Exhibitions

Newton, Riviera at the Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin: Until February 15, 2026

In 2022, the Villa Sauber in Monte Carlo hosted an exhibition of photographs taken by Helmut Newton along the French Riviera during the course of the esteemed German fashion photographer’s career. Newton adored that part of the world – first purchasing a summer house near Saint-Tropez in the 1960s and in the 1980s relocating from Paris to Monaco. There – and in Monte Carlo, Cap d’Antibes, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Menton – he shot many iconic fashion shoots, portraits and nudes, against the backdrop of the Riviera’s glamorous social scene and sun drenched landscapes. Visitors to Berlin can catch the show’s second iteration, now installed at the Helmut Newton Foundation, for a little boost of sunshine as autumn sets in.

Kerry James Marshall: The Histories at the Royal Academy, London: Until January 18, 2025

One of the great painters of our time, Kerry James Marshall is currently the subject of a major survey at London’s Royal Academy. Featuring 70 paintings, it is the biggest show of the US artist’s work outside of America to date. Marshall’s multidisciplinary oeuvre is centred around the lives of Black Americans – some renowned, most unknown – and serves as a sort of counterarchive to the proliferation of white figures that dominated the Western artistic canon that Marshall grew up studying. The artist draws on his profound knowledge of art history, as well as civil rights, comics, science fiction and his own memories to conjure his distinct visual language, defined in his paintings by rich surface effects, a vivid use of colour and a deep appreciation for the beauty of day to day moments. 

Zofia Rydet: Sociological Record at the Photographers’ Gallery, London: October 10, 2025 – February 22, 2026

In 1978, at the age of 67, Polish photographer Zofia Rydet took to the road, camera in hand, on a mission to capture her countrypeople in their homes. She would knock on the doors of strangers and hope they’d let her in. What ensued is a diverse and characterful portrait of domestic life in Poland, created over the course of three decades, across multiple regions and cultures. Rydet even returned to some of the households she’d photographed over the years to document the ways in which rural Polish lives were changing. From among the 20,000 negatives the imagemaker shot, some 100 prints will soon be on show at London’s Photographers’ Gallery, each one signalling Rydet’s wonderful knack for human connection and conveying the stories of everyday lives. 

Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show at the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein: October 18, 2025 – February 15, 2026

At the Vitra Design Museum, a new exhibition will explore the evolution of the fashion show, from the private fashion parades of the late 19th century to today’s live-streamed presentations, and everything in between. Film clips, photographs, original couture designs, stage props and various other accompanying paraphernalia will offer the sartorially inclined the chance to take a deep dive into some of the most iconic runway shows of all time. Think: Alexander McQueen’s S/S99 collection, featuring two industrial robots spraypainting a dress; Hussein Chalayan’s extraordinary merging of fashion and furniture for his A/W00 show, After Words; Chanel’s various stagings of supermarkets, protests and airports; and Raf Simon’s inaugural presentation for Prada S/S21, a pioneering digital experience designed by OMA.

Minimal at the Bourse de Commerce, Paris: October 8, 2025 to January 18, 2026

In Paris, don’t miss the Bourse de Commerce’s sprawling homage to minimalism, that international art movement that first took hold in the 1960s characterised by “an economy of means, pared-down aesthetics, and a reconsideration of the artwork’s placement in relation to the viewer”. Featuring more than 100 works, spanning the American minimalists; the Japanese Mono-ha movement; Brazilian neo-concrete art;  the German Zero movement; and Italian Arte Povera, the exhibition reveals minimalism’s global scope and the ways in which these unique yet interconnected movements challenged the very notion of what art could be, and how it could be experienced.

More than Meets the Eye at Musée Rath, Geneva: October 16 – November 23, 2025

At Geneva’s Musée Rath, Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique will open its art collection to the public for the very first time on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. More than Meets the Eye will showcase almost a century of art in Africa, beginning with the 1920s pioneers of modern African painting and ending with the work of influential contemporary artists like Zanele Muholi, Amadou Sanogo and Cassi Namoda. Foregrounding pieces by 80 artists across seven thematic chapters, the exhibition aims to present “a constellation of artistic voices rather than a single narrative of ‘African art’, highlighting how encounters – local and global, past and present – have shaped creative expression across the continent.” 

Wayne McGregor: Infinite Bodies at Somerset House, London: October 30, 2025 – February 22, 2026

The endlessly innovative British choreographer Wayne McGregor has long embraced the potential of cutting-edge technologies to expand the possibilities of performance, calling upon robots, motion capture, AI and virtual and augmented reality in his quest to broaden our perception of physical intelligence. A soon-to-open exhibition at London’s Somerset House will offer audiences a peep behind the curtain of his extraordinary practice via a series of multi-sensory choreographic installations, performances and experiments, many of which are collaborations with world-leading artists, designers, musicians and technologists. Prepare to have your mind blown.

Marisol at the Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk: October 1 – February 22, 2025

A close friend of Andy Warhol’s and a celebrated figure in 1960s America, Marisol (1930-2016) was a leading champion of Pop Art – until she vanished from the spotlight and was largely written out of art history. The Louisiana Museum in Denmark aims to right that wrong with the first major European exhibition of the enigmatic Venezuelan-American artist’s work. Marisol’s sculptures are made up of painted and carved wooden figures of almost life-size, assembled with found objects into expressive tableaux. Rich in colour, wit and cultural insight, they probe the complexities of identity, gender and representation, proving as relevant now as ever before.

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, The Delusion, at Serpentine North, London: Until January 18, 2026

British artist and video game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley uses animation, sound, performance and video game development to retell and archive the stories of Black trans people. A new commission by the Serpentine is her most ambitious work to date, inviting visitors into “a post-apocalyptic world shaped by a single catastrophic event – the Day of Division”.  Using cooperative gaming, participatory theatre, and a measured dose of absurdist satire, the artist has created “a live community play” that fosters discussion and reconnection surrounding the real life issues that divide us.

Lee Miller at Tate Britain, London: October 2, 2025 – February 15, 2026

Tate Britain has just opened the doors to its major new retrospective of the American photographer Lee Miller. The biggest UK exhibition of her work to date, it traces Miller’s journey from her time as a model in 1920s New York, where her encounters with Cecil Beaton and Edward Steichen sparked her own interest in photography, through her realisation of ever imaginative fashion and war stories for British and American Vogue. Special attention will be given to her artistic collaborations, including her explosive creative exchange with Man Ray in early 1930s Paris, which galvanised her surrealist outlook. Lesser known aspects of Miller’s practice will also be revealed – her exceptional 1930s images of the Egyptian landscape, for instance, which are as inventive as they are accomplished.

Blommers & Schumm: Mid-Air at Foam, Amsterdam: Until February 23, 2026

A glass is depicted teetering in mid-air, models sprawl across desks and ironing boards in topsy-turvy compositions that appear to defy gravity; a seemingly headless figure lies on the beach, her head and shoulders perched on a wooden post behind her. In the work of Dutch photography duo Anuschka Blommers and Niels Schumm, nothing is as it seems. The pair are the subject of a new show at Amsterdam’s Foam museum, which brings together work from across their 28-year career, showcasing their stylistic evolution. Each picture is as playful and provocative as the next – and a number of them were captured for AnOther Magazine over the years. 

Kazuko Miyamoto: String Constructions at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin: October 31, 25 – January 18, 26

Building on KW’s legacy of platforming artists who operate outside of the established canon, Kazuko Miyamoto’s first German institutional solo exhibition will recreate String Constructions, her renowned sculpture series, across three floors of the former Berlin factory. Conceived in the 1970s and 80s, and made up of two- and three-dimensional sculptures, the works will be constructed on-site for the occasion, according to Miyamoto’s instructions. They are the result of a complex array of repeatable but unique actions – namely the marking, nailing, knotting and linking of hundreds of cotton threads – and embody the Japanese post-minimalist artist’s “unique performative sensitivity to the relationship between body, space and material, as well as to themes such as labour and visibility”.  

Events & Performances

This month has plenty of exciting events and productions in the pipeline. At the Noel Coward Theatre, don’t miss Max Webster’s rip-rollicking new rendition of Oscar Wild’s The Importance of Being Earnest – a delightfully camp comedy of manners starring none other than Stephen Fry as the imperious (and hilarious) Lady Bracknell. Nick Payne, the celebrated playwright behind Constellations, returns to the Royal Court this October with his new work, The Unbelievers, “a startling portrait of motherhood, faith, family”, directed by Marianne Elliott. The show will run from October 10 to November 29, and we can’t wait. At the Almeida from October 18 until November 29, Michael Grandage directs The Line of Beauty, Jack Holden’s stage adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel, delivering “a captivating portrait of Thatcher’s Britain at its most decadent and divisive”.

Book your tickets now for Prayers For A Hungry Ghost, a new work from Kiss Witness – the multi-award-winning company led by Chinese Indonesian theatremaker Elisabeth Gunawan – showing at the Barbican from October 21 to November 1. A family drama that combines horror, physical performance, live cinema and Chinese mythology, it examines “intergenerational trauma born from the pressure of meeting society’s impossible standards”, with “shattering, sardonic, funny and tender” results.

For those based in or travelling to Istanbul this month, be sure to catch the city’s international arts and culture festival, IST.FESTIVAL, taking place from October 10–12. Following on in the event’s tradition of uniting prominent voices across art, cinema, music, literature, architecture, design, photography and fashion, this year’s edition features talks from Jeff Koons, Inez and Vinoodh, Lou Doillon, Flavin Judd and many more. For those in New York, meanwhile, book your tickets for Between Two Worlds: Photography’s Unfixed Future, a one-day salon hosted by The Messy Truth podcast at the International Center of Photography on November 1. With guest speakers including Abdul Kircher, Farah Al Qasimi, Charlie Engman, Sinna Nasseri and Gideon Jacobs, it promises a fascinating look into the future of photography.

Film

October is full of great new films to catch. First up, there’s Harris Dickinson’s searing and surreal directorial debut Urchin, centring on a young, unhoused man in east London trying to find his way. British filmmaker Kirk Jones takes on the real life story of Tourette’s activist John Davidson in I Swear, charting his journey from troubled teen to inspirational advocate with humour and compassion. Another excellent British feature debut comes courtesy of Nina Conti and her film Sunlight, an off-kilter, darkly funny love story whose female protagonist takes on life’s hurdles by dressing up in a monkey suit.

Guillermo del Toro’s applauded take on Frankenstein arrives in UK cinemas just in time for Halloween – a masterful retelling of Mary Shelley’s gothic horror story about a mad genius scientist and his monster creation. American auteur Kelly Reichardt returns with The Mastermind, a wonderfully atmospheric, quietly funny film about an unemployed family man in 1970s Massachusetts who stages a hapless art heist at a local museum, and suffers increasingly dire consequences. Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s ambitious new film, Palestine 36, revisits the events that preceded the Arab Revolt of 1936, illuminating a key chapter in Palestinian history and making for vital viewing.

This month’s best documentaries include Rocky Horror Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, Linus O’Brien’s tribute to his father, Richard O’Brien’s cult musical, examining both its humble origins and its enduring legacy through interviews with the cast and crew. Love+War by Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin turns the lens on the Pulitzer Prize-winning American war photographer Lynsey Addario, accompanying her on recent trips to Ukraine, while tracing the story of her remarkable career in photojournalism. The Story of Skids: Scotland's No.1 Punk Band by Mark Sloper does exactly what is says on the box – tracking the band’s ascent from aspiring young musicians in 1970s Dunfermline to punk rock icons. 

Food & Drink

When it comes to excellent October feasting opportunities, we’ve got you covered. The Beaumont Mayfair has just launched a new restaurant, Rosi, helmed by acclaimed chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who offers a “spirited interpretation of modern British dining” rooted in seasonality, local provenance and plenty of imagination. Starters like rock oysters or gin-cured melon give way to delightfully playful takes on British classics including pork pies, hash browns, John Dory fish fingers and chicken kyivs, rounded off by such sumptuous desserts as The Mayfair Millionaire Tart. Comfort food for foodies, if you will. 

Highbury neighbourhood wine bar and restaurant Giacco’s has just launched a new chef residency programme with a view to platforming young and upcoming culinary talent in London and beyond. Kickstarting the series is Jemma Harrison, who will be serving up her menu, Kaunter, from now until early December. Blending “Eastern European influence [with] the charm of a New York Jewish deli”, expect to sample ingredient-led dishes that appear simple, but pack a flavourful punch. 

For those celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, from October 7–20, Mr. Bao and Daddy Bao will serve up seasonal specials, combining traditional festive ingredients with contemporary flair (think: pomelo-glazed chicken wings, tempura lotus root filled with minced pork and accompanied by sesame dipping sauce, and a house-made chocolate and chestnut mooncake). 

Modern Indian eatery Vatavaran in Knightsbridge will celebrate Diwali from October 17–19 with two special tasting menus paired with a carefully curated selection of wines. With highlights including lobster vermicelli with coconut and curry leaf, butter chicken with Kashmiri chilli and vine tomato, and lamb barbat with burnt spices and garlic, alongside equally delicious vegetarian offerings, it’s hard to think of a tastier way to ring in the festival of lights.

For fantastic Portuguese fare, meanwhile, head to Luso on Charlotte Street, a new restaurant bringing the convivial spirit of Portuguese dining to Fitzrovia. Conjuring up the diverse flavours of the Iberian coastline and rural Portugal, Luso’s array of tantalising dishes range from brill crudo with apple and red pepper vinaigrette, and Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (gently steamed clams with garlic, coriander and lemon) to grilled wild bream with corn migas, and crispy Leitão (slow-roasted Ibérico suckling pig). 

Much loved north London cafe and bakery FINK’S has just unveiled a bold new project: “a camp revival” of the Grade II listed Clissold House in Clissold Park, Stoke Newington. There, FINK’S is busy plating up its signature seasonal cakes, patisserie and in-house breads, alongside á la carte breakfast and lunch menus. There’s a lot to sink your teeth into, from giant rosti with braised cavolo nero served with poached eggs, crispy Serrano ham and sage to Farmer Tom Jones’ sausage sandwich on FINK’S Shokupan tin loaf with housemade brown sauce, and much more besides. Grub’s up!