London is a city that never stops showcasing its rich tapestry of history, culture, and creativity - and the best part? You don’t have to empty your wallet to enjoy it. While world-renowned art galleries and museums like the Serpentine and National Portrait Gallery may seem daunting with their vast collections and crowds, they’re also filled with free exhibitions that offer a chance to explore, learn, and be inspired - without spending a penny.
Whether you’re a history buff, an art enthusiast, or just looking for something to do on a rainy afternoon, London's free exhibitions are packed with treasures that will make you look at the city (and the world) in a whole new way.
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Our Guide To Free Exhibitions In London
1. Outernet
- When: Ongoing
- Where: Outernet, Charing Cross Road
- Nearest station: Tottenham Court Road
Outernet is a playground where technology, entertainment, and culture collide in one of the most spectacular, free immersive exhibitions in London. Think of it as the ultimate intersection between the digital world and reality but without the need for a headset.
Located by Tottenham Court Road station, it's home to an array of exhibitions spanning a couple of minutes each throughout the year. Venture down and you can expect to catch the likes of Victoria Fard's Milagro, which explores biodiversity and gorgeous flowers, UK artist Rupert Newman's The Spaces In-Between, entailing a journey from the bottom of the ocean to space, and even a trip to The Summer Palace thanks to artist Augustin Vidal Saavedra in partnership with Glasseye Productions.
Witness when nature meets the city like never before with Victoria Fard's Milagro (pictured).
2. 1880 THAT
- Where: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE
- When: 17th April until 16th November 2025
- Nearest station: Euston Square
Step into 1880 THAT, a captivating and thought-provoking exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, curated by Laurie Britton Newell and bringing together work by artists Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader. This free exhibition delves deep into the power of language as a home - a place of belonging - and explores the profound impact of losing one's language.
It takes its title from the 1880 Milan Conference on the Education of the Deaf, which declared that oral education should replace sign language in deaf schools, sidelining sign language and leading to stigma and exclusion. The exhibition features mediums such as film and sculpture that reflect on the ongoing effects of this decision on deaf education and identity. With British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation throughout, 1880 THAT is an invitation to reconsider the significance of language and the right to communicate in all its forms.
Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader came together to create 1880 THAT.
3. Black Sound London
- Where: The Barbican, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
- When: Now until 19th July 2025
- Nearest station: Barbican
If you're planning a cultural day out, then allow us to point you to Black Sound London, taking place at the Barbican Music Library until the 19th of July 2025. Expect a captivating exhibition that highlights the profound influence British Black music has had on the global music scene. From jazz and lovers' rock to jungle, grime, and drill, the exhibit celebrates the DIY spirit of British Black musicians who built their own platforms and communities, often without mainstream support.
With a mix of vintage mixtapes, iconic magazine covers, and street art-inspired displays, you can explore how genres like grime and lovers' rock transformed the sound of Britain, serving as powerful expressions of identity, resistance, and creativity. The exhibition also invites you to contribute to this ongoing narrative, preserving the rich history of British Black music for future generations.
Head up to level two at the Barbican Centre for Black Sound London.
4. Arpita Singh: Remembering
- Where: Serpentine North Gallery, West Carriage Drive, W2 2AR
- When: Now until 27th July 2025
- Nearest station: Lancaster Gate
When it comes to free art exhibitions, London's Serpentine North Gallery consistently features a wide selection throughout the year and one of them, running throughout spring until the 27th of July, is the first solo exhibition of Arpita Singh outside of her home country, India. Arpita Singh: Remebering spans over six decades of her prolific career, and brings together large-scale oil paintings, delicate watercolours, and intricate ink drawings that reflect her deeply personal yet politically resonant artistic voice.
Drawing from Bengali folk traditions, Indian storytelling, and miniature painting, Singh’s work blends figuration, abstraction, and surrealism to depict the complexities of emotional life, memory, and the female experience. Themes of ageing, motherhood, sensuality, and violence recur throughout her work, especially from the 1990s onward, capturing both personal and collective struggles. Explore dreamlike compositions that are rich in symbolism and marked by a quiet tension - reflecting both the chaos of global conflict and the intimacy of everyday life.
Arpita Singh's My Lollipop: Gemini Rising, 2005 (pictured).
5. The Craft Of Carpentry
- Where: Japan House London, 101-111 Kensington High Street, W8 5SA
- When: Now until 6th July 2025
- Nearest station: High Street Kensington
The Craft of Carpentry at Japan House London invites you into the quiet elegance and deep tradition of Japanese woodworking. Set in The Gallery, it traces the journey of carpentry from Japan’s ancient forests to its iconic architecture, celebrating the masterful techniques that have shaped temples, shrines, and teahouses for centuries. Highlighting the skill, precision, and deep respect for nature that defines the craft, the exhibition showcases tools, materials, and methods passed down through generations of artisans.
At its heart is a life-size reconstruction of the Sa-an teahouse from Kyoto’s Daitoku-ji temple - an exquisite example of traditional joinery and minimalist design. You can also get hands-on with intricate wooden joints, explore the subtle scents of native Japanese woods, and gain insight into how structures built with no nails can withstand the forces of nature.
Get stuck into the brilliant world of Japanese carpentry with free tickets to this exhibition.
6. MARY MARY
- Where: The Artist's Garden, on the roof of Temple tube station, WC2R 2PH
- When: Now until September 2025
- Nearest station: Temple
Fancy a bold and imaginative exhibition that redefines the traditional sculpture garden? Head to MARY MARY, presented by theCOLAB at The Artist’s Garden atop Temple tube station. As the world’s first sculpture garden dedicated exclusively to women artists, it brings together works by Rong Bao, Candida Powell–Williams, Alice Wilson, Lucy Gregory, L R Vandy, Olivia Bax, Frances Richardson, Holly Stevenson, and Virginia Overton.
The display encourages you to contemplate the human-nature relationship through subversive and playful sculptural interventions. Referencing the nursery rhyme as a metaphor for societal expectations of women, it reframes the idea of the 'contrary' woman as a symbol of resistance and reinvention. Fountains become wild and mythic, paths critique urban inaccessibility, and benches, huts, and abstract forms reimagine the boundaries of public space.
This unique rooftop setting has become a powerful site of reclamation for women in the art world.
7. Andrea Mantegna: The Triumphs Of Caesar
- Where: National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE
- When: Now until 2026
- Nearest station: Charing Cross or Leicester Square
One of the best free exhibitions London has to offer, this gem is giving you a rare and extraordinary chance to see six monumental works from Andrea Mantegna’s The Triumphs of Caesar, on loan from His Majesty The King at The National Portrait Gallery. These Renaissance masterpieces - usually housed at Hampton Court Palace - are being exhibited for the longest stretch away from their historic home while the Mantegna Gallery undergoes renovation.
Painted between 1485 and 1506 for the Gonzaga family of Mantua, The Triumphs depict a grand, imagined procession celebrating Julius Caesar’s military victories. Considered among the crowning achievements of Italian Renaissance art, these vast tempera canvases showcase Mantegna’s fascination with classical antiquity and his razor-sharp attention to detail. With bold colours, tightly folded drapery, and marble-like figures, the paintings blur the line between sculpture and painting.
The Triumphs of Caeser: The Trumpeters by Andrea Mantegna (pictured).
8. Lines Of Feeling: Portrait Drawing Now
- Where: National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place WC2H 0HE
- When: Now until the 4th of January 2026
- Nearest station: Charing Cross or Leicester Square
Lines of Feeling: Portrait Drawing Now at the National Portrait Gallery celebrates the dynamic and evolving world of portrait drawing, showcasing recent acquisitions that reveal the emotional depth and immediacy of this artistic practice. Featuring works by leading contemporary artists, the exhibition highlights how portraiture continues to thrive, with artists pushing the boundaries of what a drawing can be.
From traditional pencil and charcoal sketches to innovative pieces using gouache, oil sticks, and even silk thread, these works invite viewers to engage with the diverse ways artists convey personality and emotion. One of the highlights is an interactive display, offering a closer look at the materiality of these drawings. A new film provides a fascinating microscope view of Howard Tangye’s layered portrait of fashion designer Richard Nicoll, revealing the intricate details and depth of his work.
Richard Nicoll, by Howard Tangye (pictured).
9. Chris Ofili: Requiem
- Where: Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG
- When: Ongoing
- Nearest Station: Pimlico
Dreaming of free exhibitions? London's Tate Britain is always a good idea for a budget-friendly wander around some brilliant pieces of art, including this emotion-evoking installation. Commissioned for the north staircase, Chris Ofili: Requiem is a deeply emotional and poignant tribute to Khadija Saye, who tragically lost her life in the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as a reflection on the collective grief following the tragedy.
Ofili’s dream-like mural speaks to his poetic and personal connection to the event. After meeting Saye in 2017, Ofili was profoundly moved by her passing and sought to honour her memory as a 'powerful creative force of transformation.' He draws on the emotions he first explored in his 1998 piece No Woman, No Cry, which was a tribute to Stephen Lawrence and the pain of racial injustice. This new work, infused with feelings of sadness and loss, channels the artist’s need to address the ongoing sense of injustice.
Chris Ofili, Requiem, (pictured) was commissioned for Tate Britain's north staircase.
10. Bharti Kher: Target Queen
- Where: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
- When: Now until 12th September 2027
- Nearest Station: Waterloo
Watch in awe as the iconic Hayward Gallery is transformed with a monumental mural that reimagines the bindi, a cultural and spiritual symbol worn by South Asian women, thanks to Target Queen by Bharti Kher. The target-like motifs, each spanning three meters in diameter, cover two sides of the building, visible from both Belvedere Road and Waterloo Bridge. Kher's reimagining of the concentric circle not only evokes a cosmic vision but also symbolises the cyclical nature of life.
This powerful mural infuses both spiritual resonance and feminine energy into the stark Brutalist architecture, transforming it into a tribute to the Mother goddess. Kher’s work is renowned for its ability to blur the boundaries between humanity, nature, and politics. Known for using found objects in her sculptures, she strips these materials of their conventional meanings, creating enchanting, abstract compositions that open up to new interpretations.
It's hard to miss Target Queen by Bharti Kher when walking over Waterloo Bridge.
Save more pennies by discovering the best of London's free museums in our guide.
