The best things to do in London this weekend: 12 – 14 September

Benefit’s immersive holiday pop-up experience is back, shuffling across Selfridges stores in Manchester, London, and Birmingham this September. Explore a glitzy beauty playground stocked with glam holiday gift sets, beauty deals, and unique shopping experiences. Utilise in-store services, enjoy gifts with purchases above £32, and get involved for the chance to win free samples.

Address: Selfridges London, Beauty Hall, 400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB
Website: selfridges.com; benefitcosmetics.com

The best exhibitions in London to see this weekend

Mona Hatoum, Encounters: Giacometti, Barbican

This autumn, the Barbican’s new Level 2 gallery is a site of unease and confrontation. Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum is a charged pairing of two artists bound by war, displacement and an unflinching gaze on the human condition. The second exhibition in the Barbican’s Giacometti partnership series spans nearly a century of creative reckoning with trauma, domesticity, and alienation. Iconic pieces by Giacometti on display include Woman with Her Throat Cut (1932), The Cage (1950–51) and The Nose (1947) – the latter recontextualised by Hatoum within one of her own works. Together, Hatoum and Giacometti’s work conjure a fractured world shaped by political turmoil and bodily estrangement – unsettling, poetic, and urgently relevant in equal measure.

Address: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Website: barbican.org.uk

Ithell Colquhoun, Tate Britain

Ithell Colquhoun’s radical vision is thrown into the spotlight with the largest exhibition of her work ever staged at Tate Britain. Long overlooked but never less than extraordinary, Colquhoun (1906–1988) was British surrealism’s most mystical outlier – an artist who blended esotericism, sexuality, ecology, and the occult into a practice both painterly and prophetic. The show traces her evolution from biblical dreamscapes to surrealist experiments across more than 130 paintings, which include focal pieces such as Scylla, where the female body merges with natural forms.

Address: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Website: tate.org.uk

Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons, Dulwich Picture Gallery

Abstract pieces, both small and incredibly large, loom over visitors at the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s latest exhibition, Gated Canyon. Here, Rachel Jones stuns attendees with her use of clashing colours and exaggerated patterns. The artwork experiments with themes of interiority and self with its various depictions of mouths, teeth, tongues – often the focus of Jones’ attention. This collection, in particular, uses the dog’s mouth in “Head of Hound” by Pieter Boel as its starting point. This piece is part of the gallery’s permanent collection, which visitors can explore, taking in a variety of works from Rembrandt to Gainsborough.

Address: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London SE21 7AD
Website: dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Where to eat in London

Layla Bakery, Acton

One of West London’s most in-demand bakeries has branched out. As a result of the Ladbroke Grove flagship’s cult following, the latest Layla Bakery has opened its doors a stone’s throw from Acton Central Station. Join the early-morning queues to pick up sweet treats, including praline and chocolate chip cookies, blackberry and green cardamom bow ties, and some of the most gargantuan and delicious flaky favourites we’ve ever had the pleasure of devouring. We suggest picking up a coffee from Assembly Coffee Roasters or tea supplied by Good and Proper Tea and indulging on a stroll around nearby Acton Park to soak up the last of the summer sun.