From late December 2017 to early January 2018, I spent my overyear in London, England. And because coming here wasn't an easy thing for me in terms of time and budget, I tried wholeheartedly to capture the utmost experiences.

    London is tuned as a real treat for countless leading museums, so as much as my strength allows, I can't afford to miss my self-curated museum and exhibition tour. Visiting 11 museums and galleries and 55 art exhibitions, I can say that most of my time in London is dedicated to a life in the museums where each of them offers me such distinctive experiences.

    My trivial suggestion for museum hoppers is that you should do your homework about the museum locations prior to organize your time. Where are they? Which one is connected nearby to another one? And then start to plan your museum itinerary by browsing on the official websites. 

    Big and small, big museums are so big and spacious that you have to take a look at the directory and map before starting a little journey, especially a devotee like me who wants to be in every single hall (a map will be provided with a donation box attached to it around the museum entrance, 1 £ per set (around 45 baht)). However, it is easier to invade small museums because you can just observe all exhibition rooms once you walk inside.

    Most of the museums consist of permanent and temporary exhibitions in which the permanent ones are specifically curated according to the name of the museum like Science Museum / Design Museum / Fashion and Textile Museum / National Portrait Gallery / The National Gallery / The British Museum. The temporary exhibitions, therefore, vary for all things modern with or without entrance fee. Tickets are sold in front of the museum and also exclusive pass to a number of exhibitions. (And while in London, my purse went light as feather because of this.)

    At the very early days, I tried rambling on temporary exhibitions because I took it for granted that it was a rare chance to visit an occasional showcase, that the permanent ones are always open depending on whenever I want to take a look. The later days would be just fine. But it turned out that I was wrong because I haven't been to England that often, so that reason made any exhibitions new and intriguing for me. Taking a look but not around was a waste of time because I had to get back and tour around the same museum again. After I was in my right mind, I started anew by touring on every zone existed in the museum. Even though some didn't attract my interest, I took it as the new and eye-opening adventure. There were so much more to learn during the tour such as conceptual ideas, management, presentation; the last one could individually match the character of the visitors.

    To display my experience in an easier mode, I picked 5 most impressive exhibitions from 55 to share with you folks (actually there were a lot of exhibitions that I loved, but photo taking weren't allow, so unfortunately, I won't be able to share them with you.). Some are still on while some were already casted away.

    The first 2 exhibitions at V & A (Victoria and Albert Museum) are temporary and you need to pay an entrance fee.

    The first and grand exhibition of the world-renowned fashion house with 100-year history is extraordinary especially for its conceptual ideas. Not only that 100 crafted pieces are shown, other in-depth aspects of master of couture are dissected. The exhibition is labeled as the best fashion exhibition that all star-studded fashion designers are counting down to meet.

     The whole space is divided into 2 floors where the lower one present multi-dimensional Balenciaga essence. Downstairs, there are legendary archive of Cristóbal and the area where visitors can participate with the exhibition. Cristóbal Balenciaga's tailor-fabled biography is exhibited, how his craftsmanship had influenced social dressing traditions, way of life and how women applied modern fashion among cultural deviations in the era. Fabric materials, tailoring evidences, innovation and inspiration for the trailblazing silhouette are presented with actual dresses and sketches as well as fabric samples, prints and press release. Some of his designs are displayed on an X-ray photograph to hack the mystery of patterns, cuttings and inner surprises of structure which is very groundbreaking and cutting-edge storytelling, for how a delicate glamorous dress was elaborated. Another workshop area allows visitors to fold the paper to make a pattern and also a sample dress to try on.

    Upstairs, there are Balenciaga-inspired designs by other famous designers with the interviewing video of them revealing their minds to Balenciaga. Quotes and sayings are attached along the space. All of them is dedicated to the remarkable designer.

    "I don't think even the Bible has taught me as much as Balenciaga." And that one is from Hubert de Givenchy, Givenchy's Lord.

    Voice marks another dimension of human cognition. The OPERA Passion immersive exhibition isn't sensationally about sights but individual audio capacity.

    You will be given high-def headphones at the entrance. Aside from mocking up the stage, performance, costumes and musical instruments of each town in each era, opera is played along, the grandeur-produced sound for both the singer and the united collaboration of instrumental revelation. I even pulled the headphones off at the first exhibition hall to check whether the sound came from the headphones or my whereabouts, but the extraordinary sound presentation wasn't ill-qualified at all despite of containing a large number of people in the same room. Closing my eyes, it was like I was listening to ethereal sound in the conspicuous opera house.

    Even if the main storytelling is all about seismical and intense politics, social and culture, the presentation is exhilarating with no stress contaminated along the premiers.  

    The sound of historical abundance led me through times and ages. It converged together with the visual because the sensor will detect the location. There is description about how the sound is working with the content and the narration of the sound itself. After plunging into all audio fountains to the last room, it isn't just opera that has been converted and diverted through ages but the presentation of how opera could be perceived chronologically.

Note: BALENCIAGA Shaping Fashion ticket is 10 £ (around 450 baht) and OPERA Passion, Power and Politics ticket is 15 £ (around 675 baht). 

    The interactive exhibition is hypely famous for participation between people and materials, and people and people. Permanently displayed at Science Museum, the ticket is needed, but the day pass or year pass are all valid. The exhibition is very popular because anyone, wide range of ages and genders can join. As far as I had noticed, most people came in a family pack or a group of friends.

    Like science playground, the thesis statement of the exhibition embarks on mutual experiences by observing and investigating on ideas and experiments as if we were scientists. Learned by scientific, mathematic and technological interaction through 50 works, the activities provide distinctive presentation and interaction with ourselves as mimicked scientists. They were amusing, interesting and imagination-stimulating with usual curiosity triggered by Q&A, coloring, lighting, tools and kindled lessons. Besides conceptual ideas and functions, illustrations are also formulated to cope with common understanding- how to play and how each activity are played out in the realistic situation.

After testing and exploring all of them, I could see why I should apply for a year pass. Even I wanted to play every single thing here. However, I couldn't literally play all because of the long queue and the specific instructions, so my solution was watching someone else play(While I was playing another nearby activity to sustain precious time). There were some activities that are under my age. It was a waste as I wanted to play all amusingly exciting experiments.

Note:  Science museum is situated near V & A (Victoria and Albert Museum), so you can visit two museums in the same day if your plan is well-organized. The day pass for WONDERLAB The Statoil Gallery is 9 £ (around 405 baht).

    Held at Tate Britain, from what I researched, this is the biggest English art collection. I intended to skim through the whole area and then hopped to another one, but this one and only exhibition behooved me to stay for hours.

     Rachel Whiteread is one of the contemporary artists to win the Turner Prize in 2013(Turner Prize was founded in 1984 granting for British visual artists under the age of 50 whose striking work and exhibition are active in recent 12 months. The prize is specifically prominent and recognized for visual arts in Europe.). Tracing back to her works 25 years ago, the exhibition also gathers her new intrinsically groundbreaking sculptures for daily objects like bookshelf, door, mattress, table, chair, tissue core or even hot pack. Floor, stair, room and building are presented in architectural forms. Regardless of showcasing the typical shapes, the presentation, methods and materials are really revolutionary and astounding because she applies industrial materials like resin, plaster, rubber, concrete, metal, glass, fabric, wax and others to sculpt the art. Almost all objects are represented through the original materials. Proofing that materials and sizes can't disqualify prowess, the only question is that how the artist has come to all this. What is the key method? What is the block made of, its shape? To create great work with such heavy materials, how big should the prototype block embrace?

    The exhibition bewildered me additionally. The surrounding resembles some of the previous exhibitions I had visited, but in that photo taking wasn't allowed. Both installation and concept somehow served with awkwardness and pressure. Staff stationed in each corner, monitoring you all the time with beeping sensor alarming if you get too near to the installation. But you could just take photos casually inside this exhibition and this is one of the reasons that I remained myself in this room for so long.

Note: Rachel Whiteread ticket is 15 £ (around 675 baht). From Tate Britain, you can take a boat nearby to Tate Modern.

    At the Design Museum, the last recommended exhibition is permanently displayed with free entry. Not only featured objects, style, presentation and content, I was explicitly impressed with the vibe and dialogues hovering in the air between visitors. I was here twice because the museum had closed before I could manage to observe all elements. But the second visit only proofed what was worthier though. Overhearing diverse kinds of people, different genders and ages, plunging into conversations and raising critical topics, they were skeptically interesting (They talked loudly while I was around reading the information, so I just heard them clearly). Visitors discussed about designs emerged in each era and even developed the idea of how other general design objects could possibly be twisted.

    I admired their fresh ideas, expressions and discussions over creativity which is hardly found among our art space in Thailand.

    Marrying the main concept of contemporary design history, the exhibition organizes the specific details in 3 categories: designer, manufacturer and customer. The entrance area lays the question of how each one commute to the museum or how they choose their cloth according to the morning weather. Finally, they reveal that the service and systems people have experienced are all designated. 

    Selecting meaningful items which ripple the design circle, art objects are rested along the exhibition with certain description. But besides resourceful explanation, I was captured by questioning and seeking answers. For example, there is a question, 'What is good design?' raised. Visitors get to participate in the activity and answer the questions in the last room. The ambiance was very joyful and intriguing because family and kids mingled with teenagers so well. They clearly focused on the activity and were fully absorbed.

    My museum journey in London shapes the philosophy of how permanent, temporary, big or small exhibitions embrace superiority. They are imbued by delicate design concepts, thorough plans, practical solutions and management. Beautified not only by tangible beauty and importance, the exhibition realistically thinks of disabled people as I can notice that the main showcase facilitates aesthetic for the blind. Participants can actually attend to workshops and activities offered in many exhibitions.

    Concrete elements made good and great exhibitions. Imbued content, size, design, space management and designation (The temporary exhibition is conducted with limitations, requiring more sophisticated design scheme, space management and solutions), the route from the first to last room (by installation and space designation), the cozy temperature to protect artworks, cautions, glass curtains, alarming sensors, staff, rest areas(very useful for me as a museum dweller from open to close hours), duration, art objects, presentations of color selection, materials, table settings, bases, walls, installation process, descriptions (There are cool-curated descriptions and information provided in every exhibition, from the core idea to crew credits. Some even gives you the exhibition leaflet.). Light and sound design are thoughtfully crafted (overall lighting and spotlight flashing upon each item) as well as press release and other mediums to retrieve information.

    For all mentioned above, it could never make the best exhibition if like-minded visitors are missing.