January Arts Newsletter Silver birch wood, Wimbledon Common, 50x30cm unframedHappy New Year! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break. If more culture is one of your resolutions for 2022 then now is a great time to reappraise all the fantastic permanent exhibitions we have available in this country. Whilst wandering aimlessly through a big museum can seem overwhelming rather than enticing, most of our galleries have curated routes they recommend. Much more palatable and fun.  Tate Britain is one of my favourites and never seems too crowded. If you are not already familiar with it, I would highly recommend their ‘Walk Through British Art 1540-1910‘. 420 works are arranged in time zones rather than subject themes, as was previously. There is an audio highlight tour on their website, which you could listen to on your way round. There are also free guided tours daily at 12.00 and 13.00. They last 45 mins and you need to book in advance. If you have younger children, you might also be interested in Story Space on Weds and weekends. Tate Britain The V&A has 18 major collections spread across 154 galleries and each collection presents itself as a smaller curated show. Two of my favourites are Glass and Furniture; magical. If you are taking younger family members, I would recommend their adventure trails. Simply download and follow on your phone.They also, of course, have fabulous temporary exhibitions like Fabarge in London: Romance to Revolution. You would be hard-pressed to think of an object that screamed ‘luxury’ more than a Fabarge Egg. This exhibition goes beyond the eggs, though, and tells the story of Carl Fabarge and his New Bond St. store which opened in 1903. It is a story of bling at the turn of the 20th century. I haven’t yet been but by all accounts it is egg-celent. V&A until 8 May 2022 |
 The British Museum is another whopper but they have lots of bite-size options with different trails, starting from a 3-object trail. There are longer ones to choose from too, and some excellent Museum Missions for kids. Who doesn’t want to discover a mummified cat?!Currently on temporary exhibition is Peru: A Journey in Time which follows the path of the Andean people from 15,000 years ago up to the Spanish invasion in 1534. There are different cultures: the Chavin, Nasca, Moche and Inca and different rituals: human sacrifice, dancing, war, hallucinogens and a lot more cats. It isn’t a big exhibition, partly on loan from Peru and partly BM collection, but it is excellent. British Museum until 20Feb |
  The Rowes, Christmas 2021. I screenprinted this in 3 layers of ink using a photo as a starting point. Some are more exact than others! This was my last screenprint for a while as I am going back to a weekly life drawing session instead from this term. Expect to see more naked people (drawings of) on my instagram from next week…Get in touch katharine@katharinerowe.com www.katharinerowe.com Instagram @katharine_rowe I hope you have a very creative 2022. |
Happy New Year – that fabergé egg is amazingly excessive. You look at objects like that and think, no wonder there was a revolution!
Happy New Year to you too. Indeed, in some ways it is a ridiculous item but also quite amazing to see what can be achieved with money to burn!