Leighton House in London will mark its 100th anniversary as a public museum with a programme of exhibitions and events highlighting its historical ties to the Mena region and featuring new commissions from contemporary Arab artists.
The Kensington museum, the former home of Victorian artist and Royal Academy President Frederic, Lord Leighton, will launch its centenary celebrations in October.
Among the highlights will be The View from Here, an exhibition presenting contemporary art from the Mena region, opening on October 11. Organised in collaboration with Durham University’s Oriental Museum, it will showcase works exploring heritage, memory and identity through collage and assemblage.
Another major event in the autumn programme is Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton’s Lost Collection, a new commission by artist Annemarieke Kloosterhof. The paper-craft specialist – known for work with brands including Hermes, Bottega Veneta, and for the Netflix series Bridgerton – will create life-size replicas of four lost objects from Leighton’s original collection.
These include a large brass cistern used to hold a palm tree, and a carved shrine. Each object will be reconstructed in white paper using techniques such as layering, embossing and mosaic. This aims to give them a spectral presence amid the richly decorated rooms.
The museum is calling on the public to contribute to a new “centenary archive”, inviting them to share personal memories, photos, invitations or memorabilia from visits to Leighton House. Submissions are open until the end of August and can be made online or in person. Stories and items selected will be featured in the exhibition Leighton House: A Journey Through 100 Years.
The spring 2026 schedule will include The Arab Hall: Past and Present, the first major exhibition focused on that room in the museum. The space – know for its distinctive blend of Islamic, Middle Eastern and Victorian design – will host three site-specific contemporary artworks. A new short film and research by Melanie Gibson will explore the history of the room, including its creation in collaboration with artists, dealers and craftspeople from the region.
Leighton House was first preserved by Leighton’s neighbour and biographer Emilie Barrington before being acquired by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 1926. Over the decades it has served as a children’s library and theatre museum before major restorations began in the 1980s.
It has hosted exhibitions by Mena artists including Nour Hage and Shahrzad Ghaffari.
Daniel Robbins, Senior Curator of Leighton House and Sambourne House, said: “With a focus on contemporary voices whilst celebrating the historic richness of the interiors and collections, the centenary programme brings together every aspect of Leighton House that makes it distinctive, significant and still relevant 100 years later.”
