Free Exhibitions in London

This is a running list of the free art exhibitions on show in London right now, updated as exhibitions open and close. From major loan shows at museums like the National Gallery and Tate to gallery exhibitions that never charge for entry, there's always something to see.

In addition to this list, most of London's major museums also hold their permanent collections free year-round. And beyond the museum walls, the city is full of free public sculptures and installations. See the full guide at artclub.club/collections/public-sculptures-installations-london.

Showing 25 exhibitions

Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane AiEnds tomorrow
Japan House London

Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai

Until Oct 18

FreePhotographyContemporary Art

Two generations of Japanese photography, from postwar history to diaspora life

5/5 from 1 rating

"These were revolutionary photographs at the time – and they still feel new in their search to express the inexpressible. The dimly lit, subterranean gallery keeps you cocooned in this elegiac, brooding atmosphere. Kawada is drawn to images that trace the extremities of the Earth, the visible outer edges of our existence – the sky, the horizon, water, burning suns and scorching fires."

The Guardian
Musquiqui Chihying: A Life of NavigationEnds tomorrow
Hayward Gallery

Musquiqui Chihying: A Life of Navigation

Until Oct 18

FreeVideo & Moving ImageInstallationContemporary Art

Four works of humour and critique on urban life and technology

4/5 from 1 rating

"Across the four works, Chihying's humour keeps some pretty knotty ideas about labour, consumerism and technology from getting bogged down in theory. However, it is a small show. Some would say too small."

TimeOut
There Are No Honest Poems About Dead Women: Jemma Desai
Somerset House

There Are No Honest Poems About Dead Women: Jemma Desai

Until Nov 1

FreeVideo & Moving ImageInstallationContemporary Art

A 54 minute film collaging archive, song and new 16mm material

This Must Be the Place: Artists for Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel Gallery

This Must Be the Place: Artists for Whitechapel Gallery

Until Nov 8

FreePaintingContemporary Art

Twenty-four international painters, all works for sale to support the gallery

Art Now: Mohammed Z Rahman
Tate Britain

Art Now: Mohammed Z Rahman

Until Nov 8

FreePaintingContemporary Art

New paintings on home and love, staged in two theatrical acts

Manasa Chitra: the Art of Mental Health from Bengaluru to Bethlem
Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Manasa Chitra: the Art of Mental Health from Bengaluru to Bethlem

Until Nov 14

FreeDrawing & Works on PaperPainting

Indian art on mental health, from 1950s Bangalore to contemporary Bengaluru

Roots
The Photographers' Gallery

Roots

Until Nov 15

FreePhotographyMixed MediaContemporary Art

Eight photographers on trees as keepers of memory, heritage and belonging

Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
Somerset House

Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure

Until Nov 29

FreePerformanceVideo & Moving ImageInstallationSculptureContemporary Art

A newly commissioned film and immersive installation about doubles

3/5 from 1 rating

"Enclosure is messy, utopian and dystopian all at once, and there are moments when you're not sure whether you should be trying to untangle its logic or simply surrendering to the chaos. In the end, I surrendered – and getting lost in it turned out to be half the fun."

TimeOut
Women Artists of Hampstead
Burgh House

Women Artists of Hampstead

Until Dec 13

FreeDrawing & Works on Paper

Victorian illustrators who reached wide audiences as art opened up to women

Amongst the Trees and Terraces: Donald Chisholm Towner (1903 - 1985)
Burgh House

Amongst the Trees and Terraces: Donald Chisholm Towner (1903 - 1985)

Until Dec 13

FreePainting

First show in decades for the Hampstead painter of postwar Britain

Burgh House Young Curators’ Club
Burgh House

Burgh House Young Curators’ Club

Until Dec 13

FreeDrawing & Works on Paper

Home Guard archive papers, selected and labelled by local school students

Hampstead Artists, Residents, and History
Burgh House

Hampstead Artists, Residents, and History

Until Dec 13

FreePainting

Local residents and artists from the 19th to 21st century, women to the fore

Hampstead Vanished and Imagined
Burgh House

Hampstead Vanished and Imagined

Until Dec 13

FreeDrawing & Works on Paper

Lost local landmarks and the Hampstead that was planned but never built

The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon
V&A

The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon

Until Jan 3, 2027

FreeTextilesDesign

How a practical military coat became a global fashion icon

Justin Caguiat: Change Ringing
Serpentine South Gallery

Justin Caguiat: Change Ringing

Until Jan 10, 2027

FreeSound ArtVideo & Moving ImagePrintsInstallationPaintingSculptureContemporary Art

Thermochromic paintings and ringing bronze bells transform Serpentine South.

Liz Larner: A hard line to bend
Camden Art Centre

Liz Larner: A hard line to bend

Until Jan 17, 2027

FreeCeramicsSculptureContemporary Art

Radical sculpture in clay, bronze and salvaged plastic, from myth to the cosmos

3/5 from 1 rating

"Choosing to focus on new ceramic works instead of properly introducing this relatively little-known American artist with a survey or retrospective is a strange choice that doesn't service the audience. This result is a muddled, disparate, confusing mishmash of an introduction to an artist whose career deserved a simpler, easier way in."

The Guardian
Zineb Sedira: When Words Fall Silent, Cinema Speaks
Tate Britain

Zineb Sedira: When Words Fall Silent, Cinema Speaks

Until Jan 17, 2027

FreeVideo & Moving ImageInstallationContemporary Art

A major site-specific commission for the neo-classical Duveen Galleries

Bharti Kher at the V&A
V&A

Bharti Kher at the V&A

Until Jan 24, 2027

FreeSculptureContemporary Art

Kher's sculptures of body, myth and identity among the historic collections

Yuko Mohri: In Concert
Barbican Art Gallery

Yuko Mohri: In Concert

Until Jan 24, 2027

FreeSound ArtInstallationSculptureContemporary Art

A site-responsive commission of light, sound and kinetic sculpture

Cecilia Vicuña: Foraging Quipu
Whitechapel Gallery

Cecilia Vicuña: Foraging Quipu

Until Feb 14, 2027

FreeMixed MediaInstallationContemporary ArtCecilia Vicuña

A participatory installation woven from plant matter foraged by the public

Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui
Tate Modern

Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui

Until Apr 11, 2027

FreeSound ArtPerformanceInstallationSculptureContemporary Art

A new sound commission for the Turbine Hall

5/5 from 1 rating

"Atoui has grabbed the opportunity to work in this vast space with both hands, creating something rich, ingenious, funny, sad, mystical. This is a Turbine Hall installation to lose yourself in for hours, dreaming and wondering."

The Guardian
Urushi Now: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer
V&A

Urushi Now: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer

Until Apr 30, 2027

FreeDesignSculptureContemporary Art

Japan's 7,000-year-old lacquer tradition in 21st-century hands

American Photographs
V&A

American Photographs

Until May 16, 2027

FreePhotography

How photography has documented and shaped the United States

Degrees of Disruption: Vera Molnar and Generative Art
V&A

Degrees of Disruption: Vera Molnar and Generative Art

Until May 30, 2027

FreeDigital ArtDrawing & Works on PaperPrints

A pioneer of computer art and the generative artists who follow her

Dimensions: Contemporary Chinese Studio Crafts
V&A

Dimensions: Contemporary Chinese Studio Crafts

Until Sep 26, 2027

FreeCeramicsTextilesContemporary Art

How Chinese makers have reimagined craft as art since the 1980s

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