What’s on in London this week: 6 - 12 January 2025
Discover our pick of events in London this week: 6 - 12 January 2025.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle
This week, the London Symphony Orchestra honours Sir Simon Rattle’s 70th birthday with an all-British programme. Highlights include Tippett’s Ritual Dances, the world premiere of Turnage’s Sco, featuring jazz legend John Scofield, and Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5. A vibrant celebration of opera, jazz, and orchestral mastery.
Date: 12 January 2025. Time: 7pm. Location: The Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £18 - £70+ BF. Book now.
Skate at Somerset House
Don’t miss the final opportunity to skate at Somerset House’s iconic festive ice rink. Alongside skating, indulge in gourmet dining at The Chalet, rink-side cheer at Skate Lounge by Whispering Angel, and festive shopping at Shelter Boutique. A must-visit winter tradition!
Date: 12 January 2025. Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: from £12. Book now.
The London Symphony Orchestra presents an all-British programme featuring Tippett, Turnage, and Vaughan Williams at the Barbican this week.
TS Eliot Prize Ceremony
On Sunday at the Royal Festival Hall, the TS Eliot Prize, the world’s most prestigious poetry award, will celebrate exceptional poets, recognising both established and emerging talent. This year’s shortlist includes works by Raymond Antrobus, Hannah Copley, Helen Farish, Peter Gizzi, Gustav Parker Hibbett, Rachel Mann, Gboyega Odubanjo, Carl Phillips, Katrina Porteous, and Karen McCarthy Woolf. Established in 1993 to honour the Poetry Book Society’s founding poet, the prize is now awarded by the TS Eliot Foundation.
Date: 12 January 2025. Time: 7pm. Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes (approx). Location: The Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Price: from £12 + BF. Book now.
MimeLondon 2025
MimeLondon 2025 brings an exciting week of physical theatre, dance, circus, puppetry, and live art to iconic venues across London, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, Peacock Theatre, and The Place. Highlights include Plexus Polaire’s Moby Dick, featuring fifty puppets and a life-sized whale; La Pendue’s thrilling Grimm-inspired La Manékine; Brú Theatre’s Not a Word, exploring Irish navvies through mask work; and Frau Trapp’s dystopian Five Lines. Led by Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, the festival continues the legacy of the renowned London International Mime Festival.
Date: 11 January - 2 February 2025. Location: venues include the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, Peacock Theatre, and The Place. mimelondon.com.
Plexus Polaire: Moby Dick will take place at the Barbican as part of MimeLondon 2025. 22 - 25 January 2025.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Don’t miss your final chance to see Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in this vibrant reimagining by Max Webster (Donmar’s Macbeth; Life of Pi). This witty comedy follows Jack and Algy as their double lives spiral into hilarious chaos. Starring Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa, and Hugh Skinner, it’s a dazzling exploration of identity, love, and farce—catch it before it’s gone!
Date: until 25 January 2025. Duration: 2 hours and 45 mins including one 20 min interval. Location: Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. Book now.
Darius Brubeck plays Dave Brubeck
Experience a one-night-only celebration at the Jazz Café as the Darius Brubeck Quartet performs Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, including Take Five, alongside the UK premiere of Darius’s Jazzanians. Joined by special guests Byron Wallen and Andrew Eagle, the evening celebrates jazz legacies from two continents.
Date: 12 January 2025. Time: 5pm. Location: Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, London NW1 7PG. Price: Standing from £20; Restaurant from £35. Book now.
The Importance of Being Earnest will be on show at the National Theatre until 25 January 2025.
Cinema
Nickel Boys (12A)
Nickel Boys, directed by RaMell Ross, is a powerful adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Set in 1960s Jim Crow-era Florida, the film follows Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse), a promising African American student falsely accused of a crime and sent to a segregated reform school. There, he befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson), and together they navigate the brutal realities of their environment. Shot entirely from the boys’ perspectives, Ross’ debut feature is an innovative and daring exploration of this dark historical chapter.
Date: 3 - 9 January 2025. Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £13+ BF. Book now.
Nickel Boys. Amazon MGM Studios.
Arts & Culture
Last chance to see
Sonia Boyce: An Awkward Relation at Whitechapel Gallery
This solo exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist Sonia Boyce explores themes of identity, community, and collaboration through multimedia installations and participatory projects.
Date: until 12 January 2025. Location: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. Price: from £15. Book now.
Jason Wilsher-Mills: Jason and the Adventure of 254 at the Wellcome Collection
Jason Wilsher-Mills uses cutting-edge digital art to tell his personal story, blending humour, resilience, and activism in a vibrant, accessible way.
Date: until 12 January 2025. Location: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE. Price: Free.
Sonia Boyce, Exquisite Tension, 2006, Single-channel HD colour video with sound and archive colour photographic print. Video duration: 4 minutes © Sonia Boyce.All Rights Reserved, DACS/Artimage 2024Courtesy of the artist, APALAZZO GALLERY and Hauser & Wirth Gallery.
Lygia Clark: The I and the You at Whitechapel Gallery
The exhibition marks the first major UK public gallery presentation of pioneering Brazilian artist Lygia Clark. Focusing on her artistic journey from the mid-1950s to early 1970s, the exhibition highlights Clark’s radical approach to art-making during a volatile period in Brazil’s history, showcasing her interactive works that challenge traditional boundaries between art and audience.
Date: until 12 January 2025. Location: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. Price: from £15. Book now.
Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet at South London Gallery
Nairy Baghramian presents her sculptural explorations in this exhibition at South London Gallery, combining abstract forms and organic shapes to challenge traditional perceptions of structure and materiality.
Date: until 12 January 2025. Location: South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH. Price: Free.
Misfits, 2021, Nairy Baghramian.
Es Devlin: Face to Face: 50 Encounters with Strangers at Somerset House
Es Devlin presents an immersive installation that invites visitors to explore themes of human connection and empathy through a series of evocative encounters and reflections.
Date: until 12 January 2025. Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: Free.
#FLOFavourites: This week
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024
The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, now in its 17th year at the National Portrait Gallery, showcases contemporary photography by emerging and established talents. The exhibition features a variety of portraits, from formal to intimate shots, and includes the In Focus display.
Date: until 16 February 2025. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: £8.50 / £9.50 with donation. Free for members. Book now.
Mom by Tjitske Sluis from the series Out of Love, Out of Necessity, 2023 © Tjitske Sluis.
The Studio – Staging Desire by Rotimi Fani-Kayode
Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s work explores identity, sexuality, and intimacy, capturing moments of tenderness and desire. His iconic photographs use the studio as a space for creative expression and personal revelation, delving into Black diasporic life and the intersection of identity and intimacy.
Date: until 22 March 2025. Location: Autograph Gallery, 84 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3AY. Price: Free.
#FLOFavourites: Pick of the Week
Free event of the week
V&A Museum Residencies 2024
Luca Bosani, Jacqui Ramrayka, and Rachel Sale. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
This exhibition features works by the first cohort of Adobe Creative Residents: Luca Bosani, Jacqui Ramrayka, and Rachel Sale. It highlights their creative journeys, their engagement with various communities, and how their residencies at the V&A have influenced their artistic practices.
Date: 1 November 2025. Location: Gallery 29, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Price: Free. vam.ac.uk.
Interview of the week
In conversation with John-Paul Pryor
John-Paul Pryor. Image credit Andrew Hobbes.
We had a chat with John-Paul Pryor, a London-based arts writer, creative director, and songwriter for The Sirens of Titan. His latest project is The Warhol Kennedy Residence, an appointment-only space showcasing the lost archive of photographer William John Kennedy, featuring iconic images of Andy Warhol.
Click here for the full interview.
Food of the week: veganuary 2025
The Gate Restaurant
Smoky jackfruit, creamy guac, and all the flavour. The Gate Restaurants.
The Gate, founded in 1989 by siblings Michael and Adrian Daniel, draws inspiration from their childhood's rich culinary blend of Arabic, Indian, and Jewish influences. With branches in Angel, and Hammersmith, the restaurant offers innovative vegan dishes like chickpea tagine, wild mushroom risotto cake, beetroot cheeseburger, and delicious miso aubergine.
Location: Angel & Hammersmith. Website: thegaterestaurants.com Instagram:@gaterestaurant
Click here for more vegan restaurants to visit in London this month.
Cause of the week
Little Village
Little Village supports families with babies and young children living in poverty across London.
Little Village supports families with babies and young children living in poverty across London by providing essential items such as clothes, toys, and equipment through a network of baby banks. Volunteers play a crucial role in sorting donations, delivering items, and supporting families both in person and via phone. The charity also connects families to broader support networks. Since 2016, Little Village has helped over 32,000 children, with values of love, solidarity, thriving, and sustainability at its core. Volunteers can assist with various roles, including Baby Bank Helper, Pick & Pack, and remote roles like Signposting and Family Connections.
Click here for more details on volunteering with Little Village.
As ski season kicks off, resorts like St. Moritz, Gstaad, Courchevel, Aspen, Whistler, and Verbier are becoming vibrant cultural destinations. Beyond world-class slopes, these hotspots offer a range of art exhibitions and outdoor sculptures. This guide highlights the must-see art exhibitions this winter across Europe, the US, and Japan…