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Things to Do in London Round UnCon Time

Pietro_Mercurios

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I was just reading article on the occult Battle of Britain, the new issue of the FT (267) and I noticed that there's an exhibition of the work of Austin Osman Spare on. This one looks like a good choice for the Friday, before the UnCon:
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200162/the_cuming_museum/1607/temporary_exhibitions/2

Austin Osman Spare: Fallen Visionary
Monday 13 September 2010 to Sunday 14 November 2010

The fascinating rise and fall of Austin Osman Spare, who lived and worked in Southwark in the early twentieth century, is charted in a new exhibition this Autumn at the Cuming Museum.

Austin Osman Spare's choice of dream-like, magical themes, his sometimes disturbing imagery and his other-worldly life and attitude have meant his work has both admirers and detractors.

But he was also a fine and much-admired draughtsman and figurative artist, and left a fascinating visual record of his Southwark neighbours and acquaintances.

Spare rejected much of the art establishment of the time and followed his own path, despite an early promise of fame and fortune.

This made him an outsider in the art world but his life and work continue to inspire new generations of artists, musicians and writers.

The exhibition will feature Spare's work from the Southwark Art Collection and loans from many private and institutional collectors. It will be the largest showcase of his work in a public museum since his death in 1956.

The exhibition is being curated by Stephen Pochin and Chris Jordan in conjunction with the Cuming Museum.

To accompany the exhibition, there will be a series of fascinating talks by renowned speakers, private views and other activities. A final list of events can be found on the Austin Osman Spare events page.

For further information please contact the Cuming Museum on 020 752 52332 or email: [email protected].

Please note the museum is open Tuesday to Saturday only.
This looks v. tempting, don't know if I can make it, though.
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200162/the_cuming_museum/1607/temporary_exhibitions/3

Temporary exhibitions
Austin Osman Spare: Events


We will have a confirmed titles and exact times for each of these talks in order for you to book them very shortly. In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact us.

Talks List latest at 25 August 2010 all at Cuming Museum (may be subject to change).

Each talk costs £10 full price, £6 to Southwark residents and students on receipt of proof.

You may pay in advance by cheque or cash, in person or by post. You may pay on the day if you have booked but in advance is preferable.

You must book your talks attendance in advance by either phoning us or emailing us. We will then send you confirmation of your place or places and so your full contact details will be required.

For details of other Cuming Museum events visit our events page.

...

Into the Twilight Zone: Hypnagogia and the Creative Act

Thursday 21 October, 6pm.

Gary Lachman.

Each night as we fall asleep and each morning as we awake, each of us enters a strange, liminal zone, somewhere in between sleeping and waking. This threshold consciousness is known as the hypnagogic state, and it has been a source of inspiration for artists and poets for centuries.

Austin Osman Spare made use of this weird inner no-man's land, but so did other creative characters, such as Edgar Allan Poe and the Surrealists as well as mystical thinkers such as Rudolf Steiner, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Carl Jung. This talk will explore the hypnagogic landscape and show how it presents each of us with a doorway into another world.

Gary Lachman is the author of several books on the link between consciousness, culture, and the western inner tradition, most recently Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Teachings. He is a regular contributor to Fortean Times, Independent on Sunday, Guardian and other journals in the UK and US and is a frequent guest on Radio 3 and 4.

...
 
The Doctor Who Experience still appears to be at Kensington Olympia, have to say it comes very highly recommended by me.

The ride/walk part of it is mostly new-who but the exhibition has a lot of props and costumes from the original series, including the 'giant robot'.

:D
 
An easy and perennial treat is a quiet wander down the Victoria Embankment at night, around Cleopatra's Needle in the hope to spot the unidentified ghostly suicide that is reputed to haunt the spot. To warm one up, a tourist could take 10 mins to walk to The Sherlock Holmes public house (10 Northumberland Street, St Jamess WC2N 5DB). They do good food, a reasonable selection of drink ... and a reverential nod to the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the supporter of the Cottingley Fairys and a firm believer in Faerie - if only to support his poor father who was lost in delusion.
 
If you fancy more gruesome stuff, maybe try the Hunterian Museum - they currently have one exhibition called The Diary of a Resurrectionist (scroll down the page a bit for the details). The museum is worth a look too!
 
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