Art Map: in-station talks

The Art Map is a comprehensive guide to artworks on the Underground, by TfL’s contemporary art programme Art on the Underground. First published in 2016, it highlights the locations of iconic artworks that have formed the backdrop to the journeys of millions who use the Tube every day. The 2026 Art Map is available in all Zone 1 Underground stations from March 2026. 

Featuring art made for the Tube since 1929, including Henry Moore’s first public commission, the Art Map highlights six major permanent artworks that have been added to the network over the past decade by artists including Alexandre da Cunha; Chantal Joffe, Lucy McKenzie and architecture collective Assemble. It also presents internationally renowned temporary artworks within Art on the Underground’s programme, which challenges the idea that public art is fixed. 

To mark the new edition of the Art Map, Art on the Underground presents a programme of 15-minute pop-up artist and curator talks in Tube stations 

About the talks

Amelia and David Gentleman, ‘Cross for Queen Eleanor’, Charing Cross Underground station, 11.30am
Amelia Gentleman, journalist and daughter of nonagenarian artist, engraver and watercolourist David Gentleman, will discuss the 1978 series of panels on the Northern line platforms portraying the construction of Queen Eleanor’s Cross. Almost 50 years since it was installed, Amelia and David will reflect on how the work came to be, and its resonances today. 

Larry Achiampong, ‘PAN AFRICAN FLAG FOR THE RELIC TRAVELLERS’ ALLIANCE (UNION)’, Westminster Underground station, 12.15pm
British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong will discuss his 2022 artwork which re-imagines the London Underground roundel logo, replacing the red and blue design with Pan African colours. Achiampong will share how a three-year project sought to redefine an instantly recognisable symbol for London, acknowledging the contributions and presence of African diasporic people. 

Curators introduction Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings’ ‘Angels of History’, St James’s Park Undergound station, 1pm
Art on the Underground will introduce Quinlan & Hastings’s first mosaic artwork, installed in 2024, which reflects on a period of reactionary nostalgia in the UK. In conversation with a lineage of mosaic works found on the Tube, Angels of History sits alongside historic works commissioned for 55 Broadway, London Underground’s headquarters for 80 years.

Programme Info

There is a 15-minute journey between each location, and you are welcome to attend each talk. Please note that this will not be a guided tour, so you will need to travel independently. Spaces are limited, please book a free ticket for each event. Once you have booked, you will be sent instructions about the meeting point for the talk. Please find access information in the booking link. 

Access 

• Please note that these talks will take place within station environments. They are 15-minute informal talks, for a standing audience. If you require a seat to attend, please contact us in advance to request a folding chair.

• We have not booked sign-interpreters; please contact [email protected] if you require sign-interpretation to access the event.  

• The event at Charing Cross Underground station will take place within the station, including at platform level which does not have step-free access  

• The event at Westminster Underground station will take place in the ticket hall (unpaid side of the gate line) with step-free access from street-level. There is step free access to and from platforms; see details via the Step-Free Tube Map.

• The event at St James’s Park Underground station will take place in the ticket hall (unpaid side of the gate line) with step-free access from street-level. There is no step-free access to or from platforms. The closest Tube station with step-free access to platforms is Westminster (around 11-minute walk for person without a disability).

• Please email [email protected] with any other questions about access