Your guide to the Walk London Spring into Summer Weekend

If you are still wondering what to do this weekend, or if you finally wanted to go on a guided walk and you have put it off for whatever reason, this weekend offers a great opportunity to get walking!

Walk London is having their annual spring weekend of free walks (there are further weekends in January and September). That’s more than 40 guided walks through all areas of London, all funded and paid for by TfL. Many of those are normally paid walks. They come in all sizes and interests – short walks, touristy walks, special topics (e.g. literary or spy walks), central location, outside, long walks….there is even one section of the Capital Ring covered!

They even created a map, showing the starting points of all walks:

Continue reading