Arts & Entertainment
Your guide to the worlds of art and entertainment. Providing you with the #FLODown on all of the best upcoming exhibitions and cultural events happening in London. Plus, the television shows that you need to be watching, film recommendations, and the best in books.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time”
Thomas Merton
latest in arts
Frieze week brought more than Frieze itself to London this October. A run of new art fairs debuted across the city, each with its own model, its own price bracket and its own idea of who it was for. Minor Attractions also returned for a fourth edition, this time in a new venue. We asked Darren of London Art Roundup to provide a short synopsis of each
After what has been a troubling few years for the art market (at home and abroad), Frieze London & Frieze Masters have brought a sense of unexpected joy and magic both in the art on the wall and in the sales that have followed. We’ve compiled a compact shopping list filled with all the art we can't stop thinking about….
As Frieze draws to a close, FLO London turns its attention across the Channel to the fairs unfolding alongside Paris Art Week, and to what this November’s Paris Photo has in store. Whether you’ve already planned your next trip on the Eurostar or need some convincing, we’re here to tell you Art Basel isn’t the only fair you should have on your radar…
London has one of the largest collections of free museums and galleries in the world, and a lot of its most interesting shows cost nothing to see. Each month we pick two free exhibitions worth making time for. Here are our highlights for October.
With 172 exhibitors at Frieze London alone, that’s a lot of booths, and you only have so many hours to spend time in them all. Our top ten ranges from the heavyweight blue chips to younger galleries, and from big-ticket showstoppers to the stands that literally made us stop mid-sentence…
You have your Frieze Exhibitions Guide. You have your Frieze Music Nightlife Guide. But what about all the other collateral events and activations around the city? Lo and behold, there are many. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a separate list of events to keep on your radar this Frieze Week, from a knit-and-sip crochet club to the Frieze London opening parties everyone is invited to.
Celebrating its 21st edition in 2026, Darbar Festival is the leading festival of Indian classical music in the UK. The five-day celebration of Hindustani and Carnatic music is themed The Shock of the New, and will feature many artists never heard before in the UK…
Nothing beats London during Frieze Week. Every October, an infectious buzz settles over the city as galleries, institutions, brands and even bars and clubs all throw their weight behind art and culture. We wanted to whet your cultural appetite by drawing your attention to a variety of exhibitions to sink your teeth into that go far beyond the fair’s traditional white tent set-up.
October seems to be the busiest time in London's art calendar. Four fairs land in a single week, 280 galleries pitch up in The Regent's Park, and that's before the museums have had their say. Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette lands in Britain for the very first time, Edward Enninful takes over Tate Britain to relive the decade when art and fashion became one…
October is London's busiest month for culture, and this year the calendar is crowded with anniversaries. Frieze returns to The Regent's Park with almost 300 galleries, the BFI London Film Festival reaches its 70th edition, and Bloomsbury Festival turns 20 with more than 150 events across the neighbourhood…
LATEST IN ART NEWS
Frieze London and Frieze Masters closed on 18 October after five days at The Regent's Park, with both fairs reporting sales from four figures to seven…
Morus Art Group, a London cultural initiative founded by Alya Entts, makes its first public appearance in the city on 15 October with Out of the Blue, an exhibition that follows an artistic career through its first phases, from early promise to a first award, guidance from others and the point at which an artist begins working independently…
The Hayward Gallery has announced the largest UK solo exhibition to date by Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei, which is to open in April 2027. The survey will chart her practice from the early 2000s to the present…
Frieze London and Frieze Masters run from 14 to 18 October 2026 in The Regent's Park, marking the 24th edition of the contemporary fair and the 14th of its historical counterpart. Between them they bring 318 galleries to north London for five days, and with them the annual reordering of the city's cultural calendar that is Frieze Week…
Olympia has announced a 12-month partnership with the Design Museum, bringing a programme of free cultural activations to the West London destination across 2026 and 2027. Announced on 24 September, the collaboration draws on the museum's exhibitions and creative programme, positioning the 140-year-old site as one of the capital's newest cultural hubs…
Alice Delhanty's first solo exhibition, Invented Fire, opened at Tache on Newman Street in Fitzrovia on 24 September 2026. The show presents fifteen new paintings in acrylic, among them large triptychs measuring more than three metres across, all made over the past year.
Somerset House Studios is marking its tenth anniversary this autumn with two major projects, a new film installation at its home in Somerset House and a three night takeover of a former power station in East London.
Artist Tschabalala Self unveiled her bronze sculpture Lady in Blue in Trafalgar Square, becoming the 16th commission for the Fourth Plinth since the programme began in 1998. The nine foot tall figure depicts an everyday young woman rendered in vivid blue…
V&A East Museum is staying open until 10pm every Thursday throughout September, with free DJ sets, a pop-up bar and late-night access to its exhibitions and galleries….
Berlin Art Week returns from 9–13 September 2026 for its fifteenth edition, with a city-wide programme across museums, galleries, private collections, project spaces and Positions Berlin Art Fair. Over five days, exhibitions, performances, talks, screenings and special events will take place across Berlin…
The V&A has announced four major exhibitions for 2027 across its London museums, with the programme opening with a look at the cultural upheaval of the 1970s and 1980s before turning to contemporary sculpture, the history of South Indian chintz and new creative work from South Asia…
PATRÓN Tequila has partnered with 77 to launch the new PATRÓN Tequila Lounge…
Gallery view of the Summer Exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts.Photo: © David Parry/ Royal Academy of Arts
Hospital Rooms is celebrating its 10th anniversary by launching a special public sale of limited-edition contemporary art posters, with funds supporting the charity’s work transforming NHS mental health hospitals across the UK. The 10 Posters for 10 Years campaign features artwork created by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists, including Jeremy Deller, Antony Gormley, Beatriz Milhazes, Yinka Shonibare, Anish Kapoor, and Grayson Perry…
LATEST IN INTERNATIONAL ART
As Frieze draws to a close, FLO London turns its attention across the Channel to the fairs unfolding alongside Paris Art Week, and to what this November’s Paris Photo has in store. Whether you’ve already planned your next trip on the Eurostar or need some convincing, we’re here to tell you Art Basel isn’t the only fair you should have on your radar…
The 21st edition of Contemporary Istanbul took place from the 23 - 27 September at a new location, Tersane, a luxurious new development on the Golden Horn waterfront. Over 70 galleries participated from 24 countries. Of all the booths, these four stood out for the strength of their artistic and curatorial programming….
Established in 2006, Contemporary Istanbul is Turkey’s leading art fair. This year’s edition sees more than 70 galleries from 24 countries participating. Nearly a quarter of these galleries are first-time exhibitors, demonstrating its growing reach…
Barcelona Gallery Weekend returns for its 12th edition, with 25 galleries across the city and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat throwing open their doors simultaneously. Amid the more than 50 artists on view, five shows stand out for anyone plotting a route through the city this weeken…
A key engine within the Surrealist movement was the collaborative nature between artists. During the late 1930s, Paris became an epicenter for contemporary artists and writers, many of whom co-created and lived together. Two couples exemplify this spirit of collaboration: Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington…
From surreal figures and textile landscapes to shipping containers, performance art and compelling photography, these are the artists we will be looking for at this year’s Enter Art Fair.
Latest in Books
A collection of short books that possess more power and a profundity than the page count suggest. Each of these books are under 200 pages, making them great for anyone looking to break a reading rut or explore different genres…
6 books to add to your autumn reading list. Including: Yellowface by R.F.Kuang· Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo · Betty by Tiffany McDaniels · Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord · The Queens of Sarmiento Park by Camila Sosa Villada (translated by Kit Maude)…
With lockdown 2.0 upon us we have put together a selection of 7 empowering, feel good reads to keep you busy and inspired during this time…
Milkman is by no means an easy novel to read, it is sluggish and sprawling, feeling longer than its 352 pages; however, it is hugely satisfying to finish. It also presents a haunting look at life during The Troubles in Northern Ireland…
This guide is intended to provide some insight into Jewish life and history. Jewish people come from a wide variety of backgrounds and levels of observance…
Between the World and Me is a poignant and profound piece of work, detailing the most gruesome and raw details of black American history and the everyday black experience in America…
At its core, Calypso is a novel about family. Sedaris highlights the recognisable relationship between siblings in a strikingly honest way: either you exist as the tyrant ruling over the youngsters or you’re the victim of the tyrants’ plots…
We all have the power to make great change, so instead of doing nothing, why not order a few of these books and attempt to understand this widespread issue…
Latest in TV&Film
We’ve put together a guide to the best new and returning TV shows to look out for in 2023. Including shows You; Copenhagen Cowboys; Succession; Top Boy; Happy Valley; Slow Horses; Riches; Snowfall; Outerbanks; Dreamland; Bridergton…
Here is our round-up of eight of the best chick flicks you can watch in the UK on all the various streaming platforms available - including Netflix, Now TV, and Amazon Prime. Of course, honourable mentions must go to The Devil Wears Prada, Clueless, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls and Bridget Jones’ Diary…
We’re the same kind of crazy if you become deeply obsessed with what celebs wear on the red carpet. Even when I was little I’d froth excessively at the mouth whenever a red carpet moment occurred before an award show (the VMAS were my religion)…
Whilst I acknowledge that Sex and the City has quite frankly been around for donkey's years now, I believe there is still much to discuss, dissect and dispute. Carrie is the self-proclaimed ‘it girl’, accomplished columnist and potentially Manhattan’s biggest egotist…
Founded in 1997, the UK Jewish Film Festival is an annual event which takes place for two weeks each November. This year, the festival has gone online, meaning that it provides an ideal opportunity to immerse yourself in Jewish film from the comfort of your own home…
Despite the fact Emily in Paris offered exquisite aesthetics and much needed escapism in a time of despair and civil unrest, it’s hard to be totally sold on the show as a concept…
The second part of Steven Blackman’s Netflix adaptation of the 2007 comic landed in our laps on July 31st, and if you weren’t excited enough already, a string of hype videos posted on Youtube of the Umbrella Academy students themselves will get you there…
Michaela Coel returns to our screens with her new drama exploring the grey areas surrounding consent in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, specifically when sexual conduct takes place under the influences of alcohol and drugs….
The shameless coinciding of the Disney Plus launch with the beginning of lockdown, has brought no end of easily achievable joy. So in the spirit of lockdown happiness, here's a rundown of some of our top recommended films from the (virtual) kingdom where dreams come true…
It’s been almost a decade since Clare Danes came hurtling on to our screens as the energetic, uncontrollable but extremely sharp CIA officer we now know (and love) as Carrie Mathison. Eight seasons later and the show has drawn to a close…
Free, downloadable adult colouring sheets
Colouring sheets are no longer just for children. Each week we will be giving you downloadable colouring sheets done by our illustrator Natalie Hapeshi. Take a break and have some fun…
Latest in Your Fix
I think we have all reached the end of our tethers regarding this pandemic. Boredom has been redefined and I know I’m not the only one counting down the days until we can, go shopping…
It’s clear that Brexit is not going to plan but it somehow still seems to be a topic of endless conversation. In the workplace, at the dinner table and even at your blessed Thursday night drinks! When will it end…
This week we are going to be discussing gym etiquette and if you don’t know what that entails or what that means then this article is directed at you. Welcome to FLO London’s list of the most annoying gym habits…
Being a Londoner is a lifestyle. Whilst some of us are native Londoners, many come to London and become indoctrinated in the lifestyle, and we are all Londoners alike! Here are some sure signs you are indeed a Londoner…