London Gallery Weekend in the Financial Times
The third London Gallery Weekend runs between June 2 and June 4 and, with 123 galleries participating in 135 venues across town this year, is the biggest free-to-visit gallery event in the world. Train strikes planned on Friday and Saturday might deter those from outside the capital, but for those in London already, there is a boosted programme of more than 100 public events, performances and expert-led live tours.
The event is grouped across four areas of London - Central, West, East and South - with the Central area by far the largest (87 venues). For those outside the city, this makes the event more vital. "Galleries in Mayfair almost operate as a different industry from those elsewhere, especially in Peckham, for example, and the gap is getting bigger," says Alexandra Warder, co-founder of south London's Bosse & Baum. "But London Gallery Weekend is designed and built by galleries, so they are sensitive about who it is for." Warder's gallery opens a solo show of the Czech artist Kateřina Šedá, who brings an extension of a series made for care homes in Austria and Slovakia (2019-21). This turns residents' former homes into wooden sculptures that are also birdhouses (priced between £10,000 and £30,000).
