Our top picks of exhibitions together with cultural spaces and places, both online and in the real world.


All, Art, Auctions, Exhibitions, Travel & Hospitality, Initiatives

Viewing PAD London at Berkeley Square

If design is more your thing, be sure to visit PAD this week. The fair was founded in 2007 by renowned Parisian antique dealer Patrick Perrin and it’s still going strong almost two decades on with annual editions held in Paris (in April) and London. It is the only fair of its kind in London dedicated exclusively to historical and contemporary design and is the place to get familiar with the very best design from around the world.

It’s always an eclectic, diverse and surprising mix, allowing encounters with familiar and discoveries of the new. Highlights at this year’s London edition, which boasts eleven new galleries, included works by Faye Toogood at Friedman Benda’s booth, exquisite pieces by Alexey Drozhdin, who combines glass and charred oak, and a special selection of works from the Middle East, showing at the fair for the first time – we can’t wait to see the stunning ceramic and glass pieces by Lebanese designers at Beirut-based PIK’D’s presentation.

In all, 20 galleries feature this year, ranging from rare historical pieces to the new and never-seen-before. Perrin told AD magazine: “Galleries will showcase ground-breaking pieces combining masterful craftsmanship with innovative concepts, rare collectible pieces that are available for sale for the first time and will stage dialogues between works from various eras and cultures.”

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Dates
14 October 2025 — 19 October 2025

Viewing 1-54 Art Fair at Somerset House

Another must-see of Frieze week in London is 1-54 at Somerset House, the dedicated hub for contemporary art and galleries from across the African continent and diaspora. The 13th London edition of the fair include fifty galleries from thirteen countries, with a special curated section this year devoted to art from the Caribbean.

Special projects to hot foot it to this year include, ęmí: freedomsong, an audio-visual installation inspired by bell hooks’ All About Love and Camille Sapara Barton’s Tending Grief. Equally immersive is the salon installation by Le Tings, centred around the artistry of the hairdresser and the conversations that take place in the barbers chair. Meanwhile, The Inherited Counter-Archive presents a conceptual photo-studio and installation by Everyday Lusaka Gallery (Zambia), featuring work by veteran photographer Alick Phiri.

If you need another reason to visit: the iconic Neoclassical courtyard at Somerset House has been transformed by Mónica de Miranda into a social sculpture: Earthworks (2025). This site-specific project reimagines public space as “a living, collective, and sensory archive, an articulation of stage-sculptures and vertical gardens” that will be brought to life with performance, actions and conversations over the coming days. It’s inspired by Achille Mbembe’s idea of “terrestrial communities, where the human and non-human life are intertwined in care and shared survival, the project transcends soil and plant life into living archives of resistance.”

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Dates
15 October 2025 — 19 October 2025

Viewing Frieze London & Frieze Masters at Regent’s Park

The visual arts event of the year returns to The Regent’s Park and it promises to be as spectacular as ever. Open to the public from today until Sunday, Frieze London and Frieze Masters bring the very best art, spanning a millennia, presented by institutions and galleries from around the world together under one temporary tented roof.

At Frieze London, the focus is contemporary, with a special section this year curated by Dr Jareh Das, who presents the unmissable Echoes in the Present exploring the intergenerational dialogue between contemporary artists from Brazil, Africa and their diasporas. Artist-to-artist returns, with six solo presentations selected by artists including Amy Sherald and Chris Ofili, and the Frieze Artist Award 2025 winner Sophia Al-Maria will install a makeshift comedy club within the fair. Don’t forget to head to the Deutsche Bank lounge too, to see a new work by Noemie Goudal.

At Frieze Masters, the home for work reaching as far back as a millennia ago, prepare to be dazzled by Studio presentations by the likes of Anju Dodiya and Samia Halaby, bringing historical work into dialogue with art by living artists, while at the fair also introduces its brand new section, Reflections, for showcasing decorative arts and objects. The inaugural edition is inspired by two world-leading collections, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Kettle’s Yard. Get ready to dive in and discover!

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Dates
15 October 2025 — 19 October 2025
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The Wick Culture - Yeonjoon Yoon, Gavin Poole, Conrad Shawcross, Tristram Hunt at UMBILICAL

Happenings Conrad Shawcross: UMBILICAL at Here East

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The Wick Culture - Gallery view of the 2025 Summer Exhibition
Photo: © David Parry/ Royal Academy of Arts

Happenings RA Summer Party

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The Wick Culture - Katy Wickremesinghe at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Happenings Rachel Jones at Dulwich Picture Gallery

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The Wick Culture - Katy Wickremesinghe at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Happenings Rachel Jones at Dulwich Picture Gallery

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The Wick Culture - The Weston Collections Hall at V&A East
Storehouse, including over 100 mini
curated displays ‘hacked’ into the ends
and sides of the storage racking. Image by Hufton + Crow for V&A

Happenings V&A East Storehouse

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The Wick Culture - Shezad Dawood

Happenings Chain of Hope at Saatchi Gallery

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