Exhibitions

The Club is pleased to be able to use its premises and resources, along with its renowned archive of mountaineering reports, books, art and artefacts to host and curate exhibitions that celebrate mountain history and culture. As well as spotlighting the work of contemporary artists and academics, the Club has also worked to mark key mountaineering anniversaries; bringing together records of the past to keep our history alive and engaging for climbers and the wider community alike.

Individual exhibitions may vary, but most take place at our Charlotte Road Club House.

A full list of past and upcoming exhibitions is shown below.

AC Exhibition Transfers to Slovenia's Planinski Museum

Our Cenetennial Celebration Exhibition - 'Everest - By those who were there 1921, 1922, 1924' is on display at the Planinski Museum, Mojstrana, Slovenia, through December 2022. The exhibition catalogue has been translated into Slovenian alongside the Engish text, with all the images and maps. Anyone travelling to Slovenia can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for opening hours and further information.

 

The cover of the 'Everest by Those Who Were There' catalogue with an image of Everest from the 1921 expedition taken by Howard Somervell

 

A display board from the Planinski museum showing photographs and details from the 1922 expedition.
A display board from the Planinski exhibition with a discussion of the final attempt on the summit of Everest by Mallory and Irvine in 1924. 

The full displays, in Slovene and English, can be accessed as pdf files via the links below:
 
 
 
 

‘A Wider Landscape’ Examines Mountains through the Female Gaze

‘A Wider Landscape’ Examines Mountains through the Female Gaze

The Alpine Club is pleased to announce that 'A Wider Landscape', a group show featuring works from the Alpine Club collection and seven contemporary artists, will open at Charlotte Road on 13 September.

A graphic displaying strips of works by the featured artists above text reading: 'A Wider Landscape'

‘A Wider Landscape’ looks at mountains through a female gaze, reinterpreting the Alpine Club’s renowned collection in an inclusive and modern light. The exhibition displays a wide array of mediums and styles, showing how women engage with mountain landscapes and how personal safety for women in remote landscapes affects their work. Through the interplay of contemporary and historic pieces, the exhibition explores the myriad ways that female artists see, think and fantasize about mountains.

Exhibition curator and featured artist Polly Townsend says of the exhibition:

“Women are still vastly underrepresented in galleries and collections worldwide and even more so in landscape work. This exhibition is a small attempt to address this disparity, but it is also a series of conversations between the artists, the artwork and each other – a conversation about authority, beauty and what it is to interact with the mountains.”

The contemporary artists featured in the exhibition are Zoe Benbow, Serena Curmi, Janet Johnson, Jenny Pockley, Lisa Rigg, Emma Stibbon and Polly Townsend. 

 

A mountain skyline, painted with flashes of bright colour to show the play of light on the landscape
'Save the Day' by Polly Townsend
A golden woman lies naked in a classical artistic pose in front of a blue/green lake in which is a black swan and behind which is a mountain skyline with patches of snow.

'Lucia and the Black Swan' by Lisa Rigg
The careful outline of a mountain is depicted in multiple small strokes as the open, lighter expanse in the front of the image seems to pass to the back of the frame, becoming the small lineof a path as it vanishes over the horizon
'Mountainway' by Serena Curmi

 

The exhibition can be visited at the Alpine Club's Charlotte Road premises on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between the hours of 12:00 and 17:00 until the 10 November.

Booking ahead is encouraged and viewings outside of official opening hours may be accommodated on request. To arrange your visit, please contact the Alpine Club Office on 02076130755 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

There will be an Opening Reception at the exhibition from 18:00 – 19:30 on the 13 September.

 

 

 

Take a Video Tour of AC Exhibition of Early Alpine Photography

Take a Video Tour of AC Exhibition of Early Alpine Photography

Over summer 2022, the Alpine Club hosted an exhibition of alpine photography at its premises in Shoreditch, London. The exhibition featured works from the likes of Vittorio Sella, Edward Whymper, Fanny Bullock Workman and William Donkin. During the exhibition run, curator Bernie Ingrams filmed this short video tour, offering a feel of the exhibition and a deeper look at some of his favourite photographs.

 

 

 

 

Early Alpine Photographs Available for Purchase

As part of our current exhibition of early alpine photographs from the Club's collection, we have arranged for the images on display to be professionally photographed. High quality digital copies of these images are now available for purchase at a rate of £60.00 per image, with a discount of £10.00 per image available to Club members.

If you would like to arrange a purchase, please contact our photos team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The available images are listed below:

 

WF Donkin. Dent du Geant from the Glacier des Periades. 1882, (565 x 390mm)
WF Donkin, Wetterhorn, 1882, (590 x 445mm)
C.L. Atkin Swan, Aiguille du Dru, Date unknown, (740 x 455mm)

 

 

H Somerset Bullock, 3 Men crawling on a snow bridge over a large crevasse on Mont Dolent, Date unknown, (425 x 505mm)
Fanny Workman Bullock, Biafo Valhalla, Presented to the AC in 1899, (350 x 440mm)
François Durafour lands his Caudron G.3 biplane at the Dôme du Goûter on the 30 July 1921, (520 x 700mm)

 

 

D Northall-Laurie, Sunrise on the Glacier d'Orny, Date unknown - Likely early 20th century, (365 x 585mm)
Sydney Spencer, Mont Blanc from the Aiguille Verte, Date Unknown, (635 x 890mm)
WF Donkin, The Weisshorn, 1888, (385 x 590mm)

 

 

Grand Charmoz, Aiguilles Blatiere, Dent du Geant
Matterhorn, Dent D'Herens and Gabelhorn, Date & Photographer Unknown, (395 x 590mm)
Edward Whymper (1840-1911), Italian side of the Matterhorn, Date unknown (435 x 600mm)

 

 

Norman Collie (1859 - 1942), Freshfield Group, Canadian Rockies, Date unknown, (390 x 1190mm)