Artist talks and lectures to have on your radar in London this autumn 2025
With London’s busy exhibition calendar this autumn comes a slew of artist talks, providing a chance to gain insight into the people, ideas, and experiences shaping today’s art scene. From celebrated photographers Annie Leibovitz at the Barbican and Anne Lennox at the V&A, to acclaimed contemporary artists Yinka Shonibare and Liliane Lijn at Tate Modern, as well as iconic figures Don McCullin, Kerry James Marshall, Annie Lennox, and Gilbert & George, and emerging voices including Rachel Jones at Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Here is our guide to some of the artist talks to have on your radar in London this autumn.
Yinka Shonibare in conversation
Portrait of Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. Photography by Tom Jamieson. Image © Yinka Shonibare CBE and Tom Jamieson.
#FLODown: Acclaimed artist Yinka Shonibare and Booker Prize-winning writer Ben Okri will come together at Tate Modern on 9 October 2025 for a conversation on the impact of Nigerian Modernism on art, literature, and cultural institutions. The discussion will explore the movement’s post-independence spirit of experimentation and its influence on contemporary creative practice. Chaired by Nigerian Modernism exhibition (opening at the Tate on 8 October 2025) exhibition curator Osei Bonsu, the evening will also feature a celebration of Nigerian sounds with a guest DJ bringing energy to the Corner.
Date: Thursday 9 October 2025. Time: 6:30 – 8 pm. Location: Starr Cinema, Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: £15 / £13 for Members; £13 Concessions; £5 for Universal Credit or Pension Credit recipients. Book now
An Evening with Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
#FLODown: Celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz will appear at the Barbican in November for an exclusive evening exploring the stories behind her iconic Women series. Recognised as a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, Leibovitz has defined portrait photography for over five decades, with her work appearing on the covers of Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. The event will showcase her landmark collection WOMEN, first published in 1999 and now back in print with a new edition, featuring portraits of extraordinary figures such as Louise Bourgeois, Joan Didion, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Patti Smith, Elizabeth Taylor, and Serena and Venus Williams. The evening will provide unique insight into the people, ideas, and experiences that shaped these iconic images.
Date: 24 November 2025. Location: Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS.Price: From £133.95. Book now
Curator talk with Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall, 2018. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, London. Image credit Felix Clay. © Kerry James Marshall
#FLODown: Ahead of his retrospective exhibition opening at the Royal Academy of Arts, Kerry James Marshall will discuss his extensive career and his new series of works in a curator-led talk with Mark Godfrey at the Royal Academy of Arts. The conversation will explore his large-scale paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, highlighting the references that shape his art, from art history and contemporary culture to Afrofuturism and science fiction. Known for centring Black figures in monumental compositions, Marshall’s work reflects on the legacies of the Middle Passage, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and historical figures such as Olaudah Equiano and Harriet Tubman, while imagining more optimistic futures.
Date: 19 September 2025, 6.30–7.45pm. Location: Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £20/£12 in person or £10/£8 online. Book now
Annie Lennox: Retrospective
Annie Lennox
#FLODown: Annie Lennox, one of the most influential and best-selling artists of her generation, will be in conversation with Deborah Frances-White at the V&A South Kensington to celebrate the publication of her first illustrated memoir, Retrospective. Renowned as both a music icon and activist, Lennox will reflect on her extraordinary career, from her rise to fame in the 1980s as one half of Eurythmics to her acclaimed solo work and activism as a Global Feminist. Through images and stories drawn from her new book, she will offer unique insights into her life, work, and the woman behind one of the most powerful voices in popular music and social change.
Date: 26 September 2025, 6:30 – 8:15 pm.Location: The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Price: £15 – £20 (includes wine reception). Book now
Artist Talk: Vulnerability and Self-Portraiture
Dianne Minnicucci, from the series Belonging and Beyond, 2025. © Dianne Minnicucci.
#FLODown: Artist Dianne Minnicucci will join writer Gem Fletcher at Autograph, London, for a conversation on vulnerability and self-portraiture, held in conjunction with her new exhibition Belonging and Beyond. The talk will explore how unease in front of the camera, questions of where to look, how to hold the body, can become acts of self-discovery, intimacy, and collaboration. Through this new series of portraits featuring herself and her young son, Minnicucci embraces the tension between exposure and concealment, revealing how moments of discomfort can open powerful artistic possibilities
Date: Wednesday 10 September 2025, 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Location: Autograph, Rivington Place, London EC2A 3BA. Price: £5 (free options available; no one turned away for lack of funds). Book now
Artist Talk: Felicity Hammond
V3: Model Collapse, 2025. © Felicity Hammond
#FLODown: Artist Felicity Hammond will give a talk on in September at The Photographers’ Gallery, reflecting on her current exhibition and distinctive artistic practice, which spans photography, sculpture, installation, and technology. Her work examines the built environment, highlighting cycles of construction and decay as well as the digital traces of unrealised futures. Hammond will discuss her image-making process, material transformation, and the role of archives and datasets in her work, exploring how photography can both challenge and be destabilised by technology. The event will be moderated by writer, artist, and curator Joanna Zylinska.
Date: Friday 12 September 2025, 6:30 – 7:45 pm. Location: The Photographers’ Gallery, 16–18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW. Price: £10. Concessions available. Book now
Don McCullin in conversation
Don McCullin - Photo: Matilda Temperley, 2022. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. © Don McCullin
#FLODown: Photographer Sir Don McCullin CBE will join Tim Marlow for a conversation on Wednesday 1 October 2025, reflecting on his remarkable 70-year career. The discussion will cover McCullin’s early work documenting post-war life in Britain, his powerful photojournalism capturing global conflicts and humanitarian crises, and his more recent exploration of rural landscapes and still lifes inspired by Flemish and Dutch Renaissance masters. The conversation is organised in partnership with Hauser & Wirth and supported by The Natalia Cola Foundation, and will be available both in-person (sold out) and via livestream.
Date: 1 October 2025, 6:30 – 7:45 pm. Location: The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD or online via livestream. Price: £20 / £12 in person (sold out); £10 / £8 online. Book now
Gilbert & George in Conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist
Gilbert & George, FRIGIDARIUM, 2008. Courtesy of Gilbert & George and White Cube.
#FLODown: Two of Britain’s most iconic artists, Gilbert & George, join curator Hans Ulrich Obrist for an evening of in-depth discussion at the Purcell Room. Drawing on over forty years of dialogue with the pair, Obrist will explore the central themes of their practice – identity, morality, modern life and their motto “Art for All.” The conversation will reflect on their life-long collaboration since meeting at Central Saint Martin’s in the 1960s, their identity as “living sculptures,” and the provocative subjects at the heart of their work, from sex, money and race to religion, death and hope. Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries and one of the world’s most influential curators, brings a unique perspective shaped by his long-standing collaboration with the duo, including co-curating their major retrospective The Great Exhibition.
Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025, 7pm. Location: Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Price: Tickets from £12 (+ £3.50 booking fee). Book now
Liliane Lijn in conversation
Portrait of Liliane at her studio by Sophie Wedgwood
#FLODown: Innovative artist Liliane Lijn will appear in conversation at Tate Modern inNovember, reflecting on her remarkable career from 1959 to the present. Renowned for her exploration of language, movement, and the intersections of art, science, technology, and myth, Lijn’s work spans a variety of media, including her early investigations into light and matter and her ongoing creation of new feminine forms. She will be joined by Valentina Ravaglia, Curator of Displays and International Art at Tate Modern, to discuss her practice and its continuing influence.
Date: Thursday 6 November 2025, 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Location: Starr Cinema, Tate Modern, Corner Bar entrance, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: £15 / £13 for Members; £13 Concessions; £5 for Universal or Pension Credit recipients; £5 for Tate Collective (ages 16–25). Book now
An evening with Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones Millinery SS25, The Curve, Photos by Paul Bryan
#FLODown: Celebrated milliner Stephen Jones will appear in conversation at the Design Museum in Novembeer 2025, offering an insight into his extraordinary career and iconic designs. Emerging during London’s late-70s street style explosion, Jones gained early recognition both as a Central Saint Martins student and a style icon at the legendary Blitz nightclub, always adorned with his distinctive hats. Over the decades, his creations have graced magazine covers, window displays, and the heads of celebrities including Boy George, Diana, Princess of Wales, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Mick Jagger. As part of the museum’s Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s exhibition, Jones will discuss the creative energy of the Blitz Club scene and its lasting influence on his work, reflecting on his impact on contemporary fashion and millinery.
Date: Tuesday 4 November 2025, 7 - 8:30pm. Location: Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG. Price: £20. Concessions available. Book now
Curator talk: A Story of South Asian Art
Mrinalini Mukherjee and works in progress at her garage studio, 1985. Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive. Courtesy of Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation and Asia Art Archive. Photo: Ranjit Singh.
#FLODown: Curator Tarini Malik will lead a talk at the Royal Academy of Arts in November, exploring the interconnected network of artists who shaped South Asian art history. Focusing on the exhibition A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle, Malik will discuss the life and intricate works of Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949–2015), whose art blends abstraction with the human form and draws on nature, South Asian architectural and craft traditions, and international modernism. The talk will also highlight works by Mukherjee’s mentors and peers, including her parents Benode Behari Mukherjee and Leela Mukherjee, and leading figures of modern and contemporary Indian art such as K.G. Subramanyan, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh, and Jagdish Swaminathan.
Date: 21 November 2025, 11am – 12pm. Location: The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £15 / £9. Book now
Lee Miller Exhibition Talk
Lee Miller, Model with lightbulb, Vogue Studio, London, England c.1943 © Lee Miller Archives, England 2024. All rights reserved. leemiller.co.uk
#FLODown: Tate Britain will host a series of exhibition talks introducing the major retrospective of pioneering photographer Lee Miller. The one-hour lectures will explore Miller’s extraordinary career, from her involvement in French surrealism to her iconic fashion and war photography, as well as lesser-known work such as her images of the Egyptian landscape in the 1930s. Featuring around 250 vintage and modern prints, including many never before displayed, the exhibition highlights Miller’s poetic vision and fearless approach to photography, with the talks providing context and insight to enrich the visitor experience.
Date: 4 November 2025, 1 - 2pm; 9 January 2026, 1 - 2pm; 12 February 2026, 1 - 2pm. Location: The Clore Auditorium, Tate Britain, Manton Entrance, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Price: £35 / £15 for Members; £20 for Tate Collective (ages 16–25). Book now
Rachel Jones in conversation
Rachel Jones. Image credit Adama Jalloh.
#FLODown: Ahead of the end of her current exhibition Gated Canyon at Dulwich Picture Gallery, artist Rachel Jones will join curator Jane Findlay for an inspiring conversation and wine reception in October. The discussion will explore Jones’s artistic practice, sources of inspiration, and approach to creativity. Renowned for her vibrant use of colour, blending of abstract and figurative motifs, and distinctive mark-making, Jones continually pushes the boundaries of contemporary painting. The event also includes entry to her exhibition Gated Canyon, with a promo code provided to book a preferred time slot.
Date: Friday 17 October 2025, 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Location: The Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, Dulwich, London SE21 7AD. Price: £30, Friends £15, Concessions £25 (Friends receive 10% off events). Book now
Menzies Lecture 2025: The Life of Emily Kam Kngwarray
Emily Kam Kngwarray near Mparntwe / Alice Springs after the first exhibition of Utopia batiks, 1980. Image credit Toly Sawenko
#FLODown: Australian First Nations curators Kelli Cole and Hetti Perkins will present the 2025 Menzies Annual Lecture at Tate Modern in October, exploring the life and work of Emily Kam Kngwarray, a pivotal Anmatyerr artist (c.1914–1996). Kngwarray played a key role in redefining contemporary Aboriginal art with her distinctive style and powerful creative vision, gaining international recognition. Drawing on their experience curating significant solo exhibitions of her work, Cole and Perkins will reflect on Kngwarray’s influence on late 20th-century art and her enduring legacy.
Date: Wednesday 22 October 2025, 6:30 – 8 pm. Location: Starr Cinema, Tate Modern, Corner Bar entrance, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: £15 / £13 for Members; £13 Concessions; £5 for Universal or Pension Credit recipients; £5 for Tate Collective (ages 16–25). Book now
Learning from Brazil: Architecture on Stage
Image credit Pedro Thiago Silva
#FLODown: An evening of talks at the Barbican’s Frobisher Auditorium will explore architecture, community, and resistance in Brazil, with contributions from Gabriela de Matos, Ruina, and Arquitetura na Periferia. De Matos, an award-winning architect and urban planner, focuses on Black Brazilian heritage, memory, and the decolonisation of space. São Paulo-based collective Ruina creates experimental installations and publications that question urban change and decay, while Arquitetura na Periferia, a women-led initiative in Belo Horizonte, empowers communities to design and build their own homes through collaboration. Chaired by Manon Mollard, editor of the Architectural Review, the event highlights socially engaged practices that challenge conventional architectural models and reimagine the built environment from the ground up.
Date: 8 October 2025, 7:00 pm. Location: Frobisher Auditorium 1, Level 4, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £15+BF. Book now
