Bimini Brings Drag and Dance to the National Gallery
The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star headlines a late-night DJ set for Art After Dark, turning the Sainsbury Wing into a dance floor for one evening only.
On 5 February, the National Gallery’s usually quiet Sainsbury Wing will host music and movement as Bimini and DJ Mia Lily invite visitors to dance among Van Gogh, da Vinci and the gallery’s other masterpieces. Accompanied by emerging DJ Mia Lily, Bimini will guide visitors through a set of electronic, pop and club music — a chance to move through the gallery’s corridors and halls under the same roof as works by Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci.
The event sits within a week-long programme (3–10 February) that brings together public art, performances and late-night gallery openings across London’s West End. Among the highlights is Lakwena Maciver’s Rise and Shine, a 7-metre-tall light installation in Piccadilly Circus. The work draws on the music and visual energy of 1980s and 1990s London club culture, combining kaleidoscopic colour with a soundtrack spanning hip-hop, soul and drum and bass.
Late-night gallery events like this are not new to the UK — institutions including Tate Modern and the V&A have experimented with DJ sets and immersive experiences — but hosting a club night in the Sainsbury Wing is unusual. The space, which reopened last year after a major redevelopment, is usually associated with quieter study, reflection, and formal guided tours. The party will transform it into a social and performative space, asking audiences to negotiate the contrast between centuries-old masterpieces and the immediate physicality of music and movement.
Bimini, who rose to public attention on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, reflects on that tension: “Performing in a gallery feels surreal. I grew up thinking of galleries as quiet, untouchable spaces, so to be able to perform and move through that space feels special. Art isn’t just to look at — it’s to respond to, and if that means dancing under a Van Gogh, then I’m fully here for it.”
Tickets for the National Gallery event are limited (£5) and are available online. Proceeds go directly to the gallery. The wider Art After Dark programme includes free installations and performances across the West End, late-night openings at multiple galleries, digital artworks on Piccadilly Lights, and other DJ sets and live events in local bars and nightclubs.
For Londoners and visitors, the festival offers a different perspective on familiar spaces: a reminder that art doesn’t have to be passive, that museums and galleries can function as stages for experimentation, and that the city’s nightlife can intersect with its cultural institutions in unexpected ways.
PARTY After Dark at The National Gallery
Location: Sainsbury Wing Foyer, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN
Date: Thursday 5 February 2026
Tickets: £5, limited availability, book via The National Gallery website
