Events

Japan House are delighted to present – Kyotographie – the first ever photography show at Japan House London. This has been organised in partnership with Kyotographie International Photography Festival.

One of the most celebrated Japanese photographers working today, Kawada has been active for eight decades and is particularly known for his continuous innovation. The exhibition features his seminal 1965 photobook Chizu (The Map), which examines the scars of the postwar period. Kyotographie also explores his fascination with celestial phenomena in The Last Cosmology, and some examples of the most recent work that the 93-year-old regularly posts on social media.

In her first major UK show, Iwane presents her fascinating, award-winning series Kipuka, exploring the lives of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. She also shares works from the series A New River, which captures eerily lit cherry blossoms at night in Japan’s northeastern Tо̄hoku region during the COVID-19 crisis. These otherworldly images are populated with characters from Japanese folk traditions.

This exhibition is supported by Epson UK Ltd.

The exhibition at The Courtauld focuses on Salman Toor’s exploration of human interactions and the desire and struggle to experience a sense of belonging, both culturally and emotionally. The exhibition will bring together around 20 of the artist’s most iconic, thought-provoking and yet humorous paintings that represent people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alienation.

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1983, Toor trained in the United States. He currently lives and works in New York. He has had major exhibitions internationally, including his acclaimed first institutional solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2020-21). More recently, he participated in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2024). The Courtauld’s exhibition will be Toor’s first solo museum show in Europe.

This display at the British Museum will explore Sufi life and art through a selection of objects that represent Sufi communities in the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, and northern India. This mystical movement, which first appeared in the Islamic world during the eighth century AD, has been defined as a pathway to a personal experience with God.

Among the British Museum objects on display will be Islamic artefacts imbued with Sufi connotations. Some, such as alms bowls, are linked overtly to dervishes, while others have a more subtle connection, such as calligraphic works, miniature paintings and wall tiles. Sufis come from all walks of life, crossing the boundaries of class, ethnicity and regionality. The display will explore such themes as mystical love, poverty and asceticism, as well as Sufi influence upon the wider societies they belong to.

This display is in Room 43a: The Islamic world (The Albukhary Foundation Gallery)
 

At The Photographers’ Gallery, there will be a major exhibition reframing the history of Japanese photography through the voices and lens of 27 women working from the 1950s to today.

This landmark exhibition rewrites the story of Japanese photography through the eyes of women. Japanese Women Photographers spotlights the work of 27 groundbreaking artists, from the 1950s to today, whose perspectives have shaped how Japan sees itself, and how it is seen by the world.

Spanning identity, pop culture, fashion and everyday life, the exhibition celebrates internationally renowned Japanese women photographers, alongside those who have long been overlooked. The result is a powerful rebalancing of a history too often told through a single, male-dominated lens. 

Leighton House presents the first major exploration of its extraordinary Arab Hall, one of London’s most iconic interiors, through a specially commissioned short film, three site-specific art installations and an exhibition and new publication containing extensive new research.

This collaborative and interdisciplinary project examines the space’s remarkable history and its continued relevance today. The exhibition forms a central part of the celebratory programme of 100 Years of Leighton House, which marks Leighton House’s anniversary as a public museum, under the governance of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

The Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK), in collaboration with the City of Icheon, is delighted to present Icheon and Beyond: The Space Within Form, an exhibition exploring the philosophical and material foundations of Korean ceramics. Rooted in the rich heritage of Icheon—a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art—the exhibition is inspired by the profound idea that a vessel’s true essence lies in the empty space it holds. It examines how artists shape not only clay but also space, balance, and meaning.

The exhibition features a remarkable group of 27 practitioners, bringing together 21 Master Artisans of Icheon alongside 6 Contemporary Artists. Together, they trace the sedimented time and layered mastery of the craft. The journey begins with works that serve as a physical record of silent endurance and technical perfection—a distilled presence of aesthetic values formed through the patient accumulation of years.

During Asian Art in London 2026, the British Museum will host a beautiful exhibition focusing on the story of Korea’s distinctive and vibrant arts – from 300 BC to today.

This expansive show draws exclusively from the 23,000 works donated by the late Samsung group Chairman Lee Kun-Hee to the National Museum of Korea (NMK) and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) in 2021. The collection, which includes many objects designated as National Treasures, spans more than two millennia and is renowned for its exceptionally high quality.  

Featuring standout examples of sculpture, painting and decorative arts from the Bronze Age through to the 20th century, the exhibition will present the most comprehensive chronological span of Korean visual and material culture seen in Europe since Treasures from Korea: Art Through 5000 Years, held at the British Museum in 1984.  

From ancient goldware to ritual Buddhist instruments, and from celadon-glazed 13th-century stoneware to contemporary works responding to the turbulence of the 20th century, the objects on display tell a truly panoramic story of the history of Korea. Originally created for a range of settings including royal palaces, Buddhist temples, Confucian academies, scholars’ studios, vibrant spaces of daily life and modern art spaces, most of the objects have never been seen in the UK before.
 

Urushi (lacquer) has been used in Japan for over 7,000 years. For centuries, lacquer-making techniques developed locally while reflecting cross-cultural influences from Asia.

This display highlights the diversity of 21st-century artistic expression.

The exhibition is curated by Masami Yamada and is presented for the 40th Anniversary of the Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art. ⁠

‘Hokusai: Thirty-six views of Mt. Fuji from the Iuchi Collection’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery brings one of the world’s most iconic print series to London. Created between 1830 and 1833, the exhibition presents, for the first time in the UK, the complete set of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai, Japan’s most celebrated printmaker.

The exhibition is made possible through the courtesy of the Iuchi Collection, in partnership with The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Palace Museum in Beijing. 

Using archival and recent photographs, this exhibition will present the transformative 100 years of the Palace Museum from an imperial palace complex to a public institution that serves as a museum, research centre, cultural tourist attraction, historic palace complex, and World Heritage Site. 

In a century marked by profound transformation in China, the Palace Museum stands not only as a symbol of cultural heritage, but also as an active participant in the nation’s modernisation and development. This exhibition is jointly organised by the Palace Museum and Oriental Museum. 

In the 1980s, Chinese artists began to reimagine craft as a medium for artistic expression. This display explores the dimensions of studio craft practice in China today, and the innovations which have grown from China’s longstanding craft tradition

‘Dimensions: Contemporary Chinese Studio Crafts’ is the fruit of a four-year research and acquisition project generously funded by the Art Fund and numerous individual supporters. Building upon three generations of curatorial effort, the display brings together an array of ceramics, glass, lacquer, metalwork and textile objects from over 70 artists. It demonstrates the development of studio craft in China since the 1980s, revealing the many dimensions of artistic practice and how these ideas refer to China’s longstanding craft tradition.

Supported by KennedyTing and Tiān Foundation.