Category Art
Nature’s confetti – virtual blossom
If you’ve missed the blossom in the garden squares, pop down to Centrepoint on Tottenham Court Rd to see Nature’s Confetti, on a big outdoor screen, courtesy of the National Trust and Outernet, until 24 April. As part of the charity’s annual Blossom campaign, ‘visitors to the space will be able to enjoy the power […]
New portrait unveiled by Queen Camilla
A new portrait of Noor Inayat Khan was unveiled recently at the RAF Club by Queen Camilla. Noor, a radio operator and fluent French speaker, was dropped into enemy occupied France in 1943 to aid the French resistance, sending messages back to England. Noor Inayat Khan was born in Moscow and lived as a child […]
Open Squares Weekend 11 & 12 June
It’s time for Open Garden Squares again, after two years of Covid disruption. Most of the Bloomsbury Squares are open to the public, but there’s a rare chance to visit the closed gardens of Bedford Square, Montague St Gardens and Mecklenburgh Square. Nick Andrew, an artist of the outdoors, will have an exhibition in Bedford […]
Chelsea Fringe: Sketching in the Bloomsbury Squares
The Chelsea Fringe festival is 11 years old, now worldwide, and will have events in Bloomsbury this year! Community gardeners, artists, activists and anyone with an interest in gardens, plants and outdoor space have a chance to get involved and do something fun and positive. Nick Andrew, an artist of the outdoors, will be sketching in […]
Artist in residence in the Bloomsbury Squares
During the Bloomsbury Festival, the artist Nick Andrew has been exploring the theme of city green spaces from the perspective of a rural landscape painter. Sketching in a different garden square each day, he is producing a full-size work in each, complementing the sketches he made over several years for the book Bloomsbury’s Squares and […]
Chelsea Fringe festival opens 15 May
Even though the Chelsea Festival has moved to the autumn this year, the 10th ‘Chelsea Fringe’ festival opens on 15 May until 23 May, but in common with many events this year it is Virtual. It includes ‘A Sketchbook Walk through the Bloomsbury Squares’, a video of beautiful watercolour illustrations of the different gardens introduced […]
Peter Pan and Brunswick Square
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Peter Pan is associated with Brunswick Square, as J. M. Barrie once lived there. The literary connection was celebrated during Open Garden Square Weekend in June, as a children’s art activity took Peter Pan as its theme and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital charity (who benefit from Barrie’s royalties) had […]
Bedford Square Festival 28 June to 1 July
The very first Bedford Square Festival is taking place later this month. The Festival is a collaboration between five of the cultural institutions that reside on Bedford Square, Bloomsbury: Paul Mellon Centre, Architectural Association, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Yale University Press and New College of Humanities. Bedford Square Festival will open the doors of the […]
Saving Bloomsbury: A Case for Celebration
Forty years ago, the people of Bloomsbury drew, wrote and celebrated their way out of destruction. A Case for Celebration is an exhibition from 14th to 26th July that illustrates a treasured area of Bloomsbury that was saved and marks the significant efforts made at the time to protect it from demolition. This exhibition features the original illustrations […]
Bloomsbury Squares & Gardens 