What are the best art exhibitions and art workshops to experience with kids near London this year? We asked art expert mums who live, laugh, love art with their kids in tow on a regular basis the top 3 art exhibitions or hands-on activities they were most looking forward to in 2024.
Read on for inspiration from mums who know the London art scene extremely well and love to share it with their kids!
Top picks from Georgina Wedderburn – An artist who shares her many art-filled family days out on @art_satsuma
Zineb Sedira: Dreams Have No Titles at Whitechapel Gallery
This will be a fully immersive experience where visitors move through a range of different environments – from a beautiful ballroom with live tango dancers (check performance schedule first) to a complete reconstruction of the artist’s living room in which you can snuggle on the sofa and watch artists debating on the TV and much more in-between!
Originally conceived for the French Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, this was one of our highlights when we visited.
15 February – 12 May 2024
More info: website
Talking of Venice, the art biennale returns 20 April – 24 November 2024. This year titled Foreigners Everywhere. We’ve been to the last two and found it to be an amazingly accessible way to experience contemporary art. I will be publishing my top tips for doing the VB in a family-and-budget-friendly way soon, but for now, if you’re planning to go, grab tickets at early-bird prices – they are valid for 2 consecutive days during the run and you don’t have to stipulate a date.
Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit at Tate Modern
You can’t go wrong with the London Tates for a broad family-friendly offering of paid exhibitions and free-to-view art and workshops. Look out for a special UNIQLO Tate Play major interactive summer commission, which will be free to attend – details not yet released. And at Tate Britain the brilliant Alvaro Barrington will be creating a commission in the grand neo-classical Duveen Galleries, which will also be free to visit. We’ve been following Barrington’s career for the last few years and it’s definitely the right time for him to show work in a large institution.
One Tate exhibition I’m looking forward to in particular is the first major UK exhibition of the late American artist Mike Kelley’s work. The exhibition will span his career (the 1970s to 2012) and include drawings, collage, performance, found objects, and video. Of particular interest to younger viewers might be the ‘craft’ sculptures made from textile and plush toys as well as Kelley’s multi-media installations such as Day Is Done.
2 October 2024 – 9 March 2025
More info: website
Barbie®: The Exhibition at the Design Museum
Love or hate the plastic fantastic icon, nobody can deny the perfect timing of this blockbuster exhibition with Barbiemania still going strong. Because this is the Design Museum we can expect more than just exhibits in glass cases, although as the curators were given full access to the official Barbie archives in California, there are bound to be a lot of those too!
I’m hoping they will build a full replica dream house – and maybe the camper van too! Yes I admit it, this might be as exciting for the child in me as it is for my kids, especially as the Barbie being used in the main promo material is one I remember being given for my birthday as a child – day-to-night Barbie!!
5 July 2024 – 23 February 2025
More info: website
RELATED CONTENT > Top 5 Tips for Taking Children to Art Galleries
Top tips from Sally Webb: Curator & creator of the inspiring @kidsingalleries; Heritage Research & Engagement Coordinator at the Scouts
Sculpture Playscape at Turner Contemporary Margate
Turner Contemporary has collaborated with our absolute favourites, the artist duo Leap Then Look with sculptural artworks designed for play for all ages in the Clore Learning Studio. The whole space is designed to be interactive in some form and you are encouraged to explore, look in different ways, take photos and get creative and make your mark by moving things in the ever changing space!!! Sounds perfect for littles ones.
3 February – 6 May 2024
More info: website
When Forms Come Alive at Hayward Gallery
Energetic sculpture forms taking over the gallery space with the experience of sensations!! This one sounds really playful and fun!
7 February – 6 May 2024
More info: website
Young Artists Summer Show at Royal Academy
We Love the Young Artists Summer Show which has the most mega impact on my kids every year, they love checking out the ages in the book of all the mini artists. They come back painting for England after seeing all the young artists creations!!! Amazing for children to see art they can engage with and relate to. It is just so inspirational for our little ones.
16 July – 11 August 2024
More info: website
Top tips from Christina Brown: Mum sharing her art adventures with young kids on @christinarosebrown; artist; art workshop leader; author of ‘Art London’
Yoko Ono – Music of the Mind at Tate Modern
Seeing and participating in Ono’s Mend Piece at the Whitechapel a couple of years ago stands out as one of my favourite exhibitions of recent years. I can’t wait to see how her work translates to a major institution retroactive. I’m hoping that the Tate, who (I guess understandably) normally have a very hands-off approach, manage to keep the sense of intimacy and participation in her work. I’m a huge fan of Ono’s work and haven’t seen or experience much of her work before – her message and activism around peace, seems particularly important right now.
15 February – 1 September 2024
More info: website
Unravel: The Power and Politics on Textiles in Art at Barbican
If you asked me to curate my dream exhibition it would probably be very similar in theme to this. As a textile artist myself, this is a subject close to my heart! I feel like no other artistic material is imbued with so much emotion, so much history. There is a long lineage of artists, particularly female artists who have subverted the idea of ‘women’s work’ to create powerful and meaningful artworks and I can’t wait to see so many of them together in this show.
13 February – 26 May 2024
More info: website
Barbara Kruger and Judy Chicago at The Serpentine Galleries
I’m going to cheat slightly now with the idea of this being a top three – because the Serpentine has two exhibitions coming up that look so good and I can’t bring myself to choose between them. Firstly, Barbara Kruger’s work is being presented in a new way promising to be totally immersive with wall based work, video pieces and soundscapes.
1 February – 17 March 2024
More details: website
Then following later in the spring there is an exhibition of work by feminist pioneer Judy Chicago. When I was in New York years ago I went on a bit of a pilgrimage to the Brooklyn Museum to see her magnum opus The Dinner Party. It’s such an important work and one I had studied and read so much about that seeing it in real life felt almost like a religious experience. I’m looking forward to getting up close to other pieces of her work without needed to get on a transatlantic flight!
22 May – 1 September 2024
More details: website
Upcoming workshops by Christina Brown
And I can’t sign off without mentioning some of the workshops I’m running this year! A week’s worth of drop-in workshops at the British Museum for Half Term promises to be a total career high, as is the David Bowie themed dress up dolls workshop I’m doing at Fitzrovia Chapel. And if you’ve got a little baby and are craving some creative me-time, come along to Paint Misbehavin’ for New Parents now in both South and East London! All details can be found on my website here.
Featured image: Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show
