The best art exhibitions to see in London in autumn 2026
After the slower pace of August, London’s art scene comes back to life in September, with galleries and museums reopening their doors to a packed programme of exhibitions. The months ahead bring major shows exploring everything from the cultural energy of the 1990s to questions of identity, memory, politics and justice, alongside ambitious new commissions and long-awaited exhibitions by some of the most influential artists working today. Here is our guide to the best exhibitions opening in London in autumn 2026.
The 90s: Art and Fashion
Juergen Teller, Young Pink Kate, London 1998 © Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved
#FLODown: In October, Tate Britain takes us back to the decade when British culture exploded with confidence, attitude and creative freedom. Curated by Edward Enninful OBE, The 90s: Art and Fashion brings together the artists, photographers, designers and cultural figures who defined one of Britain’s most influential eras. From Britpop and rave culture to Cool Britannia, supermodels and the rise of the Young British Artists, the 1990s saw art, fashion, music and popular culture collide like never before. Featuring photography by Juergen Teller, Corinne Day, David Sims, Nick Knight and Wolfgang Tillmans, alongside work by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Chris Ofili, Gillian Wearing, Steve McQueen and Yinka Shonibare, the exhibition also showcases boundary-pushing fashion by Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Stella McCartney. More than a nostalgia trip, The 90s explores how a rebellious generation challenged creative hierarchies, changed the way Britain saw itself and left an influence that is still everywhere today.
Date: 8 October 2026 – 14 February 2027. Location: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Price: £22 / free for members. Book now.
Nan Goldin: You Never Did Anything Wrong
Nan Goldin. Image credit Max Michael Crame
#FLODown: In November 2026, the Hayward Gallery will open an exhibition dedicated to acclaimed American artist and activist Nan Goldin. You Never Did Anything Wrong will explore the beauty and fragility of the human condition through her powerful photography, documenting personal relationships, addiction and queer communities over five decades. The exhibition will present intimate images from Goldin’s own life and the lives of those around her, showing how personal experiences connect with wider social and political themes. It will mark her first institutional exhibition in the UK since 2002 and celebrate her influential contribution to contemporary photography.
Date: 24 November 2026 – 7 March 2027. Location: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Price: from £19. Concessions available. Book now
Amar Kanwar
Amar Kanwar, Such a Morning, 2017. (Film still). Digital video, 4K, colour, sound, 85 min. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery.
#FLODown: Serpentine North will devote its galleries to the New Delhi-based artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar this autumn, whose quietly hypnotic films explore the histories and political realities of the Indian subcontinent. Drawing on the legacies of Partition and decolonisation, Kanwar’s work considers displacement, power, memory and nationalism through a distinctive blend of film, sound and installation. Conceived in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition brings together new and existing works, including the premiere of The Charcoal Man (2026), a seven-screen installation, alongside Such a Morning (2017) and The Peacock’s Graveyard (2023). It continues Serpentine’s long-standing engagement with Kanwar, which began with Indian Highway in 2008.
Date: 23 September 2026 – January 2027. Location: Serpentine North, West Carriage Drive, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AR. Price: Free. serpentinegalleries.org
Es Devlin: Other Worlds
Portrait of Es Devlin at the Design Museum, 2026. Photo: David Parry for the Design Museum
#FLODown: An Es Devlin exhibition is coming to the Design Museum in September, celebrating the artist and designer’s 30-year career across sculpture, performance, language and light. The exhibition will explore her work, from theatrical and musical stage designs to Olympic ceremonies and large-scale public installations, while also showcasing rare sketches, models, texts and behind-the-scenes materials. Visitors will also see new projection-mapped sculptures and kinetic installations created especially for the exhibition.
Date: 18 September 2026 – 11 April 2027. Location: Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6AG. Price: £21. Concessions available. Book now.
Cecilia Vicuña
Cecilia Vicuña, Quipu Menstrual 1 (unknotted), 2006 / 2024. Site-specific installation with unspun wool and video. Dimensions variable; video duration: 4 minutes, 13 seconds. Installation view, Cecilia Vicuña: Soñar el Agua. Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil. May 17 – September 15, 2024. Photo Isabella Matheus
#FLODown: A major exhibition celebrating six decades of work by Chilean artist, poet and feminist activist Cecilia Vicuña will open at Whitechapel Gallery in October 2026. The exhibition explores Vicuña’s interdisciplinary practice across painting, textiles, photography, installation and film, with a particular focus on ecological destruction, human rights, indigenous knowledge, cultural preservation and political resistance. It will feature important works including Quipu Menstrual, inspired by the ancient Andean communication system, and Prayer for the Rebirth of Peace in All Lands, a fragile installation made from natural and discarded materials. The exhibition will also explore Vicuña’s connection to London and her involvement with Artists for Democracy, which she co-founded in 1974 in solidarity with Chile and other liberation struggles.
Date: 7 October 2026 – 14 February 2027. Location: Whitechapel Gallery, 77–82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX. Price: TBC. whitechapelgallery.org
Salman Toor: Someone Like You
Salman Toor (b. 1983), The Bar on East 13th, 2019, Oil on panel, 36 x 48 inches, 91.4 x 121.9 cm. © Salman Toor; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and Thomas Dane Gallery.
#FLODown: The first major European solo exhibition by acclaimed artist Salman Toor will open at The Courtauld Gallery, showcasing 19 paintings created since 2019 alongside a special display of his drawings. The exhibition explores themes of identity, belonging, queerness, migration, friendship and urban life through intimate and thought-provoking works inspired by Toor’s personal experiences. Blending influences from European Old Masters, Mughal painting and contemporary culture, the exhibition highlights his distinctive storytelling and exploration of human connection.
Dates: 2 October 2026 – 10 January 2027
Location: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN. Price: £18. Concessions available. Book now
Inji Efflatoun: The Poetics of Justice
Inji Efflatoun, Dreams of the Detainee, 1961. Oil on canvas. 50 x 40 cm. Courtesy Hassan Mahmoud Galal el-Din. Image courtesy Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
#FLODown: The work of one of Egypt’s most important twentieth-century artists will go on display at Whitechapel Gallery in October. Inji Efflatoun: The Poetics of Justice will explore five decades of Efflatoun’s artistic and political practice, bringing together paintings, drawings, photographs and archival material. A feminist and political activist, Efflatoun used her art to address anti-colonialism, women’s rights, workers’ rights and social justice. The exhibition will feature her early Surrealist paintings, drawings made during her imprisonment from 1959 to 1963, paintings depicting Egyptian labourers and agricultural workers, and later works celebrating the natural world. Together, these works will highlight Efflatoun’s pioneering role as an artist-activist in twentieth-century Egypt.
Date: 7 October 2026 – 14 February 2027. Location: Whitechapel Gallery, 77–82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX. whitechapelgallery.org
Wakaliga Uganda
Wakaliga Uganda, production image, 2025. Commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London. Courtesy of the artists.
#FLODown: Wakaliga Uganda, also known as Wakaliwood, will present its first UK solo exhibition at Chisenhale Gallery this October. Founded by Isaac and Harriet Nabwana, the Kampala-based film collective is known for its ultra-low-budget action films, which rework the visual language of Western action cinema through DIY production, explosive sequences and collaborative storytelling. Their playful and inventive films explore global power dynamics, cultural representation and African storytelling. The exhibition will premiere a newly commissioned film exploring the historical and political significance of Kibuuka Omumbaale, a warrior and god of the Baganda people of central Uganda.
Date: 2 October – 6 December 2026. Location: Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Road, London E3 5QZ. Book now.
Autumn Knight: I Can’t Complain
Autumn Knight, NOTHING #59: Biennales, 2022. Photo: Laylah Amatullah Barrayn.
#FLODown: The ICA London will open a solo exhibition by New York-based artist Autumn Knight, I Can’t Complain, presenting a new commission alongside recent installation, video and performance work. Marking Knight’s first major presentation in the UK, the exhibition will explore complaint, disappointment and its political potential, considering how everyday frustrations can reveal wider questions around power, voice, authority and participation. Drawing on theatre, psychology, improvisation and social exchange, Knight will transform the Lower Galleries through an audio and spatial installation featuring a canopy of balloons, recorded conversations and video works, alongside live performances and collaborations with artists including Samra Mayanja, Michelangelo Miccolis and nick von kleist.
Date: 29 September – 29 November 2026. Location: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH. General booking will be on sale from 15 September. ica.art
Light & Magic: The Birth of Art Photography
Long Chin-San, Riverside Spring 1942. The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund © Courtesy the Estate of the Artist
#FLODown: Tate Modern will explore the story of Pictorialism, the international photographic movement that helped establish photography as a recognised form of fine art. Featuring 200 rare vintage prints by more than 80 artists from across Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia, Light & Magic explores how photographers experimented with light, printing and staging, while drawing inspiration from painting and other artistic traditions. From dreamlike portraits and landscapes to bold modernist compositions, the exhibition offers a fresh look at photography and the artists who helped shape its future.
Date: 14 October 2026 – 21 February 2027. Location: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: Free for Tate Members; £5 for Tate Collective members aged 16–25. tate.org.uk
Renoir and Love
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 'Dance at the Moulin de la Galette', 1876
#FLODown: Renoir and his Impressionist paintings will be coming to the National Gallery in October. The exhibition will showcase 40 of Renoir’s most joyful and admired works, exploring love, friendship, family and everyday life, including Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876), which will be shown in the UK for the first time. Offering a chance to discover how Renoir captured the beauty and emotion of human connection through his unique Impressionist style.
Date: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027. Location: National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN.Price: £20 Sunday–Thursday; £25 Friday–Saturday; Under 18s go free. Book now.
Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends
Ian McKellen, Love, London, 2023 © Tim Walker. Tim Walker’s Fairyland. Love and Legends to open at National Portrait Gallery in 2026.
#FLODown: An exhibition celebrating queer identity, community and love through the imaginative lens of one of Britain’s most influential photographers, Tim Walker, will open at the National Portrait Gallery this autumn, in time for Frieze Week. Known for his whimsical, fairytale-inspired style, Walker presents a body of new work developed over five years, featuring activists, performers, artists and writers captured in his distinctive visual language. Bringing together exuberant portraits and fantastical landscapes, the exhibition invites visitors into Walker’s richly imagined world, shaped by his longstanding inspirations and collaborations. Curated by Susanna Brown and accompanied by a new publication featuring contributions from leading cultural voices, Fairyland offers a joyful and expansive celebration of creativity, individuality and the freedom to be oneself.
Date: 8 October 2026 – January 2027. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: TBC. npg.org.uk
The Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux Tapestry Cliffs of Dover thank you © The Trustees of the British Museum.
#FLODown: The highly anticipated return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England has already generated extraordinary public interest. For the first time since it was made nearly 1,000 years ago, the 70-metre-long embroidery will be displayed at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027, following a historic loan agreement between the UK and France. Depicting the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the Tapestry offers a unique insight into medieval life, from warfare and ships to clothing, food and architecture. The exhibition has proved hugely popular even before opening, with tickets for the initial September–December 2026 release selling out within days, following what the British Museum described as its biggest ticketing day for an exhibition in its history.
Date: 10 September 2026 – 11 July 2027. Location: The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, Room 30, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG. Price: from £25, with standard tickets at £33; under-16s go free with a paying adult.
September–December 2026 tickets have sold out. Tickets for January–March 2027 are due to be released in October 2026, followed by April–July 2027 tickets in January 2027. britishmuseum.org
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