Two exhibitions, some textile art, and a restaurant

The Jerwood Drawing Prize show is always interesting. It's the UK’s largest and longest running annual open exhibition for drawing, which aims to explore and celebrate the diversity, excellence and range of current drawing practice.

We went on a Friday afternoon and the place was full of students - drawing. (On Saturday 5th, the space hosts a Big Draw event, 1-3pm, details here.)

From over 3000 entries, 76 were shortlisted. The show is on till 27 October. See the winning work (£8K), by Svetlana Fialova, here; 2nd prize (£5K) went to a video - Interior (Utopia) by Marie von Heyl, and in fact several of the videos are among the pieces I remember best, eg Jordan Rodgers' Virtual Dérive, along with the 3D "needlework" by Kate Nolan that was hung up high in a doorway and may have been missed by many viewers, and the "blue circle", a sublime work of simple means by Emma Douglas.

Another annual prize is the Threadneedle Prize for painting and sculpture - this is on (at Mall Galleries) till 12 October. This year the prize (£30K) was shared by Clare McCormack and Lisa Wright. See all the works in the show here.

Several "textile" works were selected to be in the show -

Home by Louise Folliott ("stormy weather blankets and wood")

Femme au Foyer by Lauren Drescher ("cloth, thread, fill and antique stand")

Detail of Plot 1/Anglo-Persian by Ghazaleh Avarzamani ("embroidery and patchwork on quilt")

The End by Alexis Nishihata ("wool on canvas")

Finally, the restaurant ... we went to Chinatown, which is on the other side of Trafalgar Square from the Mall Gallery, and tried Baozi Inn - north Chinese cuisine, mainly dumplings, steamed buns, and noodles. I was rather taken by the "kitsch Communist Revolution decor" above our table -