This month
top events to put in your diary
Art attack
Motorcaravanners are, of course, fans of the great outdoors, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sometimes venture indoors to enjoy a spot of culture – especially in these colder months. And right now there are some wonderful art exhibitions to be appreciated across the UK.
■ In Liverpool, the Walker Art Gallery is hosting Sickert: A Life in Art (1) until 27 February 2022. Discover how one of our most important, radical artists chronicled Britain during a period of rapid and very dramatic change. Tickets cost £12. Web www.liverpoolmuseums. org.uk/sickert
■ Down in the south-west at Tate St Ives, there’s an altogether different experience – the first UK museum solo exhibition for artist Petrit Halilaj. His latest installation, running until 16 January 2022, revisits 38 of the drawings that he made in Kukës II refugee camp in Albania during the Kosovo war (1998–1999), when he was just 13 years old. Tickets cost £10.50. Web www.tate.org.uk
■ For something more traditional, head to London’s Royal Academy, where you can enjoy an exhibition dedicated to the later works of quintessential English landscape artist John Constable, which runs to 13 February 2022. Tickets cost £19-£21. Web www.royalacademy. org.uk/exhibition/late-constable
■ At the Baltic in Gateshead, a major solo exhibition by Sutapa Biswas will span the artist’s extensive career. Biswas made a vital contribution to the Black Arts Movement in
Britain and has helped to shift our understanding of post-war British art. The show runs until 20 March 2022. Web www.baltic. art/whats-on/exhibitions/ sutapa-biswas
Photo competition
If you’re a keen photographer with a penchant for snapping gardens and all things horticultural, consider entering the RHS Photographic Competition. There are several categories and an overall top prize of £5000. So get shooting now! Deadline for the entries is 10am, Tuesday 1 February 2022.
Web rhs.org.uk/photocomp
Darkness beckons…
The North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks are teaming up to celebrate their seventh Dark Skies Festival from 18 February to 6 March 2022. The parks are planning a really star-studded programme of events, listed in detail on the event’s website (darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk).
North York Moors was designated as an International Dark Sky Reserve back in 2020 (2), and the combined area of the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales now represents the largest protected area in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe. (northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/ whats-on/dark-skies-festival).
Elsewhere, there are also Dark Skies activities planned during February at both Northumberland National Park (northumberland nationalpark.org.uk/northumber land-dark-skies-festival) and South Downs National Park (southdowns. gov.uk/dark-night-skies/festival). Be sure to check the parks’ websites for updates on both events.