Leighton House Museum in London will reopen in October, following an £8 million redevelopment.
Noted for its spectacular Arab Hall and collection of tiles from the Middle East, the Victorian art house on the edge of Holland Park, central London, is the former home of artist and former president of the Royal Academy Lord Frederic Leighton.
One wing has been completely transformed new exhibition spaces and previously unseen historic features, which will be open to the public for the first time.
It also includes the museum’s first permanent contemporary commission, Oneness by Iranian artist Shahrzad Ghaffari.
She has painted an 11-metre high mural, which envelopes the curved walls of a new helical staircase across three floors.
Inspired by a 13th-century poem by Rumi exploring cultural unity, its turquoise calligraphic brushstrokes reference the distinctive tiles from the famed Arab Hall.
A suite of specially commissioned furniture, handmade by Syrian artisans who are based in Amman, Jordan, is also featured in the new space.
These include marquetry — the craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns — derived from inlaid motifs on a Syrian chest, which Lord Leighton acquired on his travels and converted into a seat in the historic house.
They were created in partnership with Turquoise Mountain — a UK charity set up by the Prince Charles to preserve and develop traditional craft practices, originally in Afghanistan, as a means of economic regeneration.
Situated in the upscale Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Leighton House is famed for its opulent interiors. Its Arab Hall features mosaic floors and tiles acquired through Leighton’s travels to Turkey, Egypt and Syria.
The project has focused on the 20th-century additions made in the wing at the east end of the original house.
This has been completely refurbished revealing original historic features and creating new exhibition spaces and displays. It also features the De Morgan cafe, which opens on to the redesigned garden, a new learning centre and a collections store.
Designed by architects, engineers and consultants from BDP, the project also sees the recovery and restoration of parts of Lord Leighton’s house lost in changes made in the 20th century.
“This project will have a transformative effect on the museum, allowing it to be accessible to all for the first time, and provide excellent visitor and collection care facilities,” David Artis, architect director at BDP, says.
“This refurbishment supports the museum’s ambitions to safeguard and preserve the integrity of the original house, while meeting the needs of new audiences and cementing it as unique asset for the borough.
“Leighton House is one of London’s great houses and we are very much looking forward to seeing it reopen to the public at a time when such places are needed more than ever.”
The two new gallery spaces will be exhibiting A Life of Drawing: Highlights from the Leighton collection, which will showcase a rarely-seen selection of Lord Leighton’s studies and sketches made in his studio and on his travels, and Artists and Neighbours: the Holland Park Circle, which will feature local artists.
The house will be reopening to the public on October 15.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Makerah, Adrie de Vries, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Hazeme, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap | Dh85,000 | 2,200m
Winner: AF Yatroq, Brett Doyle, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Shadwell Farm for Private Owners Handicap | Dh70,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Nawwaf KB, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Treasured Times, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
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James Mustich, Workman
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
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