Openings, Shows & Events Not To Be Missed In 2017
By Something CuratedWith the new year comes a whole host of promising openings, spanning a breadth of sectors. As well as the annual staples, including London Fashion Weeks, Frieze and summertime graduate shows, Something Curated has assembled a busy calendar covering some of the most exciting restaurant launches, hotel openings, exhibitions, theatre performances and more, happening in the city over the course of 2017.
Hotels
The Ned || Nick Jones (Opening in Spring)
The Soho House group are converting the former Midland Bank headquarters, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, into a new luxury hotel. The Ned hotel gets its name from the eminent architect’s nickname and has been redesigned using the faded glamour of a 1930s transatlantic ocean liner as inspiration. Making the most of its historic features, the Portland stone facades will be caringly restored and the banking hall’s green verdite marble columns and walnut panelling preserved. The bars and restaurants on offer include a Parisian cafe, Grill Room and a branch of Cecconi’s. Former offices on the upper floors will become 252 suites, restaurants and a rooftop bar with landscaped terraces, health spa and gym. The vast Ned hotel also includes event spaces and a private members’ club featuring a rooftop space with Nick Jones’s signature swimming pool.
Belmond Cadogan || Roeland Vos (Opening TBC)
Belmond, the luxury hotel group behind Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, is backing the £28 million investment project in The Cadogan, the impressive hotel on Sloane Street. Built in 1887 in the Queen Anne style, The Cadogan was notably the location of Oscar Wilde’s infamous arrest. Building upon this colourful history, the property is undergoing a two-year renovation, which reduces the number of rooms and suites from 64 to 54 to accommodate the demands of luxury travellers. Belmond and Blair Associates Architects are leading the site’s redevelopment, with interior design by the London office of GA Design International, the firm behind the Corinthia Hotel.
Hôtel Costes, Sloane Square || Jean-Louis Costes (Opening TBC)
Jean-Louis Costes, the visionary who created Paris’s Hôtel Costes, is bringing his boudoir chic concept to London for the first time. He has teamed up with one of London’s biggest aristocratic landowners, the Cadogan Estate, and eminent French designer Jacques Garcia, to create a Chelsea version of the Rue St Honoré venue. They will convert the Victorian apartment building at One Sloane Gardens, on the corner of Sloane Square, into an opulent 40-room hotel. Work on the building, designed by Liberty architect Edwin Thomas Hall, begun in 2015, and the hotel is set to open at some point this year.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square || Isadore Sharp & Murray Koffler (Opening 26 January)
One of the most iconic buildings in the City of London, Ten Trinity Square, has been transformed into a luxury hotel. The grade II listed building, originally the headquarters of the Port of London Authority, opened in 1922, design by architect Sir Edwin Cooper. The third Four Seasons Hotel in London, occupies the lower ground to the third levels, with 100 guest rooms and suites, two restaurants, bars, meeting salons and spa. The restaurants include La Dame de Pic from acclaimed three Michelin-starred French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, and a second flagship Asian restaurant serving contemporary Japanese and Chinese cuisine, open later in 2017. The Rotunda, which sits at the heart of the hotel, houses a bar and all-day dining room under the original domed ceiling, beautifully restored after heavy bombing during World War II.
Exhibitions
Alex Baczynski-Jenkins: The Tremble, The Symptom, The Swell And The Hole Together at Chisenhale Gallery || Alex Baczynski-Jenkins & Polly Staple (Opening 20 January – 12 March)
Chisenhale Gallery presents a new body of work and the largest commission to date by London and Warsaw-based artist and choreographer Alex Baczynski-Jenkins. Baczynski-Jenkins presents a choreography that unfolds across the duration of the exhibition, examining the relationships between affection, distraction, desire and loss. Performed by Baczynski-Jenkins’ collaborators and presented within a minimal and adaptive set, the choreography incorporates two interwoven temporal formats: fortnightly ‘Episodes’ on Thursday evenings, followed by extended ‘Fugue’ performances every Friday to Sunday, 2-6pm. The work traces queer affinities across social practices, art forms and timeframes.
Eduardo Paolozzi at Whitechapel Gallery || Lydia Yee & Iwona Blazwick (Opening 16 February – 14 May)
Eduardo Paolozzi was one of the most innovative and irreverent artists of the 20th century. Considered the ‘godfather of Pop Art’, his collages, sculptures and prints challenged artistic convention, from the 1950s through to the Swinging Sixties and advent of ‘Cool Britannia’ in the 1990s. This major Eduardo Paolozzi retrospective spans five decades and features over 250 works; from the artist’s post-War bronzes, revolutionary screen-prints and collages, to his bold textiles and fashion designs. Alongside Paolozzi’s early Brutalist concrete sculptures, highlights include material from his groundbreaking performance lecture Bunk! (1952), his large-scale Whitworth Tapestry (1967) and the iconic sculpture Diana as an Engine (1963).
Centrifugal Soul at Blain|Southern, Mayfair || Mat Collishaw (Opening 7 April – 27 May)
In his forthcoming exhibition at Blain|Southern, Mat Collishaw presents bold new sculpture and paintings, which explore scientific theories about why we make and display art. Collishaw worked in partnership with evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller to produce Centrifugal Soul, a work based on Miller’s theory that the human capacity for making art stems from natural instincts of courtship and reproduction. This zoetrope sculpture brings to life birds of paradise as they perform elaborate mating dances and hummingbirds extract pollen from wild blossom. Meanwhile, flowers burst into brilliant bloom as a way to attract pollinating birds. The zoetrope medium is also visual enticement, designed to attract and seduce the viewer in a similar way.
Haroon Mirza at Zabludowicz Collection || Haroon Mirza (Opening 28 September – 17 December)
Marking the ten-year anniversary of the Chalk Farm space, Haroon Mirza’s commission will rework two of his previous pieces into a new installation that will reflect the architecture of what was once a Methodist chapel. Mirza was born in London in 1977 where he lives and works, and has won international acclaim for installations that test the interplay and friction between sound and light waves and electric current. He devises kinetic sculptures, performances and immersive installations. He describes his role as a composer, manipulating electricity, a live, invisible and volatile phenomenon, to make it dance to a different tune and calling on instruments as varied as household electronics, vinyl and turntables, LEDs, furniture, video footage and existing artworks to behave differently.
Rachel Whiteread at Tate Britain || Rachel Whiteread, Ann Gallagher, Helen Delaney & Linsey Young (Opening 12 September – 4 February)
Tate recently announced highlights from their 2017 programme, which will feature major retrospectives of contemporary artists including David Hockney, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rachel Whiteread and Emilia and Ilya Kabokov. Twenty-three years down the line, it’s not easy to forget how Rachel Whiteread stunned audiences with her Turner Prize entry ‘House’: the concrete cast of the interior of a Victorian home in east London. It won her the accolade, making her the first female recipient, and since then, Whiteread has risen to become one of the most influential figures of the art establishment. Tate Britain will celebrate Whiteread’s position as one of the UK’s most highly respected sculptors in September with an exhibition spanning her 30 year career.
Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction at Barbican Centre || Jane Alison (Opening 2 June – 1 September)
Comprising everything from Godzilla concept art to Ray Harryhausen models, the Barbican is set to present the vast and rich history of sci-fi during a major exhibition this summer. Original concept art and models from Stargate and Dark City, along with manuscripts by Jules Verne, new commissions and music, film and contemporary art come together in this huge summer exhibition capturing sci-fi as we know it. Objects from adored films, including pieces from the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, tell the story of how the genre went mainstream, as well as how it has altered for 21st century audiences.
Grayson Perry: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! at Serpentine Gallery || Grayson Perry & Hans-Ulrich Obrist (Opening 8 June – 7 September)
It’s an irony of contemporary art that often once artists become known by the public, they are disliked; while the genuinely loved artists are, in turn, viewed with suspicion by the art world. So the question raised by the Serpentine’s summer show is this: will it be okay to still like Grayson Perry given that he’ll surely please an atypical art audience? Perry has said he’s in the “communication business” so perhaps he knows what he’s doing. The artist is an unlikely man of the people. Perry works in traditional materials and his themes are as easy to read and grasp: autobiography, class, religion and sex. The world is changing in so many ways; might even contemporary art go mainstream, if only for summer 2017?
California at Design Museum || Justin McGuirk (Opening 24 May – 15 October)
While California’s mid-century modernism is well documented, this is the first exhibition to examine its current global reach. Picking up the story in the 1960s, the exhibition charts the journey from the counterculture to Silicon Valley’s tech culture. Its central idea is that California has pioneered tools of personal liberation, from LSD to skateboards and iPhones. This ambitious survey brings together political posters, personal computers and self-driving cars but also looks beyond hardware to explore how user interface designers in the Bay Area are shaping some of our most common daily experiences. The exhibition reveals how this culture of design and technology has made us all Californians.
Restaurants & Bars
Six Storeys || Sydney Camm & Ralph Hooper (Open)
Sydney Camm and Ralph Hooper have built a reputation for their distinctive blend of restaurant, bar and private hire spaces at venues like the Victorian Bath House and Tanner & Co, but Six Storeys in Soho is certainly their most ambitious venture yet. Guests can expect a refined and decadent experience, whether they’re stopping for dinner on the Square or hosting an event. Drawing influence from “the Square’s colourful and bohemian past”, Six Storeys offers six spectacular floors dedicated to drinking, dining and private function revelry. The restaurant and bar areas, found on the first two levels, will deliver a selection of fine wines, spirits, beers, vintage cocktails and a “stylish range of dishes and splendid treats”, while the remaining four floors will be dedicated to hosting private events.
Bibendum || Claude Bosi (Opening in Spring)
There had been concurrent talk for some time of Claude Bosi, of the recently closed Hibiscus, re-opening in South Kensington, and of celebrated space Bibendum securing a new big name chef. It has now been confirmed that Bosi will be taking over the food offering at Bibendum. The striking Michelin Man adorned building in South Kensington offers two dining spaces, and Bosi will be running both. First, there’s the seafood restaurant on the ground floor, while the oyster bar becomes a new cocktail bar. Upstairs, the dining room is where the more formal Bosi experience will be situated, perhaps redolent of Hibiscus. The restaurant is currently closed in preparation for Bosi’s takeover.
Kricket || Will Bowlby & Rik Campbell (Open)
The original Kricket has been a huge hit since it opened in Pop Brixton, and is one of the most popular food spots in the neighbourhood. Chef Will Bowlby and front of house Rik Campbell, the founders, have opened Kricket Soho on Denman Street this month, near Piccadilly Circus, following the success of the original at Pop Brixton. It seats 70 diners across two floors, a marked difference to the Brixton site which can cram 20 into its shipping container home. It serves modern Indian small plates, with many of the south London favourites making a West End transfer. There are several new dishes as part of an extended menu made possible by the increase in space.
River Cafe II || Ruth Rogers (Opening TBC)
The American-born co-founder of the Michelin-starred River Cafe, whose protégés include Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, is set to create an Italian sister restaurant at a site in Mayfair. She said she hoped to open the venue this year, three decades after setting up the River Cafe with Rose Gray, who passed away in 2010. The restaurant famously started life as a staff canteen for the offices of her architect husband Richard Rogers, before becoming one of London’s premier eateries. The new space will be run by River Cafe chefs Sian Owen and Joseph Trivelli and managers Vashti Armit and Charles Pullan. The restaurant will naturally be designed by Lord Rogers’s practice Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners.
Ferdi || Alicia & Jacques Fontanier (Opening 21 January)
Paris restaurant Ferdi, long known as a haunt frequented by designers and models, is launching in London’s Shepherd Market. Ferdi first opened in Paris in 2004, quickly becoming a favourite among fashion insiders. The Shepherd Market space is set to be an intimate affair, seating around 28 diners inside and 8 outdoors. Lunch will be walk-ins only and they’ll be taking reservations for dinner by text shortly. Speaking of their move to London, the founders said: “The opportunity arose and we decided why not! We already had a lot of Ferdi Paris clients living in London so it seemed like the perfect place. This spot reminded us a lot of the Paris location. Small and cosy and in a great area!”
L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele || Condurro Family (Opening February)
Naples’ most famous pizza joint, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, featured in the bestselling travel memoir Eat Pray Love, is set to open a branch in London. The restaurant, which has been in the same location since 1930 and is run by a family whose pizza heritage goes back to 1870, is known for making the best pizzas in Naples and is a point of pilgrimage. Pilgrims from the UK won’t need to travel quite so far now, thanks to the soon-to-open London branch, which will be on Stoke Newington’s Church Street. The London restaurant will follow the same formula that has won it acclaim in Naples, serving margherita and marinara pizzas as well as offering the same wine and beers that are served in the original pizzeria.
Fashion
London Fashion Week February 2017 || Natalie Massenet (Opening 17 – 21 February)
Organised by the British Fashion Council for the London Development Agency with help from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London Fashion Week first took place in October 1983. It currently ranks alongside New York, Paris and Milan as one of the ‘Big Four’ fashion weeks. This February, Expect a busy season of shows, including presentations from London favourites, J.W.Anderson, Molly Goddard, Faustine Steinmetz, Erdem and Ashish, to name a few. In addition, this year marks the launch of London Fashion Week Festival, running from 23-26 February at 180 Strand.
Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion at V&A || Cassie Davies-Strodder (Opening 27 May – 18 February)
The V&A is set to present the first exhibition on Balenciaga in the UK, marking the 100th anniversary of the opening of his first fashion house in San Sebastian and the 80th anniversary of the opening of his famous Paris salon in 1937. Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion will take an almost forensic look at the craftsmanship and skill that made Balenciaga’s creations so special, as well as exploring how his work has shaped future fashion design. His exquisite craftsmanship and pioneering use of fabrics and cutting set the tone for the modernity of the late 20th century. The retrospective follows the likes of previous fashion exhibitions presented at the V&A, including the major Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty show, which remains the museum’s most-visited exhibition to date.
London Fashion Week Men’s June 2017 || Natalie Massenet (9 – 12 June 2017)
The rebranded London Fashion Week Men’s, formerly London Collections Men, showcases a breadth of exciting new and emerging talent, alongside established favourites, running from 9-12 June 2017. Following the recently concluded January presentations, we will have to wait till summer to see more from menswear designers including Craig Green, Grace Wales Bonner and Alex Mullins.
Performing Arts
Giselle at London Coliseum || Mary Skeaping (Open)
The English National Ballet has already done a Giselle this season in the form of the radically reimagined ballet created by the choreographer Akram Khan. But this return to the company’s rigorously classical, historically accurate version, created by Mary Skeaping in 1971, offers a very different take. The dancers seem to have been energised and given focus by having just performed a modern interpretation of the famous supernatural love story; now, this old favourite gleams with new life as a result. It also helps to have the brilliant Alina Cojocaru playing the eponymous doomed villager.
The Glass Menagerie at Duke of York’s Theatre || John Tiffany (Opening 26 January – 29 April)
John Tiffany’s poignant Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie earned high praise at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival for the way it fused Tennessee Williams’ melancholy classic with mesmerising music and design. Now there’s a chance to catch it in the West End, in a cast led by Broadway heavyweight Cherry Jones. Jones plays a faded Southern belle and domineering mother who can’t make sense of her awkward daughter Laura, played by Kate O’Flynn, and her failure to attract suitors. Meanwhile Tom, a thinly disguised self-portrait from Tennessee Williams, is desperate to escape their conservative household.
Individual Collective 3rd Birthday at Corsica Studios || Kangding Ray, Ancient Methods, Paula Temple Rrose, Tessela & more (Opening 4 February)
Corsica Studios is an independent arts organisation that sets up and develops creative spaces in areas of London. Located in two railway arches immediately behind the shopping centre in the Elephant and Castle, Corsica Studios is divided into two spaces – the live music and bar area and a second, smaller studio next door. There is also a large terrace and outdoor space to the rear of the building. Individual Collective are back for their third birthday celebrations with some of electronic music’s finest performers. Bringing back a couple of familiar faces, the line up promises to be the most diverse to date.
Roman Tragedies at Barbican Centre || Ivo van Hove (Opening 17 – 19 March)
Ivo van Hove’s celebrated mash up of Shakespeare’s Roman tragedies – ‘Coriolanus’, ‘Julius Caesar’ and ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ – is six hours long, and doesn’t have an interval in the conventional sense. But it is one of the greatest theatre productions ever staged, less a gruelling feat of endurance than a great communal endeavour, in which the audience is invited to meander around the stage, sit down, buy drinks and snacks during the frequent semi-pauses and generally be thrust into the heart of things. It was last seen at the Barbican in 2009 and has been brought back as part of van Hove’s theatre company Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s 2017 Barbican takeover.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at Old Vic || Tom Stoppard (Opening 25 February – 29 April)
Tom Stoppard became an overnight celebrity after his witty riff on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ opened at the Old Vic. 50 years on, the theatre is marking this success with an anniversary revival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead starring Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire as the hapless double act, with David Haig as The Player King. The production will be directed by David Leveaux, who’s already lent his hand to West End and Broadway productions of two later Stoppard hits, Jumpers and Arcadia.
Fairs & Festivals
Condo 2017 || Vanessa Carlos (Open)
Condo, conceived by London art dealer Vanessa Carlos, co-founder of Carlos/Ishikawa gallery in Whitechapel, launched its inaugural edition in January last year. Carlos’s proposal offers an intelligent solution for galleries keen to present their artists to a wider public, when the costs of participating in art fairs are mammoth and sales remain unpredictable. Her idea involves London galleries lending their spaces for a month to foreign dealers to stage collaborative exhibitions, showcasing artists from both rosters. Predominantly featuring North American and European guests, there are also visitors from Shanghai, Guatemala City and Sao Paulo this year. Condo offers an exciting chance to get to grips with a diverse group of artists who might otherwise seldom make an appearance in London.
Masterpiece London || Harry van der Hoorn, Simon Phillips, Harry Apter, Thomas Woodham-Smith & Robert Procop (Opening 29 June – 5 July)
Masterpiece London launched in 2010 with a unique focus on cross-collecting. Over the past seven years it has established itself as the leading international event for viewing and buying the finest works of art, from antiquity to the present day. This fusion of heritage and style, tradition and the contemporary draws close to 40,000 visitors each year for an exceptional week of cultural, culinary and social experiences in the heart of London. Located on the South Grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Masterpiece is an unmissable event at the height of the capital’s summer arts season.
The London Design Festival || Ben Evans (Opening 16 – 24 September)
The London Design Festival celebrates the achievements of designers who are making a significant difference to our lives through their innovation and originality. Established in 2003, the London Design Festival is a citywide celebration that brings together a global community of designers, artists, architects, and retailers to activate projects responding to the transformative power of design. In 2016 over 400 events and installations took place, from an engaging programme at the Victoria & Albert Museum to large-scale installations across landmark locations. These interventions reflect the stimulating diversity of creative thinking, and are all united in their ability to inspire, entertain and arouse curiosity.
BFI London Film Festival || Clare Stewart (Opening October)
The BFI London Film Festival, under the directorship of Clare Stewart, presents a resolutely diverse selection of projects. The Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s most established. Last year, for its 60th edition, the programme saw headline galas shown at the Odeon Leicester Square each evening, alongside a busy schedule of independent films, documentaries and talks, occurring over twelve days. The Festival screened a total of 193 fiction and 52 documentary features, as well as 144 short films, with screenings taking place at venues across the capital, including, BFI Southbank, Picturehouse Central, the ICA, Curzon Soho, the Ritzy in Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse and Curzon Chelsea, to name a few.
London Literature Festival at Southbank Centre || Jude Kelly (Opening October 2017)
As befits our global city, the London Literature Festival attracts great writers from all over the world each year, for a series of talks, readings, workshops and spoken word performances. Taking place over two weeks, The London Literature Festival focuses on the power of words and how this can change the world for the better. Concentrating on different themes each year, the programme, hosted at Southbank Centre, celebrates the optimism of the human spirit and the ability of the arts to celebrate and transform lives.
Frieze London || Amanda Sharp, Matthew Slotover & Victoria Siddall (Opening 5 – 8 October)
Frieze London has established itself as a pivotal event in the global art calendar. Launched by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover back in 2003, the fair is now directed by Victoria Siddall, whose reputation in the art world was cemented four years ago when she engineered the launch of Frieze Masters. Frieze London houses booths from 160 galleries from over 25 countries, featuring an astonishing breadth of contemporary art. In conjunction with the commercial event, Frieze Projects is a non-profit programme of artists’ commissions presented annually at the fair.
Degree Shows
Central Saint Martins Degree Shows (Opening May – June)
Central Saint Martins is one of a number of colleges under the banner of University of the Arts London. The college boasts eminent alumni including fashion designers Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, singer Jarvis Cocker, painter Lucian Freud and sculptor Antony Gormley. The campus at King’s Cross opened in 2011, welcoming 5,000 students and staff. Show One, running in May, focuses on the college’s art courses, including BA Fine Art, MA Fine Art, MA Photography, MA Art & Science, MRes: Exhibition Studies, MRes Moving Image, and MRes Art Theory and Philosophy. Show Two, which commences in June, will showcase the work of students from the Fashion, Product, Ceramic and Industrial Design, Culture and Enterprise, Drama and Performance, Design and Practice, Graphic Communication Design, Spatial Practices and Jewellery and Textiles schools.
Slade Degree Show (Opening May – June)
The renowned institution dates from 1868 when solicitor and philanthropist Felix Slade bequeathed funds to establish three Chairs in Fine Art, at Oxford University, Cambridge University and University College London. The school’s previous list of teachers is a distinguished one, including Henry Tonks, Wilson Steer, Randolph Schwabe, Lucian Freud, Phyllida Barlow, John Hilliard, Bruce McLean and Alfred Gerrard. The annual show represents The Slade’s potential contribution to future discourses in international art. This vast exhibition is highly varied, with the artists on display employing a plethora of languages and devices.
Westminster Graduate Fashion Show (Opening May)
The University of Westminster has built a strong reputation in recent years for cultivating fashion talent, including designers Christopher Bailey, Claire Barrow and Liam Hodges. Every year, the Westminster graduate fashion show gives creative yet exhausted students a chance to present their work on a large-scale platform. In many ways, the resulting collections are the purest form of fashion, frequently manufactured on small budgets and driven by the singular ideas of one designer, making them a captivating insight into some of Britain’s brightest minds.
Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art Exhibition (Opening July)
Discover emerging talent from a range of creative and innovative disciplines at venues across London this summer, courtesy of Goldsmiths University. The renowned MFA Fine Art course’s, which was attended by a number of prevalent artists, exhibition takes place in July. Running from April to September 2016, expect an eclectic programme of exhibitions, shows and performances showcasing the exciting work of the school’s latest graduates, from courses spanning Art, Art Psychotherapy, Computing, Cultural Studies, Dance, Psychotherapy, Design, Educational Studies, Media and Communications, Music, Sociology, Theatre and Performance, and Visual Cultures.
Architectural Association Projects Review (Opening July)
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Projects Review is the culmination of the year’s work at the Architectural Association, showcasing student work from across the school, from Foundation to PhD, online, on page, on the wall and in the gallery at Bedford Square. Every summer, the graduation ceremony in the Bedford Square gardens is followed by the opening of the Projects Review exhibition, the launch of the website and the publication of the book, an academic year and the world of the AA captured in each format.
The Bartlett Summer Show (Opening July)
University College London created the first chair of architecture in 1841, making The Bartlett the first architecture and built environment school established in the UK. The school is named after the original benefactor, Sir Herbert Bartlett. It is home to The Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, one of the most prestigious and competitive architecture and urban planning schools in the world. The Summer Show is the annual celebration of student work at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Over 450 students show innovative drawings, models, devices, texts, animations and installations in this busy annual presentation.