Category Archives: Exhibits

War and the Mind

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When you wake up on a lazy Saturday the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t ‘ooh I think I’ll pop out for a quick exhibit about psychological warfare’. So we might need to deploy a rather cunning sales job to convince you see the latest offering at the best museum we bet you’ve never been to, the Imperial War Museum.

We unfortunately live in a time of polarising political opinions where people constantly feel as if they have a moral high ground. Convincing a majority to engage in war therefore requires the use psychology in order to achieve a consensus. War and the Mind begins with what is referred to as ‘the fallacy of the righteous cause’ which can delude people into believing that war is something virtuous. This also works the other way, which brings to mind protests against the Iraq war in 2003. 

The exhibit gets more personal as it progresses and delves into how psychological warfare is used to frighten and therefore weaken a population. This can be achieved by drones (more on that later), propaganda, rumours, gassing people, spying and cutting of essential services. And not to forget the psychological warfare perpetrated against soldiers in the field to demoralise them in the midst of terrifying situations. 

On a lighter note, in a war zone danger and disorientation can confound the brain. So near the end of the exhibit theres a rather hilarious illustration of how mind altering drugs such as LSD are used as a means to determine how soldiers remain focused when they are, frankly, off their face. Don’t miss the film where soldiers are laughing so hard they can’t pick up their rifles. Now there’s a way to end armed conflict! 

While this exhibit might not possess the unbridled fun of as scarfing down a pizza by the seaside, War and the Mind is on now until 25 April and is totally free. And (nerd alert!) for those of you who can’t get enough of the topic, from 7 November IWM will have en exhibit about the psychology of drone warfare. 

The School of Historical Dress

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If you’ve never heard of the School of Historical Dress across from the Imperial War Museum then you’re in very good company. It’s very rarely open to the public but we were able to tour the building during London Open House weekend, and over the next few weeks they have a petite, pop up exhibit that will allow you to see a portion of it as well. 

The School is not for profit and operates as both a school and a resource for textile professionals to research how garments were made. They also publish books about the history, cut and construction of garments through the years and have a database of books (lots of them) and material/outfits accumulated over the years. We’ve also accumulated a huge amount of old outfits over the years, but this relates more to the fact that the management at the Runoff pay us in vapour and we can’t buy anything new. But we digress. 

Over the past few years the School has had small, one room exhibits dedicated to colour and until 13 October the exhibited colour is red. On display are vestments, undergarments, and small maquettes which at first we thought were dog outfits but are in fact studies for larger pieces. Included in this exhibit is Jude Law’s Henry VIII outfit which they created for the very current film Firebrand. If one of the volunteers is present they can detail how the fitting was undertaken and the research required to create the garment. 

The building that houses the School is as interesting as the edifice across the road from it. Built in 1841, it was originally the medical dispensary for the Royal Bethlem Psychiatric hospital (from where we get the name ‘Bedlam’), which is now the Imperial War Museum. Latterly it was utilised as a home for shell shocked men after WW1, a canteen for doctors, and until 2016 a residential facility for adolescents. Staff at the School are very proud of their digs, and on our tour proclaimed that the reason the building is a form of gray is that this is how all of the buildings of the time would have originally looked,  the ‘Dulux White’ colour of other homes in the terrace being a 20th century conceit. We have put this in the ‘who knew’ filing cabinet at Runoff towers.  

If you want to attend one of the periodic events held at the School, follow them on Instagram or join their mailing list at info@theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk. The little show is open Friday from 4pm to 8pm and Saturday/Sunday from 1pm to 5pm

Free Culture Week 2 – City & Guilds MA Show

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We’ve just donned our crimson berets and sunglasses and attended the opening of the MA show over at City and Guilds. For the unfamiliar, City and Guilds is our own world beating arts school in Kennington Park Road, and twice a year they fling open their painterly doors to allow us a glimpse into what their students get up to. And you can buy what you see, but buying is by no means obligatory. 

The MA show is a celebration of the work of current students as well as current work from fellows of the institution. It tends to be more circumscribed than the huge and quite zany BA show in the spring and concentrates its efforts primarily on painting. Themes often dominate these shows, and this year’s themes appear to focus on decadence and fornication. And there’s something about ducks, but we couldn’t exactly pin that one down. 

Along with the exhibits there are handy notes offering a bio of the artists and their approach to their craft. And if you don’t like what you’re looking at keep it to yourself, as the artist might be nearby – but very handy if you want to ask them anything. And if you have no idea what you’re looking at but what to look as if you do, take a long dramatic breath, look at your friend, and say ‘It’s about IDENTITY’. Then throw that crimson beret to the floor and march out of the room.  

The City and Guilds MA Show 2024 is on now until Saturday, 14 September. Hours are 11:00 to 18:00 and open until 20:00 on Friday. They often have a bar on a Friday which is great fun. And of course, it’s free. 

And if your little has left with you with unmitigated thrill, Durning Library in Kennington Cross is having an illustrated talk about the history of City & Guilds and current use a resource for artists. This talk is on Monday (16.9) at 18:45. Details can be found here.

Free Culture Week 1 – Covi-Mora and Greengrassi Galleries

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In the first instalment of our three part free culture crawl around Greater Kennington, we find ourselves in the highly acclaimed yet little known Covi-Mora and Greengrassi galleries,  located incongruously in a kind of alley behind the towers of the Hurley Estate. Commercial galleries can sometimes seems a daunting to normal folk such as us, but rest assured these galleries not only want you to visit but require it to stay afloat. And by looking at the many staff on hand scrolling through their DM’s, they welcome the diversion that your custom and mere presence offers. 

Covi-Mora is located on the second floor are currently showing work by American artist Myra Green.  The show is called A New Pattern, and she explores the way we perceive colour by the use of the ombre dye found in fabric. The results in these round works are captivating and create figures out of what look like random splashes.

Downstairs in Greengrassi we come across the work Irish born and London based artist Anne Ryan. On the right are ceramics which look at first like random pieces of discarded and painted pottery but on closer inspection morph into mass heaps of humanity. On the left are small canvases which look as if they were ripped out of larger, French genre paintings. Everything from a carriage and horses to strolling soldiers are depicted in her miniatures. 

The galleries also operate a pop up gallery called ‘NEITHER’ at 2 Wincott Parade in Kennington Road. It is currently showing works by artist Anika Roach. Access to this site is by arrangement but as it’s in a shop front you can just see the paintings on your way home from the pub. 

Covi-Mora and Greengassi galleries are located at at 1A Kempsford Road SE11 4NU. The entrance looks not unlike the doors to a prison or a sex dungeon (not that we’d know), but once buzzed through the staff are very merry and helpful folk. The three gallery spaces are showing the current exhibits until the first week of October. 

Women’s Books at Lambeth Palace Library

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Located at the very pinnacle of the Runoff catchment area, you might not know about the nine storey Lambeth Palace Library. In fact, you’re probably thinking ‘SAY WHAT, there’s a nine storey library in Greater Kennington?!’ The massive structure opened in 2021 in a pocket of Archbishop’s park and is a victory of understatement (a bit like us). While it’s a research library primarily, they allow access to us pesky Greater Kenningtonians when they have an exhibit  and is now an establish part of the Kennington cultural scene (it’s a thing). 

‘Her booke’ Early Modern Women and their Books at Lambeth Palace Library  is the petite yet perfectly formed exhibit currently on in the exhibition room.  Focussing on a time when female erudition was viewed with suspicion, this exhibition highlights material owned, written, commissioned, and translated by women from the 15th to early 19th centuries. It celebrates the ways in which women and their books were an integral part of England’s devotional, intellectual, and bibliographical cultures. Insightful little sections outline the production and use of books for personal and spiritual practices; books as a statement of power and piety; books as a site to demonstrate women’s intellectual ability; and the material evidence of women’s book ownership.


Items on display in this almost complete dark but still legible exhibit include correspondence from a future Archbishop of Canterbury about Jane Austen; first editions of the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley including a first edition of Frankenstein which we naughtily photographed, and books translated for Elizabeth I.  They’re displayed alongside other works related to known and unknown women from the collection (not all religious). And if you can’t get enough there are a selection of free talks about women and books  that  can be booked on the website. 

‘Her booke’ Early Modern Women and their Books at Lambeth Palace Library is on now until 21 November and is totally free. Entering the building is a bit daunting as you need to get buzzed in, but just say you’re going to the exhibit and the guards will merrily show you the way. And don’t miss the quiet lily pond studded lake when you walk up the stairs. And you can have some random fun by scoring some King Charles honey in reception. 

Free Garden Museum and a Scary Gnome

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In our first instalment of fun things to do this weekend, over at the Garden Museum on Sunday (the 14th) they’re having a Neighbours Day and we think its something that you might just want to get your hands dirty for. There will be workshops on flower arranging and pressing, seed bomb making, face painting, and live music. There is no bar but this might be a good thing given that you’ll be surrounded by sharp gardening implements that could inflict life altering damage.

The best part of the day is that the museum itself will be open for free (usually £15, which we think is a bit steep) and there will be periodic tours of the exhibits and the beautiful decommissioned church in which it is set. For those who haven’t been, the museum encompasses bedding design, implements, seeds, old lawn mowers, FlyMos, and descriptions of how certain plants were brought to the UK. There is also a small art gallery and you can climb the medieval tower. The garden gnome collection is particularly impressive 

Neighbours Day is on Sunday from 11-4 and is totally free. And by ‘neighbours’ we think they’re liberal in their definition. And this will be your chance, and these chances don’t come by very often, to meet a scary garden gnome that looks JUST LIKE TONY BLAIR. 

Tim Hetherington at IWM

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Feeling cultured for the first time in 2024, we recently paid a visit to our very own world class museum-we-bet-you’ve-never-been-to, the Imperial War Museum. What drew our attention was an exhibit of the work of photographer Tim Hetherington, who was technically a war photographer but much more interested in the personalities and back stories of the people in front of him.

As an independent journalist, Hetherington joined rebel convoys in west Africa, bunked up with GI’s in Afghanistan in 2007, chronicled droughts and harvests, and captured the early days of the Arab spring in Libya (which cost him his life). And while he was at it, managed to win four World Press Photo Awards and nab an Oscar nomination. As you do… 

What this show is not about, consistent with the ethos of the War Museum itself, is a glorification of warfare. Hetherington’s concept was more sociological and, as the title indicates, about storytelling. In the videos that augment the exhibit, Hetherington and his colleagues discuss his photography and the unique way in which he obtained his images. Unlike other photographers, he never asked his subjects to pose in front of a silent lens, preferring instead to interact with the subject, even if they didn’t share a language.  

Especially if you are a militant pacifist, this kind of journalism is of crucial importance as it exposes the trials and injustices of society to a rich, safe first world who would rather just ignore them. But ignore this show at your peril, as it will keep you thinking. Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington is on now until 29 September and, like all wonderful things in life, is totally free. 

Gasworks & Camera Club

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Gasworks

Do you like knitwear? Do you like exhibition spaces that are never boring? Then you’re in luck as we just saw the thought provoking show ‘Holes’ at Gasworks Gallery in Oval  by UK based Ukrainian artist Anna Perach

Using the medium of knitted wool, Perach explores how the female body is viewed by a male patriarchy as something that transgresses nature and morality, a good example being 17th century witch trials. This is about control, and Perach most vividly captures this in a richly decorated anatomical Venus sculpture in the middle of the room. Even without interpretation, the textiles are a sight to behold and even the doors are knitted. We suggest handling the doors carefully to avoid being told off, as we were.

At its core, Holes is about women having agency and gaining control of their bodies and presented in a way that transcends flesh. We’re aware that this all sounds like a very heavy buzzkill, but the textiles are really quite beautiful and a pleasing way to build some brain cells. It also smells nice.

Holes is on now until 26 April and is totally free. Gasworks is open Wed – Sun 12 to 6. 

Camera Club 

We also recently visited the show ‘Hortus Maximus’ at the little known Camera Club off Kennington Cross. The exhibit is about vegetables and was originally created as a site specific installation for the walls of Cinnamon Kitchen in Bishopsgate by the artist Cinnamon Faye. We’re not exactly sure if she was named after the restaurant but we’re looking into it. 

In a world of Tesco meal deals and Frankenfoods, this exhibit is a celebration of edible plants and the remarkable shapes they possess. Shot in large format monochrome using natural light, the foods are printed to resemble etchings of fossils or petrified wood. Faye has focussed on chilis and other foods known for their healing properties, with a few bendy gourds that look nice under a camera. The show also features women from around the world presenting themselves to the planet while holding vegetables. 

As obscure as the Camera Club is to most of us, it is one of the longest running photographic societies in the world. We know this to be true as we read it online. Hortus Maximus is open now until 23 Feb and is totally free. The Camera club is open daily from 11:00am to 10:00pm and weekends from 10:00am to 6:00pm. And we have no idea why they’re open over 70 hours a week. 

Sundy and Neither

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With a little more time on your hands over the next few days, you might be seeking a pedestrian destination and we have a suggestion for you.  A few years ago two empty shop fronts were converted into petite, pop up gallery spaces. One is called Sundy and is at 63 Black Prince Road in Vauxhall. The other is called Neither and is at 3 Wincott Parade in Kennington. Although they have restrictive opening times, through the windows we’ve enjoyed the cutting and sometimes playful displays that rotate every few weeks. 

The ownership of these mysterious yet delightful shop fronts began to intrigue us so the mandarins at Runoff Towers gave us leave to undertake some independent research. Neither is an operated by  Corvi Mora gallery in Elephant. Sundy is also a commercial gallery and this little shop front acts as their primary exhibition space.

At Neither, one of the pieces is by sculptor Julian Opie of Blur album cover fame (for Millenials who have no idea who Blur are click here). The other is by Charles LeDray. At the time of writing this show was ending but the works might still be there. At Sundy the works are a bit harder to see and are by Tobias Teschner. 

We’d like to give a shout out to @guyaker for reminding us of these little mysteries and to also congratulate him on his impeccable taste in blogs. 

Ken Artspace

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In the midst of the Kennington Cross triangle nestles a quiet gallery that until last week the Runoff had never visited. Ken Artspace is run by artists Agalis and Rob, who live upstairs and decided to create a gallery space on the ground floor when the property beneath them became available. In the 1960’s the space was inhabited by a grocery/pet shop with a sign that read ‘Mixed Marvels’ at the upper level and this inspired the artistic duo to curate a show themed on the sign. 

Ken Artspace’s most recent exhibit is named after the aforementioned sign and features eight established artists, most of whom have had a solo show at  Artspace, working on small canvases. Microbial beings, cellular shapes, and dreamy Swedish landscapes fill the room as well as more figurative mixed media works about travel. A stand out for us was Jeffrey Dennis’s paintings inspired by 1970’s catalogues of home furnishings. We particularly enjoyed the series ‘Boxhead’ by London artist Jane Gifford, below, as it reminds us of the way that most of PR team feel the morning after the Runoff Christmas party at the Tommyfield pub. 

If this exhibit doesn’t tickle your artistic  fancy your artistic collarbone you might want to follow them on the socials as they have an intriguing mix of occasional pop up exhibitions and little events. The creative installations in the window also provide visual relief on a little street punctuated by a dry cleaner, a chippie, and a defunct Chinese joint. And of course, popping in by no means obliges to you buy anything or is even a statement that you’re an art fan.   Happy viewing! 

Mixed Marvels is exhibiting now until 22 December. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday and like all tasty morsels in life, is totally free. 

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