Shoes: Pleasure And Pain Exhibition at Victoria & Albert Museum

The Shoes: Please And Pain exhibition will look at the extremes of footwear from around the globe, presenting around 200 pairs of shoes ranging from a sandal decorated in pure gold leaf originating from ancient Egypt to the most elaborate designs by contemporary makers.

It will consider the cultural significance and transformative capacity of shoes and will examine the latest developments in footwear technology creating the possibility of ever higher heels and dramatic shapes. Examples from famous shoe wearers and collectors will be shown alongside a dazzling range of historic shoes, many of which have not been displayed before. The Shoes: Please And Pain exhibition is on at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London from 13 June 2015 – 31 January 2016.

Red Ballet Shoes

Red ballet shoes made for Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) in The Red Shoes (1948), silk satin, braid and leather, England. Artist: Freed of London founded in 1929. Photo: ©Northampton Museums and Art Gallery.

Mens' shoes, gilded and marbled leather, Northamptonshire, England, 1925

Mens’ shoes, gilded and marbled leather, Northamptonshire, England, 1925. Photo: ©Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Tina Engstrom

The recent release of the Winston Churchill movie, Darkest Hour has brought one of London's most popular tourist attractions into even sharper focus. The movie, in which Gary Oldman brilliantly captures the look, mannerisms and voice of Britain's great wartime leader, is largely set in the Churchill War Rooms.

13 October 2014

The Queen's Gallery Gold Exhibition at Royal Trust Collection

The Queen's Gallery Gold exhibition at the Royal Collection Trust celebrates the enduring qualities of gold, and draws on works of art from the Bronze Age to the present day. The distinctive properties of gold – its lustre and its warm yellow colour which appears to mirror the sun, its rarity and its perceived purity, because it does not tarnish, have meant that this material has always been associated with the highest status, both earthly and divine.