Landing at an airport on London’s Southbank

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AIRPORTS FIGURE IN many people’s lives these days. The artist Yin Xiuzhen (born 1963 in Beijing) studied art at Capital Normal University, then called Beijing Normal Academy, in Beijing from 1985 to 1989. Many of her works incorporate sewing, a skill that kept her amused as a child during Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). “Heart to Heart” is an exhibition of her works at London’s Hayward Gallery that continues until 3 May 2026. The gallery’s website subtitles the name of her show with the words:

“See the familiar in new ways, as artworks made from unconventional materials and overlooked objects reveal personal and collective stories.”

And what one sees at the exhibition confirms those words. The website also noted:

“Yin Xiuzhen is renowned for her use of secondhand clothing, concrete, food and household ephemera in her immersive installations and sculptures. She creates multimedia artworks that negotiate the spaces between memories, individuals and the globalised societies that we live in today.”

One of the immersive installations on display is “International Flight”, which incorporates examples of her “Portable City” series. The Portable Cities are open suitcases in which there are models of city centres, including those of many places in China and one of London.  On entering the first gallery of the Hayward through a door marked “All flights”, one can see a model of a passenger jet plane made of cloth, suspended from the ceiling. Below it, at floor level, there is a life-size model of a baggage claim conveyor belt, on which several examples of Portable Cities are displayed. Near the conveyor belt, there are three seats of the kind usually found in the departure lounges of airports and a few baggage trolleys on whose handles are the words: “Press Down to Release the Brake”. The installation is not only visually fascinating and somewhat humorous, but also a creative portrayal of globalism.

The airport installation is only one of several highly original installations on display. The others are well-worth seeing, and if you are in London, this intriguingly original exhibition should not be missed.

Triple Trouble on the walls near London’s Lambeth Bridge

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DAMIEN HIRST IS probably best known for his dead animals immersed in tanks of formalin, his artistic use of butterflies, and diamond encrusted skulls. Apart from these spectacular, provocative creations, he is a highly skilled, imaginative artist. An avid collector of modern and contemporary art, he has his own art gallery in Newport Street, which is close to London’s Lambeth Bridge. He uses this to display works in his collection as well as artworks he has made. Recently, his son Connor Hirst has been curating shows in his father’s Newport Street Gallery. Until 29 March 2026, there is an exhibition called “Triple Trouble”.

This exhibition displays works by Damien Hirst and two famous street artists: the American (USA) Shephard Fairey and Invader, a French person. Both street artists, each of whom was trained at an art school, began their street art careers with a single work: Invader in Paris with a pixellated depiction of a Space Invader, and Fairey with a sticker, the forerunner of his “Obey” posters. Street art is what some people might describe as unwanted graffiti, and others as public art. In a press release, Damien Hirst said that what he likes about these two artists is:

“…the way that these guys go out and get an audience. They just make their own audience in the streets and they don’t give a f**k (about permission), and they get a following and people believe in it and they get entertained by it.”

And Invader is quoted as having said (in an interview):

“You cannot imagine the thrill and magic of doing street art. You leave your mark on the city and on people’s lives. When I cross Paris I can see my work in every neighbourhood. It’s like using the city as a blank canvas.”

The exhibition at Newport Street includes creations by each of the three artists as well as collaborative works. The exhibits include paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mosaics made with plastic tiles that produce pixellated images. The resulting show is quite different to what one would usually expect to see in an art gallery: it is a visual spectacle, which you either love or hate. We loved seeing the exhibition.

One unusual aspect of the exhibition is that works that one would normally expect to see anywhere except in an art gallery are being displayed in in an art gallery. Damien Hirst, who does not do street art, wrote in the press release that he admires the talents of the two street artists, and found it surprisingly easy to collaborate with them while making artworks together.

Unwanted contemporary artworks on a gallery that shows contemporary art

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THE NEWPORT STREET Gallery near Lambeth Bridge on the south side of the River Thames was founded by the artist Damien Hirst as a place to show items from his extensive collection of contemporary artworks and sometimes his own work to members of the public. Every few months, a different selection of the works in his collection are tastefully exhibited in the gallery. The gallery is housed in converted industrial buildings, described in Newport Street’s website as follows:

“The construction of Newport Street Gallery involved the conversion of three listed buildings, which were purpose-built in 1913 to serve as scenery painting studios for the booming Victorian theatre industry in London’s West End. With the addition of two new buildings, the gallery now spans half the length of the street.”

We visit it regularly, and usually enjoy what is being shown and the way it is displayed.

Today (25 March 2026), we visited the gallery again. Before we entered, we noticed two outer doors covered with spray-painted graffiti, and part of the entrance disfigured in the same way. We asked a woman at the reception desk if the graffiti was an artwork sanctioned by the gallery, and were told that it was not. I said that although unwanted, the graffiti was in the spirit of many things that are often exhibited within the gallery. She laughed, clearly understanding what I was getting at.

Images of Islam in Varanasi (Benares)

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MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATE Varanasi (Benares) with Hindu temples and practices. However, the city is important to other religions, notably Islam.

The largest mosque in Varanasi

Recently, we viewed an exhibition called “Mughal Banaras” at SOAS Gallery in London. It was a collection of excellent photographs taken by architect and photographer Jateen Lad who collaborated with historian Malavika Kasturi.

In a Hindu math (monastery) which existed during the time when the city was under Mughal rule, there is a collection of Mughal firmans (official documents) on display, including one written by Dara Shikoh, who was murdered by his brother Aurangzeb).

We were fortunate to have met Jateen at the exhibition, and he showed us around. His superb commentary brought the pictures to life, and discussed the historical importance of, and the current circumstances of the Muslims in the city.

How to assess a book you are reading is worth continuing

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How do you know whether a book is worth reading from beginning to end?

Some people read the first few, say 10 to 20 pages, and then decide to continue or discontinue reading. Others I know read the first few and last few pages, and then choose whether it is worth reading in its entirety. Someone I knew, who was an avid and intelligent reader, told me that if she was finding a book difficult to ‘get into’, she would open the book, and read a few pages somewhere in the middle of the volume, before making a decision. My wife does all three: beginning, end, and a few pages in the middle. What ever method you use to assess the readability of a book is up to you.

In my case, if my attention is grabbed and I have reached the hundredth page, I will read to the end. If not, then I will most probably abandon the book, and move on to another.

PS Most people give up reading Ulysses by James Joyce before they reach page 30

An Art Deco style theatre near Victoria railway station

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I AM ATTRACTED to the Art Deco style of architecture that had its heyday during the period between WW1 and WW2. Although there is no concentration of buildings made in this style in London, such as can be found in Bombay, there are plenty of examples scattered around the city. One of these is on Wilton Street, facing one side of Victoria railway station.

Details of decoration at the Apollo theatre

Originally built to be a cinema, it was completed in 1930. Its architects were William Edward Trent (1874 – 1948) and E Walmsley Lewis (1898–1977). Plans were made to demolish the Apollo in the 1950s, but, fortunately, they were never realised. In the 1970s, it hosted several musical events including rock concerts. In 1981, the Apollo re-opened as a theatre. Since then, it has hosted musical theatre (‘musicals’) including “Fiddler on the Roof”, “The Sound of Music”, and “Camelot”. Since September 2006, it has been showing the musical “Wicked”.

Surrounded by twenty-first century and nineteenth century buildings, this Art Deco theatre makes for a pleasing element in the architectural ensemble around the railway station.

Staring at paintings by Hogarth on the stairs

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RECENTLY I WENT to a hospital, St Bartholomew’s (‘Barts’), which is near to London’s Smithfield meat market and the Barbican. I went there not because I was ill, but to view a magnificent artwork. It is in the hospital’s North Wing.

The walls of the main staircase in the North Wing are covered with huge paintings depicting scenes from stories in the Holy Bible. What makes them both attractive and interesting is that they were painted by the English artist William Hogarth (1697-1764). According to a website relating to this artwork (https://bartsnorthwing.org.uk/):

“Hogarth decorated the stair free of charge, allowing him to indulge his ambition, and giving the hospital a grand entrance to the Great Hall at no cost.”

Hogarth was a Governor of the hospital. The paintings that illustrate ‘The Pool of Bethesda’ and ‘The Good Samaritan’, were created in 1736–1737.

In 2025, the restoration of the paintings was completed, and the staircase was opened for public viewing at last – they had been hidden from public view for about 300 years.  The stairs lead up to the spectacular, vast Great Hall (designed in 1732 by architect James Gibbs), which can also be visited.

And when you have admired the artwork and the Great Hall, head around the corner into Long Lane, and enjoy refreshments at Details, a charming café (near Barbican station) with interesting interior design.

A man, a printing press, a village

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THE PRINTER AND bookseller William Caxton (c1422 – c1491) is believed to be the person who brought the first printing press to England. I do not often think about him, but when we were driving from London to Cambridge, he sprung to mind when I saw a road sign pointing to a place (in Cambridgeshire) called Caxton. I wondered whether this place was in any way connected with the printer Caxton.

St Andrew, Caxton, Cambridgeshire

Caxton is a small village with some lovely old houses, a pub called The Chubby Frog, and a mediaeval church: St Andrews. The church is a little way out of the village. When we arrived at the place of worship, we saw that there was a sign inviting all to enter to enjoy a coffee morning. We entered, and were made to feel welcome before being served cups of coffee. We spoke with a couple of friendly church wardens, and asked them about any link between their village, Caxton, and the famous fifteenth century printer. The told us that there was no connection between them. Later, I found out that the village’s name was noted as ‘Caustone’ in the 1086 Domesday book.

As for the printer, nobody is certain where he was born, but it has been suggested that it was somewhere in Kent, possibly near (or in) Tenterden or near Hadlow. According to Wikipedia:

“One of the manors of Hadlow was Caustons, owned by the Caxton (De Causton) family.”

Now, De Causton is like the old name of Caxton village, Caustone’. I wonder whether it is remotely possible that the family in Kent might once have lived in what is now Caxton. Just wondering …

A small island in the river Thames at Twickenham where the Rolling Stones once played

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FACING THE BARMY Arms pub on the Thames riverside at Twickenham and across the water is an islet, which is 610 yards long and 122 yards wide at its broadest point. A footbridge connects the isle with Twickenham. The island is called Eel Pie Island, and it has been used by man since the Mesolithic era (15000-5000 BC), if not earlier. More recently, it was home to the Eel Pie Island Hotel, a building constructed in the nineteenth century. In the 19320s and 1930s, the hotel hosted ballroom dancing. And from the 1950s onwards, it hosted Jazz bands, and later Rock Music groups including, for example: The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd, and other now famous groups. The hotel went into decline, and in 1969 it was occupied by anarchists who established a hippie commune in it. In 1971, the hotel was destroyed by fire.

We walked across the bridge, and along the island’s single winding footpath. On our way we passed houses and gardens, many of which have been decorated in humorously picturesque ways. At the end of the path, there is a red painted metal door, through which we passed, and entered a large covered boat repair workshop. Beyond that, there is an amazing collection of wackily decorated shacks and sheds, in which artists have studios. There is also a modern block of flats, which looks too conventional for its eccentric surroundings, and a far cry from the alternative atmosphere that prevails on the rest of the island.

Eel Pie Island, apart from being residential, is home to the Twickenham Rowing Club as well as Pie Island Art Studios, which open to the public occasionally, allowing visitors to enjoy and buy the island’s artists’ works.

Although notices proclaim that Eel Pie Island is private, nobody stopped us entering, and the few people we met there greeted us amicably.