Events

Talking Fans > The Whole World is Angelicamad!

Wednesday 24th November 2021 at 19.00 hrs BST

The Swiss painter, Angelica Kauffman, lived for much of her life in Italy but spent a formative 15 years in London from 1766 where her talents became so widely appreciated that she was made a Founding Member of the Royal Academy.   While her principal business was as a portrait painter, she also painted historical subjects that by the 1770s were proving so popular that they began to be copied and extensively reproduced on any number of objects including, of course, fans. Join The Fan Museum consultant, Mary Kitson as she explores the Kauffmann craze via painted and printed fans.

Talking Fans > Illustrating Fashionable Fans

Wednesday 27 October 2021 at 19.00 hrs BST

Georges Barbier, Paul Iribe and Georges Lepape; three masters of fashion illustration who dominated the pages of early 20th century fashion magazines. These artists translated the period’s fashionable trends onto exclusive fan designs for couturiers, department stores and perfumiers. Join The Fan Museum’s assistant curator Scott Schiavone as he explores the lives and work of Georges Barbier, Paul Iribe and George Lepape and their contribution to early 20th century fashion and fans.

Talking Fans > Mapping London’s Fan Makers

Wednesday 29 September 2021 at 19.00hrs BST

On the eve of the launch of The Fan Museum’s ‘Layers of London’ interactive map, curator Jacob Moss highlights the Museum’s recent project to identify & map more than three hundred fan makers active in London from the 17^th century onward. Jacob will explain the complexities of a once thriving craft form, lead a virtual tour of the map and introduce some of the key figures (and their fans) featured on the map.

The Fan Museum at 30: Chinoiserie Fans

Wednesday 04 August 2021

19.00–20.00 hrs BST, Wednesday 04 August 2021
The Fan Museum at 30: Chinoiserie Fans

Join The Fan Museum’s assistant curator, Scott Schiavone as he reflects on the 2006 exhibition, Chinoiserie Fans. Scott will discuss some of the exhibition’s key themes and illustrate a selection of chinoiserie fans dating from the 17th century through to the 19th century.

The talk is offered free-of-charge and will take place on the Zoom conferencing platform.

Advance booking is essential. To book, please email info@thefanmuseum.org.uk stating your full name.

The Fan Museum at 30: Seduced! Fans & the Art of Advertising

Wednesday 07 July 2021

19.00–20.00 hrs BST, Wednesday 07 July 2021
The Fan Museum at 30: Seduced! Fans & the Art of Advertising

Join The Fan Museum’s curator, Jacob Moss as he reflects on the 2014 exhibition, Seduced! Fans & the Art of Advertising. Jacob will discuss some of the exhibition’s key themes and illustrate a selection of early advertising fans dating from the late-19th century through to the interwar period.

The talk is offered free-of-charge and will take place on the Zoom conferencing platform.

Advance booking is essential. To book, please email info@thefanmuseum.org.uk stating your full name.

The Fan Museum at 30: The Romantic Age

Wednesday 02 June 2021

19.00–20.00 hrs BST, Wednesday 02 June 2021
The Fan Museum at 30: The Romantic Age

Join The Fan Museum consultant & Fan Circle International secretary, Mary Kitson as she reflects on the 2019 exhibition, ‘The Romantic Age’. Mary will discuss some of the exhibition’s key themes and illustrate a selection of early to mid-19th century fans featured within the displays.

The Fan Museum at 30: Director’s Choice

Wednesday 05 May 2021

19.00–20.15 hrs BST, Wednesday 05 May 2021
The Fan Museum at 30: Director’s Choice
Join The Fan Museum’s Founder and Director, Hélène Alexander as she reflects on 30 extraordinary years (to the day!) of exhibition making.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 23rd May 2020

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the Museum’s displays.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 25th April 2020

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the Museum’s displays.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 28th March 2020

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the Museum’s displays.

Selling Fans in Eighteenth Century London

Wednesday 25 March 2020, 19.00-20.00hrs

An illustrated lecture by Cambridge University’s Dr Amy Louise Erikson, who recently curated a marvellous outdoor exhibition entitled City Women in the 18th Century.

Fan Making Workshops at Greenwich Market

Saturday 21st March 2020

Join us at the Greenwich Market for a Fan Making Workshop.

We’re hosting three special discounted Fan Making Workshops at the Greenwich Market on Saturday 21st March.

The fan making classes will last 45 minutes. During the workshop you will create your own folding fan.

Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen

Thursday 20th February 2020, 2:00pm

The Fan Museum is pleased to welcome cultural historian, author and The Arts Society lecturer, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, who’ll give a fascinating talk on a subject closely related to the Museum’s first exhibition of 2020, Heroic Figures.

In Celebration! Looking-Glass River

Friday 6th December 2019, 7:30pm

A new play about Robert Louis Stevenson.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 30th November 2019

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the Museum’s displays

In Celebration! In Pursuit of the Dream

Monday 18th November 2019, 7:00pm

An enchanting Chinese Opera performance by acclaimed artist Kathy Hall.

In Celebration! The Secret Life of the Georgian Garden

Thursday 17th October 2019, 2:00pm

Book now for The Secret Life of the Georgian Garden an illustrated talk by garden historian, Dr Kate Felus.

In Celebration! The Darkling Heart

Friday 11th October 2019, 7:30pm

Advance booking is now open for the preview of The Darkling Heart, an original play depicting the remarkable relationship between Thomas and Emma Hardy by Wayne Adrian Drew.

Local Community Open Day

Saturday 31st August 2019

Local residents can visit us for FREE* on Saturday 31st August between 11am-5pm

Curator in Residence

Saturday 29 June 2019

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the Museum’s displays.

'In Celebration!' - Chinese Art for Western Interiors

Monday 24th June 2019, 7pm

Explore the exotic yet fundamentally commercial Sino-European maritime relationship in Chinese Art for Western Interiors’, a lecture by Colin Sheaf, Deputy Chairman of Bonhams on Monday 24th Jine 2019

”In Celebration!’ – Song of Myself : A 200th Birthday Celebration of Walt Whitman

Friday 31st May 2019, 7.30pm

Advance booking is now open for the showcase of Song of Myself, a celebration of the great American poet Walt Whitman, written for the 200th anniversary of his birth by Wayne Adrian Drew.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 18th May 2019

Join The Fan Museum’s curators for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the current gallery displays.

Fan Making Workshops at Greenwich Market

Saturday 11th May 2019

Join us at the Greenwich Market for a Fan Making Workshop.

We’re hosting three special discounted Fan Making Workshops at the Greenwich Market on Saturday 11th May.

The fan making classes will last 45 minutes. During the class you will create one folding fan.

Please note this event is only suitable for ages 12+.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 27th April 2019

Join The Fan Museum’s director, Mrs Alexander and Mary Kitson for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the current gallery displays.

''In Celebration!' - Admiral Sir William Parker of Crooms Hill

Monday 1st April 2019, 7.30pm

An illustrated talk by Daphne Joynes on the life and times of Admiral Sir William Parker, who with his large family lived at 12 Crooms Hill, Greenwich (now home to the Fan Museum) in the late eighteenth century.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 23 March 2019

Join The Fan Museum’s curator, Jacob Moss and curatorial assistant Scott Schiavone for free-to-attend talks on a range of fan-related topics pertaining to the current gallery displays.

A Dickens Christmas

Wednesday 12th December 2018

Distinguished author and actor, Richard Holliss, in the persona of Charles Dickens, reads extracts from his works by candlelight, in an entertainment written by Wayne Adrian Drew.

Rossini at The Fan Museum

Monday 19th November 2018

To mark the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Rossini’s death, join us at The Fan Museum for an evening performance of some of the composer’s best arias from his most popular operas, including The Barber of Seville, La Danza and L’Italiana in Algeri.

Open House London 2018

Saturday 22nd September 2018

The Fan Museum will be once again part of Open House London, opening with free admission for everyone on Saturday 22nd September 2018, from 11:00 to 17:00.

This is the perfect occasion to see our temporary exhibition “A Bird in the Hand” before it is due to finish on Sunday 23rd September, and to enjoy our famous Afternoon Tea in the Orangery afterwards.

Working with Feathers

Monday 3rd September 2018

An illustrated lecture by Mrs H. E. Alexander, MBE

Based upon an account of a feather business which started in 1812 and celebrated its centenary in 1912, this talk gives a light-hearted overview of some of the more popular birds, their plumes and, of course, the fans which were fashioned from them.

Fan Making Workshops at Greenwich Market

Saturday 18th August 2018

Join us at the Greenwich Market for a Fan Making Workshop.

We’re hosting three special discounted Fan Making Workshops at the Greenwich Market on Saturday 18th August.

The fan making classes will last 45 minutes. During the class you will create one folding fan.

Please note this event is only suitable for ages 12+.

Capes, Cloaks and Headdresses

Thursday 19th July 2018

An illustrated lecture by Jo Hatton (Keeper of Natural History, Horniman Museum and Gardens).

Discover more about the significance, meaning and use of birds and their feathers by indigenous peoples as Keeper of Natural History at the Horniman Museum and Gardens Jo Hatton explores some of the many featherwork items in the Horniman’s collection.

A Waving Field of Feathers: Feathers, tradition and fashion at the British Court.

Thursday 21st June 2018

An illustrated lecture by Dr Joanna Marschner (Senior Curator, Historic Royal Palaces).

To coincide with The Fan Museum’s summer exhibit, A Bird in the Hand, Dr Joanna Marschner will give an illustrated presentation on the subject of Court Dress, revealing how feathers – and in particular those of the ostrich – have played significant and symbolic roles within Court attire throughout the ages.

The Prince and the Fan - Unfolding the story of a Printed fan...

Monday 16th April 2018

To continue the series of events to coincide with The Fan Museum’s new exhibition, Early Printed Fans, Hélène Alexander, The Fan Museum Founder and Director, will deliver an illustrated lecture about a printed fan published in support of the Jacobite uprising of 1745. Mrs Alexander’s research on the subject is both detailed and fascinating.

Pots with Attitude - British Satire on Ceramics, 1760-1830

Monday 5th March 2018

To coincide with The Fan Museum’s new exhibition, Early Printed Fans, Patricia Ferguson (Project Curator, Monument Trust, 18th Century Prints and Ceramics, British Museum) will deliver an illustrated lecture relating to her fascinating exhibition at the British Museum, Pots with Attitude: British Satire on Ceramics, 1760 – 1830.

Local Community Open Day

Saturday 16th December, 2017

Local residents can visit us for FREE* on Saturday 16th December between 11am-5pm

Street Fans Q&A @Lewisham Southwark College

Tuesday 10 October 5:30-7:00pm, 2017

Join Master Fan Maker Sylvain Le Guen and Curator Jacob Moss in conversation on fan making; past, present and future

Street Fans extravaganza @Greenwich Market

Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 September 2017

The Fan Museum is joining forces with Greenwich Market, to stage a two-day Street Fans extravaganza. Open to all ages, this dynamic event offers a chance to try fan-making and watch internationally renowned street artists Skeleton Cardboard, Nathen Bowen and Codex Urbanus paint live amongst the hustle and bustle of the vibrant market scene.

Street Fans @The Heritage Gallery, University of Greenwich

Wednesday 20 & Thursday 21 September, 2017

University of Greenwich students and visitors are in for an exciting two days at the beautiful riverside Heritage Gallery, where street artists Lily Mixe and Butch Attai will paint murals alongside a series of fan-making workshops led by The Fan Museum’s expert tutors.

”In Celebration!’ – Uneasy Dreamers

Friday 23rd June 2017

Advance tickets are now available for the showcase of Wayne Adrian Drew’s critically acclaimed new play about four famous authors spending the day at a villa on the coast between France and Italy in 1920…

Easter Sunday Tea in the Orangery

Sunday 16 April 2017

Enjoy a special Easter themed Afternoon Tea in the museum’s beautiful painted Orangery…

Valentine’s Day Tea in the Orangery

Sunday 12 February 2017

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with loved ones by taking afternoon tea in the beautiful Orangery. We will be serving an extra special tea featuring a selection of freshly baked cakes, macarons and handmade sandwiches.

Curator in Residence

Saturday 19 November 2016

The Fan Museum is delighted to offer a schedule of short talks on Saturday 19 November 2016.

‘In Celebration!’ – The Blaze of Noon

Friday 11 November 2016

Join us for the premiere public performance of Adrian Drew’s epic new comedy.

Local Community Open Day 2016

Saturday 20 August 2016

Following on from the success of last year’s event, The Fan Museum is holding an Open Day on Saturday 20 August 2016. The open day is held with the aim of encouraging residents from the local area and nearby boroughs to visit the museum.

'In Celebration!' presents... Jan Leeming - A Walk Down Memory Lane

Monday 16th May 2016

Curator in Residence: Easter Special

Saturday 26 March 2016

Celebrate the Easter holiday at The Fan Museum with a range of talks from the museum’s curator.

Curator in Residence 2016

Saturday 12 March 2016

The Fan Museum is delighted to offer a schedule of short talks and other activities on the 2nd & 4th Saturday of each month.

'In Celebration!' - Fans of the Opera

Monday 15 February 2016

The Fan Museum’s 2016 ‘In Celebration!’ programme springs into life on Monday 15 February with an intriguing blend of opera & fan etiquette…

‘In Celebration!’ – Chinese Export Fans

Monday 07 December 2015

Join The Fan Museum’s founder and director for a fascinating talk on the rise and fall of Chinese export fans.

‘In Celebration!’ – The Darkling Heart

Friday 27 November 2015

Award wining author Adrian Drew’s new play, The Darkling Heart relates one of the world’s great but complex love stories.

Museums at Night: Made in China

Friday 30 October 2015

To mark the occasion of its latest exhibition, The Fan Museum opens its doors from 18.00hrs to 21.00hrs on Friday 30 October, as part of Museums at Night…

Open House London 2015

Saturday 19 September 2015

Open House London at The Fan Museum, Greenwich

On Saturday 21^st September 2013 The Fan Museum will once again be taking part in Open House London.

Extra Fan Making Workshop

Saturday 15 August

Due to high demand we have added in an extra Fan Making Workshop on Saturday 15 August! This session will be conducted by an experienced tutor who will not only provide expert guidance, but also a wealth of knowledge about the history and craft of fans.

Local Community Open Day 2015

Saturday 08 August 2015

Following on from the success of last year’s event, The Fan Museum is holding an Open Day on Saturday 08 August 2015. The open day is held with the aim of encouraging residents from the local area and nearby boroughs to visit the museum.

Time Out of Mind! An Elizabethan Mystery

Thursday 23rd & Friday 24th July 2015

Written to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary in 2016, this international premiere showcase of award-winning author Adrian Drew’s new play, is a combination of speculation, comedy and pathos guaranteed to both surprise and entertain!

Lucile & Worth: Histories from the Archive – a lecture by Professor Amy de la Haye

Monday 22 June 2015

An illustrated talk exploring the archives of couturiers Lucile and Worth.

Extra Fan Making Workshop

Saturday 16 May

Due to high demand we have added in an extra Fan Making Workshop on Saturday 16 May! This session will be conducted by an experienced tutor who will not only provide expert guidance, but also a wealth of knowledge about the history and craft of fans.

Seniors Open Day

Monday 23rd March 2015

On Monday 23 March 2015, The Fan Museum is holding a Seniors Open Day, free to everyone aged 55+. The aim of the Open Day is to encourage older people to visit the museum and learn more about the history of fans and craft of fan making.

Wellington: The Waterloo Years – Lecture

Monday 9th March 2015

To coincide with The Fan Museum exhibition, Waterloo: Life & Times, Robert Evans will give a lecture on the life of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, with a focus on the period surrounding the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.

Friends visit to Leighton House

Thursday 19th February 2015

A visit to Leighton House, one of our National Trust Partners, is planned for Friends of The Fan Museum.

Valentine’s Day Afternoon Tea in the Orangery

Saturday 14th February 2015

Enjoy afternoon tea in the beautiful Orangery. We will be serving our delicious scones with jam and cream, a selection of freshly baked cakes, and handmade sandwiches. Bring along a bottle of bubbly to make it an extra special meal!