Museum of London - What's on in January and what's new for 2016
NEW YEAR, NEW EXPERIENCES!
This January, we have lots of new experiences on offer, including two exhibition openings, Tattoo Londonand Under London: photographs by Simon Norfolk. You can also bring the family and enjoy weekend tours and the first of the new season of events for under 5s. The Crime Museum Uncovered continues in 2016, kick off the new year with a visit to this critically-acclaimed exhibition.
NEW IN JANUARY
TATTOO LONDON
Opens 29 Jan
Get under the skin of what it means to be a tattoo artist in London in this exhibition of photography, artwork and film at the Museum of London. The display features new contemporary tattoo designs through a partnership with four prominent studios.
NEW PHOTOGRAPHY DISPLAY
Under London: photographs by Simon Norfolk will open Thursday 21 January. Work by leading documentary photographer, Simon Norfolk, for National Geographic magazine captures archaeological objects in settings throughout London and will be displayed on the exterior of theMuseum of London. FREE
NEW FAMILY EVENTS
Our popular programme of events and activities for under 5s and their carers returns in the new year, with an exciting Movement and Music event. We are now also offering free gallery tours every Saturday for families looking to explore the museum with a knowledgeable guide. FREE
Tuesdays from 12 Jan, 6.30-8.30pm
Our new season of ghost tours at the Museum of London Docklands starts on 12 Jan. Explore haunting tales of the museum, its collections and the docks and hear about the grizzly lives of the men, women and children who worked on the docks and how some of them met their untimely end.
Kick off the new year with an exploration around London with brand new walking tours. You can experience the hustle and bustle of the old Ratcliffe Highway in Sailortown (24 Jan), discover the London Gin Craze with Mother's Ruin (30 Jan) or explore scenes of infamous crimes with Law and disorder in the East End (16 Jan).
ROMAN FORT GATE TOURS
You can now experience a tour of the remains of the western gate of London's Roman military fort on selected weekends. The first Saturday tour is on 9 January, exploring this historical site beneath the street next to the Museum of London, with another weekend tour on Sunday 28 February.
Commemorating the Great Fire of 1666
In 2016 the Museum of London commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of 1666. Tickets are on sale already for our major exhibition, Fire! Fire!, opening in July. Take a look at our intriguing infographic with some of the topline facts and figures on this momentous event in London's history.
Pirates! A swashbuckling sleepover
Fri 19 Feb, 6.45pm – 9.40am
Experience the first ever all-nighter for families at the Museum of London Docklands! Hunt the galleries by torchlight, enjoy hands-on activities exploring real-life pirates and bed down in a 200-year-old warehouse.
Crime investigations: fact and fiction
Tue 2 Feb, 7-9.30pm
What is it really like to be a detective today? Join journalist and Crime + Investigation presenter, Dermot Murnaghan, as he chairs a panel of experts discussing real life cases featured in The Crime Museum Uncovered.
PARTNER PROMOTIONS
Grange Hotels
Grange Hotels are delighted to continue to offer Museum of London visitors 15% off best available rates at Grange Hotels, with a continental breakfast and use of facilities, including Grange St Paul's which is located just minutes from the museum.
> Find out more
Burden of Proof: The Construction of Visual Evidence
Until 10 Jan
The Photographers' Gallery
Examining the way photographic images have been harnessed as evidence in instances of crimes or acts of violence.
Tibet's Secret Temple
19 November 2015 – 28 February 2016
Inspired by an exquisite 17th century murals from a private meditation chamber for Tibet's Dalai Lamas in Lhasa's Lukhang Temple, explores Tibetan Buddhist yogic and meditational practice and their connections to physical and mental wellbeing.
Labels: Museum of London
Design Museum - See the Turner Prize-winning Assemble here this January
SPECIAL EVENT: Featuring the 2015 Turner Prize-winning Assemble and RIBA House of the Year 'Flint House' architect Charlotte Skene Catling.
Talk: London School of Architecture Show and Tell
Tuesday 14 January | Doors open 6.15pm, talk 7pm*
Two award-winning practices celebrated for the artistry of their work, Assemble and Skene Catling De La Pena, discuss the craft of architecture with Richard Wentworth and Will Hunter at this month's London School of Architecture's Show and Tell event. *Tickets include entry to the Designs of the Year exhibition before the talk begins. Book tickets
New Year's Day Sale
Start new year in style! The Design Musem Shop launches the 2016 sale on New Year's Day. Visit the Shad Thames store or shop online to take advantage of some amazing offers.
Looking for something to do with the family?
The Design Museum offers special trails and explorer kits to discover design together as a family. They are free with museum entry, collected upon arrival at the admissions desk. There are also pencils and paper available for your children to sketch their favourite bike in the Cycle Revolution exhibition. Book family tickets
Free Guided Tours
Tours: Cycle Revolution
Every other Wednesday & Saturday
Guided 20-minute tours of the Cycle Revolution exhibition are now available and free with museum entry. They feature personal insights behind selected bikes and explore key design features unique to the bikes of the four cycling tribes.
Workshop: For 14 -19-year-olds
Sundays | 31 January - 13 March 2016 | Free
With the museum moving to Kensington in 2016, the Young Creatives project kicks off in West London in January. Running for five consecutive Sundays at the Masbro Community Centre, participants have the opportunity to learn design skills by creating a collection of t-shirt designs, tote bags and badges. Spaces are limited,so you must sign up to reserve a place.
Labels: The Design Museum
London churches and their partnerships with professions
The churches of London sit solid and unwavering, providing solace and support to their congregations, but four of them have a very particular relationship with some of their worshippers. How did these churches become the spiritual home of actors, brewers, lawyers and journalists?
St Paul's, Covent Garden: Actors
Image copyrightDiocese of London
Image captionThe Rev Simon Grigg alongside Doctor Who actors David Tenant and Tom Baker - with the Time Lords' usual mode of transport parked behind them
Complete with its own theatre company, St Paul's Church in Covent Garden is considered the actors' church.
The relationship began after 1660 when King Charles II came to the throne. He revoked an 11-year ban on frivolous pastimes, licensing theatre companies at the Theatre Royal and the Royal Opera House - both in the parish of St Paul's.
The Rev Simon Grigg, who trained as a stage manager, says the church has long been a popular place for baptisms and memorial services of those in acting families.
Image copyrightCHRIS EDWARDS
Image captionMr Grigg was asked to bless the Apollo Theatre after its roof collapsed
He explained that as well as performing the usual responsibilities one might expect of a busy rector, he is sometimes called upon to carry out tasks relating to the church's thespian connection.
"After the awful events of the Apollo Theatre roof collapse I was asked to bless the theatre, which is a bit different, but it's part of the healing process.
"And I was asked to bless the production of The Scottsboro Boys at the Garrick Theatre, which was joyous, and about a third of the company came and we gave prayers and lit some candles."
During regular services prayers are offered to theatre departments, including front of house - but Mr Grigg explained that there is one specific downside to the church's acting connection.
Image copyrightDiocese of London/PA
Image captionActress Audrey Leybourne has been worshipping at St Paul's, where Dawn French and Lenny Henry married, since 1966
"Sunday mornings are not good for actors because they would have had two shows on a Saturday and often they live outside London because they can't afford to live in the city."
The church has some well-known thespian patrons with Dame Judi Dench and Barbara Windsor both having supported it at different times, while comedians Dawn French and Lenny Henry married there in 1984.
Another friend of St Paul's is 88-year-old Audrey Leybourne who describes herself as an "old pro actress" having trodden the boards in productions of Annie and My Fair Lady around the world, as well as working alongside the legendary impresario Cameron Mackintosh in Oliver! when he was "just a stage manager".
"I've got all my friends here, my cat's buried in the beautiful garden and our vicar makes us laugh," she said.
"There are other churches I could go to, but this is the one I like with all of its heritage. I've been away a lot but I always get a welcome here."
St Nicholas, Chiswick: Brewers
Image caption"Beer is a great gift of God's", according to the Rev Andrew Downes
Here's a connection you may not have been expecting - St Nicholas in Chiswick is the church for brewers.
The Rev Andrew Downes said: "St Nicholas Church has been on this site for about 1,200 years and Fuller's Brewery has been here for about 400 years."
So good are neighbourly relations that Fuller's named its winter ale St Nick's with a proportion of the sales going to the church, which is trying to raise £1.1m to make it "fit for the 21st Century".
Mr Downes said: "My boss, the Bishop of London, blessed the hops and it's just gone nuts right throughout the country - I've had tweets and comments saying it's fantastic.
Image copyrightFuller, Smith & Turner
Image captionThe Bishop of London Richard Chartres blessed the hops for St Nick's winter ale
"Beer is a great gift of God's, and they're one of the great brewers in London and this is one of the greatest churches in London."
In years gone by, more of the congregation would have had a connection to the brewery, and although the number of worshippers directly linked to Fuller's has diminished, the relationship is still referenced in services.
Parishioner and beer lover Chris Lucy said: "There are several people at the church who like beer so it's meant friendships have blossomed.
"Fuller's is a very generous member of the church and they value their space in the community."
Image copyrightFullers
Image captionThe name of the Chiswick church lent itself well to a festive publicity campaign
The church also comes with its own beer-related tall story.
Mr Downes said: "The rumour is there is a secret tunnel which leads directly from our church to an old convent and apparently we used to smuggle beer from the church to the convent.
"It's a marvellous parish tale."
Temple Church, City of London: Lawyers
Image copyrightAP/Random House
Image captionAudrey Tautou and Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code
It's the church that comes with the glitz of a Hollywood blockbuster and a history that stretches back to the 12th Century. Temple Church is one for the lawyers.
It was built by the Knights Templar in 1162 and is described by the Valiant Master of the Temple, the Rev Robin Griffith-Jones, as "effectively Jerusalem in London" - it is modelled on the round design of that city's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
He said it became "King John's London HQ" in 1214 when the finer details of the Magna Carta were thrashed out.
And centuries later, in 2003, the church was thrust into the limelight again when it featured in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code - which inspired a hit movie starring Tom Hanks.
Mr Griffith-Jones said: "The book had an astonishing effect and, almost overnight, we found queues of young people waiting to get in and they would ask the verger: 'Have you read the book?' - and the verger is still determined to believe they are asking about the Bible."
In its day-to-day dealings, however, the church promotes its legal connections over its literary ones.
Image captionThe Rev Robin Griffith-Jones is the son of a judge
Mr Griffith-Jones said: "All of our services are open to everybody but the people we have the closest links to are the lawyers. It's quite normal to baptise a baby whose parents and grandparents are in the law."
Temple carol services attract up to 700 people and "for high days and holidays the lawyers pile in", he said.
The Worshipful Prof Mark Hill QC, a part-time judge and the ecclesiastical chancellor of several dioceses, is one of those who attends the church.
Image copyrightMark Hill
Image captionAs well as being a scholar and part-time judge, Mark Hill is also the ecclesiastical chancellor of the Diocese of Europe
"If you practise law in the Temple you can't avoid it and it beckons you to come in," he said.
"Parents and siblings of the choirboys swell the ranks considerably, so in many ways there is an ordinariness. It's like the Christmas cake: you have the ordinariness of the icing, and marzipan are the lawyers and judges."
The church's legal connection can be traced back to the Knights Templar, whose charters and deeds were stored in the Temple. "Where you have deeds you'll also have lawyers," said Mr Griffith-Jones.
And while he is not himself trained in the law, he is from a legal family.
"My father was a judge," Mr Griffith-Jones said.
"When I got here I discovered that all the lawyers had worked with him and I learned more about him than I had ever done before."
Image captionTemple Church is modelled on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre
St Bride's, Fleet Street: Journalists
Image captionJournalists travel from far and wide to worship at St Bride's in Fleet Street
This article would not be complete without mentioning St Bride's in Fleet Street - the church for journalists.
Its rector, the Rev Alison Joyce said: "The story starts 500 years ago when Caxton's apprentice brought his printing press to our churchyard.
"The first daily newspaper launched in 1702 so during that time we evolved from being the printers' church into the journalists' church."
Every year the church holds memorial services for journalists killed in action, among them American reporter Steven Sotloff, who was beheaded in 2014, and those murdered in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris in January.
Image copyrightPA
Image captionWilliam Caxton, who introduced the printing press to England, presents a book, published in 1477, to King Edward IV
Dr Joyce said: "I think journalists have never been under more pressure - many are working as freelances, and wearing a flak jacket with 'Press' on the back is no longer likely to protect you."
The church also holds annual carol services for publications including The Times, The Telegraph and The Spectator.
"We need journalists as they provide us with our window into the world and so the whole tangle of issues around press freedom and the blurring of the line between producer and consumer is fascinating," Dr Joyce said.
"It's good for the Church to engage with those kinds of complexities."
Image captionAlison Joyce says she has always had an interest in the media and its ethics
St Bride's also provides a bursary for a young reporter, which Daily Mail sportswriter Jonathan McEvoy describes as a "nice way of doing something real".
Mr McEvoy, 39, said: "I was aware of it being the church for journalists so that triggered my interest and it's a connection to the Men of Letters - Milton, Samuel Pepys - all who worshipped at St Bride's."
A word from the Bishop of London
The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Chartres said: "We have a number of churches in London which are spiritual anchor-holds where professionals find familiarity and return, particularly at climactic points in their lives.
"What they find is a welcome but then often experience an ongoing connection."
Labels: BBC News
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