Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 5 and Version 4 of Topolski Century Gallery
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| The Topolski Century Gallery is a collection of murals housed in a couple of railway arches just to the north of [[Waterloo Station]]. |
Painted between 1975 and 1989 and opened in 1984 by HRH the Duke of Edingburgh, Topolski Century is a permanent collection of unique murals depicting the most important moments of the 20th century through the eyes of a Polish artist Feliks Topolski (1907-1989). All his life he travelled intensively constantly sketching, taking part in events that made the history, meeting such prominent figures from the political, cultural and artistic circles as Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Picasso and Coco Chanel. Published for years as Topolskis Chronicles, the drawings were turned into an extraordinary 20 feet high and 600 ft long labyrinth. Personal story of a Polish émigré intertwines here with the great history forming an mesmerizing space. |
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As of June 2010, entry is £2 for adults, £1 for children/students/OAPs, and free for [[Locale SE1|SE1]] residents with proof of address. The detailed guidebook is £3.50, but the illustrated guide leaflet is free, and works just fine for orientating yourself within the exhibition. |
Entry: £2 for adults, £1 for children, students and OAPs |
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The murals were painted between 1975 and 1989 by Polish artist Feliks Topolski, and depict prominent people and events from the 20th century, including George Bernard Shaw <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4748312997/ photo]</small>, Aneurin Bevan, Benito Mussolini, H G Wells, Bertrand Russell, Martin Luther King, and Mick Jagger; and the Blitz, the end of the Raj, the Nuremberg Trials, the Festival of Britain, and the Cultural Revolution <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4748993246/ photo]</small>. These global themes are bookended by more personal ones — the murals begin with a depiction of the artist's mother and grandfather, and end with images of his children <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4748356411/ photo]</small>. |
Free for SE1 residents |
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The exhibition is sensibly laid out, with signage on the floor and in freestanding notices to make sure that visitors don't lose track of where they are on the trail. Annotations on the guide leaflet provide clues to the identities of certain of the people in the murals, while others remain anonymous. The murals themselves are interspersed here and there with storyboards carrying information about what was happening in the artist's life at the time, and glass cases containing various of his drawings. |
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Accessibility: It's step-free to get in, and step-free throughout. The aisles are reasonably wide, though there are a few relatively tight corners. An agile wheelchair-user should be able to navigate through; people in larger powerchairs may have trouble. There are toilets but I didn't check them. |
Comment added by secretlondon: This reads like PR. |
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See also: * [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/sets/72157624391641060/ Kake's photoset on Flickr] * [http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/2081 LondonSE1 article on the refurbishment of the murals] * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feliks_Topolski Wikipedia entry on Feliks Topolski] |
Comment added by Ewan: This clearly is PR! |
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<div class="getting_here"><b>Getting here:</b> Follow the signs in Waterloo Station for the South Bank exit, which comes out onto the west side of York Road. Turn left on exiting the station, and a short distance further up head left down the pedestrianised passage just before the railway bridge. The gallery is on your left just after this passage goes under the railway bridge itself.</div> <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], June 2010. Opening hours taken from the Topolsky Century website, June 2010.</div> |
Comment added by Kake: Luckily I have just been to see it and will be able to replace this with a proper writeup shortly :) |
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category='Art,Art Galleries,Step-Free Access' |
category='Gallery' |
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formatted_website_text='/">http://www.topolskic...' host='213.165.225.132' hours_text='11am-7pm Mon-Sat; noon-6pm Sun' latitude='51.504158' locale='SE1,South Bank,Waterloo' longitude='-0.113519' |
formatted_website_text='http://www.topolskic...' host='195.189.142.47' hours_text='Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun noon-6pm' locale='South Bank' |
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map_link='http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=530916&y=180099' node_image='https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4748946852_807f98a28b_m.jpg' node_image_copyright='Kake' node_image_licence='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/' node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/4748946852/' opening_hours_text='11am-7pm Mon-Sat; noon-6pm Sun' os_x='530916' os_y='180099' phone='020 7620 1275 ' |
map_link='http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=topolski+century&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=16.471166,47.900391&ie=UTF8&hq=topolski+century&hnear=&ll=51.506018,-0.118704&spn=0.018698,0.018024&z=14&iwloc=A' opening_hours_text='Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun noon-6pm' phone=' 020 7620 1275 ' |
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summary='A collection of murals housed in a couple of railway arches just to the north of Waterloo Station.' website='http://www.topolskicentury.org.uk' website='http://www.topolskicentury.org.uk/' |
summary='' website='http://www.topolskicentury.org.uk' website='http://www.topolskicentury.org.uk/' |
Painted between 1975 and 1989 and opened in 1984 by HRH the Duke of Edingburgh, Topolski Century is a permanent collection of unique murals depicting the most important moments of the 20th century through the eyes of a Polish artist Feliks Topolski (1907-1989). All his life he travelled intensively constantly sketching, taking part in events that made the history, meeting such prominent figures from the political, cultural and artistic circles as Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Picasso and Coco Chanel. Published for years as Topolskis Chronicles, the drawings were turned into an extraordinary 20 feet high and 600 ft long labyrinth. Personal story of a Polish émigré intertwines here with the great history forming an mesmerizing space.
Entry: £2 for adults, £1 for children, students and OAPs
Free for SE1 residents
Comment added by secretlondon: This reads like PR.
Comment added by Ewan: This clearly is PR!
Comment added by Kake: Luckily I have just been to see it and will be able to replace this with a proper writeup shortly :)
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