An enclave of art: Mount Street Neighbourhood Festival

Mount Street Arts Festival is part of the maelstrom of art and design events that get underway in London next week during Frieze and Pad London. It’s a happening that is fast transforming Mayfair’s smart red-brick quarter into a cool, cultural enclave, bringing together visual art, fashion, food and culture across Mount Street, South Audley Street and Carlos Place. 

Back in June, the event coincided with London Gallery Week with a line-up that included a Thames & Hudson pop-up shop and a Le Monde Béryl Residency. This month (from 12th to 17th October), the curated programme features British photographer Miles Aldridge and his portrait series 15 Minutes of Fame, alongside a new multidisciplinary performance by acclaimed English stage and screen actor and writer Omari Douglas, as well as a series of talks, a Hauser & Wirth publisher’s pop-up and an art pub quiz. Here's your itinerary for the week:

The Art Pub Quiz, The Audley Public House (Monday, 12 October) 

Kicking off the week, The Audley on Mount Street is the venue for an arts and book-themed trivia night hosted by Charlene Prempeh and Lewis Gilbert, the founders of the creative studio and consultancy A Vibe Called Tech.
Tickets are complimentary but this (and most  programme events) need to be booked on the Mount Street Neighbourhood website.

Miles Aldridge 15 Minutes of Fame (12–17 October)

The British photographer and artist creates saturated surreal and psychologically tense photographic worlds that combine the glamour of fashion with the unease of a David Lynch film. He works almost exclusively with colour negative film, testing compositions with Polaroid and relying on eye rather than digital manipulation. 

Aldridge’s distinctive lens has captured some of the world's most recognizable icons, including Elton John, who he photographed for the cover of TIME magazine’s "Icon of the Year". During the festival, Aldridge will take over 62 South Audley Street, transforming the space into his working studio, where visitors can sit against his signature orange backdrop for a 15-minute portrait inspired by his Elton John shoot, with each sitting resulting in a unique, unrepeatable Polaroid. The experience is a nod to the work of Andy Warhol and August Sander, and Aldridge’s portable studio has already visited Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze LA and the Venice Biennale

“I never know who will walk into my studio,” the artist says of the process, “but over the course of 15 minutes together, we create spontaneous, improvised portraits whose originality never ceases to amaze me.” 

The workshop is open 10am-8pm, £380 per session, for up to four people.

Omari Douglas The Fabric of Us (13 October): 

The actor made his breakout screen debut as Roscoe Babatunde in Russell T Davies' critically acclaimed It's A Sin on Channel 4 and HBO Max, earning a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He has since had a successful stage career and starred in hit TV shows such as Netflix’s spy thriller Black Doves alongside Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw. As a black, gay man, he has also challenged typecasting, breaking down racial and sexual barriers in the arts, and championing queer narratives. On 13th October, he is presenting The Fabric of Us: an original work featuring dance, spoken word, music, painting and clothing, which takes African-American novelist, playwright, and essayist James Baldwin’s reflections on identity as its springboard, “exploring the selves we construct, reveal and shed”. Performed at Grosvenor Chapel, the work brings together an impressive cast: Royal Ballet soloist Hannah Grennell, artist Joline Kwakkenbos, actor, DJ, writer and director Simon Manyonda, and actor and musician Gloria Obianyo. 

Tickets for the event are £10.

Hauser & Wirth Publishers Pop-Up ( (12–17 October)

The pop-up bookshop at 62 South Audley Street focuses on art publications, rare prints, and hosts exclusive live events. Amongst the new and autumn releases is Puerto Rican artist's Angel Otero’s monograph (£45), featuring essays and an exploration into his practice. One can join the artist for a live breakfast talk on 13th October (see the Talk List series below). There’s also handpicked selections of limited signed copies and curated titles from a backlist of over 230 artist records and exhibition books in addition to newly introduced lifestyle releases, such as A Cookbook for Iwan: From Studio to Stove, featuring more than 200 recipes gathered from the personal culinary repertoires of contemporary artists, curators, chefs, and collectors.

A Vibe Called Tech Breakfast Series

The creative studio will host a series of breakfast talks across the neighbourhood exploring the art of rituals:

Tuesday 13 October (9am to 10am): Artist Angel Otero and Michaela Unterdörfer, Executive Director of Hauser & Wirth Publishers, celebrate the publication of Angel’s new monograph and his ongoing engagement with memory, identity and migration.

Wednesday 14 October: American luxury jewellery and lifestyle brand FoundRae explores the symbols and tenets intrinsic to the brand and its collections.

Thursday 15 October: to coincide with Georgie Hopton’s exhibition Floating Lawns at Lyndsey Ingram gallery (13 October–13 November 2026), artist Georgie Hopton, Blanche Vaughan and Lyndsey Ingram come together to discuss the ritual of food.

Friday 16 October: Apparatus Studio Founder and Creative Director, Gabriel Hendifar. The innovative lighting, furniture and design studio is also launching its new collection at its Mount Street boutique. ACT V: AFSANEH is its first in five years.