Tête-â-Tea

Particularly pleased to annonce a new pop-up tearoom at Wiltons Music Hall. Sample lemon drizzle cake and forkfuls of Sachertorte whilst languishing within the splendor of Wilton's faded Victorian glory.

The first tea and fancies will be served on 28th February.
At tea-time.

(To book: tete_a_tea@brew-master.com)

Unhappy Hipsters

She had this uncanny way of making him feel so, so small.

Trapped by the tawny palette, he struggled through yet another brown knit scarf.

It became their routine. And so the evenings stretched out before him: still, gray, and gravel-strewn.

Is this what it means to live in a designed world? RIBA London is howling with laughter this morning.

Birdcages

Who would you invite to a supper outdoors?
via

EVENT: Ignite London

Ignite London invites a set of speakers to share their expertise. A play on the format of a Pecha Kucha, each speaker is given five minutes in which to show 20 slides and share their knowledge.

(Suitable for all attention spans).

7pm, 2 March The Luminaire, Kilburn High Road, NW6

Glitter and elephant dung. Chris Ofili's exhibition, including new work (with less glitter and elephant dung) inspired by living in Trinidad is now open at Tate Britain.

London Undercover

My Aunt went back to design school a few years ago intending to redesign the ironing board. I asked if she would redesign the umbrella. As London falls this week back into a cold spell*, find yourself cover. And listen to Magnetic Fields' All the umbrellas of London.
*BBC weather. Please change your descriptions to anything but a Wednesday Sleet shower.

ica

The ICA is in trouble. Sixty years after it began its remit as a radical laboratory for contemporary arts, the Institute is steeped in cuts, redundancies and restructuring, resulting in possible closure by May. Artistic Director Ekow Eshun told the Guardian that the financial predicament has culminated after "a perfect storm of events that all came together". Namely the blurry waters of the recession. A fundraising gala that didn't raise as much as they had hoped. A significant drop in private corporate bookings for the venue's spaces and elegant stairwells.

Why is the Institute at sea? Where are the reserves? Are we revealing that London arts institutions have flimsy economic models and rickety revenue streams? Programmes that are responsive and provocative are at risk so let's examine..Would love to hear your thoughts.