VISIT London from September 14 to 22, and you’ll find weirdness and wonder. The 17th London Design Festival is coming to town, with a display that magnifies gemstones to galactic size at Islington’s Collins Theatre and sees the shoppers’ paradise of South Molton Street transformed by wacky and colourful street furniture. Dotted around the V&A Museum will be 10 artworks, from Avalanche by Matthew McCormick—an introspection on climate change—on the landing of the British Gallery, to This Much I’m Worth by Rachel Ara, reflecting on the history of neon and its use in the sex trade. They’ll be wild, they’ll be vibrant. They’ll also be in the tradition of the V&A, which has its origins in a kind of design festival— the Great Exhibition of 1851.
That pioneer was followed by others—the 1853 Exhibition of Art-Industry in Dublin; the 1862 International Exhibition in London; the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857. Of the latter, Prince Albert wrote that: ‘No country invests a larger amount of capital in works of art of all kinds than England, and in none almost is so little done for art-education.’ Yet the Great Exhibition’s permanent legacy lay in the South Kensington estate that the exhibition commissioners bought with the money left over from the project—an astonishing £180,000.
This story is from the September 11, 2019 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 11, 2019 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
