Cultural Wednesday Wishes

14 - 20 May 2025

Hello

Welcome to Wednesday Wishes

Hello old friends … Sainsbury Wing National Gallery

Cecil Beaton, Gilbert & George, Photo London and outer space all feature in this week’s Wednesday Wishes. The Garden Museum celebrates the floral side of Cecil Beaton, Gilbert & George unveil their latest exhibition at their eponymous gallery and the Natural History Museum contemplates whether life could exist beyond earth. Along the way I have been reading Gunk by Saba Sams … mark my words this will win awards and Saba Sams will become a VERY will known author.

Chocolate Maritozza at the National Gallery

I might have shed a tear of joy as I toured the newly reopened Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery last week. Downstairs I was overjoyed to discover the new Bar Giorgio that serves maritozzi and expresso. I am in love with the Maritozzi, enriched dough buns filled with deliciousness. So far Have tried the pistachio and chocolate versions and will be back soon to sample the savoury versions. Yesterday I visited the Garden Museum which serves the very best rock buns (they might not call them rock buns, I confess I didn’t look for a name). All in a a very good week for museum cafés. My guide to London Museum Cafés has been updated … why not take a look?

Yes, this really is Croydon

Last Saturday I headed to Croydon. Well New Addington, the very last tram stop. Down a path by the recycling centre I discovered something that you don’t expect to find in Croydon … sheep grazing on chalk downland pastures. What lured me there was the first in a series of art installations in landscape settings by the National Landscapes Association. David Blandy and Daniel Locke have created a trail through Hutchinson’s Bank that encourages you to create your own story. Follow the markers and scan the QR codes on the for prompts. A beautiful and unexpected morning in Croydon. Next month a similar trail will open on the slopes of Box Hill in Surrey.

Have you been to the Watts Gallery in the Surrey Hills just south of Guildford? It is a Victorian gem. Scented Visions: Smell in Art 1850 - 1915 opens this Friday. There will be a plethora of scent related Victorian art and three specially created fragrances. I’m off to Copenhagen this weekend and so won’t be able to visit until early May but I am really, really looking forward to it.

A little further down the road (well 45 or so miles) from the Watts Gallery you will find the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. Their staircase is adorned with a rather wonderful Rana Begum mesh creation. Opening this weekend Rana Begum Curates: Opposing Forms has work selected by the artist from other artists hanging next to her work. I will be heading down at the end of May to visit.

It is a big week for openings. Over in Rotterdam a museum dedicated to migration is opening. FENIX is housed in an old warehouse opposite the dock where countless numbers of people both boarded boats to leave Europe and arrived here. The building is now topped with an incredible steel cyclone. Over the last few months I have watched the building take shape and can’t wait to visit.

📆 Dates for your diary

Among the many wonderful things about the Barbican Centre is the sound of music wafting out of the rehearsal rooms of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. You don’t just have to listen vicariously the school has a roster of free events. Concerts, performances, film showings and even opera. Take a look their events page, graduation season is coming up so the calendar is especially full at the moment.

As ever, if you liked this newsletter a quick click on the ❤️ makes me happy (this is for people reading in the substack app). If you really, really like it … how about telling your friends.

Happy Culturing