Kimono by Yamamoto

Kimonos at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The VIctoria and Albert Museum has reopened and I’m really looking forward to returning to one of London’s great, world leading museums.

Just before lockdown I visited their Kimono : Kyoto to Catwalk exhibition and am delighted that is has returned and remains there  through to October this year.   This exhibition is a delight to the eye as we are guided through stunning kimonos, paintings from Japan and then onto the influence of these styles have had on the wider world and in particular fashion.  The displays are beautifully put together

To start with here is a selection of the extraordinarily beautiful kimonos on display. As you go round the displays, you can learn of the significance of the pieces, the importance of the garments and cloth in Japanese society and how they developed over the centuries.  Captions explain how the kimonos were worn and the extraordinary craftsmanship required to produce them.

Kimonos at the V&A

Kimonos at the V&A

Kimonos at the V&A

Kimonos at the V&A

 

Kimonos at the V&A

Delicate and detailed paintings of people wearing kimonos feature heavily and add a great deal of interest as we can see how these garments looked on the wearers of that time in the classic Japanese art style.  Through the artworks you get to hear of the complexities of the layers of society, the world of entertainment including geishas and the messages sent out through their dress by men and women.

Japanese painting at the V&A

Japanese painting at the V&A Japanese painting at the V&A

Japanese painting at the V&A

Japanese painting at the V&A Japanese painting at the V&A

Fast forward a couple of centuries (missing out many interesting displays in several rooms of the exhibtion) and we arrive at the world of modern fashion.  Stunning pieces show the influence of the kimono on modern fashion and culture including pop music stars and films. As always the fabulous display work by the V&A shows them off at their best and the colours and shapes are breath-taking.

Kimono by Galliano

Kimono by Galliano

Kimono by Yamamoto

Kimono by Yamamoto

Kimono amd Bjork

Bjork and her McQueen kimono

Star Wars

Star Wars Obi Wan’s kimono

Star Wars

Star Wars Queen Apailana’s kimono

Kimono by Galliano

Madonna’s kimono by Galliano

Every good museum needs a quality gift shop and the V&A is no exeption. Among an array of lovely smaller items and books this rack of colourful kimonos was extremely tempting!

Kimonos in the V&A shop

For more information about Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, which runs to 25th October, entry prices to this special exhibition as well as free pre-booked entry to the rest of this wonderful museum:  https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/kimono-kyoto-to-catwalk

Full disclosure:  I am a V&A member and pay for this myself so I am able to visit V&A’s great special exhibitions whenever I like.

The fascinating Mr Heston Blumenthal in conversation

How many of you have your own coat of arms? Heston Blumenthal is clearly very proud of his and was rather taken aback to have several members of the audience raised their hands in response to his question! Well, he acknowledged, this was Kensington. We were gathered, with or without our own coats of arms, in the Victoria and Albert Museum to hear Heston in conversation with Dr Polly Russell, reflecting on his life and work.
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It’s a bumper season for exhibitions in London

There are always great exhibitions worth visiting in London, often at smaller, less well known museums.  However, sometimes blockbuster shows hit town at the same time and this is one of those times. Londoners and visitors are frantically trying to get their hands on much sought after tickets for this spring’s top shows.  I’ve been away from London for 2 months on my volunteering trip to Africa (read more here) so I was really keen to catch up. Continue reading

Loving the Victoria and Albert…

This week’s blog has a peek inside the V&A, the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of London’s great treasures. They have a few different sites but the one in South Kensington is the leading one. They tell us that it is ‘one of the world’s greatest museums of art and design with collections unrivalled in scope and diversity’ and who am I to disagree! You can explore 3,000 years of amazing artefacts across such a range of media from fashion textiles, carpets, glass, ceramics, metalwork, photography, paintings, jewellery and more…. They have special exhibitions but the permanent rooms are extraordinary especially the rooms of statues and the cast room where the casts include huge Roman columns – have a look at the 2 photos of these. One item I can’t photograph is the Ardabil carpet that is only lit for 10 minutes per hour because it is so delicate. This carpet dates from 1539/40 and is one of the oldest dated carpets and one of the finest in the world The outside of the building is impressive and an elaborate glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly hits you as soon as you enter as do the V&A monograms in the marble staircases. They even have a courtyard with a pond to splash in (best if you are under 10 years old tho’) and several cafes to rest the weary sightseeing bones in and refresh yourself. Enjoy the photos and book yourself a visit. It’s free and will delight any visitor – there really is something for everyone.

Don’t you think Sundays, when the weather is getting chilly and a bit wet, are just made for a great big roast lunch? This week we went to Rosa’s in Notting Hill where the roast beef with roast potatoes, parsnips and a yorkshire pudding was absolutely excellent. Followed up with apple crumble and clotted cream made this the perfect Sunday lunch – if a little too filling for me! It’s a little place with a lovely local feel – have a look for yourselves and give it a try!
We went to the Lonsdale bar, also in Notting Hill, for a quiz night which was great fun despite the fact that we did not manage to win – not sure how that happened! The quiz master was comedian and actor (Torchwood for those fans among you) Tom Price who was very funny and a great host. I’ll be definitely be back for more, the quizzes are every 3rd Wednesday of the month so pop that in your diary and check them out!

 

Bye for now,
Sue

Happy 2010 – here’s to the new decade

So, that was 2009 but before we let it go, have a look at my list of my 2009 favourites if you scroll down you can see what they were. It was a fun year but it went in a flash and I guess 2010 will speed by too so let’s see just how much we can cram in. You can see how I do by following my blog and hopefully the blog will give you an insight into life in London and what a good time you could be having if you were to visit us here.

As for the closing days of 2009, I spent these in Iceland which was even colder than London but not by much! We had a great time and saw some wonderful sights including the huge Gullfoss waterfall which was almost frozen over and so was I after staying on the viewing platform rather too long taking photos. We bathed in the Blue Lagoon which is a very large outdoor heated thermal pool and was a wonderful experience if a little weird as it was about -5 degrees outside making the dash back inside a major challenge. Although I did hire a robe to save my body freezing as I hurried back to warmth, they were not hiring out flip flops and my feet were so cold that I’m warning everyone to take some! But worth it….

 

We saw super heated water and steam shoot up into the sky at the original geysir (at Geysir of course!) which gave it’s name to all big spouts across the world. Then we stood in their rift valley where the American and European tectonic plates meet and are pulling apart with nature’s scary force – a treat to see for all geographers.

 

We ate lots of fish, tasted the lobster which was really langoustine, the hearty soups and had very few vegetables but fruit at breakfast helped balance this a little! Our hotel was trendy and warm but in a sign of their troubled times we only had 3 TV channels as the provider had gone bust. Icelanders seem resigned to the fact that they lived above their means and the crash must be lived through.

 

The days were short as the sun only rose at 10.50 giving the days an odd pattern but some wonderful light made up for this especially in the views across the harbour to the nearby mountains, a view which was amazing from their modern cathedral which looks like the space shuttle.

 

Here are a few photos to enjoy in the warmth of your own home…


 

 

So, now I’m back in London gearing up for 2010. But first a quick look back at 2009 with my list of some favourites:

 

Favourite event: Notting Hill carnival and 4th Plinth event in Leicester Square
Favourite restaurant: Wolseley in Picadilly
Favourite show: Matthew Bourne’s ballet of Dorian Gray at Sadlers Wells
Favourite bar: The Oak, Notting Hill
Favourite theatre: Inherit the Wind starring Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic
Favourite thing to do in London: take a Thames Clipper up the Thames on a clear day seeing Tower of London, Tate Modern, Globe Theatre, Houses Parliament, London Eye – can’ t beat that!

Favourite event: being on Centre Court Wimbledon for the first ever match under the roof

Favourite exhibition: Maharjas at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Favourite film; Slumdog Millionaire

 

Here’s to a wonderful 2010 for all of you!
Bye for now,

Exhibitions and exhibitionists

Last week was full of exhibitions. It was the World Travel Market in London’s massive ExCel exhibition centre out east in the Docklands. It was sadly only for travel trade people, sadly because there must have been a stand from every country in the world and for a lover of travelling it was heaven. However, I was a there a couple of days for work and restrained myself from spending too much time looking at the wonders of South America and Africa.

It was a misty couple of days and the photo from the terrace captures that feel in contrast to the mad, busy, bright interior of the event.

I’ve been to a couple of great public exhibitions this week. One was a photographic delight – Beatles to Bowie: The 60s Exposed. This traces the course of the 60s and its pop stars through brilliant photography and magazine and album covers. It’s great fun to see all these icons in their earlier seemingly innocent times when we know what is in store for them. Each caption mentioned a key song from that artist at that time so there was shameless singing along from many visitors, including us at one point I must admit!
The second was at the wonderful Victoria and Albert Museum who are hosting the Maharja: Splendour of India’s Royal Courts. It’s a tour through their world over a couple of centuries of colour and excess. We saw fabulous jewels and paintings and even their 20th century luxuries when their commissions kept Rolls Royce and Van Cleef & Arpels extremely busy. There’s a lot of information and it look nearly 2 hours to get around and a coffee afterwards in the extravagantly decorated V&A cafe was essential.
From a lost worlds of Indian princes and the 60s to a film about lost millions and the internet but all about living lives on the public stage. ‘We Live in Public’ won the documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival and traces the life of Josh Harries, a pioneer in the cyber world through his rise and crash including a section where he lives with his partner on camera 24/7 in a fore runner of films and TV to come. Josh himself was at the cinema for Q&A afterwards which was strange as the film portrays him as an interesting but very unsympathetic character, both of which were borne out in person. We squeezed in cocktails at the Criterion bar and a wonderful lunch in one of Soho’s authentic Italian restaurants – Il Porchetta – huge bowls of lovely pasta and very reasonably priced.
It feels like winter is nigh and the Christmas lights are coming on all over London – more on that next week and perhaps some photos.
Bye for now.
Sue
Sue Hillman