Museum of 1951, Southbank

As part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, the Southbank Centre has converted part of the ground floor of the Royal Festival Hall into the Museum of 1951 which brings together various memorabilia and aretefacts associated with the original 1951 Festival. What I hadn't realised before I visited this was just how much the Festival of Britain really was a national celebration as opposed to something that took part in a small part of London. As well as nine other major events in London there were 'a constellation of events' around the country from book fairs to music concerts and the guides and leaflets from many of these local festivals are on display as are a number of photos of the various different celebrations.

One of the first exhibits you see is the 'Patchwork of the Century' which contains 100 squares depicting an historic event for each of the 100 years up to 1950. This impressive patchwork was made by 80 women with no previous experience of needlework in only two months. As well as major events such as the 1926 general strike and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 it also illustrates the engineering triumphs and social progress of the period so for example the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1890 is followed by the introduction of free education in 1891.

The other objects on display include a Meccano model of the Festival Ferris wheel and a selection of some of the many souvenirs made for the festival such as headscarves, ties, playing cards and jigsaw puzzles all bearing the distinctive festival emblem. There is also a brief explanation of the design of that emblem, some information about the architecture and design of the buildings on the Southbank Festival site and a replica of a 1950s living room.

Further insights into what the Festival was like for those attending are available in the film show. I only watched one of the three films on offer - Brief City - which was made by the Observer newspaper and gives a good impression of what the Southbank site was like during the festival with vast numbers of visitors enjoying themselves there. I particularly liked the images of crowds of people dancing elegantly at night on the concrete platforms outside the Royal Festival Hall. It was clearly a typical British summer as most have kept their coats on!

It's not a huge exhibition but it's definitely worth spending half an hour or so there if you're visiting the Southbank for any of the other Festival of Britain activities as it gives some historical context for the current celebrations. It is open until 4 September.

Free Three Month National Art Pass

The Guardian newspaper currently has a great reader offer for a free, three month National Art Pass. This gives you free entry to hundreds of museums and galleries across the UK (many of which are in London) and 50% off entry to many major exhibitions at places like the Tate Modern and the British Museum.

The National Art Pass is organised by the Art Fund which raises money to help museums and galleries purchase and show works of art. If you're too late for the special offer (it's not clear from the website but I think this only runs until the end of May), you can still buy an annual National Art Pass. It only costs £35 if you pay by direct debit so is well worth having if you enjoy visiting galleries and museums.

I sent off for the free, three month Art Pass last week and now that it has arrived, I've been having a look at what's on offer in London to decide what I want to visit. Good options among the museums which offer free entry to Art Pass holders include:

• The Cartoon Museum
• The Foundling Museum
• Charles Dickens Museum

There's free access to a few exhibitions too including ones at:

• The Guildhall Art Gallery
• Dulwich Picture Gallery
• The Mall Galleries

However, some of the best deals are on half price entry to exhibitions including most of this summer's 'blockbusters', such as:

• Joan Miro at the Tate Modern
• Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World at the British Museum
• The Cult of Beauty at the Victoria and Albert Museum

There is also a slight reduction on entry to Tracey Emin's exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

All in all, it looks like a great opportunity to see lots of London's museums and galleries at very little cost.

Australian Garden at the British Museum

The British Museum is always a good option for whiling away a few spare minutes (or hours!). All of the permanent displays and many of the temporary exhibitions are free of charge and there is so much there you couldn't possibly see it all in one visit.

They are currently running an Australian Season. This includes a number of related events (film screenings, music etc) and couple of special exhibitions which open later this month - one on Australian prints and drawings and one on baskets and other containers made by indigenous Australian communities. Already opened in the Museum forecourt is an Australian landscape garden which was created in partnership with Kew. It's divided into sections to reflect the varying habitats of different parts of the continent with appropriate plants, trees and other features such as rock outcrops for each. Here are a few more pictures from my recent visit to the garden:

London Street Photography

I first tried to see this free exhibition at the Museum of London about a month ago with a friend but it was so crowded that we abandoned the idea and went to the pub instead. When I returned on a weekday afternoon recently, the exhibition was less crowded but still busy and it's easy to see why it's so popular. It includes over 200 images of everyday life in the capital's streets from the 1860s to the present day and as well as exploring the changing character of London, it shows how street photography has evolved in line with developments in technology and changes in society. For example:

• In the very earliest photo, taken near Bank in the 1860, the streets appear very quiet at first glance but this is only because the technology at that time was not capable of recording movement so most of the people and vehicles appear only as a faint blur.
• More candid shots were only possible from the 1890s when handheld cameras became available.
• By the 1920s newspapers were able to publish photos leading to the rise of press photography and the popularity of mass circulation magazines such as Picture Post in the 1930s.
• The 1950s to 1970s were the heyday of street photograph. People used the street alot more than they do nowadays and as redevelopment was planned in many parts of London there was a desire to capture these areas before they changed forever.
• The arrival of digital technology has obviously brought further changes (one of the most recent pictures is a photoshopped image, raising the question of what counts as a photo) but there are other important impacts on contemporary street photography, in particular the introduction of anti terrorism legislation and the increase in privately-owned shopping malls.

In addition to the photos, there are a few film clips, including an interesting one of street markets in Southwark in the 1930s (in which all but the very youngest are wearing hats!), a slide show of contemporary street photography (including some excellent ones taken by amateurs in response to a competition in the Metro) and a short film of photographers talking about their work - the cameras they use, why they take photographs and what they think the future is for street photography.  

I timed my visit to coincide with a talk by Mike Seaborne, the curator of the exhibtion, from which I gleaned many of the facts above. I found both the talk and the exhibition fascinating and spent so much time looking at the photographs that I will have to go back again to look at the rest of the museum. Unfortunately, Mike's talk was a one-off but the museum run a regular series of Meet the Expert events on other aspects of their work and the exhibition runs until 4 September 2011.