Tracing the museum’s transformation over the course of the last century, the exhibition Leighton House: A Journey Through 100 Years will feature previously unseen archival material and original photographs. It will celebrate the unique history of the museum, opened to the public in 1926 by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea after the house was safeguarded by Lord Leighton’s biographer, Emilie Barrington. As part of the celebrations the museum is asking the public to share their personal memories of Leighton House, with stand-out stories and artefacts considered for inclusion in the exhibition and a ‘centenary archive’.
To mark the anniversary, contemporary artists have also been invited to create new works for the historic rooms. Paper-craft artist Annemarieke Kloosterhof will recreate four missing objects as intricate, life-size paper replicas for Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton’s Lost Collection. Reimagining the presence of these missing treasures, including a carved shrine and a brass cistern, the display aims to bring attention to these objects with the hope the public can help track them down.
Completing the Autumn programme is the exhibition The View from Here: contemporary art from the Middle East and North Africa. Presented in collaboration with the Oriental Museum, Durham University, it will showcase emerging creative voices from the region, exploring heritage, memory and identity through the medium of collage.
The celebrations will continue in Spring 2026 with a major project focused on the Arab Hall, Leighton House’s most famous room. The Arab Hall: Past and Present will be the first show to focus on this unique space, and will include a new short film and site-specific commissions by contemporary artists. The show, and an accompanying publication, will also present new research on the Arab Hall by Dr Melanie Gibson.
Flint Culture’s support for the ‘100 Years’ programme follows the agency’s successful communications campaign for Leighton House’s reopening following a major redevelopment, which saw them shortlisted as a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023.
