Five events not to be missed in June

From seaside snaps to artist activism, there’s plenty to see this month.

Seaside: Photographed

Down to the Beach, 1959. Photographer Raymond C Lawson (Loaned by Nicholas D Cordès)

From sandcastles and seagulls to deckchairs and donkeys, Turner Contemporary’s first photography exhibition looks at the British love affair with the seaside through the lenses of a wide range of photographers both famous and unknown, including Martin Parr, Jane Bown and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Until 8 September at Turner Contemporary, Margate

turnercontemporary.org

Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold, Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing, Papa Can Blow #1: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart, 2004, Acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border, © 2018 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York

This major survey brings together five decades of the US artist’s work, championing the civil rights movement and challenging perceptions of African American identity.

6 June–8 September at Serpentine Galleries, London

serpentinegalleries.org

ROYAL ACADEMY Summer Exhibition

Gary Hume RA, School House. Courtesy of Blackbird Pictures Ltd. Photo: Lars Gundersen

The world’s largest open-submission contemporary art show has taken place every year since 1769. Much of the joy of this event is its inclusivity, with works by celebrated artists David Hockney, Wolfgang Tillmans and Antony Gormley rubbing shoulders with pieces from enthusiastic amateurs such as comedians Vic Reeves and Harry Hill. 

10 June–12 August at the Royal Academy, London

royalacademy.org.uk

Keith Haring

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear, 1989. © Keith Haring Foundation

The first major UK exhibition of the famed New York artist shows how he captured the zeitgeist of New York counterculture and treated art as a form of activism. 

14 June–10 November at Tate Liverpool

tate.org

Scottish Opera: The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute. Photo by Ken Dundas

First unveiled in 2012, Sir Thomas Allen’s steampunk production of Mozart’s The Magic Flutereturns with its mix of comedy, fantasy and pantomime. The opera is set in a spectacular world inspired by the Victorian futurism of HG Wells and Jules Verne and sung in English with English subtitles.

27–29 June at the Grand Opera House, Belfast

goh.co.uk