The exhibition offers a timely chance to reflect on how ‘repair’ can guide both our individual and collective healing. Visitors will have the chance to see the talents and skills of designers and makers in action first-hand at the Beasley Brothers’ Repair Shop as they transform discarded objects to give them a new lease of life. The brainchild of designer Carl Clerkin, the installation is modelled on traditional East End repair shops of old, that could (and would) repair anything. Sitting at the heart of the exhibition, the shop will also run live workshops and skills training.
Bringing together everything from textiles and ceramics to furniture, the exhibition reflects upon the hope and healing which can be found in the memories and stories that objects in our everyday lives hold. Celebrating the history and emotional value of the items we hold on to, rather than discard, Eternally Yours highlights works from creatives including textile artists Celia Pym and Angela Maddock, designers Studio Propolis, artist and researcher Ellen Sampson and maker Peter Marigold (with many more to be announced).
Photo London 2022
12–15 May 2022
Site-wide
£29/£19 concessions.
Other ticket options detailed online.
Photo London, the leading international photography fair, returns to Somerset House this May, showcasing the best of photography, from emerging to iconic. Alongside the main section for established galleries, the Discovery section spotlights new talents and spaces less than five years old, and the Publishers section brings together independent publishing houses as well as household names.
Photo London Digital will also return alongside the fair at Somerset House. In the lead-up to the event, the Photo London Academy promotes year-round digital initiatives, including a magazine, regular artist talks and a monthly photography book club.
SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS
Grounding Practice
1 - 11 March 2022
Online
£5 per event
Grounding Practice, Somerset House Studios’ series of events shaped by and for creative practitioners and critical thinkers, returns online this March with a programme of artist and curator-led workshops, talks, and demos.
Spanning practice, process, and skill sharing alongside artist development sessions, Grounding Practice will see contributions from Nkisi, Keiken, Shama Khanna / Flatness, Phoebe Davies, Marta Salogni and Aja, convening creative audiences to exchange methodologies and experiences for creating and learning.
This series of Grounding Practice has been programmed in conjunction with Amplify Digital Arts Initiative (DAI) 2022, an online programme bringing together an international network of female-identifying and non-binary artists and professionals working within the fields of digital arts and electronic music, produced in partnership with British Council, MUTEK, Oi Futuro and Artlab.
Gallery 31
Piece of Mind, Curated by Harlesden High Street
1 April – 17 July 2022
New Wing
Free Admission
Featuring Ocean Loren Balcombe-Toppin, 雅 Y A + Casandra Burrell, Farrah Riley Gray, Tyreis Holder, Koyejo Oloko and Anna Sebastian.
Gallery 31’s fifth season Piece of Mind is a new exhibition curated by Harlesden High Street, an art space which celebrates ungentrified neighbourhoods of London and provides resources for underrepresented artists. Curated by Lucía Ríos González and Jonny Tanna, Piece of Mind explores the effects of the changing functions of our intimate domestic spaces, where we increasingly carry out more work, social and leisure activities.
Presenting a range of multi-media works, the exhibition draws its focus on the bedroom, a space which is often the main environment for these activities. Abstractly evoking a suspended instance inside the mind of an individual, a hypothetical worker of late capitalism, the show seeks to unpack how a space once intimate, private and familiar, can become increasingly contested by outside influences, from long working hours and temporary contracts to virtual social currency, warping the divisions between productive and resting times.
As these boundaries increasingly blur, Piece of Mind explores the challenge of true rest - or peace of mind - and its psychological effect, as our minds are increasingly required to compartmentalise our lives in a way our spaces no longer can.
Supported by the Foyle Foundation
DIGITAL
Somerset House Podcast: The Process
Launching 16 February 2022
Somerset House releases a brand new six-part podcast series, The Process, which takes listeners behind the scenes with some of today’s most exciting creatives on their journey to create new works.
Uncovering the stories of artists, musicians, writers and creators connected to Somerset House’s cultural programme and its experimental artist workspace Somerset House Studios, The Process provides listeners with a fascinating glimpse into the artistic process behind some of the most inspiring works we experience in galleries, on stage, or through our headphones today.
Released weekly, the series touches on a wide range of pertinent and thought-provoking topics, with the creators selecting one big idea emerging from their work in progress, from protest, economics and astrology to music, language, identity and colonialism. Each episode gives listeners a look behind the curtain to the world of the artists it features, capturing the absurdity, joy, and innovation at the heart of the creative process as they explore these ideas. Curator Andy Holden and performance artist Mark McGowan talk politics and performance from the back of a taxi, artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang delves into the world of financial astrology, and La Réunion born activist Françoise Verges and Mauritian artist Shiraz Bayjoo discuss survival and resistance in relation to colonialism in the Indian Ocean region and much more.
The Process is produced by Alannah Chance as part of the Creators in Residence Programme, supported by The Rothschild Foundation.
Upgrade Yourself
Launching in March 2022
A space to hear from trailblazing creatives and industry experts, pick up the hacks and be inspired, Upgrade Yourself is a series of interactive talks and workshops produced by Somerset House. Streamed live monthly, the sessions unpick alternative career pathways in the creative industries – whether behind the scenes or at the forefront – connecting young creatives and high-profile creative industry gamechangers. Upgrade Yourself is aimed at people aged 18-30 who are looking to unlock their creative potential and work out what their next steps are.
FOOD AND DRINK
RESTAURANTS
Dipna Anand at Somerset House
Dipna Anand at Somerset House in partnership with Restaurant Associates is Somerset House’s newest restaurant in the South Wing, joining its vibrant food scene. Heroing the authentic Punjabi and South Indian cuisine that Dipna is known and loved for, the new restaurant brings signature dishes, a new brunch menu and beautiful Thali’s to diners, amidst the stunning interiors and overlooking the River Thames.
Dipna’s dishes include Samosa Chaat Blast, Dehli Makhani Chicken, and Dynamite Wings. Vegetarian and classic Thali plates are available alongside a wider selection of traditional dishes on the à la carte menu such as South Indian prawn curry. Drink highlights include fragrant Indian wines such as Maharashtra, Akluj Sangiovese/Cabernet Franc/Shiraz, classic Indian beverages such as refreshing Mango lassi, plus a wide selection of contemporary cocktails including Passionfruit mojito.
Spring
Skye Gyngell’s restaurant Spring brings acclaimed seasonal, ingredient-led cooking to the elegantly-restored 19th-century drawing room of Somerset House’s New Wing. With its high ceilings, cloud-like chandeliers and blush palette, the stage is beautifully set for elegant dishes, made with biodynamic produce from Fern Verrow farm, which Spring has been in a farm-to-table partnership with since 2015.
Sustainability is at the heart of Spring. In 2019 the restaurant pledged to go single-use plastic-free, and the team serve a daily changing Scratch Menu, comprised of ingredients that would normally be discarded as waste, or unsuitable for service. The skill and innovative approach of Scratch captures the teams' dedication to making the simple, delectable and memorable.
CAFÉS
EAT TEN
Set just off Somerset House’s courtyard, the planet friendly café EAT TEN (formerly e10) champions sustainably designed plant forward menus for breakfast, lunch and mid-day treats. Menus celebrate vegetables as the hero ingredients and use local sourcing where possible, including from Somerset House’s home-grown crops of mushrooms, however a small number of dishes feature British organic eggs and fish that is Marine Stewardship Council certified 1-3.
The café’s ‘Coffee for Causes’ artisan beverages will also be available, where every hot drink purchased supports a wide range of charities from the Outside Project to Off the Streets. The seed-to-plate philosophy extends to transparent traffic-lit menus to inform customers of the comparative volume vs footprint their food choice carries.
WatchHouse
Modern coffee experts WatchHouse welcome guests to its stunning light-filled space inside Somerset House’s East Wing. During the day, it’s the perfect place to grab a coffee, ethically sourced and roasted by WatchHouse, and a delicious accompaniment from the equally well-sourced selection of House made savouries, pastries and seasonal bakes.
As the day draws in, choose from a carefully curated wine, cocktail and locally crafted beer list alongside an assortment of appetising nibbles.
As the warmer weather makes an appearance in London, WatchHouse will be re-opening its popular brunch kitchen for full brunch service, and resume its Lates service from Thursdays – Sundays, featuring an extended drinks and small plates menu, available both inside and at tables in the spectacular surrounds of Somerset House’s courtyard.
