- Tat London
- 3 days ago
- 13 min read
River Yuhao Cao, The Glass Essays, 2024, still from moving image, 16 mins. 40 sec.
2026 feels like it may be an interesting year ahead and we are rather looking forward to it. At Tat, we will be concentrating on the more pleasant side of life for the next twelve months. We want the pages of this site to feel curious, comforting and as joyful as possible.
We will continue to encourage you outdoors whenever we can, and to delight in the company of others when it feels fitting. We will aim to bring interest where possible and, as ever, if you think of anything that might feel Tat like, I would be very grateful if you got in touch.
Happy New Year Friends!
Now - 4th January
Celebrate the festive season at the Royal Opera House with a performance of The Nutcracker, seasonal dining and a visit to the Paul Smith Christmas installation. Free to enter and open daily from 12 noon, it offers a welcoming retreat from the bustle of Covent Garden Piazza, with floating Christmas trees, festive tours and panoramic views across the illuminated streets of central London. From world-class ballet to atmospheric seasonal experiences throughout the building, the Royal Opera House is a magical destination at Christmas.
This exhibition explores the work of Scottish artist and musician Rory McEwen (1932–1982), whose luminous botanical paintings redefined the genre by bridging illustration and modern art. Alongside his visual practice, it highlights McEwen’s role in the 1960s folk revival and presents personal objects that reveal his rich creative life.
Turner in January, 1st - 31st January, National Galleries Of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
The much-loved Turner in January exhibition returns to the National, presenting a free annual display of J.M.W. Turner’s luminous watercolours. Bequeathed to the nation by collector Henry Vaughan in 1900 and shown each January in line with his wishes, the exhibition offers a welcome sense of brightness at the darkest time of year. In 2026, visitors will also have the rare opportunity to see Norham Castle, Sunrise in Edinburgh, on special loan from Tate later in the year.
Gainsborough’s House, in partnership with the Stanley Spencer Gallery, presents a major exhibition devoted to Sir Stanley Spencer (1891–1959), one of the most original figures in twentieth-century British art. Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk brings together important loans from public and private collections to explore how Spencer’s personal relationships and deep sense of place shaped his work during visits to Suffolk in the 1920s and 1930s.
Treasure: History Unearthed showcases 5,000 years of remarkable finds, from Bronze Age gold and Viking silver to buried coin hoards, revealing personal stories and global connections from the North West and Wales. Featuring the largest collection of archaeological treasure ever shown in the region, with key loans from the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru, the exhibition explores how discoveries are recorded, conserved and researched. Curated by National Museums Liverpool, it is the winner of the Society for Museum Archaeology’s Award for Excellence 2025.
Vivienne Westwood: Designer in Focus, Now - 17th October, Walker Art Gallery, William Brown St, Liverpool, L3 8EL
Vivienne Westwood: Designer in Focus is a new display celebrating the influential designer’s career, featuring 17 outfits from 11 collections dating from 1981 to 1994. From her punk beginnings with Malcolm McLaren to later reworkings of historical dress and British tailoring, the showcase highlights Westwood’s lasting impact on fashion.
Out of the Crate at Manchester Art Gallery offers a behind-the-scenes look at the city’s publicly owned sculpture collection, combining exhibition and research to uncover hidden histories. With around 400 works spanning antiquity to the present day, the display reveals rarely seen sculptures, archival material and the challenges of care and conservation, while inviting visitors to help investigate under-researched ‘cold cases’. This open, investigative approach encourages the public to become art detectives and take part in shaping understanding of the collection.
Week Commencing 5th January
This winter, chef Jacob Kenedy and food writer Rachel Roddy bring the flavours of ancient Rome to Bocca di Lupo, with a month-long menu. Drawing inspiration from Apicius and other classical sources, the feast reimagines decadent Roman dishes for today, using peak-season British and Italian ingredients. The menu celebrates bold flavours, from garum-seasoned meats to honey-led desserts, offering a vivid glimpse into Rome’s rich culinary past.
Week Commencing 12th January
Guess How Much I Love You? is a powerful new relationship drama that follows a pregnant couple waiting for their 20-week scan, as the future they imagined begins to unravel. Exploring the complexities of starting a family, impossible choices and enduring love, the play is led by Rosie Sheehy and Robert Aramayo, both making their Royal Court debuts. Directed by Olivier Award-winner Jeremy Herrin, this world premiere by Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright Luke Norris also features Lena Kaur.
Couture Techniques is a popular one-day workshop led by dressmaker Jolanta Cerniauskiene, designed to build confidence working with high-end fabrics such as chiffon and silk satin. Using a domestic sewing machine, participants will learn specialist techniques including French seams, rolled hems, bias binding and button loops, leaving with a set of practice samples. Open to anyone familiar with a sewing machine, the workshop is taught by an expert with over 25 years of industry experience in couture and fashion design.
Price: £125
Myakin hosts a private viewing at Anteros Arts, presenting a curated selection of 20th-century decorative arts and furniture. The event offers visitors the opportunity to view new and existing pieces in person, providing insight into the ongoing evolution of Myakin’s collection and shop.
MimeLondon is an occasional series of curated international physical and visual theatre, continuing the legacy of the London International Mime Festival. The 2026 season presents edgy and unconventional work by exceptional artists, alongside film screenings and specialist workshops led by experts in their fields. The programme will be hosted across Sadler’s Wells East, The Peacock, The Place and Shoreditch Town Hall, with thanks to all partner venues for their support in bringing bold and experimental work to London audiences.
Week Commencing 19th January
Celebrate Burns Night at The Walmer Castle with a week of Scottish-inspired food, drink and conviviality. The menu features classics such as haggis with neeps and tatties, Aberdeen Angus beef and seasonal roasts, alongside a range of whisky cocktails, including special serves on tap. Whether for a midweek supper or the main Sunday celebration, the week promises a warm and lively tribute to Scotland’s traditions.
Art and the City: Renaissance to Early Modern is an in-person year-long course exploring the relationship between art, artists and the city from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Led by Dr Kathy McLauchlan, it examines how urban wealth and power shaped artistic production, from Baroque Rome to the Dutch Golden Age, while offering expert insights, discussion and access to recorded lectures.
Celebrating 40 years at the forefront of the interiors world, The Decorative Fair has established itself as the UK’s must-visit event for interior designers, presenting antiques, fine and decorative art and 20th-century design from the 1700s to the 1970s, across a wide range of price points. With over 130 exhibitors, the Fair is a destination for those who value individuality and sustainable design, offering exceptional variety and choice.
Price From: £12
Claridge’s Bakery opens this January on Brook’s Mews in Mayfair, led by internationally acclaimed chef and baker Richard Hart, who joins as Executive Baker & Creative Director. Celebrating the craft of British baking, the menu features classic favourites alongside Hart’s renowned sourdough breads, freshly baked each morning for hotel guests and the wider public. Inspired by Hart’s London upbringing and Claridge’s rich heritage, the bakery marks his much-anticipated return to the UK.
Gecko’s The Wedding, presented as part of MimeLondon at Sadler’s Wells East, reimagines marriage as a binding social contract, questioning love, obligation and the possibility of escape. Through movement, striking imagery and emotionally charged storytelling, an international ensemble leads audiences into a dystopian world where everyone is wedded to society. This powerful work lays bare the tensions between unity and isolation, asking whether it is ever too late to change course and begin again.
Prices From: £15
London Art Fair returns to the Business Design Centre each January as a leading destination for art collectors. Showcasing an exceptional line-up of modern and contemporary galleries from around the world, the fair also features curated museum displays, immersive installations, live performances and an inspiring programme of talks, tours and workshops across Encounters and Platform.
Price From: £22.50
High Renaissance to Baroque: Caravaggio to Bernini is an online course exploring European art of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, set against the upheavals of the Reformation and Counter Reformation. Led by expert lecturers including Dr Kathy McLauchlan, it examines the emergence of the Baroque through artists such as Caravaggio, Bernini and El Greco, from Rome to France and England. Lecture recordings, notes and study materials remain available for 10 weeks after the course, with opportunities for online discussion and shared learning.
Price: £300
Marie Antoinette Style: Museums and the Art of Scent is a one-day study morning introducing olfactory curation with award-winning artist and historian Tasha Marks, founder of AVM Curiosities. The session explores the re-creation of the scents of Versailles alongside AVM’s museum projects, offering insight into scent as a powerful storytelling medium. Participants will also receive an exclusive atomiser featuring a fragrance developed for the Marie Antoinette Style exhibition.
Price: £150
Rupert Goold returns to his five-star Almeida hit American Psycho, the darkly satirical musical with book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik, based on Bret Easton Ellis’s cult novel. Beneath Patrick Bateman’s immaculate surface of wealth, status and ambition lies a chilling double life, as those around him begin to disappear. Outrageously entertaining and sharply unsettling, the production offers a razor-edged critique of capitalism that leaves audiences dangerously absorbed.
Rococo to Revolution explores the eighteenth century as a dynamic period shaped by Enlightenment ideas about humanity and its place in the world, yet ultimately marked by the upheaval of the American and French Revolutions. European art of the era was richly varied, evolving from the playful ornamentation of Rococo to the more restrained and severe language of Neo-classicism, inspired by classical antiquity. This revival was encouraged by the Grand Tour and later harnessed by Emperor Napoleon, who adopted the neo-classical style as a powerful tool of political propaganda.
The London Short Film Festival (LSFF), the UK’s leading short film festival, returns for its 23rd edition. Presenting 300 boundary-pushing films from emerging talent, acclaimed directors and archive discoveries, the festival spans London’s cinemas and creative spaces with work that surprises, unsettles and endures. This year’s theme, Cinema Remembers What We Forget, explores memory and identity through bold, unfiltered short-form storytelling.
Stained-glass artist Flora Jamieson leads a hands-on workshop at the Haymarket Hotel, introducing participants to traditional techniques used to create a stained-glass quarry, the decorative square commonly found in Victorian windows. The session includes all materials, morning coffee and lunch in Brumus Restaurant, with guidance through historic processes such as trace painting and silver staining using hand-mixed pigments. Completed pieces are kiln-fired at Flora’s studio and posted to participants, ready to hang and admire, making this an inspiring experience for beginners and enthusiasts alike in a central London setting.
£145 per person
Burns Night in London is a much-loved highlight of the year, celebrating the life of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, with eating, drinking, dancing and laughter. Marked on 25th January, Burns’s birthday, the tradition honours the writer of enduring works such as Auld Lang Syne. First celebrated in 1801 by a small group of Burns’s friends meeting in a pub, it has remained a cherished occasion for Scots and admirers of his work ever since.
Price: £63
Week Commencing 26th January
A View of One’s Own: Landscapes By British Women Artists, 1760 - 1860, 28th January - 20th May, The Courtauld Gallery The Project Space, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN
A View of One’s Own reveals a new perspective on the Golden Age of British landscape art, showcasing drawings and watercolours by women artists working between 1760 and 1860. Featuring 10 largely overlooked figures, the exhibition highlights artists who continued to train, practise and exhibit despite exclusion from institutions such as the Royal Academy. Drawn from The Courtauld’s growing collection, the display and accompanying catalogue bring overdue recognition to artists whose work has remained little known or only recently rediscovered.
Join author and historian Anna Buruma for an illustrated talk exploring how Liberty & Co became synonymous with Aestheticism and the English Art Nouveau movement, transforming artistic dress at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on rare archival material and unpublished pattern books, Buruma reveals how Liberty’s pioneering designs challenged restrictive fashions and redefined style. This talk offers a rich insight into the brand’s lasting influence on fashion, design and cultural history.
Price: £17.50
This evening life-drawing session is inspired by early twentieth-century female photographic portraiture, from 1910s sepia to 1930s Technicolor. Working from a live model and projected images from the National Portrait Gallery Collection, participants will explore how historic photographs can be reinterpreted through pose, light and atmosphere. Led by artist Tanya Harris, whose practice is rooted in life drawing and portraiture, the workshop brings the elegance and drama of vintage photography into the studio.
Price: £20
Fresh: Art Fair, 30th January - 1st February, Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY
Fresh: Art Fair returns to Alexandra Palace, featuring over 75 leading galleries, the fair showcases original contemporary and modern art, from emerging talent to internationally renowned artists, across media including painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics and photography. Known as London’s friendliest art fair, it also offers talks, workshops, demonstrations and family-friendly activities, making it an ideal place to begin or build an art collection.
Price From: £12
New Contemporaries, the UK’s leading organisation for early-career artists, presents its annual group exhibition featuring 26 artists selected through an open call by Pio Abad, Louise Giovanelli and Grace Ndiritu. The works explore themes including dystopian futures, climate crisis, displacement, gentrification and systems of power, alongside questions of connection across time, place and digital space. Drawing on more than 75 years of supporting emerging talent, New Contemporaries continues its mission to champion new artists through exhibitions, mentoring and partnerships with major institutions.
New Film Releases
People We Meet On Vacation (9th January), Hament (9th January) & Saipan (23rd January)
Antique Fairs & Markets
Auctions
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