The Brunei Gallery

Today I stood in a Mongolian yurt in my bare feet!
No, seriously.
This quiet (and free!) little gallery located very close to the British Museum is well worth the time. It’s a modest little collection, and I doubt that there’s enough to do to keep you busy for an entire afternoon. However, it’s a nice couple of hours worth of things to see. Right now the exhibition shouldn’t be missed. The Kazakh Craftswomen of Mongolia’s ‘Rich Cradle’ is on until 19^th September 2009. IThis exhibition about how the women create amazing brightly colored felt wall hangings and rugs from sheeps wool. The highlight of the exhibition, however, is in the basement where the entire lower level has been dedicated to an installation of an actual full sized HUGE yurt. I dearly loved the little sign that welcomed you inside…“Please take off your shoes before entering the yurt” I just wanted to be the sign maker who got to put that one together! Anyhow, stepping inside with no shoes on feels deeply personal. The room is as real and cozy as anyone’s living rooms, and while the smell leaves something to be desired, this window into the life of another culture was pleasantly shocking. Really, you must go check it out before the exhibition ends.
Also, be sure to head upstairs to the roof top garden. Again, no bells and whistles, but it’s a nice place to bring a book and just step away from the city life for a bit.

The Brunei Gallery has some great stocks of art specializing in African, Middle Eastern and Asian art. Currently there is a great exhibition called Edge of Arabia, featuring contemporary art from Saudi Arabia.
There is a permanent collection here as well, and a little bookshop upstairs where you can purchase specialist books on various subjects relating to these regions. People often miss out on these little galleries, and especially with the British Museum nearby, the Brunei Gallery is not very busy. Which makes it all the more nicer to take in an afternoon of art.

A nice building featuring the Japanese perfomance space/​garden which can be seen from the main staircase.
The atrium has the soas bookshop and some benches where you can wait for people outside of the rain while picking up books on random subjects related to the Orient and Africa.
The Brunei gallery hosts a number of exhibitions and has a great auditorium for screening films/​presentations. The gallery isd quite small but great for seeing small exhibitions.