What's on

Apr 2025–2027

Join us to see JMW Turner’s oil sketch 'Waves Breaking on a Lee Shore at Margate (Study for ‘Rockets and Blue Lights’)' at Turner, part of a year-long festival celebrating 250 years since the artist's birth.

Every Friday, 3.30–4.15pm

Experience 'Hulda Guzmán: Please awake – asked Nature kindly' through an interactive tour designed to encourage deep looking and drawing.

Since April 2024

'Slices of Peace' is a public artwork by artist and designer Yinka Ilori MBE installed in Orchard Park – a new public park in Kings Hill, near West Malling in Kent.

Since 2017

See one of a series of one hundred, solid cast-iron figures by Antony Gormley exploring the experience of being human.

19–21 Jun 2026

One Ocean 2026 is a weekend of free talks, workshops and screenings on art, adaptation and the future of our oceans. 

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 10.30am–12.30pm

A drop-in session for families of all ages offering coastal crafting, marine observation, arts and seasonal song.

Sat 23 May–Sun 13 Sep 2026

Turner Contemporary presents the first European institutional exhibition of the Dominican artist, Hulda Guzmán.

Wed 1 Apr–Sun 1 Nov 2026

Celebrating the gallery’s 15th anniversary, David Hockney’s Sunley Window focuses on the nature of light and the many ways its effects can be represented pictorially.

22 Nov 2025–2027

We’ve transformed our Clore Learning Studio into a cabinet of curiosities full of inspiration and surprises to make drawing fun.

Apr 2025–2027

Join us to see JMW Turner’s oil sketch 'Waves Breaking on a Lee Shore at Margate (Study for ‘Rockets and Blue Lights’)' at Turner, part of a year-long festival celebrating 250 years since the artist's birth.

Sat and Sun, 11am–1pm & 7–9pm

Join us on the terrace for free documentary screenings of stories from the sea, for all ages. Timings are the same on both days.

Every Saturday, 11.30am–12pm

Discover the stories behind the works of art during our fun, hands-on Family Highlight Tours.

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 12–12.45pm

Hear marine biologist and author Helen Scales talk about the wonder, complexity, and fragility of ocean ecosystems.

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 1–2pm

Our panel explores Margate’s deep and evolving relationship with the sea, from its history as a seaside resort to its present-day cultural revival.

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 2–3pm

Join Bird Wise East Kent for a free guided coastal bird-watching walk, starting at Turner Contemporary and following Margate’s stunning coastline.

Saturdays & Sundays, 2–4pm

Come and create at our free, drop-in family workshops for ages 12 and under.

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 3–4pm

This interdisciplinary discussion examines the vital connections between ocean ecosystems and human wellbeing.

Sat 20 Jun 2026, 5.30–7pm

Artist films exploring oceanic themes, including ecology, climate crisis, world building and human connection to the sea.