Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 museum exhibitions to see in London in February. If you’re after more shows, check out last week’s top 5 where all remain open to visit.
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Hew Locke: what have we here? @ The British Museum
This is such a powerful and important exhibition. Using objects from the collection, mixed with ship and bust artworks by Locke, he interrogates and shines a light on Britain’s colonial past – including some of the horrors of Imperialism and how museums were part of it. It’s exactly what museums should be doing and what should be taught in schools. Until 9th February, ticketed.
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Looks Delicious! @ Japan House London
It’s time to celebrate the Japanese art of creating replica dishes to entice customers into restaurants. The level of detail on these objects is fantastic, and you even get to make a bento box with the ‘food’ items. Japan House has a knack for putting on some bold exhibitions and this is one of my favourite shows they’ve put on. Until 16th February, free.
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Letizia Battaglia: Life, Love and Death in Sicily @ The Photographers’ Gallery
These images capture Mafia shootings and assassinations, with bodies under white sheets and moments when Mafia bosses are arrested. She also snapped more candid street scenes including a fallen horse with a broken leg and a young girl holding a football. I didn’t know about this fantastic photographer before and this show gives them the attention they deserve. Until 23rd February, ticketed.
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Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c. 1504 @ Royal Academy of Arts
In these three names, the Royal Academy has brought out three of the heaviest hitters from art history. It includes stunning works by all three artists accompanied by smaller sketches that are great, if not possessing the star appeal of all the sculpture, cartoon and paintings. Until 16th February, ticketed.
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Turner Prize @ Tate Britain
It’s the first time in a while that I’ve thought all four finalists of the Turner Prize were solid entries, each dealing with their respective heritages – whether that’s colonialism, race, childhood or migration. All four deal with important issues and the Turner Prize feels relevant again. Until 16th February, ticketed.
Hew Locke image: Copyright Trustees of the British Museum. Japan House photo: Jeremie Souteyrat. Copyright Japan House London. The Photographers’ Gallery image © Courtesy Archivio Letizia Battaglia. RA photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited. Turner Prize image © Tate Photography, Josh Croll.