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

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Viewing Yoko Ono at Whitechapel, London

The Wick Culture - Yoko Ono
Mend Piece 1966/2018
You and I, A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa
Photo by: Kyle Morland

Above Yoko Ono Mend Piece 1966/2018 You and I, A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa Photo by: Kyle Morland

Yoko Ono: MEND PIECE for London
25 August 2021 — 2 January 2022
Whitechapel Gallery, London

Now’s your chance to participate in an interactive installation by Yoko Ono. The work comprises broken fragments of pottery, two white tables, materials for repair — glue, twine, scissors and tape — and a set of simple instructions provided by the artist: ‘Mend carefully. / Think of mending the world at the same time.’ Once finished, objects repaired by gallery-goers will be displayed on shelves nearby.

Ono first presented this work as Mending Piece I at her 1966 solo exhibition at Indica Gallery in London. The installation takes inspiration from the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed with precious metals such as gold and silver. The practice nurtures breakage as an important part of an object’s history and celebrates the idea that something new can be created from something broken.

Participation and collaboration, which are central to Ono’s artistic practice and campaigns for peace and universal creativity, are also at the heart of Mend Piece for London. If you’re in need of a dose of mindful relaxation, look no further than his mediative, free exhibition.

Viewing James Barnor: Accra/London – A Retrospective, Serpentine Galleries

The Wick Culture - Drum Cover Girl Erlin Ibreck Kilburn, London Courtesy Autograph, 1966.

Above Drum Cover Girl Erlin Ibreck Kilburn, London Courtesy Autograph, 1966.

The Wick Culture - Sick Hagemeyer shop assistant, Accra Courtesy Autograph, 1971.

Above Sick Hagemeyer shop assistant, Accra Courtesy Autograph, 1971.

The Wick Culture - James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective (Installation view, 19 May – 24 October 2021, Serpentine) Photograph: Zoe Maxwell

Above James Barnor: Accra/London – A Retrospective (Installation view, 19 May – 24 October 2021, Serpentine) Photograph: Zoe Maxwell

The Wick Culture - Members of the Tunbridge Wells Overseas Club, Relaxing after a Hot Summer Sunday Walk, Kent, Courtesy of Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, 1968.

Above Members of the Tunbridge Wells Overseas Club, Relaxing after a Hot Summer Sunday Walk, Kent, Courtesy of Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, 1968.

Above Drum Cover Girl Erlin Ibreck Kilburn, London Courtesy Autograph, 1966.

Above Sick Hagemeyer shop assistant, Accra Courtesy Autograph, 1971.

Above James Barnor: Accra/London – A Retrospective (Installation view, 19 May – 24 October 2021, Serpentine) Photograph: Zoe Maxwell

Above Members of the Tunbridge Wells Overseas Club, Relaxing after a Hot Summer Sunday Walk, Kent, Courtesy of Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, 1968.

James Barnor: Accra/London — A Retrospective
19 May — 24 October 2021
Serpentine Galleries, London

Serpentine’s North Gallery has just the thing for photography lovers — the largest survey to date of the pioneering Ghanaian-British photographer James Barnor.

Barnor’s work, which includes studio portraiture, photojournalism, and editorial and lifestyle commissions, covers everything from social and political changes in Accra and London to domestic scenes of family life. There is, however, a thread that connects his work across six decades: the indelible connection with his sitters.

Organised in broadly chronological order, this exhibition centres on the years between 1950 and 1980. Portraits taken at Barnor’s first studio, Ever Young, are shown alongside his era-defining work for South African anti-apartheid publication Drum. Also on display are wonderful works depicting London life in the Swinging Sixties and images from his time managing the first colour-processing laboratory in 1970s Ghana.

‘James Barnor’s work reminds us how thrillingly expansive life is,’ says Hans Ulrich Obrist. ‘His photographs offer the possibility of connection and exchange across continents and through time.’

Viewing These Passing Things by Steve Messam, Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, North Yorkshire

The Wick Culture - Image: National Trust

Above Image: National Trust

These Passing Things by Steve Messam
Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, North Yorkshire
10 July — Autumn 2021

Fountains Abbey is one of those places that will stop you in your tracks. Set in acres of designed landscape in North Yorkshire, it is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. The Studley Royal water garden is just as breathtaking. Originally designed in the 18th century by the Aislabie family, it features extensive water fountains, majestic woodland and a number of whimsical Georgian follies, architectural structures created to surprise and delight the family’s 18th-century guests.

Currently installed across Studley Royal are three temporary installations by Steve Messam, a British artist best known for his dramatic interventions that respond to landscape or built environments. These Passing Things is no different. The trio of colourful artworks breathe fresh life into the garden and its follies, prompting viewers to stop, stare and reconnect with this remarkable World Heritage Site.

If you’ve got tinies in tow, make a beeline for the vast play area boasting a roundabout, zip-wire and wooden climbing frame. Stop for a picnic before setting off on an afternoon adventure on the High Ride path. It’s time to pack your bags — These Passing Things merits a late summer road trip.