Statues at the Crossroads: Art and Science in Stone (walking tour)

Statues at the Crossroads: Art and Science in Stone

Join us on a guided walking conversation, led by Imperial College London art historian Dr Michael Paraskos, exploring public sculpture in South Kensington.

We will see how statues and monuments are used to give physical embodiment to the founding ideal of the South Kensington area by bringing together art, science, education, public memory and institutional identity.

Rather than treating sculpture as decoration, we will ask ourselves what public artworks reveal about the values a place chooses to display, inherit, question or transform.

This is a walking tour and we will be travelling on foot from the Victoria and Albert Museum to the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. You are advised to wear suitable footwear and clothes and to bring an umbrella.

This event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 5-14 November 2026. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org