The festive period may be over, but the New Year brings with it a whole host of cultural exhibitions and events. Our recommendations for the best things to do in January 2020 include everything from architecture talks and an art fair to an immersive installation that reimagines James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s famous Peacock Room, excess and egos included.

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
This modern and contemporary art fair returns to Islington in January with a rich and varied selection of work from galleries around the globe. Whether you’re an art aficionado or an aspiring collector, drop by and peruse prints, limited editions and major works. Plus, check out the programme for talks and tours.

Filthy Lucre: Whistler’s Peacock Room Reimagined, V&A, London
American artist Darren Waterston’s ‘Filthy Lucre’ reimagines the renowned Peacock Room, a 19th-century dining room designed by architect Thomas Jeckyll and painted in a lavish palette of blue, green and gold by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The immersive installation features decadent materials and a soundtrack of muffled gossip that hints at the fraught nature of its creation. Opens 25th January.

Don McCullin: The Stillness of Life, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Somerset
Also opening on 25th January is a show of more than 70 stark landscape photographs by Don McCullin at Hauser & Wirth Somerset. The veteran photojournalist was evacuated to the South West during the Blitz and the black-and-white images of his home county, which hang alongside still lifes and rural scenes from further afield, are among the most pensive.

Picasso and Paper, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Kicking off proceedings at the RA in 2020 is an exhibition that brings together some 300 works that Picasso created either on or with paper. The aim: to highlight the artist’s resourcefulness – he incorporated newspaper cuttings, café tablecloths and more into his art – and the fact that, for him, paper was more than just a test run.

RIBA + VitrA Talk: Dorte Mandrup, RIBA, London
Danish architect Dorte Mandrup founded her eponymous Copenhagen-based practice in 1999 and has since worked on internationally-acclaimed projects such as Denmark’s Wadden Sea Centre and the environmentally-friendly IKEA Hubhult in Sweden. On 28th December she’ll be in London to talk about her hands-on approach as well as her vision for the development of architectural practice.

Inclusive Design, DWF LLP, Manchester
Another event to look out for at the tail end of January is this seminar on inclusive design. Former town planner Julie Fleck will explore everything from best-practice case studies to the principles and processes involved, as well as the small changes that – if implemented correctly – can have a big impact.