The Alpine Club, the world’s first mountaineering club, was founded in 1857.  For over 150 years, members have been at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration. 

With membership, experienced and aspiring alpinists benefit from a varied meets programme, regional lectures with notable guest speakers, reduced rates at many alpine huts, opportunity to apply for grants to support expeditions, significant discounts at many UK retailers, extensive networking contacts, access to the AC Library and maps - and more! 

Becoming a Member
 

Exhibitions

The Club is pleased to be able to use its premises and resources, along with its renowned archive of mountaineering reports, books, art and artefacts to host and curate exhibitions that celebrate mountain history and culture. As well as spotlighting the work of contemporary artists and academics, the Club has also worked to mark key mountaineering anniversaries; bringing together records of the past to keep our history alive and engaging for climbers and the wider community alike.

Individual exhibitions may vary, but most take place at our Charlotte Road Club House.

A full list of past and upcoming exhibitions is shown below.

‘A Wider Landscape’ Examines Mountains through the Female Gaze

The Alpine Club is pleased to announce that 'A Wider Landscape', a group show featuring works from the Alpine Club collection and seven contemporary artists, will open at Charlotte Road on 13 September.

A graphic displaying strips of works by the featured artists above text reading: 'A Wider Landscape'

‘A Wider Landscape’ looks at mountains through a female gaze, reinterpreting the Alpine Club’s renowned collection in an inclusive and modern light. The exhibition displays a wide array of mediums and styles, showing how women engage with mountain landscapes and how personal safety for women in remote landscapes affects their work. Through the interplay of contemporary and historic pieces, the exhibition explores the myriad ways that female artists see, think and fantasize about mountains.

Exhibition curator and featured artist Polly Townsend says of the exhibition:

“Women are still vastly underrepresented in galleries and collections worldwide and even more so in landscape work. This exhibition is a small attempt to address this disparity, but it is also a series of conversations between the artists, the artwork and each other – a conversation about authority, beauty and what it is to interact with the mountains.”

The contemporary artists featured in the exhibition are Zoe Benbow, Serena Curmi, Janet Johnson, Jenny Pockley, Lisa Rigg, Emma Stibbon and Polly Townsend. 

 

A mountain skyline, painted with flashes of bright colour to show the play of light on the landscape
'Save the Day' by Polly Townsend
A golden woman lies naked in a classical artistic pose in front of a blue/green lake in which is a black swan and behind which is a mountain skyline with patches of snow.

'Lucia and the Black Swan' by Lisa Rigg
The careful outline of a mountain is depicted in multiple small strokes as the open, lighter expanse in the front of the image seems to pass to the back of the frame, becoming the small lineof a path as it vanishes over the horizon
'Mountainway' by Serena Curmi

 

The exhibition can be visited at the Alpine Club's Charlotte Road premises on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between the hours of 12:00 and 17:00 until the 10 November.

Booking ahead is encouraged and viewings outside of official opening hours may be accommodated on request. To arrange your visit, please contact the Alpine Club Office on 02076130755 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

There will be an Opening Reception at the exhibition from 18:00 – 19:30 on the 13 September.