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To me, nothing signifies the arrival of the festive season more than the Christmas Past exhibition at the Geffrye Museum.

It’s magical. The traditions and the decorations. The food. The social gatherings.

The beautifully rooms are in chronological order and it is sobering to see how simple and meaningful Christmas used to be (my favourite room is the Georgian one) and what a consumer affair it is these days.

(Picture: Geffrye Museum)

What particularly amuses me is when you reach the most recent rooms… and you recognise decorations, toys and furniture you grew up with!

Christmas Past: 400 Years of Seasonal Traditions in English Home at the Geffrye Museum from Tuesday 29 November 2011 to Sunday 8 January 2012. Admission free.

With the hype surrounding the Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan exhibition, I was a little nervous as I made my way to the National Gallery on Friday.

Can an exhibition be that good?

The Telegraph labels it a ‘blockbuster‘. For Andrew Graham-Dixon, it is a “breathtaking and truly remarkable exhibition“. The cynic in me realises that by restricting the number of tickets, the National Gallery ensured they had a sell-out show on their hands. The Guardian assures us that this would  guarantee a ‘civilised crowd‘.

Room one. I feared the worse as there were three rows deep of people staring at a sketch. But room two onwards, the crowd had started to disperse and it did indeed become a civilised affair.

Of the nine sublime paintings on show, I am stunned by La Belle Ferronniere, returning countless times to stare at it. How he captured the essence of his subject and the reality of her features. The power of the painting is evident as her gaze follows you across the room.

La Belle Ferronniere, about 1493-4 (Musee de Louvre)

What makes the exhibition such a success I think, is the fact that you come out with a greater understanding of what Leonardo da Vinci was like.  A confident man and a perfectionist who was not afraid, for example of working with a “sharpened metal drawing tool (metalpoint)” - a technique, we learn, that did not allow any mistakes. Through the many sketches and studies on view, we see how he sought perfection, returning again and again to the same topic in order to master it. We see how he reworked sketches as he ‘rethought’ his work. We understand how revolutionary a man he was, using red chalk as a medium to capture “the fall of light on soft skin” and bringing naturalism through the use of a limited palette, for example.

I smiled as I imagined Leonardo starting on a project but getting distracted by other ideas. His mind was so prolific. So many ideas and so little time you can imagine him thinking!

So… I wondered as I made my way home what he would do for us if he was alive today?

Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices: another great educational exhibition from the British Library!

I learnt that 400 million people around the world speak English as their first language and 1.4 billion as their second language. How astonishing is that? I also learnt that more than half of all the web pages are written in English, that ‘google’ became a verb in 1999 and that ‘cellulite’ was officially recognised in 1968 (that must have been a slap to those Swinging Sixties women!).

I visited the (interactive and fun) exhibition twice and I wish I’d gone a third time, there was so much to absorb.

From the dialects of Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries to the English of Anglo-Saxon England to the language we speak today, the English language is continually evolving. New words are constantly created (some, for example, by the younger generations keen to create their own coded language) and foreign words are regularly assimilated.

I listened to various recordings of British people from all walks of life - local dialects, regional accents and immigrants. All having a part to play in the way the language is evolving.

I listened to famous speeches from Muhammad Ali; Gandhi; Thatcher; J. F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill among others and marveled at how they used language to ‘manipulate’ their audience - through anaphora or intonation for example. Fascinating.

And I learnt that T.V. brought swearing to the masses!

But the real highlight was the copy of Beowulf on display.

Admission was free.

Wow.

How often do you come across something so truly original, it leaves you completely stunned. In awe.

There is a slight resemblance to some of Antony Gormley’s works but whilst Gormley’s people are casts of Antony Gormley (and in a couple of positions only if I remember correctly), Jason de Caires Taylor’s people are people like us. The scenes he creates are scenes of our daily life (like the humorous TV dinner sculpture).

But underwater.

The setting is pure magic: the fish; life slowly claiming the works; the fact that only a handful of us will get to see the m close-up.

Absolutely remarkable.

I love it.

“The moon tonight is a waning crescent.”

The Moonlight Madness evening at the Guildhall Art Gallery and London’s Roman Amphitheatre was inspired by the “atmospheric paintings of Atkinson Grimshaw”.

Last night was the first of quarterly late views at the Guildhall Art Gallery and London’s Roman Amphitheatre. And the evening was tremendously civilised with live music; poetry readings (the poems all inspired by the moon of course) and a Victorian magic lantern show. And there was even a delicious moonbeam cocktail!

Being in such close proximity to the amphitheatre was a real treat. London’s forever evolving and nowhere faster than in the City so to get such a sense of London’s history was special.

All events were free and admission to the ‘Atkinson Grimshaw: Painter of Moonlight’ exhibition was £5/£3.

The Forests, Rocks, Torrents exhibition at the National Gallery this summer was a truly inspiring exhibition.

The exhibition gathered together scenes from Norwegian and Swiss landscapes, depicting the inhospitable places we choose to live in. These are the places we call home. Where we desperately try to make a place for yourself.

“Liberty requires opportunity to make a living - a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives a man not only enough to live by, but something to live for” (Franklin D. Roosevelt).

These landscapes are idyllic and you could easily get carried away and think that you’re living the dream. And suddenly, you’re at the mercy of the elements.

‘Scene from the era of Norwegian Sagas’, Knud Baade.

Statement: Steve McCurry is one of the most inspiring contemporary photographers.

I find that I’m never just looking at an image but seeing a story. The images are vibrant. They draw you in. You want to experience the moment. You want to see what happens next.

I made myself pick my top three favourite images (very very hard). Here goes:

1. Man With Many Bells
2. Mingun Pagoda
3. Flower Seller

Steve McCurry is on at the Chris Beetles Fine Photographs gallery until 24 September. Admission free.

With a spare half hour ahead of me and finding myself near the British Museum on Saturday afternoon, I thought I’d go and check out the Baskets and belonging: Indigenous Australian histories exhibition.

And I’m really glad I did. The exhibition is truly delightful.

The baskets come in different and often unusual shapes. They are made either by women or men, depending on the indigenous group. The function of the basket vary as well - it can be used to carry children; goods; to collect leaves; etc.

Indigenous groups are still making baskets to this day in a bid to retain their culture. They are happy to use new materials, ensuring their baskets evolve with the times. What I found fascinating is the fact that what started as tool (baskets are useful) soon became a way for basket-makers to represent their groups. In some cases, baskets are decorated to show off the artist’s skills. The exhibition also has an interesting sub-plot: the effects of European contact on indigenous groups.

Baskets and belonging: Indigenous Australian histories is on at the British Museum until 11 September (room 91). Admission free.

I first saw Cy Twombly’s work a couple of years ago at the Gagosian Gallery. I remember thinking that I could stare at his work all day long. The beauty of it. The energy emanating from the canvasses. I was smitten.

If you’re not familiar with Mr Twombly and his art, then read the BBC and Guardian.co.uk obituaries. And when you’re done reading, I urge you to go to the twombly and poussin: arcadian painters exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Twombly and Poussin: Arcadian Painters is on at the Dulwich Picture Gallery until 25 September 2011. Admission fee.

Well… isn’t that clever?

The National Gallery recently announced that they would cap the number of visitors to their forthcoming Leonardo da Vinci exhibition.

Rather than promoting the exhibition in a normal way, the National Gallery is ’selling’ us the exhibition as an enhanced experience for visitors. And frankly who will not be pleased by this news? Overcrowding is a problem. Knowing that the exhibition will not be overcrowded like blockblusters tend to be, of course I want a ticket to this exhibition! I want to be there, not crowded. Creating demand and anticipation months ahead of the opening day is bound to make this a sell-out success (not that it wouldn’t have been, I’m sure).

Now… let’s just hope that these clever people at the National Gallery have thought this through and extended the exhibition’s run to ensure that every one who wants to go will be able to go.

PS - I’ve got my ticket!