It is the highest sculpture in the United Kingdom but it is also an attraction that thrills visitor’s of all ages. It is the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the spectacular tunnel slide designed by artists Anish Kapoor and Carsten Höller for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Surrounded by a flame-red trellis, a 114.5 metre spiral tower offers breathtaking views of London from two terraces suspended 76 and 80 metres off the ground respectively. For the brave-at-heart, the real adventure starts here - flying down the highest and longest slide in the world at 24 kilometres an hour! But the surprises aren’t finished yet - through concave lens placed on the panoramic platform, you can look at the world upside-down while the descent of the spiral staircase offers some unexpected sonic experiences. Whoever wants to learn more about this curious work of art will find all the information right there in a specially dedicated area. Created for the London Olympic Games in 2012, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is a behemoth made from recycled steel and inspired by the double helix of DNA, held together by 600 hundred star knots and thirty-five-thousand bolts. Synonymous with innovative design and playful invention, it has transformed the landscape of East London, showing the numerous faces of a versatile and resistant material - from the red trellises to the polished-steel mirrors, from the spiral staircases to the Corten steel that forms the upper canopy.
Over 300 objects from the Royal Collection, including works by the most renowned contemporary artists of the period, including Carl Fabergé, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Laurits Tuxen, John Singer Sargent and William Morris, tell the story of the Edwardian era.
In 1924, the V&A received a gift of over 80.000 playbills, programmes and objects from collector Gabrielle Enthoven. The gift marked the beginning of the museum's collection of theatre material, which has since evolved into the UK's National Collection of Performing Arts.
Paintings, sculptures, textiles and poetry by over 50 artists including Uzo Egonu, El Anatsui, Ladi Kwali and Ben Enwonwu chronicle the achievements of Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of the nation’s independence from British colonial rule in 1960.
.jpg/jcr%3Acontent)
